Soviet famine of 1930–1933

Long ago, many people were very hungry.

This happened in the Soviet Union. The leaders wanted to build big factories. To do this, they took much of the food from farms.

This made it hard for families to eat. Some people even lost their land. Many people died during this sad time.

We remember these people today. It was a very difficult time for the world.

Between 1930 and 1933, a great famine hit the Soviet Union.

This hunger spread to many places. It hit Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and parts of Russia.

At this time, the leader was Joseph Stalin. He wanted to build big industries very fast. To pay for this, the state took much grain from farmers. This was part of a plan called collectivization. This plan forced farmers to work on large, state-run farms.

Many people were treated very poorly. The state targeted a group called kulaks. These were farmers who owned their own land. The government arrested, moved, or killed many of them. Some farmers fought back by destroying their own crops.

This caused a terrible food shortage. Some people say the famine was a genocide. This means the state targeted specific groups of people. Others think it was caused by the push for industry.

Millions of people died from hunger. Between 5.7 and 8.7 million people died. Many more people survived but were very hungry.

Today, we remember this hard time.

The Soviet famine of 1930 to 1933 was a time of great hunger.

It hit many grain-growing areas in the Soviet Union. These areas included Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and parts of Russia. Some places were the North Caucasus and the Volga region. The famine was a very hard time for millions of people. It changed the lives of many families forever.

This hunger happened because of several big changes. The government used a plan called the First Five-Year Plan. This plan wanted to grow heavy industry very quickly. To pay for this, the state used forced collectivization. This meant farmers had to work on large state farms. The state also took much of the grain from these farmers. This left very little food for the people who grew it.

Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union at this time. He wanted to move the country toward fast industrial growth. His government targeted a group called the kulaks. Kulaks were farmers who owned their own land and property. The state wanted to remove them as a class. Between 1929 and 1932, the state arrested and deported many kulaks. Some kulaks even killed their own livestock to fight back.

Many people died during these difficult years. It is estimated that 5.7 to 8.7 million people died from starvation.

Also, 50 to 70 million people starved but survived. Some scholars say the famine was a genocide against Ukrainians and Kazakhs. They believe the state targeted these specific groups. Other scholars focus on the push for industry and class struggles. They say the government chose industrial growth over helping the hungry.

We can still see the effects of this history today. For a long time, people in the Soviet Union could not talk about the famine. Public discussion was banned until Mikhail Gorbachev started a period called glasnost in the 1980s.

In 2008, the Russian State Duma spoke about the regime's choices. They said the government neglected lives to reach economic goals.

It is a serious part of world history.

The Soviet famine of 1930–1933 was a period of massive starvation across the Soviet Union.

It primarily affected major grain-producing regions. These areas included Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and several parts of Russia. Specific Russian regions included the North Caucasus, Kuban, the Volga region, the southern Urals, and western Siberia. This event was a catastrophic period of human suffering. It fundamentally changed the social and economic landscape of the Soviet Union. The famine was driven by a complex mix of government policies and natural factors.

The Soviet government used a process called forced collectivization to transform agriculture. This was part of the First Five-Year Plan, which began in 1928. The plan aimed for rapid industrialization of the Soviet economy. To fund heavy industry, the state required large amounts of grain. The government implemented forced grain procurement from individual farmers. This meant the state took much of the food produced by rural workers. This process decreased the agricultural workforce. It also created widespread shortages of consumer goods for the people.

One major part of this period was the targeting of the kulaks. Kulaks were land-owning proprietors, or farmers who owned their own property. Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, ordered them to be "liquidated as a class." This led to a massive campaign of state persecution from 1929 to 1932. The state used arrests, deportations, and executions against these farmers. About one million kulak households were liquidated. This included approximately 1,803,392 people according to Soviet archival data. Some kulaks responded to these policies with acts of sabotage. They killed their own livestock or destroyed crops intended for factory workers.

Natural conditions also played a role in the food shortages. Historian Stephen G. Wheatcroft noted there were two bad harvests in 1931 and 1932. These were partly caused by natural conditions. In Kazakhstan, a period of extreme cold occurred from 1927 to 1928. This event was known as the Zhut. During the Zhut, cattle were unable to graze and starved. Historian Mark Tauger also points to low harvests caused by natural disasters. He notes that fungal diseases also caused the loss of 8.94 million tons of the harvest. These natural factors combined with high demand from growing cities.

The scale of death and survival during this time was immense. It is estimated that between 5.7 and 8.7 million people died from starvation. Additionally, between 50 and 70 million Soviet citizens starved but survived. The state continued to export grain even during the famine. In 1932–33, grain exports amounted to 1.8 million tonnes. Historian Michael Ellman notes this amount could have fed 5 million people for one year. Despite the high death toll, Stalin chose to continue the Five-Year Plan. By 1934, the Soviet Union had built a base of heavy industry. This was achieved at the cost of millions of lives.

Scholars debate the specific motivations behind the famine. Some classify the famines in Ukraine and Kazakhstan as genocides. They believe the government targeted ethnic Ukrainians and Kazakhs. A 2021 paper by Andrei Markevich and others suggests systematic bias. They argue that regions with higher Ukrainian populations were struck harder. They claim 92% of famine deaths in Ukraine can be explained by this bias. However, other scholars dispute the idea of ethnic motivation. They focus on class dynamics between the state and the kulaks. They note an absence of documents explicitly ordering the starvation of specific ethnic areas.

In Ukraine, the distribution of grain quotas was very uneven. In the Kharkiv and Kyiv oblasts, quotas were extremely high. Some areas saw their procurement quotas double in 1931. This was much higher than the national average increase of 9%. Historian Stanislav Kulchytsky noted Ukraine produced record amounts of grain in 1930. However, many districts were left with no food or fodder by 1932. Even when the state reduced some grain orders, the famine remained severe. The tension between industrial goals and agricultural survival defined this era.

For many years, the truth about the famine was hidden. Public discussion of the event was banned in the Soviet Union. This silence lasted until the glasnost period in the 1980s.

This was a period of openness initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev. Eventually, the international media began to cover the devastation. Gareth Jones was the first Western journalist to report on it. In 2008, the Russian State Duma condemned the Soviet regime. They stated the regime neglected human lives to achieve economic and political goals.