Lethal Politics: Soviet Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1917While there are estimates of the number of people killed by Soviet authorities during particular episodes or campaigns, until now, no one has tried to calculate the complete human toll of Soviet genocides and mass murders since the revolution of 1917. Here, R. J. Rummel lists and analyzes hundreds of published estimates, presenting them in the historical context in which they occurred. His shocking conclusion is that, conservatively calculated, 61,911,000 people were systematically killed by the Communist regime from 1917 to 1987.Rummel divides the published estimates on which he bases his conclusions into eight historical periods, such as the Civil War, collectivization, and World War II. The estimates are further divided into agents of death, such as terrorism, deportations, and famine. Using statistical principles developed from more than 25 years of quantitative research on nations, he analyzes the estimates. In the collectivization period, for example, about 11,440,000 people were murdered. During World War II, while the Soviet Union had lost almost 20,000,000 in the war, the Party was killing even more of its citizens and foreigners-probably an additional 13,053,000. For each period, he defines, counts, and totals the sources of death. He shows that Soviet forced labor camps were the major engine of death, probably killing 39,464,000 prisoners overall.To give meaning and depth to these figures, Rummel compares them to the death toll from'major wars, world disasters, global genocide, deaths from cancer and other diseases, and the like. In these and other ways, Rummel goes well beyond the bare bones of statistical analysis and tries to provide understanding of this incredible toll of human lives. Why were these people killed? What was the political and social context? How can we understand it? These and other questions are addressed in a compelling historical narrative.This definitive book will be of interest to Soviet experts, those inte |
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Contents
Utopianism Empowered 19171987 | 1 |
The Civil War Period 19171922 | 33 |
The NEP Period 19231928 | 61 |
The Collectivization Period 19291935 | 81 |
The Great Terror Period 19361938 | 109 |
PreWorld War II Period 1939June 1941 | 127 |
World War II Period June 19411945 | 151 |
Postwar and Stalins Twilight Period 19451953 | 191 |
PostStalin Period 19541987 | 217 |
Principles Procedures and Definitions | 235 |
| 245 | |
| 259 | |
| 263 | |
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Common terms and phrases
ANNUAL RATE appendix 1.2 arrested assumed picked average Balts Bolsheviks CALCULATED CAMP DEAD camp death rate CAMP/TRANSIT census Cheka civil war period civilians collectivization Communist Conquest conservative CONSOLIDATED CAMP POPULATION CONSOLIDATED DEPORTED Dallin dead line deathrate dekulakization Democide Components Democide Estimates democide rate democide total deportation death rate died Dyadkin enemies ethnic Germans executed famine forced labor camps foreigners genocide German-Soviets gives a range grain GULAG Ibid includes inmates killed kulaks Lenin Lithuanians Marxism mass massacred midestimate military million Misiunas murdered nations Nazi Nekrich NEP period NKVD º º officials party peasants percent Poland Poles political POWs prisoners probably purge rebellions Red Army Red Terror repatriated repression Russian sent to camps shot ſº Solzhenitsyn Soviet citizens Soviet Democide Soviet Union Stalin sum of lines table lines Tolstoy Ukraine Ukrainian unnatural deaths uſou uuou victims village Volga Germans WAR/REBELLION World War II XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX
Bibliographic information
| Title | Lethal Politics: Soviet Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1917 |
| Author | R. J. Rummel |
| Edition | reprint |
| Publisher | Routledge, 2017 |
| ISBN | 1351508873, 9781351508872 |
| Length | 268 pages |
| Subjects | › Political Science / General Political Science / Human Rights |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |