This was done in China during the Cultural Revolution. The communists claimed that they were "simplifying" the Chinese writing system to increase literacy in the countryside. What they were really doing was "sanitizing" the character set by altering it so that pictographical/ideographical components that were contrary to Maoist doctrine were no longer there.

They also changed usage to further their indoctrination, subjugation and control. The best examples of this that I know are the Mandarin words that translate into husband/Mr. (先生 xiānshēng) and wife/Mrs. (太太 tàitài). The words still exist, but the husband/wife aspects were largely displaced by a gender-neutral term that means spouce/lover (愛人 àirén). I couldn't even get Google Translate to show me xiānshēng for husband, and tàitài came in dead last as a possible translation for wife.