classicide

300px|thumb|A Soviet parade between 1929 and 1934 under the banners "We will Dekulakization|liquidate the [[kulaks as a class" and "All to the struggle against the wreckers of agriculture"]] 300px|thumb|Bolsheviks in 1918 in Petrograd under a propaganda poster saying "Death to the bourgeoisie and its lapdogs – Long live the [[Red Terror!!"]] 300px|thumb|A wealthy Peasant#Chinese farmers|farmer in front of a Chinese Communist "people's court" in [[Fogang County, Guangdong Province on July 23, 1952 during the Land Reform Movement, which saw the mass killings of landlords]]

Classicide is a concept proposed by sociologist Michael Mann to describe the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of a social class through persecution and violence. Although it was first used by physician and anti-communist activist Fred Schwarz in 1972, classicide was popularized by Mann as a term that is similar to but distinct from genocide because it means the "intended mass killing of entire social classes." Classicide is considered a form of "premeditated mass killing", which is narrower than genocide, because the target of a classicide is a part of a population which is defined by its social status, and classicide is also considered broader than politicide because the group which is targeted for classicide is killed without any concern for its political activities.