Stalin

‘Stalin’s Theory of Sweet Revenge

The former security chief was found guilty of offences that stretched back to 1919, when he had worked in the security service of the short-lived Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), a Muslim parliamentary democracy that had been recognized by the United States and Britain. However, Lenin was anxious to secure the vital Baku oilfields so in 1920 the ADR was invaded by the Red Army

Under Yagoda, even children were arrested for ‘stealing Socialist property’ and sent to labour camps.

The death toll from the 1932–33 famine in Ukraine alone has been conservatively estimated at between six and seven million – 25,000 people were dying every day.

By mid-1932, nearly 75 per cent of the farms in Ukraine had been forcibly collectivized and on Stalin’s orders the amount of foodstuffs to be shipped out to Russia was drastically increased. Even seed grain was confiscated from peasant households. Any man, woman or child caught taking even a handful of grain, now considered to be the property of the state, would be shot, deported or imprisoned for not less than ten years.

Stalin then ruthlessly imposed the Soviet system of collectivization on Ukrainian agriculture. All privately owned farmlands and livestock were to be seized by the state.

Beginning in 1929, over 5,000 leading Ukrainians – scholars, scientists, cultural and religious leaders – were arrested and falsely accused of plotting an armed revolt.

Then on 10 April 1925 the city of Tsaritsyn – now Volgograd – was renamed Stalingrad.

Three days after Lenin’s death, the city of Petrograd – now St Petersburg – was renamed Leningrad in his honour.

Baku then became another Bolshevik stronghold.