Preview

Holodomor

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1227 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Holodomor
“This was the first instance of a peacetime genocide in history. It took the extraordinary form of an artificial famine deliberately created by the ruling powers. The savage combination of words for the designation of a crime - an artificial deliberately planned famine - is still incredible to many people throughout the world, but indicates the uniqueness of the tragedy of 1933, which is unparalleled, for a time of peace, in the number of victims it claimed.” ~Wasyl Hryshko – Survivor, the Ukrainian Holocaust, 1933 As the cold, iron curtain of Communism swept across Eastern Europe, The Soviet Union strengthened its grip on the Ukrainian SSR and its people. As populations among the Soviet Republics grew, so did the need for resources to maintain these populations. In 1928, Joseph Stalin, the dictator of the USSR, fashioned a detailed agricultural cultivation program that would denounce private ownership and make the farmers that owned this land workers of the state. This so called “5 Year Plan” facilitated economic and social regulation by the Soviets, evidently sparking a fury of nationalism among the Ukrainian people. Stalin’s demands were absolutely impractical; He proposed that Ukrainian lands produce a surplus of grain to be distributed among the Soviet Republic, as well as the world’s population. The cultivation of new crops, such as sweet beets and cotton, were also unfeasible tasks set for the Ukrainian farmers. Ukrainian resilience can be proven immensely within the tragedy of Holodomor. In 1929, Stalin had become livid with the Ukrainian society, deeming them guilty of “bourgeois nationalism,” and accusing them of defying the Republic (Gregorovich). In the spring 1931, my great-grandfather Vasil was one of ten sons that survived an encounter with Kremlin officials in his home town near Cherkassy, Ukraine. Living within the borders of the Soviet Union, the village was exploited for its rich fields of grain. Officials came to warn my family


Cited: Gregorovich, Andrew. "BLACK FAMINE IN UKRAINE 1932-33." InfoUkes: Ukrainian History. A Ukrainian Review, 1974. Web. 15 Sep. 2013. Popovych, Polina Dmytrivna. "Memories of Polina Dmytrivna Popovych." HOLODOMOR WEBSITE - Articles. The Holodomor Memorial Website, n.d. Web. 15 Sep. 2013. “Holodomor Facts and History." Holodomor History. N.p. Web. 15 Sep. 2013. Hryshko, Wasyl. "Quotes About the 1933 Famine-Genocide in Soviet-Occupied Ukraine." Quotes About the 1933 Famine-Genocide in Soviet-Occupied Ukraine. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sep. 2013. Strong, Anna L. "New Republic." Searching Out the Soviets. N.p.: n.p., 1935. 356. Print.
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Joseph Stalin Dbq Analysis
    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Joseph Stalin Dbq Analysis

    Joseph Stalin established a modern totalitarian government in Soviet Russia. He is known as the “Man of Steel”. A totalitarianism is a type of government that takes total, centralized, state control over every aspect of public and private life of their people. His rule had changed the people of his empire in numerous ways. Stalin had total control over economic needs. According to document 6 “By 1940 Russia produced more pig iron than Germany, and far more than Britain or France. Numbers of cattle grew in the 1920s, but fell increasingly during the collectivization of agriculture after 1929, and by 1940 hardly exceeded the figure for 1920. Since 1940 the industrial development of the Soviet Union has been impressive, but agricultural production has continued to be plumiding”. The document illustrates how pig iron had significantly increased as a result of the “Five Year Plan”, however heavy industry led to expense of food supplies. This would cause limited production of consumer goods. It caused a step back because of the severe shortages of housing, food, clothing as well as other necessary goods. The Five Year Plan didn’t help much to excel their economic as Stalin hoped, it impacted by creating famine. Stalin rising to power promised an economic boom for Russia however, in that process many people suffered and died of starvation. According to document 5, “The purge began its last,…

    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Soviet Union DBQ
    • 840 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Soviet Union DBQ

