User:Buruneng/1921–1923 famine in Ukraine

1921–1923 famine in Ukraine is a famine in Ukraine caused by drought, postwar difficulties as well as military food requisitions. The famine took place in the southern steppe region of Ukraine mostly. The number of martyrs is estimated between 200,000 and 1,000,000, though no systematic records were made during the famine period.

Famine reasons and course
While famines regularly happened in Russian Empire (e.g. ), fertile agricultural zone of Ukraine, especially its southern region, was usually left fed due to the high productivity of its black soil, chernozem. But during 1918-1920 a number of expropriations happened: German, Russian White Army and Red Army militants continuously tried to requisit food from peasants. In 1920 a food tax was established by Russian communist authorities, that stimulated peasants to sow less land.

There was a severe drought during the summer of 1921 that hit southern regions of European part of Soviet Russia, and starving began in the Volga Valley, North Caucasus and Ukraine. Moscow government recognized Volga food crisis, but paid no attention to events in Ukraine. Moreover, Lenin ordered to move full grain trains from Ukraine to Volga region, Moscow and Petrograd to decrease starvation there, and 1,127 were sent between fall 1921 and August 1922. Only in December 1921 Soviet leaders acknowledged fact of famine in Southern Ukraine, and it was still a kind a sensation for a meeting delegates in Kharkiv in February 1922.

Relief
While international relief organizations acted in Volga region since August 1921, in Ukraine Soviet government started seeking their help in January 1922 only as plenty of people were starving already. American Relief Adminisrtation opened its office in Kyiv only after a car journey of Lincol Hutchinson in late December 1921 - January 1922 to Odessa, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhia. Offices in Odessa and Mykolaiv were opened in late March 1922. Communist Workers International Relief started its operation in Ukraine in November 1922 only. Nansen Mission started actual work in Ukraine in May 1922 with Vidkun Quisling as a head of Kharkiv office. Most offices continued their work antil summer 1923 as situation in Ukraine was still bad, compared to mostly recoverd Volga Region.

Famine as a tool in Russian-Ukrainian conflict
As the severeness of famine was a fault of Soviet government, there is a considerable historiographical debate for whether this failure was deliberate or not. There are a number of statements from Vladimir Lenin and other Rushian bolshevik leaders, who insisted that Ukraine should be conqured due to grain necessity for Russian communists and then that Ukrainian private peasant households are enemies of Soviet regime as they fought against grain requisitions. Thus, there was a certain level of hostility of Russian communist center to Ukrainian peasantry. Difference on attitude to Russian and Ukrainian peasants could come from their loyalty: Volga region was loyal, while Ukrainians were treated as "peasant bandits". To capture grain from Mykolaiv region military were ordered to take hostages from local families. Though, critics point, there are no decrees or other strategic documents found directly prescribing elimination of Ukrainian peasantry.

Among researchers who describe famine of 1921-1923 as genocide are, Roman Serbyn.