,,
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UkrainianFamine
>|
f < P.*lt N."-,
Revelationsfrom the RussianArchives
UKRAINIAN FAMINE
and the lower Volga Riverareain 1932-1933was the
The dreadfulfaminethatengulfedLlkraine,the northernCaucasus,
The heaviestlossesoccurredin Ukraine,which had beenthe most
rssultof JosephStalin'spolicy of forcedcollectivization.
Thus,
productiveagriculturalareaof the SovietUnion.Stalinwas determinedto crushall vestigesof Ukrainiannationalism.
and the UkrainianCommunistparty itself.
purgeof the Ukrainianintelligentsia
by a devastating
the faminewas accompanied
and left Ukrainepolitically,socially,and psychologically
will to resistcollectivization
The faminebrokethe peasants'
traumatized.
effecton
had a disastrous
instirutedby Stalinin 1929to financeindustrialization
The policy of all-outcollectivization
quotasby forty-fourpercent.This
in 1932StalinraisedUkraine'sgrainprocurement
agriculturalproductivity.Nevertheless,
sinceSovietlaw requiredthat no grain from a collective
meantthattherewould not be enoughgrainto feedthe peasants,
quotawasmet. Stalin'sdecisionand themethodsused
farm couldbe givento themembersof the farm until the govemment's
Partyofficials,with the aid of regulartroopsand
to deathby starvation.
millionsof peasants
to implementit condemned
who refusedto give up theirgrain.Evenindispensible
secretpoliceunits,wageda mercilesswar of attritionagainstpeasants
Any man,woman,or child caughttakingevena handfulof
from peasanthouseholds.
seedgrainwas forciblyconfiscated
grain from a collectivefarm couldbe, andoftenwas,executedor deported.Thosewho did not appearto be starvingwere
werepreventedfrom leavingtheirvillagesby the NKVD and a systemof internal
oftensuspected
of hoardinggrain.Peasants
passports.
The dearhtoll from the l912-33 faminein Ukrainehasbeenestimatedbetweensix million and sevenmillion. Accordingto a
Sovietauthor,"Beforethey died,peopleoftenlost their sensesand ceasedto be humanbeings."Yet one of Stalin's
"who is the masterhere.It
It showedthe peasants
lieutenants
in Ukaine statedin 1933thatthe faminewas a greatsuccess.
is
here
to
stay."..
costmillionsof lives.but the collectivefarm system
lllantorrrntlunt ott (irain Problcnr
Tra t t.sI at ion of nrcnxtruul unt
G o t o t h eN e r t S e c t i o no f t h eS o v i e tA r c h i v e se x h i b i t
: rllihit
R e t u r nt o t h e l 1 f ; l r 's , l " r q r l 1 r gl1i ' trt' sl l t cS u ti,eL A r c i t r i r - u
Go to the l-ibrar-vof'ConglcssHomc Pagc
ffi
rE|
;llE<ll'
i^:1;;
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II-ilIlE
Lrbrary oi Congress
(0 I /04/96)
Comments
; lcwcb@loc..qor'
| 1tA/n1
a n dI n d u s t n a l r z a t i o n
Collectivizatio
P a g eI o f 2
t<P'*]Fffil
from the RussianArchives
Revelations
COLLECTIVIZATION AND INDUSTRIALIZATION
goalsfor Soviet
In Novemberi927, JosephStalinlaunchedhis "revolutionfrom above"by seningtrvo extraordinary
Ilis aimswereto eraseall tracesof the capitahsm
of agriculrure.
domesticpolicy: rapid industrialization
and collectivization
thathad enteredundertheNew EconomicPolicyandto transformthe SovietUnion as quickly as possible,without regardto
cost,into an industrialized
andcompletelysocialiststate.
