Explain what the gulag system was. Where were the camps? How was this different from other forms of punishment?

Explanation:

The Gulag was a system of forced labor camps established during Joseph Stalin’s long reign as dictator of the Soviet Union. The word “Gulag” is an acronym for Glavnoe Upravlenie Lagerei, or Main Camp Administration. The notorious prisons, which incarcerated about 18 million people throughout their history, operated from the 1920s until shortly after Stalin’s death in 1953. At its height, the Gulag network included hundreds of labor camps that held anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 people each. Conditions at the Gulag were brutal: Prisoners could be required to work up to 14 hours a day, often in extreme weather. Many died of starvation, disease or exhaustion—others were simply executed. Additionally, the Gulag became a destination for victims of Stalin’s Great Purge, a campaign to eliminate dissenting members of the Communist Party and anyone who challenged the leader. Prisoners in the Gulag were given sentences, and if they survived the term, they were permitted to leave camp. For example, family members of a suspected traitor would receive a minimum sentence of five to eight years of labor. If they worked extremely hard and surpassed their quotas, some prisoners qualified for early release. Between 1934 and 1953, about 150,000 to 500,000 people were released from the Gulag each year.