The Ukrainian Genocide: The Worst Tragedies in Ukranian History

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Out of all the genocides that occurred during the 1900’s, only one possessed the most fatal outcome. Compared to the six million deaths in the Holocaust, this genocide had between two million to ten million people. The Ukrainian genocide proved to be the one of the worst tragedies in Ukrainian history.
The Soviet Union was responsible for this genocide; specifically Joseph Stalin, who was very opposed to Ukrainian nationalism. He came into power after the fall of the Russian Empire and after Vladimir Lenin gained power but died a year later. His main goal in the Ukraine was to destroy Ukrainian nationalism and get rid of the Kulaks. Kulaks were considered peasants who were better off economically and a threat to state control. In order to gain control of the Ukraine, Stalin implemented his five-year plan.
During Stalin’s five year plan, he wanted to increase agriculture massively to feed the people working in industry as well as sell to strengthen the economy. Stalin began the genocide by annihilating “Ukraine’s cultural intelligentsia—not so much its engineers, doctors, and technicians, but its linguists, historians, artists, folk singers, and others whose work and professional lives suggested a separate cultural or historical identity for Ukraine” (History in Dispute). They had also included Ukrainian communists in the first objective. Stalin’s second objective was to destroy the economic and political relevance of individual peasant farmers. Most Ukrainian residents had their owns farms even when the serfs were in existence; prosperous on their own with the New Economic Policy from the 1920’s. Stalin’s plan would end the independent ways of living and prosperous peasantry.
Under the implementation, many of the mo...

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.... 3 May 2014. http://find.galegroup.com/gic/infomark.do?&source=gale&idigest=c78bffd7bb4a35e4038a943301d3e0d6&prodId=GIC&userGroupName=vale41196&tabID=T001&docId=CX3434600345&type=retrieve&contentSet=EBKS&version=1.0 "US-UKRAINE-FAMINE-ASSESSMENT." Ukraine General Newswire 21 Nov. 2011. Global Issues In Context. Web. 3 May 2014. http://find.galegroup.com/gic/infomark.do?&source=gale&idigest=c78bffd7bb4a35e4038a943301d3e0d6&prodId=GIC&userGroupName=vale41196&tabID=T004&docId=A273116503&type=retrieve&contentSet=IAC-Documents&version=1.0 Krushelnycky, Askold. "Ukraine Famine." Ukraine Famine. Ukrainian Archives, n.d. Web. 3 May 2014. http://www.faminegenocide.com/resources/ukraine_famine.html Serbyn, Roman. "The Ukrainian Famine - Holodomor." The Ukrainian Famine - Holodomor. Holodomor Education, n.d. Web. 03 May 2014.
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