I know this seems like an obvious attempt to start a struggle session, but I promise I’m asking in a good faith attempt to learn:) y’all are way smarter and better read than any group I’ve ever been a part of before tbh

I’m listening to the rev left Stalin episode and they’re discussing the holodomor. Clearly a lot of what I thought I knew is capitalist propaganda. However, there also seems to be a possible motivation here to gloss over some of the bad elements of the USSR? I also feel slight alarm bells going off at some parts but idk why really, probably bc it brings up feelings associated w Holocaust denial, even though I know they’re v different issues.

I’m kinda new to the left so I don’t feel like I have the knowledge or the critical thinking skills to tackle this issue on my own.

It seems to boil down to: did the holodomor happen? If yes, was it intentional? If no, was it avoidable?

I’m sure this discussion has happened before so feel free to just link me to stuff haha. Insight appreciated!

  • Mardoniush [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    1·
    4 years ago

    This is great. just adding a few points

    There were mismanagement issues by the Soviets as well which exacerbated the issue.

    Misreporting by local Kulaks or corrupt officials meant that initially the Soviets continued grain exports (grain being one of the only trade options the Soviets had to get much needed agricultural machinery, because the west had shut down Soviet gold and mineral exports. This created a catch 22 where they needed to export grain they didn’t have, or they wouldn’t be able to have a secure grain production.)

    This in turn caused a bunch of issues up and down the chain of command, where starvation panic and Kulak revolts were conflated. Measures to bring what they thought was a simple withdrawal of food supply (rather than the destruction of the supply) under control resulted in them not taking adequate famine prevention measures quickly enough, and removing remaining grain from the area.

    Once senior officials did realise the scale of the disaster, the response was rapid. Stalin’s writings are not thrilled.