@Quazi he was trying to help a nation transform itself from a crumbling feudal society into a industrialized superpower. Part of that transformation required changes in policy not only from the old tzarist government but also the New Economic Plan created by Lenin’s administration. There was a class of people that benefited very well from the capitalistic NEP, landowners in Ukraine. Stalin’s plan ordered farms to be collectivized instead of government subsidized privately owned and operated farms. In resistance to this the landowners slaughtered livestock, burned crops, spoiled harvests, and salted fields in protest. The damage from these protests, along with devastating natural phenomena, caused a huge famine that effected everyone throughout the Soviet Union. The area hardest hit was obviously Ukraine. There were administrative mistakes made in the industrialization efforts, but the internal sabotage from Ukrainian landowners greatly exacerbated the issue.

Later under when Ukraine was under Nazi occupation propaganda started to be spread that this famine was entirely man made. This propaganda was spread throughout the Ukrainian populace to have people support he nazis over the Soviets. This propaganda was also spread to other western nations that were not yet involved in WW2 to try and dissuade nations allying with the USSR. The myth that the Holodomor was created by Stalin to punish a populace is still prevalent, in fact just recently a movie was made about it from the perspective of the Kulaks. Documentation released after the fall of the Soviet Union and evidence discovered by Historians tend to reveal this was just a clusterfuck of bad weather, sabotage, and bungled attempts to carry out policy. It’s a tragic event in human history to be sure, but not the insidious plan of an evil genius hell bent on subduing his subjects.