The Holodomor Genocide or the result of bad planning?

Abstract

The 1932-33 famine in the Soviet Union killed an estimated six to eight million people. Although the famine extended throughout the Soviet Union the highest concentration of deaths was within the Ukraine and Ukrainian populated areas with an estimated three to five million fatalities. This article examines the growth of nationalism within the Ukraine, the famine related policies implemented by the Soviet government, and the death rate per capita in both the Ukraine and Russia. The famine coincided with a campaign against Ukrainian nationalism and targeted peasants who had shown resistance to Soviet policies. The disproportionate number of deaths within the Ukraine and Ukrainian populated areas combined with the deliberate actions of the Soviet government which worsened conditions within the Ukraine show that the famine was a genocide which was intended to create mass fatalities and remove Ukrainian nationalist opposition.