Crop Failures - The Natural Causes

The peasants knew how to insure themselves against the random vicissitudes of god and nat. They kept reserves of grain, seed banks, food and fodder stored in case of emergency. But civil war over contested areas like the volga meant constant forced requisitions from both the red and the white armies. Anything they produced was just going to be seized, so why bother producing it? After years of this, the peasants were out on the thin ice of bare subsistence. And in 19 21, they fell through the ice when the second crop failure hit. There was nothing to eat.