, ith an
b y t h ep a r t yi n 1 9 2 8 ,c a l l e df o r r a p i di n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o nf t h ee c o n o m yw
S t a l i n ' sF i r s tF i v e - Y e aP
r l a n .a d o p t e d
a 250 percentincreasein overallindustnalde\"elopment
and a
emphasison heavyindustry.lt setgoalsthatwereunrealistic-s e r en a t i o n a l i z e d
n ,r a n a g e rwse r eg i l e n
. l i i n d u s t r ya n ds e r v i c ew
J - 1 0p e r c e net x p a n s i oinn h e a r Ti n d u s t r ya l o n e A
for increasingworker
predetermined
outputquotasby centralplanners,and tradeunionswereconvertedinto mechanisms
particularlyin the Ural Mountains,and thousands
of new plants
productivity.Many new industrialcentersweredeveloped,
productiontargets,seriousproblemssoonarose.
werebuilt throughoutthe counlrv.But becauseStalininsistedon unrealistic
put into healryindustry,widespread
shortages
of consumergoodsoccurred.
With the greatestshareol'investnrent
The FirstFive-\'earPlanalsocalledlor transformingSovietagriculturelrom predominantlyindividualfiarmsinto a system
would improveagriculruralproductivity
of largestatecollectivefarms.The Communistregimebelievedthatcollectivization
and would producegrainreserves
sufficientlylargeto feedthe growingurbanlaborforce.The anticipatedsurpluswas to pay
for industrialu,orkin the citiesand to
fcrrindustrialization.
wasfurtherexpectedto freemanv pea.sants
Collectivization
enablethepartyto e.\tendits politicaldominanceover the rematningpeasantry.
s .r k u l a k s A
. b o u to n er n i l l i o nk u l a kh o u s e h o l d(ss o m ef i v e
S t a l i nf o c u s e dp a r t i c u l ahr o s t i l i t yo n t h ew e a l t h i epr e a s a n t o
which was
of the remainingpeasants,
million people)weredeportedandneverheardfrom again.Forcedcollectivization
productiv'ity
faminein l912-31.
and a catastrophic
oftenfiercelyresisted,
resultedin a disastrous
disruptionof agriculrural
A l t h o u g ht h e F i r s tF i v e - Y e aP
r l a nc a l l e df o r t h ec o l l e c t i v i z a t i oonf o n l y t w e n t yp e r c e not f p e a s a nht o u s e h o l d b
s ,y 1 9 . 1 0
a p p r o x i m a t en
l yi n e t y - s e v epne r c e not f a l l p e a s a nht o u s e h o l dhsa db e e nc o l l e c t i v i z eadn dp r i v a t eo w n e r s h i p
ofproperty
a l n r o set n t i r el y e l i m i n a t e dF.o r c e dc o l l e c t i v i z a t i ohne l p e da c h i e v eS t a l i n ' g
s o a lo f r a p i di n d u s t n a l i z a t i obnu, t t h eh u m a nc o s t s
r v e r ei n c a l c u l a b l e .
,\,1
ctnrtt unclttm,, n f,tt t t,d c o| I ac ri t't:rrI i ttn of' I iv e.st oc k
Tt ttn.sItt t i ott o i"rncnto r rtnd tun
k r e ao f S i b e n a .
T h e n e x t 1 9 3 2l e t t e rd o c u m e n tisn g r e a td e t a i lt h ed e v a s t a t i negf f e c t so f c o l l e c t i v i z a t i oi n t h e N o v o s i b i r s a
medicalconditionsthe faminehasproduced.This documentis
An accompanying
physician's
the deleterious
reportdescribes
a m o n st h ef i r s td e t a i l e d e s c n p t i o nosf t h ec o l l e c t i v i z a t i oann di t s r e s u l t sr n S i b e r i a .
Snt adloi nf ' s ) . a b o u t c o n d i t i o n s o n t h e
LctrtrrtA
f p r t l9 , l 9 ' - i ] , l r o m F e i g i n t o O r d z h o n i k i d z e ( a c l o s e f r i e
Kolkhozes(collectivefarms),
httn://lcweb.loc.
eov/exhibits/archives/coll.html
t1l6101

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