Soviet famine of 1930–1933
Man-made famine that affected the major grain-producing areas of the Soviet Union / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Soviet famine of 1930–1933 was a famine in the major grain-producing areas of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine and different parts of Russia, including Kazakhstan,[6][7][8] Northern Caucasus, Kuban Region, Volga Region, the South Urals, and West Siberia.[9][10] Major causes include: the forced collectivization of agriculture as a part of the First Five-Year Plan and forced grain procurement from farmers. These factors in conjunction with a massive investment in heavy industry decreased the agricultural workforce.[11] Estimates conclude that 5.7[9] to 8.7[10][11] million people died from starvation across the Soviet Union.
Part of Droughts and famines in Russia and the Soviet Union | |
Native name | 1931–1933 жылдардағы кеңестік аштық (Kazakh), Советский голод 1930–1933 годов (Russian), Голодомор 1930–1933 років (Ukrainian) |
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Location | Russian SFSR (Kazakh ASSR), Ukrainian SSR |
Type | Famine |
Cause | Disputed; theories range from deliberate engineering[1] to economic mismanagement,[2] while others say low harvest due to demand spiking in industrialization in the Soviet Union |
First reporter | Gareth Jones |
Filmed by | Alexander Wienerberger |
Deaths | ~5.7[3] to 8.7[4][5] million |
Suspects | Soviet government under Joseph Stalin |
Publication bans | Proof of the famine was suppressed by Goskomstat |
Awards | Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence to Walter Duranty |
During this period Soviet leader Joseph Stalin ordered the kulaks (land-owning proprietors) "to be liquidated as a class".[12][lower-alpha 1] As collectivization expanded, the persecution of the kulaks, ongoing since the Russian Civil War, culminated in a massive campaign of state persecution in 1929–1932,[16] including arrests, deportations, and executions of kulaks.[17] Some kulaks responded with acts of sabotage such as killing their livestock and destroying crops designated for consumption by factory workers.[18] Despite the vast death toll in the early stages, Stalin chose to continue the Five Year Plan and collectivization.[19][7] By 1934, the Soviet Union had established a base of heavy industry, at the cost of millions of lives.[20][19]
Some scholars have classified the famines which occurred in Ukraine and Kazakhstan as genocides which were committed by Stalin's government,[21][22] targeting ethnic Ukrainians and Kazakhs. Others dispute the relevance of any ethnic motivation, as is frequently implied by that term, and focus on other factors such as the class dynamics which existed between the kulaks with strong interests in the ownership of private property. These beliefs were in conflict with the ruling Soviet Communist party's tenet which was diametrically opposed to private property. Furthermore, the party's goal of rapid industrialization also played a role in worsening the famine, as it chose to continue industrial growth rather than remedy the famine.[23][24] As famine spread throughout the Soviet Union, international media began to cover it, with Gareth Jones being the first Western journalist to report on the devastation.[25][26][lower-alpha 2]