The Harvest of Sorrow

The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-famine by Robert Conquest

The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-famine is a book by British historian Robert Conquest, published in 1986. It was written with the assistance of historian James Mace, a junior fellow at the Ukrainian Research Institute, who, following the advice of the director of the Institute, started doing research for the book.[1]

The book deals with the collectivization of agriculture in 1929-31 in Ukraine and elsewhere in the USSR under Stalin's direction, and the 1932-33 famine which resulted. Millions of peasants died due to starvation, deportation to labor camps, and execution. Conquest supports the view that the famine was a planned act of genocide.[2]

Reception

David R. Marples notes the difference in the viewpoints between the Ukrainian scholarly community and the one in the West. 1983 was the 50th anniversary of the famine and a "watershed for studies of the famine in the West". Marples notes that "Conquest's book was generally well received, though Conquest admitted that he had lacked sources to confirm his estimates of the death tolls".

Conquest's thesis that the famine constituted genocide and was deliberately inflicted was controversial. Largely accepting his thesis was Geoffrey A. Hosking, who wrote that "Conquest’s research establishes beyond doubt, however, that the famine was deliberately inflicted there [in Ukraine] for ethnic reasons—it was done in order to undermine the Ukrainian nation". Peter Wiles of the London School of Economics, stated that "Conquest had ‘adopted the Ukraine exile view [on the origins of the famine of 1932–1933], and he has persuaded this reviewer’"

Dissenting from his thesis was Craig Whitney in a New York Times book review. He stated: "The clear implication of this book is that the author has taken the side of his Ukrainian sources on this issue, even though much of his evidence does not support it well". Alec Nove, while generally praising the book, also criticized Conquest for being "prone to accept the Ukrainian nationalist myth".

Later scholarship has been divided on the question as well. Marples states: "Hiroaki Kuromiya notes that those who examine the famine from a general Soviet perspective downplay any specific Ukrainian factor, while specialists on Ukraine generally support the concept of a genocidal famine".

Marples states that the most "notable work in the school of writing that maintains that the famine was not genocide" is by R. W. Davies and S. G. Wheatcroft, in which they cite a letter from Conquest stating that "he does not believe that Stalin deliberately inflicted the 1933 famine".[3]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Vlad, Mariya. "James Mace, a Native American with Ukrainian blood". WU Magazine (Welcome to Ukraine). Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  2. ↑ Staff (4 August 2015). "Robert Conquest, historian – obituary". The Telegraph.
  3. ↑ Marples, David R. (May 2009). "Ethnic Issues in the Famine of 1932–1933 in Ukraine". Europe-Asia studies 61 (3): 505–518.

Bibliography

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, February 13, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.