Soviet famine

The Soviet famine of 1931–1934, often referred to as the Holodomor in Ukraine, was a man-made catastrophe resulting from Joseph Stalin's policy of forced agricultural collectivization. This policy compelled peasants to give up their land and property to collective farms, leading to widespread resistance, a decline in agricultural production, and severe food shortages.12

The government's unrealistic grain requisitions, based on inflated "biological yields," left peasants with insufficient food. This, combined with restrictions preventing peasants from leaving affected regions, resulted in mass starvation, particularly in Ukraine, Soviet Russia, and Kazakhstan. The famine caused millions of premature deaths and was accompanied by a brutal suppression of Ukrainian culture and leadership. The Soviet government deliberately concealed the extent of the famine for decades.21