    Stalin was a part of the Bolsheviks which was the communist party of the Soviet Union. The Kulaks were the wealthy landowners and they were capitalists and did not approve of Stalin’s beliefs and methods. One of the changes Stalin implemented in order to achieve his one of his many goals, was to collective farms. Collectivization is the act of seizing land from the wealthy (which in this case were the Kulaks) and using it for communal use. This means that the Kulaks’ farms would get broken up to little parts and given to the peasants. In document 4, an excerpt from a speech that Stalin delivered in 1929 he says, “The socialist way, which is to set up collective farms and state farms into large collective farms, technically and scientifically equipped, and to the squeezing out of the capitalist elements from agriculture.” Stalin was determined to remove any and all capitalist that were not in his favor. Another change Stalin implemented was to stop feeding the livestock with the wheat being grown. In document 5, there is a graph showing the declination of the livestock in the first and second five year plan. In a total of 10 years, the amount of livestock was virtually cut in half! In comparison, the wheat production increased significantly in the ten years in which the livestock was cut in half. The wheat being…

    • 840 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Colorado River Research Paper
    • 1348 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Colorado River Research Paper

    Stalin imposed collectivism, which took all the farm land from the Kulaks, leaving them homeless and unemployed It was forbidden to give aid to the Kulaks, and eventually they were forced in to slavery to survive, and any Kulak who refused slavery was deported Forced Famine under the rule of Joseph Stalin By 1932, 75% of all farmland had been acquired by Stalin’s regime and he was exporting so much food from this region, there was no food left to feed the Ukranian people (Trueman, 2013) The Ukranian Communist party reached out for support from the Soviet Communist party and were soon stamped out by Stalin’s loyal soldiers, sent to subdue the Ukranians Starvation was so prevalent that people fled the country side to larger cities, only to find starvation there as well, with bodies of the dead lining the streets Forced Famine under the rule of Joseph Stalin…

    • 1348 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    To What Extent Do You Consider That The First World War Was A Key Turning Point In The Development Of Modern Russia In The Years 1856
    • 1981 Words
    • 5 Pages

    To What Extent Do You Consider That The First World War Was A Key Turning Point In The Development Of Modern Russia In The Years 1856

    Agriculture was a crucial area which needed to be reformed if Russia was to ever be modernised. At the root of the inherently backward Russia was the peasant workforce, who mainly worked in the agricultural sector, which left Russia a world away from other European Countries in terms of industry. ‘Out of the 60 million people in European Russia in 1855, 50 million were peasant serfs’1; this was a huge obstacle to modernisation as it limited. The goal of Emancipation was to release the peasants from the land that they were bound to in order to create an industrial workforce that would drive modernisation. The predominantly agricultural workforce would now work in factories thus changing Russia into an industrial juggernaut, which would be key in modernising Russia. The reform was also crucial as it was the first step in the deconstruction of the Ancien Regime within Russia. Emancipation was key in establishing support for the monarchy, ‘in other countries Serf emancipation took place as a consequence of social and organic change’2, this meant that in Russia the monarchy had…

    • 1981 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Transformation of Russia (2/14/13)
    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Transformation of Russia (2/14/13)

    Between 1800 and 1939 Russia progressed towards an economic system of government owned business and redistribution, known as communism. Prior to Russia developing into communism they were a capitalist state. The last time we see a non communist state in Russia before 1939 would be under Czar Nicholas II. Previous social conditioning in Russia led to popular beliefs among the peasantry that the land belongs to the farmers, or at least it should. However, a small number of the peasantry had owned any land at all. And they also had other reasons to hold feelings of discontent. The Russian working conditions were simply atrocious. Workers saw work jour of 12, 14, and 16 hours long. And the factories which they worked on were overcrowded and were obvious dangers to their long-term and immediate health. And for all of the hardship faced workers would see dismal pay, barely enough to supply for their family. However, what led Russia past the threshold…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Joesph Stalin Biography
    • 1499 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Joesph Stalin Biography

