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Climate Dependence and Food Problems in Russia, 1900-1990

The Interaction of Climate and Agricultural Policy and Their Effect on Food Problems

Edward G Bellinger author Nikolai M Dronin author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Central European University Press

Published:20th Jun '06

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Climate Dependence and Food Problems in Russia, 1900-1990 cover

Between 1900 and 1990, there were several periods of grain and other food shortages in Russia and the former Soviet Union, some of which reached disaster proportions resulting in mass famine and death on an unprecedented scale. New stocks of information not previously accessible as well as traditional official and other sources have been used to explore the extent to which policy and vagaries in climate conspired to affect agricultural yields. Were the leaders' (Stalin, Krushchev, Brezhnev and Gorbachev) policies sound in theory but failed in practice because of unpredictable weather? How did the Soviet peasants react to these changes? What impact did Soviet agriculture have on the overall economy of the country? These are all questions that are taken into account.

"The book's most important contribution is its thorough and systematic overview of climatic changes, year by year, and their impact on the performance of Russian and Soviet agriculture. Given the profound impact of food supply problems at so many critical junctures in Russian and Soviet history, this thorough and rigorous survey deserves to be welcomed by all historians of Russia and the Soviet Union." * American Historical Review *
"The "intrusion" of two specialists in environmental policies into historical studies of Russia should only be welcomed. Commonly for each chapter, the section on "weather variations and agricultural production," is the most interesting and contains the most new information. In these sections the authors fully exploit their expertise, usually lacking among humanist historians, and uncover technical sources (typically reports published by the Hydrometeorological Service) which are almost destined to be ignored by historians. The authors carefully try to identify to what extent each case of agricultural and food crisis in Soviet history was caused by climatic or political reasons." * Russian Review *

ISBN: 9789637326097

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 580g

386 pages