The politics of famine: American government and press response to the Ukrainian famine, 1932-1933

Abstract

The Soviet Ukraine suffered a man-made famine in 1932-1933 during which millions died. This was part of the central government's attack on Ukrainian nationality and culture. The United States Government received numerous contemporary intelligence reports on the famine from its European embassies, but chose not to acknowledge the famine publicly. Similarly, leading members of the American press corps in the Soviet Union willfully covered up the famine in their dispatches. In both cases, political considerations relating to the establishment of diplomatic relations with the U.S.S.R. seem to have been critical factors in this cover-up.