GULAG (Main Administration of Camps)

The GULAG was the Soviet Union’s government agency responsible for managing a vast network of forced labor camps from the 1930s to the 1950s. Officially called the Main Administration of Camps, it operated prisons where millions of political prisoners, criminals, and dissenters were detained. In these camps, inmates were often subjected to harsh conditions and forced to perform hard labor, contributing to economic projects like mining, construction, and logging. The GULAG played a significant role in Soviet repression, exemplifying the use of punitive incarceration as a means of social control and economic development during that period.