    Argument: The world did not react to the Stain’s Forced Famine genocide of 1932-1933, but they should have intervened and forced Stalin to feed the people of the Ukraine, because they need to make Stalin realize that it’s not acceptable to starve his people.…

    • 1499 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Joseph Stalin and Ukrainian Genocide Commemoration
    • 1486 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Joseph Stalin and Ukrainian Genocide Commemoration

    Stalin was determined to exterminate Ukraine’s farmers for two reasons. First, the Ukraine had the potential to rise up and resist against the Communist regime. Second, he needed more money to industrialize the country, and the…

    • 1486 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Were Germany's actions in WWII justified?
    • 1244 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Were Germany's actions in WWII justified?

    Buckmaster, Maurice. "Death 's Head Unit." Death 's Head Unit. Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk, n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.…

    • 1244 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Elie Wiesel: The Most Famous Survivors Of The Holocaust
    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Elie Wiesel: The Most Famous Survivors Of The Holocaust

    January 30th, 1933 marks the date that would set forth the beginning of a Genocide with a death toll of over 11 million, which would today be known as the Holocaust. Many minorities of people like Jews, Polishes, homosexuals, and even people with disabilities were targeted as result of Hitler’s command. Many of these people were killed by gassing and mass shootings. The people who ended up getting sent off to concentration camps instead were considered lucky. What many people didn’t know and still don’t know is how the concentration camps were a mire figure of hell on earth. Only a small fraction of the people sent to concentration camps came out surviving. One of the most famous survivors of the holocaust is Elie Wiesel. It has been said he “survived the most…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    To What Extent Did Stalin Meet the Aims of the Five Year Plans Essay Example
    • 3200 Words
    • 13 Pages

    To What Extent Did Stalin Meet the Aims of the Five Year Plans Essay Example

    To a certain extent Stalin did meet, in places, the overly optimistic aims for the Five Year Plans yet this was to be at the cost of millions of lives and the livelihoods of many Russian peasants who were to be ruthlessly killed, extradited or simply stripped of their land and possessions. The success of the Five Year Plans can be judged upon the entry of Russia into the Second World War for this was to be the first big test of the newly industrialised state on the world stage. Stalin had aimed to bring about the complete modernisation of Russia as a country and in doing so had hoped that this would mean that Russia could overtake the Capitalist Nations of the West. Stalin himself was the individual who had proposed such plans for he was the one it may be argued, who wished to achieve an historical role for himself as the successor of Lenin. Evidence of this proposal, putting Russian development at the forefront of his ideas, is illustrated by his speeches in which he calls for the need to "create socialism in one country". His objectives were clear for he gave priority to the recovery of the peasant sector and to the financing of industry, which, he argued, were to become possible due to the prospect of the increased prosperity of the Russian peasantry. However one should also argue that they would probably have occurred anyway and another leader may have attained the same end result yet without the terrible effects upon the Russian population and way of life.…

    • 3200 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Holodomor: The Genocide Of The World
    • 1092 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Holodomor: The Genocide Of The World

    The money that was received from the wheat that was being sold to other countries went towards Stalin’s Five Year Plan to modernize the Soviet Union and to help finance his military. It was estimated that Stalin sold enough wheat to feed all of Ukraine for two years (“Stalin’s Forced Famine”). They had so much excess grain that they would even dump some into the sea or let it rot right in front of the Ukrainian people’s eyes (Perloff). The Soviet Union then closed off all borders so that nobody in Ukraine could get anything in or out of the country. Anyone that got caught with food could be shot on the spot or get put in prison. Starvation started to spread throughout the country and the effects of malnutrition started taking its toll on the Ukrainian people. The Soviet Army dug deep holes where they would throw all the dead bodies that were lying around on the street. People started to cook any animals they could find, whether it was a cat, dog, or bird. They even had to resort to cannibalism (“Stalin’s Forced Famine”). Some people wanted to get the agony over with so they would commit suicide if they had the strength to do it. Others would lay out on the street, too weak to even talk, and just wait until there body was reduced to just skin and bones (Perloff). At the height of the famine, they projected that about 25,000 people died every day and around 7,000,000 died…

