Gulag History

The Gulag (Russian: ГУЛАГ, tr. GULAG; IPA: [ɡʊˈlak] acronym of Russian Главное управление лагерей "main administration of the camps", usually translated "Chief Directorate of Camps") was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labour camp systems during the Stalin era, from the 1930s until the 1950s.

The first such camps were created in 1918 and the term is widely used to describe any forced labor camp in the USSR. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of extrajudicial punishment (the NKVD was the Soviet secret police). The Gulag is recognized as a major instrument of political repression in the Soviet Union, based on Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code). The term is also sometimes used to describe the camps themselves, particularly in the West.

古拉格（俄语：ГУЛАГ，TR GULAG; IPA：[ɡʊlak]俄罗斯Главноеуправлениелагерей，通常译为“营行政首长”的“阵营的主要管理”的缩写）是管理的主要苏维埃政府机关强迫劳动斯大林时代阵营系统，从20世纪30年代直到50年代。

第一个这样的营地于1918年创建，词被广泛用来形容苏联的劳教所。虽然难民营收容了广泛的罪犯，由轻罪犯人政治犯，大批被简化程序，如NKVD三驾马车和法外处罚的其他文书罪名成立（内务人民委员部是苏联秘密警察）。古拉格被公认为苏联的政治镇压的主要工具，根据第58条（俄联邦政府刑法典）。该术语有时也用于描述营地本身，特别是在西方。