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Concept
Soviet famine of 1946–1947
Summary
The Soviet famine of 1946–1947 was a major famine in the Soviet Union that lasted from mid-1946 to the winter of 1947 to 1948.
The estimates of victim numbers vary, ranging from several hundred thousand to 2 million. Recent estimates from historian Cormac Ó Gráda, show that 900,000 perished during the famine. Regions that were especially affected included the Ukrainian SSR with 300,000 dead, and the Moldavian SSR with 100,000 dead. Other parts of the Soviet Union such as the Russian SFSR and the Byelorussian SSR were also affected with 500,000 deaths. Elsewhere, malnutrition was widespread but famine was averted. The famine is notable for very high levels of child mortality.
Several leading causes of the famine have been identified by historians.
World War II resulted in massive infrastructural damage, especially in the agriculture in the west of the country, as well as over 25 million deaths among the Soviet citizenry. The return of demobilized troops from the war resulted in a concurrent spike in births that the system was unprepared for. The hardships of the war, especially food shortages, lasted beyond August 1945 and were still pressing issues in summer of 1946.
The drought of 1946 stifled the desperately needed recovery of Soviet agriculture, and resulted in a harvest significantly lower than the harvest of 1945. The drought was described as the most severe since 1891.
The Soviet government was overzealous in its determination to advance economic reform, and reduced eligibility to ration cards in late 1946, while at the same time raising food prices.
To avoid the appearance of global weakness, the Soviet government continued food exports and declined to seek international assistance.
The famine peaked in early 1947 and declined in severity over the course of the year. After the reasonably successful harvest of 1947, mass starvation disappeared by the beginning of 1948. The Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature was adopted by the Soviet government in late 1948 in response to the famine.
Official source
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