Joseph Stalin and Ukrainian Genocide Commemoration Essay

Alongside the 20th century, another devastating genocide that occurred was the Holodomor in Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933. Holodomor translates to “death by hunger.” Stalin instituted collectivization and raised Ukraine’s grain production quotas to an impossible 44%. He authoritatively mandated that no grain was to be given to the Ukrainians until the regimes quota was met, hence, this led to the starvation of the entire population in Ukraine .

¬¬Marissa Bracey World History and Voices Ms. Phillips & Mr. Cline May 5, 2015 Holodomor: The Eight stages of Genocide Genocide is a term that was created in 1944 to describe violence against a specific ethnical, racial, national, or religious group with the intent to destroy or wipe out that entire group. This is an unfortunate event that has caused millions of casualties and left even more in grief. The famine-genocide of Ukraine took place over the span of 16 long years, killing over 7 million farmers and families, over one third of the lives lost were children. Joseph Stalin is to blame for the horrors caused in Ukraine, his communist ways and power hungry drive allowed him to force millions of farmers out of their land and into poverty.

Genocide is always organized and the killings planned out. Soon after the organization stage, polarization begins, driving the groups apart and beginning an extremist regime. The “Final Solution” was approved and planned under the rule of Adolf Hitler and implemented by the German SS. Overall, the German SS murdered more than one million Jews (Source 3). Under the rule of Joseph Stalin, the killing of kulaks and other peasants was organized. Starting in 1929, ten million peasants were moved to Arctic work camps. The remaining peasants were forced into collective farming where they were forced to meet the government’s demanding grain quota (Source 1). Like the Holocaust, government agents were trained to carry out the plans to eliminate their targeted people group and preventing them from escaping the oppression. As the beginnings of these genocides continued, the Jews and the Ukrainians were alienated more and more. In both genocides, people with opposing views were deported because they were seen as a threat. In Russia, Soviet propaganda promoted “The new Soviet man”, one who idealises the Soviet’s past and overlooks Stalin’s heinous crimes (source

In the beginning of 1932, the Soviet government had sharply increased the Ukraine's production quotas in the collectivized farms. This ensured that the people would not be able to meet them. This resulted in an even larger widespread of starvation. In the summer of 1932, Stalin ordered a decree that called for the arrest or execution of any person that was caught taking any amount of grain or food item from their place of work. This led to military blockades stationed around many Ukrainian villages, preventing food from coming in and the starving people from going out in search of food. Soviet guards were brought into the villages to confiscate any hidden grain. Eventually all food from any farmer’s home was taken. When news of the Famine reached the outside world, food supplies were sent from the United States and Britain, however through Stalin, the shipments were denied and new policies from the Soviet Union that denied their part in the famine refused all outside aid were instilled. Stalin refused entry even to journalists, as he feared the media would reveal the Soviet Unions’ crimes against the Ukraine.

These effects however were more severe under Lenin and Stalin as they sought to increase grain production by coercion. While Lenin under War communism used grain requisitioning to forcefully collect peasant surpluses from them Stalin used collectivisation to force peasants to collaborate to produce as much food as possible. Similarly in both cases the peasants refused to conform; knowing that any surplus would be confiscated the peasant produced the barest minimum to feed themselves and their family and even less food was available for Russia. One of the greatest impacts were the famines that occurred in 1921 under Lenin where the grain harvest produced less than half the amount gathered in 1931 and Russia had international help from countries such as the USA. However these impacts were the greatest under Stalin. The amount of bread produced fell from 250.4 (kilograms per head) in 1928 to 214.6 in 1932. The impacts of collectivisation were at its worst in 1932-32 when occurred what many people describe as a self-made national famine. Stalin’s ‘’official silence’’ of the situation meant it wasn’t addressed and thus collectivisation killed between 10-15 million peasants and failed to increase agricultural output. Though a similar devastating famine occurred under

Money was required for Russia to build their own industrial base to support themselves. To build this infrastructure they had to borrow money from other countries. In exchange Russia would give them grains. Hence, Russia’s economy depended on the peasant who had to feed themselves & the bourgeoisie.The peasants weren’t productive enough. As a result, Stalin started to collect agriculture to finance industrialization (New World Encyclopedia contributors, 2014). Economics historians believe it to be the fastest economic growth rate ever achieved. In 1932-1933 the 4th greatest famine occured in the USSR due to collectivication (Fitzgerald, 2013). The workers building and working in these industries were unpaid laborers and prisoners (New World Encyclopedia contributors, 2014). Because there was about ~7 million - 15 million prisoners in labor camps and they were working in industries, those camps were now necessary for the prosperity of Russia’s economy (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d.). With all those measures in place the productions of coal, pig iron & steel increased (New World Encyclopedia contributors,

Stalin’s policy priorities were not building a ‘worker’s paradise’ or a classless society, but protecting Russia from war and invasion. In 1928, Stalin launched the first of two ambitious five-year plans to modernize and industrialize the Soviet economy. These programs brought rapid progress – but also significant death and suffering. Stalin’s decision to nationalize agricultural production dispossessed millions of peasants, forcing them from their land to labor on gigantic state-run collective farms. Grain was sold abroad to finance Soviet industrial projects, leading to food shortages and disastrous famines in the mid-1930s. Soviet Russia was dragged into the 20th century, transforming from a backward agrarian empire into a modern industrial superpower – but this came at extraordinary human cost.

