1928-33

Second period of famine again claims many lives in Russia.

The dreadful famine that engulfed Ukraine, the northern Caucasus, and the lower Volga River area in 1932-33 was the result of Soviet leader Josef Stalin's policy of forced collectivization instituted in 1929. The policy had a disastrous affect on agricultural productivity. Soviet law required that no grain from a collective farm could be given to the members of the farm until the government's quota was met. Despite declining productivity, Stalin raised the quota in 1932 to 45%. The policy, and the methods used to implement it, condemned millions to death by starvation.