déstaliniser

A specifically historical/political verb tied to the post-1953 Soviet Union: to dismantle the political system, cult of personality, and repressive practices associated with Stalin. It's a precise history-textbook term, most associated with Nikita Khrushchev's efforts after Stalin's death, rather than a general-purpose word.

• Khrouchtchev a entrepris de déstaliniser l'Union soviétique après 1956. — Khrushchev set out to de-Stalinize the Soviet Union after 1956.
• Le pays a mis des décennies à se déstaliniser complètement. — The country took decades to fully de-Stalinize.
• Ce discours a marqué le début de la volonté de déstaliniser le régime. — That speech marked the beginning of the effort to de-Stalinize the regime.

This is tied specifically to Stalin and Soviet history — don't stretch it as a loose metaphor for 'reforming any authoritarian system,' which would sound like a category error to a French history student.

• politics Rapport secret de Khrouchtchev — Nikita Khrushchev's 'secret speech' to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on February 24-25, 1956, denouncing Stalin's cult of personality and crimes, and launching the process of déstalinisation.