Spent close to an hour discussing the holodomor famine this morning. I have never seen someone so eager to demonize Stalin that they let even basic facts rile them up.
Although things I learned in studying it included:
- A multi-year drought began in 1927, which lasted for the next decade.
- The agricultural system was based on the US's monoculture approach, which left the soil in poor shape. In the US this led to the dust bowl and our own famine in the 1930's.
- The pushback against agricultural reforms resulted in farmers killing off their livestock and damaging farm equipment, resulting in a severe disruption in food production in the Ukraine. Many large farm operators were arrested, resulting in key knowledge not being in place at this time for land management, which was already poor to begin with.
- The quotas for export were adjusted very slowly to reflect these conditions. These were set by bureaucrats not on the ground, who were likely unaware of the conditions, or simply did not believe the reports. This is only human nature to disbelieve when something so dramatic happens.
- Contrary to the export quotas, the quotas for internal consumption were adjusted with incredible speed. This shows a disconnect existed between the two offices.
If we went by the argument from the other side, Stalin engineered the whole thing in order to exterminate the people within the Ukraine. If this were the case, the persons argument would have effectively given Stalin near-godhood level of power and influence. Even the Nazi's could not have orchestrated such an event, the death of millions without firing a single shot.
Instead, I see a series of coincidental events, which in turn caused the famine to intensify. It must be noted that the Holodomor family was less severe than the famine found in the US during the same time period.
However, I also see the after-effects as well. Once the agricultural reforms were in place, and soil management addressed, the land began to produce again. While the US had its famine stretch out over half a decade, the Soviet famine ended in under 18 months. A remarkable thing, honestly. The deaths could likely have been prevented, but hindsight is always 20/20. At the time, the solutions needed were not obvious. To blame any single person for it is just ridiculous.
Indeed, once the issue was clear, as demonstrated by the cuts on the export quotas in both 1932 and 1933, the Soviet system changed gears with remarkable alacrity. The USSR shifted food from non-affected regions to the Ukraine and by the end of 1933, even though the drought would continue for several more years, the famine was effectively over.
It can be argued that the cuts to exports needed to happen sooner, or deeper. It can also be argued that the rapid implementation of farm collectives aggravated the issue by inciting large landowners to commit such widespread destruction of livestock and apparatus. But these are ideas given to us in hindsight. We have to keep perspective of the time and era in which this happened.
A lot of experimentation, some good, some bad, was happening all across the Soviet Union. Based on the famine which struck the midwest of the United States at generally the same time, it is highly doubtful that it could have been avoided entirely. But, who knows?
Sources of study for this piece:
Encyclopedia of GENOCIDE and CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY by MacMillan USAHolodomor, Famine in Ukraine 1932-1933: A Crime against Humanity or Genocide? by Renate Stark
the findings of the 2008 meeting in Kyiv marking the 75th Anniversary of Holodomor
THE HOLODOMOR OF 1932-1933: THE SCHOLARLY VERDICT By Stanislav Kulchytsky
The 1932–1933 Crisis and Its Aftermath beyond the Epicenters of Famine: The Urals Region by Gijs Kessler
An Analysis of the Main Causes of the Holodomor by Yiwei Cheng
Dust Bowl Era by R. Louis Baumhardt
The Dust Bowl by Ken Burns
