The five-year plan from 1928 to 1933 was to turn the Soviet Union into a country of workers. The idea was that this would allow the state to divert resources towards industrialization. In 1931 and especially in 1932, there's a transition to collectivized agriculture in Ukraine. There is a bad harvest, and then you have to interpret that. Stalin gives a highly politicized interpretation of a failure which is basically about his own policy.
Vladimir Putin believes Ukraine belongs to Russia, and he used that a pretense to invade. In an episode originally released in February, historian Timothy Snyder explains why Putin is wrong.
This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Collette, engineered by Efim Shapiro, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, and hosted by Noel King.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
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