Famine Flashcards
Alexander II [1855-81]
Famine
There wasn’t really any famines during Alexander II
the peasants role of course was to feed the workers however due to the peasants becoming workers there were less peasants in the rural areas farming which later on would lead to more famines as more workers were created
there was also a mono culture where only one thing was Grown
the zemstva had an anti-famine committee to reduce the chances of a famine occuring
Alexander III [1881-93]
Famine
1891 vyshnegradsky exported grain even during a shortage this led to a famine
He said even if we starve we will export grain
He was very stupid
That was a special committee created to deal with the famine called the special committee of famine relief
they also banned the exportation of grain
Nicholas II [1893-1917]
Famine
During the First World War some peasants hoarded grain
however there was a good harvest these soldiers were fed by grain however the towns were not
This is due to buy the time the peasants got to the sound of food rotted
this issue was solved by the February Revolution as towns were got fed by peasants
Prov Gov [Feb-Oct 1917]
Famine
State committee of food supply created in March 9th 1917 they established a great Monopoly and fixed prices
the Monopoly was overseen by a hierarchy of provincial and district supply committees which was dominated by:
state officials, merchants, and landowners, attempted to impose grain requisition
The whole thing relied on the currency the peasants would be paid with for the grain being stable
And for consumer goods to be available at similar prices to their pay
However it was during war this was occurring and therefore the currency was not stable
and therefore there was continuous food shortages increasing in cities as they wouldnt sell the grain for those prices
Late summer petrograde had 2 days worth of bread reserves left
This is how bad it got
Eventually the price may have been sorted out and therefore the people in the towns would have got their food
Lenin [1917-24]
Famine
In [ 1918 ]
– there was a food crisis peasants hoarded grain due to the land lost in the breast lavosk Treaty
– five million people died
– this was tackled with forced grain requisition under war communism
– to increase the grain in the cities (sike they used most of it to feed soldiers)
In [ 1921 ]
– after the civil war’s bad winter and a poor harvest with terrible weather
– there was another famine/ food shortage
– this was likely caused by the policy of War communism and the grain requisition as well as the poor winter and poor harvest
– this was resolved by reluctantly accepting American relief administration
– which solved this famine and allowed for grain to the given to the cities and towns
Stalin [1929-53]
Famine
1932-3 holodmor man made ukraine famine to supres ukraine, millions die
1932-4
• due to the policy of collectivisation and Poor harvests and bad weather there was another famine
• 5 to 8 million people died in this famine
• that was also a famine at this time in Ukraine, which was believed to be man-made
– to destroy opposition to Stalin and his policies?
• the famine had a political side to it
– peasants who ate their own corn was shot along with anyone who hordes and guards the grain
– anyone who stole grain was murdered
– discussion of the grain crisis was illegal
– movement restrictions were put in place so people couldn’t leave the famine areas for food
– in retaliation peasants killed their own livestock (as opposed to handing them to local authorities)
– this reduced plowing as horses were used to carry the plows along the fields
– and the horses were either being killed or froze to death this led to more famine
– Cattle also froze to death along collective farms that lacked big enough Barns to house them in
– this peasant opposition likely made the famine worse as the opposition = v production which ^ famine
– meaning that it would continue until the opposition dies down
– the policy of collectivization was made worse by Dekulakisation
– in which 3 million highly productive kulak families were in the Gulag
– and therefore cant grow lots of Grain for the USSR
• it is likely that this famine was man-made by Stalin with the policy of collectivization
– as if there was a famine it would mean workers would have to work harder to attempt to get first dibs on any meal because they were hungry
– increasing worker production which was stalin’s main goal
– as he didn’t really care about agriculture other than to feed peasnts
– by 1935 matters seems to be improving and food production was increasing
– however by the start of the second world war total food output hadn’t quite reached to pre-first world war levels yet
– the diets of workers seem to be worsening under the communists
– by the late 1930s the consumption of meeting fish had fallen by 80%
