Stalin's Forced Famine 1932-1933 7,000,000 Deaths
In 1932 the leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, set out his plan to cause a famine in the Ukraine to eradicate the people there who wanted independence. As a result, 7,000,000 people died in farming areas due to being deprived of the food they had grown with their own hands.
Ukraine had been dominated by the Imperial Tzars of Russia for 200 years. An opportunity for independence seemed to have finally arrived with the collapse of the Tzarist rule in March 1917. Ukrainians declared their country to be an independent Republic and re-established the capital city of Kiev as the seat of government.
Their new-found freedom was however, short-lived. By the end of 1917, Lenin wanted to reclaim all of the areas that were once controlled by the Tzars, especially the fertile Ukraine. Because of this, four years of conflict followed in which Ukrainian national troops had to fight against Lenin's Red Army.
By 1921, the battles ended with a Soviet Russia's victory. The Soviets immediately began shipping out huge amounts of grain to feed the hungry people of the big Russian cities. Furthermore, there was a drought in the Ukraine, resulting in starvation and popular hate against Lenin and the Soviets.
To lessen the deepening resentment, Lenin stopped taking out so much grain, and even encouraged exchange of goods. This renewed the people's interest in independence and resulted in a national movement celebrating their unique folk customs, language, poetry, music, arts, and Ukrainian orthodox religion.
However when Lenin died, Stalin became his successor, an extremely ruthless ruler. To Stalin, the loss of Soviet influence in the Ukraine was unacceptable. He sought to crush the peoples free spirit. Beginning in 1929, over 5,000 Ukrainian scholars, scientists, cultural and religious leaders were arrested after being falsely accused of plotting an armed revolt. They were wither jailed or even shot without a trial.
Stalin also imposed a system of land management. This resulted in the confiscation of all privately owned farmlands and livestock, in a country where 80 percent of the people were traditional village farmers. Stalin believed that any further insurrection would be led by the Kulaks (formerly wealthy farmers), so he proclaimed a policy aimed at "liquidating the Kulaks as a class."
The Kulaks were declared "enemies of the people," therefore they were left homeless and without a single possession as everything was taken from them. It was also forbidden by law for anyone to aid Kulak families. It is estimated that ten million people were thrown out of their homes and deported to "special settlements" in Siberia , with up to a third of them dying amid the cold and poor living conditions. Men and older boys, along with childless women and unmarried girls, also became slave-workers in Soviet-run mines and big industrial projects.
Back in the Ukraine, farmers were now reduced to the level of rural factory workers on collective farms. Anyone refusing to participate in the collectivization system was simply denounced as a Kulak and deported.
A propaganda campaign was started in the attempt of raising the people's support for the Soviet regime. However, their attempts failed. Despite the propaganda, threats of coercion , the people continued to resist by rebelling and sabotaging. They would rather burn they're own homes than surrendering them. They took back their property, tools and farm animals, harassed and even assassinated local Soviet authorities. This put them in direct conflict with the power and authority of Stalin.
Soviet troops were sent in to stop the rebellion. They confronted rowdy farmers by firing warning shots. Stalin's secret police (GPU, predecessor of the KGB) also started a campaign of terror in order to break the people's will. GPU squads would attacked and kill farmers that would not co-operate.
But the resistance continued. The people simply refused to become tools in the Soviet farm machine and stayed determined to return to their previous lifestyle. Some refused to work at all, leaving the fields untouched.
In Moscow, Stalin responded by enacting a policy that would cause mass starvation and result in the deaths of millions.
By 1932, nearly 75 percent of the farms in the Ukraine had been collectivized. On Stalin's orders, food had to be shipped out to the Soviet Union, until there was simply no food remaining to feed the people of the Ukraine.
Much of the crop harvested by the Ukrainians that year was sold on the foreign market to generate money to aid Stalin's Five Year Plan for the modernization of the Soviet Union and also to help finance his military.
The Soviets sealed the border between them and the Ukraine to prevent food from entering, they basically turned the whole country into a concentration camp. Anyone caught stealing Food, even a corn or stubble of wheat, could be shot or imprisoned for ten years.
Starvation quickly spread throughout the Ukraine and the people eventually died because of it
Ukraine had been dominated by the Imperial Tzars of Russia for 200 years. An opportunity for independence seemed to have finally arrived with the collapse of the Tzarist rule in March 1917. Ukrainians declared their country to be an independent Republic and re-established the capital city of Kiev as the seat of government.
Their new-found freedom was however, short-lived. By the end of 1917, Lenin wanted to reclaim all of the areas that were once controlled by the Tzars, especially the fertile Ukraine. Because of this, four years of conflict followed in which Ukrainian national troops had to fight against Lenin's Red Army.
By 1921, the battles ended with a Soviet Russia's victory. The Soviets immediately began shipping out huge amounts of grain to feed the hungry people of the big Russian cities. Furthermore, there was a drought in the Ukraine, resulting in starvation and popular hate against Lenin and the Soviets.
