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description: *Includes pictures*Includes a bibliography for further readingWhat are the causes of the famine? The main reason for the catastrophe in Russian agriculture is the Soviet policy of collectivisation. The prophecy of Paul Scheffer in 192030 that collectivisation of agriculture would be the nemesis of Communism has come absolutely true.  Gareth JonesFamine  one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse in the Book of Revelation  continues to be one of the most crippling and destructive scourges of humanity. This inexorable affliction traumatically fatal in the worst-case scenarios has terrorized every single continent at some point throughout history some more so than others. Perhaps the most famous was the notorious Irish Potato Famine of 1845 during which a noxious fungus-like microorganism known as the Phytophthora infestans destroyed half of Ireland's potatoes and three-fourths of the crop in the following seven years resulting in the deaths of 1.5 million and the forced migration of some two million citizens. The catastrophic Bengal Famine of 1943 which was precipitated by a dreadful cyclone and tidal waves the previous year led to the deaths of an estimated seven million Bengalis.Among some of historys famines the Holodomors death toll is considerably lower than others such as the the Chalisa and South India Famines between 1782 to 1784 which killed roughly 11 million people altogether or the Chinese Famine of 1907 which claimed up to 25 million lives in northern China. The Holodomor however which ravaged Ukraine between 1932 and 1933 was not a natural occurrence but a ghastly man-made famine brought about by Stalinist policies. When Ukraine was incorporated into the Soviet Union communist ideology was enforced on every part of society religion was effectively prohibited and dissenters were sent to the Gulag prison camps. The church was an early target for the communists as many buildings and religious icons were vandalized and believers were mocked.As awful as that all was Stalins economic plans were especially disastrous for Ukrainians. This Holomodor calculatedly inflicted to serve the dictator's agenda as well as to suppress Ukrainian nationalism and stamp out those who dared resist the regime consequently resulted in the avoidable deaths of anywhere between 3.9 million and 10 million Ukrainian civilians. It was equivalent to roughly 25% of the population a third of them children and the victims all died in less than two years. One historian of the Soviet Union Anne Applebaum charted these events in her book Red Famine concluding that the Soviet Unions disastrous decision to force peasants to give up their land and join collective farms; the eviction of kulaks the wealthier peasants from their homes; the chaos that followedthese policies were all ultimately the responsibility of Joseph Stalin the General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.While Ukrainians marked this tragedy as the Holodomor (a composite of the Ukrainian words hunger (holod) and extermination (mor)) and the modern Ukrainian state recognized the period as a genocide in 2006 the Holomodor was deliberately swept under the rug for several decades. As a result it remains widely unacknowledged to this day and the nature of the famine  particularly whether it should be considered a genocide  is still debated by scholars.The The History and Legacy of the Ukrainian Famine Engineered by the Soviet Union examines the events that brough about the famine and its terrible toll. Along with pictures of important people and places you will learn about the Holodomor like never before.
language: None
title: The Holodomor: The History and Legacy of the Ukrainian Famine Engineered by the Soviet Union
publisher: None