Red Famine: Stalin's War on Ukraine, by Anne Applebaum, is a gripping account of the largest man-made famine in modern history. The famine, which spanned the years 1932-33, resulted in the death of over four million Ukrainians and set a dangerous precedent for the Soviet Union. Applebaum illuminates the impact of the famine on everyday life and paints a vivid picture of the propaganda-fueled catastrophe:
• Traces the famine to the Soviet Union's man-made policy decisions, including their decision to seize Ukraine’s food supply
• Exposes the brutality of the Soviet regime and its role in the famine
• Documents how Stalin cynically manipulated propaganda and the state media to portray the situation in Ukraine as politically acceptable
• Explores how Soviet modernity came to replace culture and village life in Ukraine
As a UX designer, this book offers important insights into how governments and companies can use media messages to influence their citizens and customers. It is also an informative companion to books such as Through the Language Glass: Why The World Looks Different in Other Languages, which explores the impact of the language of our conversations on our culture.
🎀 Highlights
early spring of 1932, the peasants of Ukraine were beginning to starve. Secret police reports and letters from the grain-growing districts all across the Soviet Union – the North Caucasus, the Volga region, western Siberia – spoke of children swollen with hunger; of families eating grass and acorns; of peasants fleeing their homes in search of food. In March a medical commission
early spring of 1932, the peasants of Ukraine were beginning to starve. Secret police reports and letters from the grain-growing districts all across the Soviet Union – the North Caucasus, the Volga region, western Siberia – spoke of children swollen with hunger; of families eating grass and acorns; of peasants fleeing their homes in search of food. In March a medical commission found corpses lying on the street in a village near Odessa. No one was strong enough to bury them.
Honourable Comrade Stalin, is there a Soviet government law stating that villagers should go hungry? Because we, collective farm workers, have not had a slice of bread in our farm since January
Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-Jewish lawyer who invented the word ‘genocide’, spoke of Ukraine in this era as the ‘classic example’ of his concept: ‘It is
Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-Jewish lawyer who invented the word ‘genocide’, spoke of Ukraine in this era as the ‘classic example’ of his concept: ‘It is a case of genocide, of destruction, not of individuals only, but of a culture and a nation.’
The Sovietization of Ukraine did not begin with the famine and did not end with it.
the Ukrainian language was demoted, Ukrainian history was not taught.
As long as the USSR existed, it was not possible to write a fully documented history of the famine and the accompanying repression.
Soviet-wide famines between 1930 and 1934 – which also led to high death rates, especially in Kazakhstan and particular provinces of Russia – but focuses more directly on the specific tragedy of Ukraine.6
the percentage of unclassified material in Ukraine is one of the highest in Europe.
because the leaders of modern Russia still challenge the legitimacy of the Ukrainian state, I should note here that I first discussed the need for a new history of the famine
It is instead an attempt to tell the story of the famine using new archives,
The Maidan revolution of 2014, Yanukovych’s decision to shoot at protesters and then flee the country, the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea, the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine and the accompanying Russian propaganda campaign – all unexpectedly put Ukraine at the centre of international politics while
The Maidan revolution of 2014, Yanukovych’s decision to shoot at protesters and then flee the country, the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea, the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine and the accompanying Russian propaganda campaign – all unexpectedly
The Maidan revolution of 2014, Yanukovych’s decision to shoot at protesters and then flee the country, the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea, the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine and the accompanying Russian propaganda campaign – all unexpectedly put Ukraine at the centre of international politics
The absence of natural borders helps explain why Ukrainians failed, until the late twentieth century, to establish a sovereign Ukrainian state. By the late Middle Ages, there was a distinct Ukrainian
The absence of natural borders helps explain why Ukrainians failed, until the late twentieth century, to establish a sovereign Ukrainian state.
Prior to that, the same lands belonged to Poland, or rather the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which inherited them in 1569 from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Earlier still, Ukrainian lands lay at the heart of Kyivan Rus’, the medieval state in the ninth century formed by Slavic tribes and a Viking nobility, and, in the memories of the region, an almost mythical kingdom that Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians all claim as their ancestor.