In his speech, Stalin also mentions that kulaks, which were wealthy peasants, must be eliminated as a class. (Document 3) In this speech Stalin explained that agriculture must change in order to feed the growing population of industrial workers. The collective farms would receive the needed modern technology and scientific equipment, and it would all result in increased food production. Stalin made clear that the kulaks must be driven out in order for the plan to be successful. Once again, Stalin is using the power of speech to gain support for his collectivization plan. An excerpt from A History Civilization describes the horrific effects of Stalin’s collectivization. Stalin began deporting the capitalistic farmers (kulaks) to forced labor camps or Siberia, and peasants were being machine-gunned into submission. Peasants slaughtered huge amounts of horses, cattle, sheep and goats, burned crops and broke plows in desperate revolts. The amount of Russian livestock lost due to collectivization was immense. (Document 4)

Holodomor occurred during 1932-1933, but corrupt events and poor leadership led up to the famine and starvation. Vladimir Lenin, who ruled the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924, declared Ukraine as an independent nation. Sadly, the new country’s government was very unstable and could not withstand. So, the country became a part of the Soviet Union once again. As a result of getting a taste of independence, a new pride and patriotism rose among the Ukrainians along with a political elite group. Joseph Stalin, who rose to power in 1924, saw that this wave of nationalism in Ukraine as a threat. So Stalin set up a new form of economic production called collectivism. Collectivism is where individual farmers were

Rome was a very large and powerful city by the first BC but the reign of Augustus transformed it into an imperial city. In 31 BCE, Augustus became the supreme commander of the Roman Republic. During the Augustan Revolution, art and architecture pushed a political agenda. Art portraying Augustus remains common throughout his reign. The art and architecture helped reinforce Augustus’ political message that he was the restorer of Rome.

However, some level of De-Stalinisation was introduced as instead of focusing on heavy industry and defence spending, Khrushchev poured investment into consumer goods, new industries (such as chemicals) and agriculture (until later when defence spending and nuclear/space research again received the most investment). This change led to failure as the system was too inflexible to allow investment priorities to change and as before this led to shortages in vital sectors such as agriculture and consumer goods (especially Khrushchev’s housing reform which was cut back) and an overall lack of innovation for the new products. Khrushchev also attempted to make some agricultural reform which was part of De-Stalinisation as even though the collective system remained they were merged into larger groups call sovkhozes which were similar to those used in his Virgin Land Scheme. He also abolished the Machine Tractor Stations as they no longer served their political purpose and ensured that the collectives had more freedom to choose their own machinery. This led to some success (especially in 1958 when the Virgin Land Scheme was producing half of the annual harvest) however after a while cracks began to appear which was again due to the changing of a system people had learned to live with. This can again be blamed on

The Nature of the job isn't as easy as it looks but you have to examine, bathe the animals, seeing if they are sick, taking x-rays, taking blood tests, check for parasites, put them to sleep for surgery, and prepare tools and medicine for the Veterinarian when they're in the process of surgery and more. It's very important to take science, computer chemistry, math, and health in high school so you can be ready for medical school. Also you need as much experience with animals as you can get. There are many programs you can take in college for being a Veterinary technician, technologist, or even both. Being a Veterinary technician requires working with all kinds of animals, vets must have a Associates degree to be a Veterinary Technician. Vets must be able to talk and work with

After World War II, the genocide of Jews by the Germans across German-occupied territory was on everyone’s minds. Although it was a horrible event in recent history, the Holocaust was not the only genocide of that period. Joseph Stalin ordered 400,000 Chechens and Ingush to be deported to Siberia and central Asia to be put into labor camps on February 23, 1944 (“Greetings from Grozny”). The genocide of the Chechen population has been a terrible event and other genocides around the world should be stopped by efforts of individuals and the United States government.

The Russian’s loss in the Russo-Japanese war was the another way that they got the public to turn against the provisional government and strengthen the communist revolt. The revolt got stronger and stronger until the Bolsheviks finally revolted and took down the Russian Provisional Government. Because of this, civil war erupted all over the country. At the end of this war, in 1920, the Bolsheviks set up the USSR, or Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, under control of Vladimir Lenin. When Lenin died, Stalin aggressively worked his way up until he was the leader of the USSR. In his control, Stalin set up a “5 year plan” to advance the Russian economy from just farming to also having industry. In this plan, he would also advance the military and “cleanse the country of villains” or those he saw as villains. To “cleanse the country”, Stalin would have unfair trials that would have many on trial at once. These were called his “Show Trials”. The majority, if not all, of these people were found guilty and sent for execution. They were executed all at once, and the executions were called the Purges. To advance the Russian economy, Stalin would work the farmers to death… literally. When the farmers revolted, Stalin stopped sending them food and even more died from starvation. On the last of the purges, 16 men were put on trial and accused of acts of terrorism towards Stalin and the Soviet government. Two of them were Stalin’s allies after Lenin’s death, Zinovyev and

In an authoritative and widely cited translation of the Analects of Confucius originally published in 1938, celebrated English sinologist Arthur Waley provided the most comprehensive explication of this enduring contribution to humanistic philosophy, one which has since been continually reprinted for scholarly study. An anthology of short yet powerful passages which capture the beliefs taught by Confucius during his lifetime, the Analects offers a fluid recreation of Confucius and his associated teachings, through the prism provided by the evolving structure of the school of thought created. Beginning with a sober deconstruction of the mythologizing which has come to define the Western conception of Confucius, of whom Waley states "it appears from the Analects that he was a private person who trained the sons of gentlemen in the virtues proper to a member of the ruling class" (14), this translation offers modern readers with an comprehensive and historically accurate interpretation of the Analects, and their influence on the resulting system of moral mastery known as Confucianism. Spreading slowly but steadily throughout China after the original texts comprising the Analects was compiled by Confucius' pupils in approximately 300 BCE, the philosophy of social and political ethics espoused in these twenty books developed into a combination of religious dogma and ruling doctrine.