The outer reaches of liberalization: Combating political dissent in the Khrushchev era

Elena Papovyan was probably correct to suggest that for those who are not normally interested in the subject, the theme of political repression during the Khrushchev era can be quite surprising.1 For example, despite its reputation as a period of liberalization and ‘thaw’, over twice as many people were jailed for ‘anti-Soviet activity and propaganda’ in the Khrushchev period than during the considerably longer Brezhnev era. Although never approaching the scale of state repression that took place during the Stalin years, the regime continued to meet its critics with a firm response.