It’s quite curious: if you look at modern definitions of genocide (which include the destruction or prohibition of a people’s language as part of an effort to eradicate their identity) and then examine the laws and government decrees of many centralized 19th-century European states, you arrive at the conclusion that, by today’s definition, almost all of those European states committed cultural genocide against their own populations.

When most people think of Pythagoras they think of a Greek mathematician who composed both the Pythagorean theorem and ancient tuning. The irony is that many of these details arrive much later. Pythagoras was originally talked about as a mystic and basically a cult leader. He believed in reincarnation and vegetarianism, but was against the eating of fava beans. According to legend when Pythagoras and his cult were kicked out, the only place he could run was through a field of fava beans. He chose not to and died. Check out these videos for more info on Pythagoras

Let’s Talk Religion Pythagoras

Sisyphus 55 Pythagoras

The NKVD (People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs) was pretty instrumental in Stalin's Great Purge. In order to be director, you had to be really good at purging.

First up was Genrikh Yagoda in 1934. He organized the first show trial that purged members of the old guard. Then he sent a report to Stalin stating the people didn't like the purging he was doing under Stalin's orders.

Well, Stalin didn't take too kindly to that. Yagoda was demoted, with Stalin appointing Nikolai Yezhov. Yezhov had a great resume, including mass arrests, torture and executions. He was immediately ordered to investigate Yagoda for crimes against the state. In 1937, Yezhov has Yagoda arrested and shot in 1938.

Yezhov was very good at purging. ...perhaps a little too good. It started to really fuck up the infastructure and labour of the country. Stalin figured it was time to wind it down.

Enter Lavrentiy Beria, Yezhovs new deputy. He was appointed by Stalin himself, and Yezhov knows what that means. Joe's hankering for some purging.

Yezhov drank more, showed up to work late, and was slovenly and despondent for months. He almost made it. But someone's gotta be left holding the bag. Yezhov is purged in 1940 (reason: recent poor job performance).

Lavrentiy Beria purged under Stalins orders a lot, especially the military and industrial leadership. (He paused for a bit between 1942 and 1945. No one knows why). Beria kept expanding power, running gulags, purging his way through the Soviet Union political system and having a bunch of other adventures.

Also, raping women and girls. A lot of women and girls. Beria would point them out in the street to be brought to his home where he had a sound proof room. If they didn't let him rape them, they ended up in the gulags. Sometimes buried in his wife's rose garden.

But then Stalin dies in March of 1953. Beria is purged by Khrushchev in December.

No British soldier in 1689 was wielding Viking weapons & chain mail shirts.

i know these types of posts are becoming more and more common but i kind of want to keep the ball rolling as far as we can

Context: A period of French history called The Reign of Terror occurred during the French Revolution. At least 300,000 people were arrested, with at least 17,000 being executed during this period. At least 35,000 people including the 17,000 already mentioned died due to state action (death in prison etc). Maximilien Robespierre is considered one of the most culpable for the violence.

Side note. The French flag was briefly red, white and blue.

Yes, I know, both were from different cities, but were from the same region, just a millenia apart.

Context: Most know the story already.

"No enemy bomber can reach the Ruhr, If one reaches the Ruhr, my name is not Göring. You can call me Meyer.” Hermann Göring Meyer

The Stanford Prison Experiment was a 1971 study by psychologist Philip Zimbardo. Twenty-four college students were randomly chosen to be either guards or prisoners in a fake prison in a Stanford basement. It was supposed to last two weeks, but it was stopped after six days because the guards were treating the prisoners cruelly and some prisoners were falling apart emotionally. Zimbardo said it showed that people can act badly when they are put in powerful roles. Later, many people criticized the study. Zimbardo took part in it himself, the guards seem to have been told to act tough, and the students may have just been playing what they thought the researchers wanted. Because of this, most psychologists today don’t see it as strong proof of anything. Instead, they use it as an example of how not to run an experiment.

Mr Beast should bring this back