• During World War II
– collectivization was relaxed meaning there was no longer any restrictions on the size of land used
– this meant that there was an increase in production
– however by [ 1947 ] these relaxation of collectivization Rules were abolished
– meaning that they went back to the controlled policy on the amounts of land being used
– leading to the 1947 famine
Khrushchev [1953-64]
Famine
In 1963 the Virgin land scheme in Kazakhstan and Siberia was failing
– as there was unfertile land being used
– they had ran out of fertilizer
– the maize that they had switched to from successful plants such as corn and wheat
– did not like growing in these cold and harsh conditions
– this in combination with a bad winter in 1963
– led to a famine/ food shortages in which 1 million people died
– it was solved by importing grain from the USA in Australia
– which happened to be a successful way of resolving the issue
– as by 1964 132 million tons of serial had been produced
Famine Links in Russia (policy)
• in 1947 and 1932-4 famine was largely due to the policy of collectivization
policies also cause famines in:
1891 with the exportation of Grain
1921 with grain requisition during war communism
and in 1963 was the failure of the Virgin land scheme
famine Links in russia (system of gov link)
• the system of government and government intervention with policies affects famines
– whether or not the system of government is focused on repression or not
– both Alexander II (emancipation) and Khrushchev (VLS + other agg policys) tried to make policies for the better of Agriculture
they were both restricted by
Khrushchev’s inexperience in agg policy
and Alexander’s commitment uphold autocracy
+
• Stolopyn under Nicholas II who tried to reform agriculture to strengthen the bond between the peasants and the Tsar
– however he was killed before it could become fully successful
• these 3 are different to other systems of government as they try to help agriculture improve
– and don’t just use it to increase productivity to feed the workers
( because better agriculture = more government support from peasants + grain production = more workers fed = more industrial production)
Famine Links in Russia (gov
intervension to solve famine diff)
Stalin’s way of trying to solve the 1932-4 and 1947 famines was to sort of ignore them until they went away
they were caused by collectivization and he didn’t really want to admit that it wasn’t a very good policy
so he simply ignored the famine until it went away
– therefore wouldn’t have to address the issue until it was over
– and even then only do minor things such as eventualy allow some private farm land to increase in size to ^production (even tho He says collectivisation is the main policy that works)
This is probably because Stalin only needed the production of Grain to work to feed workers and didn’t really care about peasants
However
During the famine of 1891 and 1921 they were both solved by either
internal relief in 1891 with the special committee of famine relief
or external relief in 1921 with the American relief administration
Showing that both Alexander III and Lenin actively attempted to solve the famine unlike Stalin who has previously mentioned just waited till it went away
famine Stalin
Holodomor 1932-33 (in 1932-4 one but in ukraine)
• a man-made farming by starling specifically designed to punish the ukrainians and make them more Russian
it ended up killing 3.9 million people
and was a large economic loss for Ukraine
some of the causes of the famine was poor harvest
bad weather and
the bad winter
as well as rapid collectivization
However Stalin also added this with his policy of dekulakization
specific Ukrainian policies such as on the 18th of November 1932
Ukrainian peasants were required to return the extra grain they obtain from meeting their previous targets and the state police were to find any other food and confiscated
on the 20th of November
If peasants did not meet the demand of their grain quotas they were to surrender any livestock that they had
Only 28th of November if a collective failed to meet their quote that they were put on a blacklist
and forced to surrender 15 times their quota
as well as they were unable to grind grain Mills
and they had no longer the right to trade or receive deliveries of any kind
On 5th of December if people refuse to help with grain requisition it was classed as treason
November 1932 Ukraine was required to provide a third of the entire USSR grain collection
January 1933 the Ukrainian borders were set up to stop peasants from fleeing
and by the February 190,000 were caught trying to leave and then they were forced to retreat their village and starve to death
The collection of Grain continued even after the targets of 1932 was met in late January for 1933
so stailin manmade ukraine fammine
