Exile as a method of punishment in Russia began in Tsarist times during the 18th century with Tsar Peter I, who exiled people to hard labor for the construction of fortresses and ports ("Exile," n.d.). In fact, the port of Oziv and the city of Saint Petersburg were "said to have been built on 'Cossack bones'" ("Exile," n.d.). After Siberia was conquered, many of the exiles were sent there, but Caucasia and northern Russia were also commonly used areas of exile ("Exile," n.d.). As a result, by 1897, "half of the non-indigenous population of Siberia consisted of exiles or their descendants" ("Exile," n.d.).
In the 19th and 20th centuries, a number of Ukrainian figures were exiled-Taras Shevchenko, Mykola Kostomarov, Panteleimon Kulish, Oleksander Konysky, and Pavlo Hrabovsky-with their punishment in exile taking a variety of forms, including military service ("Exile," n.d.). Also in the 19th century, the Solovetsky Monastery began being used as a place of exile for notable figures ("Solovki Archipelago," n.d.). In the 1920s, the Monastery was closed and the Solovetsky Concentration Camp of Special Designation was situated there ("Solovki Archipelago," n.d.). Aleksandr Solzhenitsin referred to this camp as the "mother of the GULAG" for its part in becoming a model camp that was later replicated ("Solovki," n.d.). Although this camp was "neither the biggest nor most brutal," it was used as a testing ground for security measures, prisoner production norms, and "all possible methods of repression" ("Solovki," n.d.).
Exile. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Retrieved on December 10, 2009 from: http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pages/E/X/Exile.htm
Solovki Archipelago. (n.d.). Retrieved on December 10, 2009 from: http://belomorsk.karelia.ru/eng/solovki/
Solovki. (n.d.). Retrieved on December 10, 2009 from: http://www.osaarchivum.org/gulag/b.htm
...