To lessen the deepening resentment, Lenin stopped taking out so much grain, and even encouraged exchange of goods. This renewed the people's interest in independence and resulted in a national movement celebrating their unique folk customs, language, poetry, music, arts, and Ukrainian orthodox religion.
However when Lenin died, Stalin became his successor, an extremely ruthless ruler. To Stalin, the loss of Soviet influence in the Ukraine was unacceptable. He sought to crush the peoples free spirit. Beginning in 1929, over 5,000 Ukrainian scholars, scientists, cultural and religious leaders were arrested after being falsely accused of plotting an armed revolt. They were wither jailed or even shot without a trial.
Stalin also imposed a system of land management. This resulted in the confiscation of all privately owned farmlands and livestock, in a country where 80 percent of the people were traditional village farmers. Stalin believed that any further insurrection would be led by the Kulaks (formerly wealthy farmers), so he proclaimed a policy aimed at "liquidating the Kulaks as a class."
The Kulaks were declared "enemies of the people," therefore they were left homeless and without a single possession as everything was taken from them. It was also forbidden by law for anyone to aid Kulak families. It is estimated that ten million people were thrown out of their homes and deported to "special settlements" in Siberia , with up to a third of them dying amid the cold and poor living conditions. Men and older boys, along with childless women and unmarried girls, also became slave-workers in Soviet-run mines and big industrial projects.
Back in the Ukraine, farmers were now reduced to the level of rural factory workers on collective farms. Anyone refusing to participate in the collectivization system was simply denounced as a Kulak and deported.
A propaganda campaign was started in the attempt of raising the people's support for the Soviet regime. However, their attempts failed. Despite the propaganda, threats of coercion , the people continued to resist by rebelling and sabotaging. They would rather burn they're own homes than surrendering them. They took back their property, tools and farm animals, harassed and even assassinated local Soviet authorities. This put them in direct conflict with the power and authority of Stalin.
Soviet troops were sent in to stop the rebellion. They confronted rowdy farmers by firing warning shots. Stalin's secret police (GPU, predecessor of the KGB) also started a campaign of terror in order to break the people's will. GPU squads would attacked and kill farmers that would not co-operate.
But the resistance continued. The people simply refused to become tools in the Soviet farm machine and stayed determined to return to their previous lifestyle. Some refused to work at all, leaving the fields untouched.
In Moscow, Stalin responded by enacting a policy that would cause mass starvation and result in the deaths of millions.
By 1932, nearly 75 percent of the farms in the Ukraine had been collectivized. On Stalin's orders, food had to be shipped out to the Soviet Union, until there was simply no food remaining to feed the people of the Ukraine.
Much of the crop harvested by the Ukrainians that year was sold on the foreign market to generate money to aid Stalin's Five Year Plan for the modernization of the Soviet Union and also to help finance his military.
The Soviets sealed the border between them and the Ukraine to prevent food from entering, they basically turned the whole country into a concentration camp. Anyone caught stealing Food, even a corn or stubble of wheat, could be shot or imprisoned for ten years.
Starvation quickly spread throughout the Ukraine and the people eventually died because of it
n the meantime, the police and Communist Party officials had plenty of food, desperate Ukrainians ate leaves off bushes and trees, killed dogs, cats, frogs, mice and birds then cooked them. Others, resorted to cannibalism, with parents sometimes even eating their own children.
By the spring of 1933, 25,000 persons died every day in the Ukraine. Entire villages were dying out.
Outside the Soviet Union, governments of the West took a passive attitude toward the famine, although most of them had become aware of the true suffering in the Ukraine through confidential diplomatic channels. In November 1933, the United States, with its new president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, even chose to formally recognized Stalin's Communist government and also negotiated a sweeping new trade agreement.
Stalin's Five Year Plan for the modernization of the Soviet Union depended largely on the purchase of massive amounts of manufactured goods and technology from Western nations. Those nations were unwilling to disrupt lucrative trade agreements with the Soviet Union in order to pursue the matter of the famine.
By the end of 1933, nearly 25 percent of the population of the Ukraine, including three million children, had perished and the class of the Kulaks had been destroyed. With his immediate objectives now achieved, Stalin allowed food distribution to resume inside the Ukraine and the famine ended.
By the spring of 1933, 25,000 persons died every day in the Ukraine. Entire villages were dying out.
Outside the Soviet Union, governments of the West took a passive attitude toward the famine, although most of them had become aware of the true suffering in the Ukraine through confidential diplomatic channels. In November 1933, the United States, with its new president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, even chose to formally recognized Stalin's Communist government and also negotiated a sweeping new trade agreement.
Stalin's Five Year Plan for the modernization of the Soviet Union depended largely on the purchase of massive amounts of manufactured goods and technology from Western nations. Those nations were unwilling to disrupt lucrative trade agreements with the Soviet Union in order to pursue the matter of the famine.
By the end of 1933, nearly 25 percent of the population of the Ukraine, including three million children, had perished and the class of the Kulaks had been destroyed. With his immediate objectives now achieved, Stalin allowed food distribution to resume inside the Ukraine and the famine ended.