The Soviet famine of 1932-1933 and U.S. recognition of the U.S.S.R.

During the early 1930s one of the most devastating famines in history struck the Soviet Union. The famine was not rooted in natural causes, but was man-made. It was a direct result of Joseph Stalin's decision to pursue a policy of forced starvation when the Soviet peasantry resisted his campaign to collectivize agriculture. As the famine reached its peak in 1933, the United States government decided to extend diplomatic recognition to the Soviet Union. This reversed a policy that had been in effect since 1917. Although the Soviet government was successful in limiting the outside world's knowledge of the famine, the united states Department of state did have detailed information about the extensive starvation that was taking place. Historians have charged that President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Administration ignored the famine in order to facilitate diplomatic recognition. The policy of nonrecognition had been based partly on moral objections against the Communist regime, and these historians contend the Roosevelt Administration knew it would be difficult to reverse the policy of nonrecognition if the American public had known about the forced starvation of millions of Soviet peasants. This study focuses on whether or not Roosevelt and his Administration did in fact have knowledge of the famine, and whether they kept this information from the American public in order to establish diplomatic ties with the Soviets, state Department records and personal manuscript collections were the primary source materials used in answering this question. The conclusion is that while Roosevelt probably did not know about the famine, top policymakers in the State Department did. They did not make the information public because of their desire to bring about recognition and a strong belief against interference in the domestic affairs of other nations.