Poles always acknowledged that the Ukrainians were linguistically and culturally separate from themselves, even when they were part of the same state. Many of the Ukrainians who accepted Polish aristocratic titles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries remained Orthodox Christians, not Roman Catholics; Ukrainian peasants spoke a language that the Poles called ‘Ruthenian’, and were always described as having different customs,
Poles always acknowledged that the Ukrainians were linguistically and culturally separate from themselves, even when they were part of the same state. Many of the Ukrainians who accepted Polish aristocratic titles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries remained Orthodox Christians, not Roman Catholics; Ukrainian peasants spoke a language that the Poles called ‘Ruthenian’, and were always described as having
Poles always acknowledged that the Ukrainians were linguistically and culturally separate from themselves, even when they were part of the same state. Many of the Ukrainians who accepted Polish aristocratic titles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries remained Orthodox Christians, not Roman Catholics; Ukrainian peasants spoke a language that the Poles called ‘Ruthenian’, and were always described as having different customs, different music, different food.
Russians often had the same paternalistic attitude to Ukraine that northern Europeans at the time had towards Italy. Ukraine was an idealized, alternative nation, more primitive and at the same time more authentic, more emotional, more poetic than Russia.
Russian scholars and bureaucrats treated the Ukrainian language as ‘a dialect, or half a dialect, or a mode of speech of the all-Russian language,
Greek historian Herodotus himself wrote about Ukraine’s famous ‘black earth’, the rich soil that is especially fertile in the lower part of the Dnieper River basin: ‘No better crops grow anywhere than along its banks, and where grain is not sown, the grass is the most luxuriant in the world.’
along with a relatively mild climate, makes it possible for Ukraine to produce two harvests every year. ‘Winter wheat’ is planted in the autumn, and harvested in July and August; spring grains are planted in April and May, and harvested in October and November.
The black-earth district encompasses about two-thirds of modern Ukraine – spreading from there into Russia and Kazakhstan – and, along with a relatively mild climate, makes it possible for Ukraine to produce two harvests every year. ‘Winter wheat’ is planted in the autumn, and harvested in July and August; spring grains are planted in April and May, and harvested in October and November.
Russian control, spoke a version of Ukrainian that was slightly closer to Russian; they were also more likely to be Russian Orthodox Christians, following rites that descended from Byzantium, under a hierarchy led by Moscow.
For much of Ukraine’s history, Ukrainian was spoken mostly in the countryside. As Ukraine was a colony of Poland, and then Russia and Austria-Hungary, Ukraine’s major cities – as Trotsky once observed – became centres of colonial control, islands of Russian, Polish or Jewish culture in a sea of Ukrainian peasantry.
Jews, if they did not speak Yiddish, often preferred Russian, the language of the state and of commerce.
The peasants identified the cities with wealth, capitalism and ‘foreign’ – mostly Russian – influence. Urban Ukraine, by contrast, thought of the countryside as backward and primitive.
Ukrainian national movement always had a strong ‘peasant’ flavour.
Patriotic private Sunday schools began to teach it too.
using the Ukrainian language and textbooks in schools could lead to its use in higher education and eventually in legislation, the courts and public administration,
Ukrainian students in Russian-language schools were ‘demoralized’, grew bored with school, and became ‘hooligans’.
Many peasants, educated in Russian, a language they barely understood, made little progress. A Poltava teacher in the early twentieth century complained that students ‘quickly forgot what they had been taught’ if they were forced to study in Russian. Others reported that Ukrainian students in Russian-language schools were ‘demoralized’, grew bored with school, and became ‘hooligans’.16 Discrimination also led to Russification: for everybody who lived in Ukraine – Jews, Germans and other national minorities as well as Ukrainians – the path to higher social status was a Russian-speaking one. Until
The discovery of coal and the rapid development of heavy industry had a particularly dramatic impact on Donbas, the mining and manufacturing region on the eastern edge of Ukraine.
The Austrian state gave Ukrainians in the empire far more autonomy and freedom than did Russia or later the USSR, not least because they regarded the Ukrainians as (from their point of view) useful competition for the Poles.
stylized Ukrainian folk decorations into a Jugendstil facade,
Lviv. A spectacular piece of architectural fusion, the building incorporates stylized Ukrainian folk decorations into a Jugendstil facade, creating a perfect hybrid of Vienna and Galicia.
language in public.21 When both the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires
When both the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires collapsed, unexpectedly, in 1917 and 1918 respectively, many Ukrainians thought they would finally be able to establish a state. That hope was quickly extinguished in the territory that had been ruled by the Habsburgs. After a brief but bloody Polish-Ukrainian military conflict that cost 15,000 Ukrainian and 10,000 Polish lives, the multi-ethnic territory of western Ukraine, including Galicia as well as Lviv, its most important city, was integrated into modern Poland. There it remained from 1919 to 1939.
output promoted the sovereignty of Ukraine. Heorhii Narbut, a graphic artist, also returned to Kyiv in 1917. He helped found the Ukrainian Academy of Fine Arts and designed a Ukrainian coat of arms, banknotes and stamps.
