Loyal East German Communists embarked on the harsh course, but after Stalin died in March 1953, his successors in Moscow reversed it, in part because of their alarm that 500,000 East Germans had fled to the West in the months after Stalin's 1952 decrees (the Berlin Wall had not yet been built).
This is unbearably harsh, of course – these are all richly talented and hard-working footballers, none of whom deserve to surrender lifelong ambitions – but international tournaments do weird things to our perception of time, distorting it like holidays in the interests of morale and self-preservation.
Bonds expected this harsh treatment.
This harsh reality is softened by human relationships.
How can he survive in this harsh world?
The spotlight can be harsh, of course, as seen by the ongoing critique of Gabby Douglas's hair.
The riots were a sort of harsh crash course for bewildered citizens who believed it could not happen or trusted to the long patience of the English character to accept the bad times somehow.
If he wants to get really harsh, of course, Putin could look to Saudi Arabia, whose habit of executing homosexuals has done little to break up what Barack Obama has called the "long history of friendship" between Washington and Riyadh.
"This may, of course, seem harsh, but in nature it is necessary to ensure a strong pride of lions with the greatest chance of survival," the zoo explained.
This might sound harsh, and of course now we're best friends and I call her and tell her everything, but it was really important that she drew those lines and made it clear that her role was to give us rules and guidance to help us grow.
