UKRAiNIAN
Genocide 1932
Pre-Genocide Days
 Under Lenin – there was a loose grip on the
Ukrainian economy
 This breath of independence started a revival
among Kulaks
 -folk music, customs, language, orthodox
religion
 Stalin abruptly put an end to this movement in
order to reinforce a strong Soviet influence
Who are the Kulaks
 Wealthy
 Owned 24 acres of land or more
 Employed farm workers
Kulaks previously held political power and this
posed a threat to Stalin
Goals of the Famine
 break the spirit of the Ukrainian
farmer/peasant
 force them into collectivization.
 to break the renaissance of Ukrainian culture
that was occurring under approval of the
communist government in Ukraine.
Causes
a.
b.
c.
Kulaks had 80% of a population controlling the
Ukraine
Kulaks were in the way of rapid industrialization
A high grain quota was implicated by Moscow
resulting in genocide.
Starvation as a Tool
 1932- Soviets raise the quota by
44%
 This quota resulted in the
inability of Ukrainians to feed
themselves
 Soviet Police took stored up
food, left farmers without
anything.
Starvation
Ukrainian Communist asked Moscow for:
1. a reduction in grain quota
2. Emergency food aid
 Under Soviet law no person could eat until quota was met
 A merciless war of attrition against peasants who refused to give
up their grain.
 Execution for theft of grain
 Those who did not appear to be starving were often suspected
of hoarding grain. Peasants were prevented from leaving their
villages by the police and a system of internal passports.
Ukraine looks for help
Deaths
17 per minute
1,000 an hour
25,000 per day
The West Looks The Other Way
 West adopted a passive attitude toward the
famine,
 Franklin D. Roosevelt, even chose to formally
recognized Stalin's Communist government
 negotiated a sweeping new trade agreement.
 admission of the Soviet Union into the
League of Nations.
The End Result
 By the end of 1933, nearly 25 percent of the
population of the Ukraine, including three
million children, had perished. The Kulaks as
a class were destroyed and an entire nation
of village farmers had been laid low. With his
immediate objectives now achieved, Stalin
allowed food distribution to resume inside the
Ukraine and the famine subsided