Hrushevsky was by no means the only intellectual whose literary and cultural output promoted the sovereignty of Ukraine. Heorhii Narbut, a graphic artist, also returned to Kyiv in 1917. He helped found the Ukrainian Academy of Fine Arts and designed a Ukrainian coat of arms, banknotes and stamps.
early spring of 1932, the peasants of Ukraine were beginning to starve. Secret police reports and letters from the grain-growing districts all across the Soviet Union – the North Caucasus, the Volga region, western Siberia – spoke of children swollen with hunger; of families eating grass and acorns; of peasants fleeing their homes in search of food. In March a medical commission
early spring of 1932, the peasants of Ukraine were beginning to starve. Secret police reports and letters from the grain-growing districts all across the Soviet Union – the North Caucasus, the Volga region, western Siberia – spoke of children swollen with hunger; of families eating grass and acorns; of peasants fleeing their homes in search of food. In March a medical commission found corpses lying on the street in a village near Odessa. No one was strong enough to bury them.
Honourable Comrade Stalin, is there a Soviet government law stating that villagers should go hungry? Because we, collective farm workers, have not had a slice of bread in our farm since January
Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-Jewish lawyer who invented the word ‘genocide’, spoke of Ukraine in this era as the ‘classic example’ of his concept: ‘It is
Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-Jewish lawyer who invented the word ‘genocide’, spoke of Ukraine in this era as the ‘classic example’ of his concept: ‘It is a case of genocide, of destruction, not of individuals only, but of a culture and a nation.’
The Sovietization of Ukraine did not begin with the famine and did not end with it.
the Ukrainian language was demoted, Ukrainian history was not taught.
As long as the USSR existed, it was not possible to write a fully documented history of the famine and the accompanying repression.
Soviet-wide famines between 1930 and 1934 – which also led to high death rates, especially in Kazakhstan and particular provinces of Russia – but focuses more directly on the specific tragedy of Ukraine.6
the percentage of unclassified material in Ukraine is one of the highest in Europe.
because the leaders of modern Russia still challenge the legitimacy of the Ukrainian state, I should note here that I first discussed the need for a new history of the famine
It is instead an attempt to tell the story of the famine using new archives,
The Maidan revolution of 2014, Yanukovych’s decision to shoot at protesters and then flee the country, the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea, the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine and the accompanying Russian propaganda campaign – all unexpectedly put Ukraine at the centre of international politics while
The Maidan revolution of 2014, Yanukovych’s decision to shoot at protesters and then flee the country, the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea, the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine and the accompanying Russian propaganda campaign – all unexpectedly
The Maidan revolution of 2014, Yanukovych’s decision to shoot at protesters and then flee the country, the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea, the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine and the accompanying Russian propaganda campaign – all unexpectedly put Ukraine at the centre of international politics
The absence of natural borders helps explain why Ukrainians failed, until the late twentieth century, to establish a sovereign Ukrainian state. By the late Middle Ages, there was a distinct Ukrainian
The absence of natural borders helps explain why Ukrainians failed, until the late twentieth century, to establish a sovereign Ukrainian state.
Prior to that, the same lands belonged to Poland, or rather the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which inherited them in 1569 from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Earlier still, Ukrainian lands lay at the heart of Kyivan Rus’, the medieval state in the ninth century formed by Slavic tribes and a Viking nobility, and, in the memories of the region, an almost mythical kingdom that Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians all claim as their ancestor.
Poles always acknowledged that the Ukrainians were linguistically and culturally separate from themselves, even when they were part of the same state. Many of the Ukrainians who accepted Polish aristocratic titles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries remained Orthodox Christians, not Roman Catholics; Ukrainian peasants spoke a language that the Poles called ‘Ruthenian’, and were always described as having different customs,
Poles always acknowledged that the Ukrainians were linguistically and culturally separate from themselves, even when they were part of the same state. Many of the Ukrainians who accepted Polish aristocratic titles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries remained Orthodox Christians, not Roman Catholics; Ukrainian peasants spoke a language that the Poles called ‘Ruthenian’, and were always described as having
Poles always acknowledged that the Ukrainians were linguistically and culturally separate from themselves, even when they were part of the same state. Many of the Ukrainians who accepted Polish aristocratic titles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries remained Orthodox Christians, not Roman Catholics; Ukrainian peasants spoke a language that the Poles called ‘Ruthenian’, and were always described as having different customs, different music, different food.
