The scale and misery of that battle on both sides is nearly beyond our comprehension. Reminders are good.
From GROK:
Stalin’s policies (1924–1953) included forced collectivization, the Great Purge, Gulag labor camps, mass deportations, and engineered famines like the Holodomor. Below is a breakdown based on available evidence:
- Holodomor (1932–1933): The Ukrainian famine, widely regarded as man-made, killed an estimated 3.5–7 million people, with 5 million often cited as a median figure.
- Other Famines: Collectivization-related famines in Kazakhstan, the Volga region, and elsewhere caused 1–2 million deaths.
- Great Purge (1936–1938): Executions during the purges are estimated at 600,000–1.2 million, based on NKVD records and mass grave findings.
- Gulag System: From 1929–1953, about 1.6 million deaths are documented in labor camps due to starvation, disease, and executions, though estimates range up to 2.5 million.
- Deportations: Forced resettlements of ethnic groups (e.g., Chechens, Volga Germans) caused 200,000–500,000 deaths, with some estimates higher.
- Other Repressions: Political executions, “dekulakization,” and smaller-scale purges add hundreds of thousands more.
Total Estimates:
- Conservative estimates: 6–9 million deaths directly attributable to Stalinist policies.
- Higher estimates: Some historians, like Robert Conquest, suggest 15–20 million, including indirect deaths from policy failures.
- Recent scholarship (e.g., Anne Applebaum, Timothy Snyder) leans toward 10–15 million as a balanced range, acknowledging data gaps.
These figures exclude World War II deaths, as they are not directly tied to Stalinism. Discrepancies arise from Soviet record falsification, differing methodologies, and debates over “intentional” vs. “incidental” deaths.
More from GROK:
Stalin’s treatment of Kazan, the capital of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (TASSR), was shaped by his broader policies of Sovietization, industrialization, and repression, which had profound effects on the city and its largely Tatar and Russian population. While Kazan was not singled out for unique persecution compared to other Soviet cities, it faced significant hardship under Stalinism due to its status as a Tatar cultural and political center. Below is a detailed account based on available evidence:
- 1921–1922 Famine: Kazan, located in the Volga region, was severely hit by the famine exacerbated by Stalin’s war communism policies and grain requisitions. The famine killed an estimated 500,000 to 2 million people in the broader Volga region, including many in and around Kazan. The city’s population, particularly the Tatar majority, suffered from starvation and disease, with reports of mass mortality and social breakdown.
- Cultural Repression: Kazan was a historic center of Tatar culture, with a rich tradition of Islamic scholarship and intellectual life. Stalin’s policies targeted this identity:
- Language and Education: The Tatar language was suppressed, with its Arabic script replaced by Latin in the 1920s and Cyrillic by 1939. Tatar-language schools, presses, and theaters in Kazan were closed or Russified, eroding cultural heritage.
- Religious Persecution: Kazan’s mosques and Islamic institutions, central to Tatar identity, were shuttered or repurposed. Clerics were arrested or executed during the anti-religious campaigns of the 1920s and 1930s.
- Intellectual Purges: Tatar intellectuals in Kazan, including scholars and writers, were targeted as “bourgeois nationalists.” Figures like Mir Said Sultan-Galiev, a Kazan-born Bolshevik advocating for Tatar autonomy, were purged, with Sultan-Galiev arrested in 1923 and later executed.
- Great Purge (1936–1938): Kazan, as a regional hub, saw intense political repression during the Great Purge. Local Communist Party leaders, intellectuals, and ordinary citizens were accused of “counter-revolutionary” or “pan-Turkist” activities. Thousands in Kazan were arrested, executed, or sent to Gulags. NKVD records suggest hundreds of executions in the city, with mass graves later uncovered in the region.
- Industrialization and Social Change: Stalin’s push for rapid industrialization transformed Kazan into a Soviet industrial center:
- Forced Labor and Urbanization: The city’s population grew as peasants, including Tatars displaced by collectivization, were funneled into factories. Working conditions were harsh, with low wages and long hours.
- Cultural Erasure: Historic Tatar neighborhoods and architectural sites in Kazan were neglected or destroyed to make way for Soviet infrastructure, further diluting the city’s Tatar character.
- Collectivization’s Impact: The agricultural hinterlands around Kazan were devastated by forced collectivization in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Tatar peasants, labeled “kulaks,” were stripped of land and livestock, leading to economic collapse and migration to Kazan, where many faced poverty. This indirectly strained the city’s resources and social fabric.
- Relative Treatment: Compared to regions like Ukraine (Holodomor) or Crimea (1944 Tatar deportation), Kazan did not face targeted ethnic cleansing. However, its Tatar population endured cultural suppression and economic hardship on par with other non-Russian regions. The city’s strategic importance as an industrial and administrative center meant it was tightly controlled, with dissent swiftly crushed.
Long-Term Impact: By Stalin’s death in 1953, Kazan’s Tatar cultural identity was significantly weakened, with Russian language and Soviet ideology dominating public life. The city’s demographic balance shifted toward a Russian majority due to industrialization and Russification policies, a legacy that persisted into the post-Soviet era.