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The Years of Hunger: Soviet Agriculture, 1931-1933 (The Industrialization of Soviet Russia) (Vol 5) Hardcover – April 3, 2004

by R. W. Davies (Author), Stephen G. Wheatcroft (Author)

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This book examines the Soviet agricultural crisis of 1931-1933 which culminated in the major famine of 1933. It is the first volume in English to make extensive use of Russian and Ukrainian central and local archives to assess the extent and causes of the famine. It reaches new conclusions on how far the famine was "organized" or "artificial," and compares it with other Russian and Soviet famines and with major twentieth century famines elsewhere. Against this background, it discusses the emergence of collective farming as an economic and social system.

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Product Details

Series: The Industrialization of Soviet Russia (Book 5)
Hardcover: 624 pages
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (April 3, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0333311078
ISBN-13: 978-0333311073
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.4 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,805,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #10698 in Books > History > Asia > Russia
- #32668 in Books > Business & Money > Industries
- #104213 in Books > Business & Money > Economics

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21 of 27 people found the following review helpful

By far the best book on the subject

By Walt Byars on April 11, 2006

Format: Hardcover

"The Years of Hunger" by Stephen Wheatcroft and R.W. Davies, two of the top historians of the USSR, is far and away the best book on the famine of 1931-33. Simply put, no one has done the archival research these two have, no one has put the pieces in place like these two have. The book is a gripping account, almost like a narrative, of the famine and the Soviet political culture, as well as the mentality of the populace. The early chapters describe the major state programs of collectivisation, dekulakisation, and crop collection. The later chapters examine the nature of the Sovkhozy and Kolkhozy the death of livestock, as well as a concluding chapter rebutting various arguments made by political ideologues about the famine and putting it in historical perspective.

The many and varied factors causing the famine are dmonstrated to a high degree. Overall, and quite generally, the famine resulted from bad policy rushed into quickly. However, this isn't the whole story. The famine was as bad as it was because of a whole slew of phenomena that corresponded with the bad policy. Policy limiting the extent of fallow land and mandated overcultivation, for example, severely reduced flexibility of planting times which became disastrous when combined with odd weather conditions. The bungling of grain collections by the state is explored in excruciating, but gripping, detal. Wheatcroft and Davies frequently recount series of communication between officials, or proposed policy documents as they circulate through the heirarchy, describing the conditions and proposing oslutions, and the response of the higher ups. The top leadership comes off looking somewhat bad on net, altohugh there are a number of examples of people like Stalin making the right decision in the face of incompetent subordinates.Read more ›

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6 of 9 people found the following review helpful

Fine study of the famine years

By William Podmore on December 30, 2010

Format: Hardcover

In this remarkable book, Davies and Wheatcroft describe and analyse the dreadful famine in the Soviet Union in 1931-33.

They show that 1931 saw an unusually cold spring, delaying the sowing, and unusually hot weather in May, June and July, bringing a drought and cutting grain yields. 1932's March was even colder than 1931's, May and June even hotter.

They note that in February 1933 "the Politburo authorised the issue of over 800,000 tons of grain as seed to North Caucasus, Ukraine, the Lower-Volga Region, Urals and Kazakhstan; and a further 400,000 tons was issued before the end of the spring sowing. ... Between February and July no fewer than thirty-five Politburo decisions and Sovnarkom decrees - all secret or top-secret - authorised in total the issue of 320,000 tons of grain for food." This included 194,000 tons of food aid for Ukraine. A total of `nearly 2 million tons' was issued for seed, food and fodder.

Davies and Wheatcroft provide detailed data on the state's seed, food and fodder loans and aid between February and July 1933 in their Tables 22, 23 and 24. They also show that "Considerable efforts were made to supply grain to hungry children."

They conclude that Robert Conquest was wrong to assert that Stalin `wanted a famine', that `the Soviets did not want the famine to be coped with successfully' and that the Ukrainian famine was `deliberately inflicted for its own sake'. Their book refutes the big lie that the famine was a holocaust of the people of Ukraine.

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10 of 34 people found the following review helpful

Red Fantasies

By The Mysterious Traveler on April 2, 2010

Format: Hardcover

Apparently the Left has decided that if they simply create a mountain of babble, they can make the Ukrainian genocide go away. Let us cut away through--to use Trotsky's phrase--excessive verbiage and get to the basic facts.
In 1919-20, Lenin sent out confiscation battalions who stole all the foodstuffs of the Ukrainian peasants THEN they confiscated all the seed and their livestock the next year and guess what? Without any food or anyway to produce any food, millions of people starved to death. It was the worst famine in European/Russian history......until the next one. It would have been even worse but word reached the outside world and Herbert Hoover...much to Lenin's fury--orgainized a massive relief for the starving. Stalin was a witness to all this.
So when he finally ousted Trotsky and assumed complete power in 1929, he decided to do it right this time. Once again the confiscation battalions went to work ONLY this time Stalin sealed off the entire country. No one got in. No food got in. No one got out. All information about the Famine was denied denied and denied......and roughly 8 million people died this time. It was a great triumph for socialism.
The idea that it was all some terrible mistake and Stalin was so upset when he heard about it is utter rubbish and poisonous stupidity. Only a communist could believe it.
To simplify it for the comrades.
To starve 5 million to people to death is the height of callous incompetence(assuming Lenin did not do it on purpose) but to starve 8 million of the exact same people to death in the exact same way ten years later is genocide. You have a choice.Read more ›

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