Russians often had the same paternalistic attitude to Ukraine that northern Europeans at the time had towards Italy. Ukraine was an idealized, alternative nation, more primitive and at the same time more authentic, more emotional, more poetic than Russia.
Russian scholars and bureaucrats treated the Ukrainian language as ‘a dialect, or half a dialect, or a mode of speech of the all-Russian language,
Greek historian Herodotus himself wrote about Ukraine’s famous ‘black earth’, the rich soil that is especially fertile in the lower part of the Dnieper River basin: ‘No better crops grow anywhere than along its banks, and where grain is not sown, the grass is the most luxuriant in the world.’
along with a relatively mild climate, makes it possible for Ukraine to produce two harvests every year. ‘Winter wheat’ is planted in the autumn, and harvested in July and August; spring grains are planted in April and May, and harvested in October and November.
The black-earth district encompasses about two-thirds of modern Ukraine – spreading from there into Russia and Kazakhstan – and, along with a relatively mild climate, makes it possible for Ukraine to produce two harvests every year. ‘Winter wheat’ is planted in the autumn, and harvested in July and August; spring grains are planted in April and May, and harvested in October and November.
Russian control, spoke a version of Ukrainian that was slightly closer to Russian; they were also more likely to be Russian Orthodox Christians, following rites that descended from Byzantium, under a hierarchy led by Moscow.
For much of Ukraine’s history, Ukrainian was spoken mostly in the countryside. As Ukraine was a colony of Poland, and then Russia and Austria-Hungary, Ukraine’s major cities – as Trotsky once observed – became centres of colonial control, islands of Russian, Polish or Jewish culture in a sea of Ukrainian peasantry.
Jews, if they did not speak Yiddish, often preferred Russian, the language of the state and of commerce.
The peasants identified the cities with wealth, capitalism and ‘foreign’ – mostly Russian – influence. Urban Ukraine, by contrast, thought of the countryside as backward and primitive.
Ukrainian national movement always had a strong ‘peasant’ flavour.
Patriotic private Sunday schools began to teach it too.
using the Ukrainian language and textbooks in schools could lead to its use in higher education and eventually in legislation, the courts and public administration,
Ukrainian students in Russian-language schools were ‘demoralized’, grew bored with school, and became ‘hooligans’.
Many peasants, educated in Russian, a language they barely understood, made little progress. A Poltava teacher in the early twentieth century complained that students ‘quickly forgot what they had been taught’ if they were forced to study in Russian. Others reported that Ukrainian students in Russian-language schools were ‘demoralized’, grew bored with school, and became ‘hooligans’.16 Discrimination also led to Russification: for everybody who lived in Ukraine – Jews, Germans and other national minorities as well as Ukrainians – the path to higher social status was a Russian-speaking one. Until
The discovery of coal and the rapid development of heavy industry had a particularly dramatic impact on Donbas, the mining and manufacturing region on the eastern edge of Ukraine.
The Austrian state gave Ukrainians in the empire far more autonomy and freedom than did Russia or later the USSR, not least because they regarded the Ukrainians as (from their point of view) useful competition for the Poles.
stylized Ukrainian folk decorations into a Jugendstil facade,
Lviv. A spectacular piece of architectural fusion, the building incorporates stylized Ukrainian folk decorations into a Jugendstil facade, creating a perfect hybrid of Vienna and Galicia.
language in public.21 When both the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires
When both the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires collapsed, unexpectedly, in 1917 and 1918 respectively, many Ukrainians thought they would finally be able to establish a state. That hope was quickly extinguished in the territory that had been ruled by the Habsburgs. After a brief but bloody Polish-Ukrainian military conflict that cost 15,000 Ukrainian and 10,000 Polish lives, the multi-ethnic territory of western Ukraine, including Galicia as well as Lviv, its most important city, was integrated into modern Poland. There it remained from 1919 to 1939.
output promoted the sovereignty of Ukraine. Heorhii Narbut, a graphic artist, also returned to Kyiv in 1917. He helped found the Ukrainian Academy of Fine Arts and designed a Ukrainian coat of arms, banknotes and stamps.
Hrushevsky was by no means the only intellectual whose literary and cultural output promoted the sovereignty of Ukraine. Heorhii Narbut, a graphic artist, also returned to Kyiv in 1917. He helped found the Ukrainian Academy of Fine Arts and designed a Ukrainian coat of arms, banknotes and stamps.