    • 1092 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Genocide Dbq
    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Genocide Dbq

    Genocide is a human choice. It is the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. Genocide is the result of hate, prejudices, hate language and the individuals or society’s choice to do nothing. After the devastating horrors of the Holocaust were exposed, the slogan of the time by the United Nations became “never again” (document B).The knowledge of the atrocities done to the Jewish people outraged members and produced this well intended ideal. The UN General Assembly of the time define genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national ethnic, racial or religious group.” But the history of the twentieth…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Why Did the Bolsheviks Succeed in 1917? Essay Example
    • 1594 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Why Did the Bolsheviks Succeed in 1917? Essay Example

    The largest factor in this public unrest was the Provisional Government’s insistence that Russia should continue fighting in the First World War. Millions of Russians had been killed, a large percentage of them ‘peasants in uniform’ – farmers who were untrained and unprepared for what awaited them. With so many farmers fighting or already dead, coupled with severe inflation due to lack of government control of the economy, huge food shortages swept across Russia.…

    • 1594 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Ukrainian Genocide
    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Ukrainian Genocide

    Joseph Stalin specifically started the famine and targeted Ukrainian farmers to remove them from society in order to quell feelings of nationalism and uprising in the country. The Kulak farmers made up the majority of the population and so Stalin targeted the Kulak class of farmers because he “believed any future uprising would be led by the Kulaks, who were pro-Tsarist and anti-Soviet, thus he implemented policies intended to eliminate the Kulaks as a class of Ukrainian farmers” (Krawczewski). The Kulaks did not support Stalin’s government and so he viewed that class of farmers as a threat. All of Stalin’s actions against Ukraine (the arrests, deportations, and collectivization policies) specifically targeted the private farmers in order to prevent uprisings against him. Therefore, the genocide was thought out and brutally planned with one goal in mind, submission of the country. Later, the famine affected many more rural farmers as it was created solely to punish the Ukrainian people. Stalin did not just merrily order the country to export tons of grain, he ensured that the people would starve to death in the processes. In order to create the famine, the “Soviet Union increased production quotas that were impossible to meet, cut rations to those still in Ukraine, and coordinated food seizures in Ukrainian villages. This resulted in widespread malnutrition and starvation” (Krawczewski). The Soviet Union purposely increased the productions quotas for the country and slowly wiped out all other existing food supplies. The resulting starvation from this purposeful famine was meticulously and cruelly thought out. Ukraine ended up exporting huge amounts of grain even as the people farming it were starving. Even though there was a surplus amount, all the grain was taken away from the Ukrainian people. Certainly, the specific targeting of the farming…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Study on Holodomor
    • 2895 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Study on Holodomor

    The Holodomor was the time period of extermination by hunger against the Ukrainian people. “Holo” means hunger and “mor” means extermination or to eliminate in the Ukrainian language. (Naimark 70) Stalin’s blueprint was implemented in 1928 concentrating on the development of iron and steel, electric power and transport, and machine-tools. Joseph Stalin set the targets for the Soviet Union workforces extremely high. “He demanded an 1115 increase in coal production, 200% increase in iron production, and 335% increase in electric power.” (Five Year Plan) He claimed that if rapid industrialization did not occur; the Soviet Union would not be able to defend itself against an invasion from entrepreneurial countries in the west. (Five Year Plan) There were two essential stages during Stalin’s plan which shaped the outcome of the Soviet Union. In 1930-1931, the famine broke out and threatened entire parts of the country. The second stage was in 1932-1933 when the Ukrainians in particular were given no opportunity to seek or receive help, leaving them to starve to death. (Naimark 75) One piece of Stalin’s plan was to turn the single economic farms into groups of government collective…

    • 2895 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics