Demographic processes in the USSR during the famine of the early 1930s: historiography of the problem

The paper considers the historiography of the demographic history of the USSR in the early 1930s, highlighting the current problems of historical demography. The main focus is on key discussions about the reliability of Soviet population statistics and the scale of the demographic crisis that engulfed the country during this period, including significant population losses. The paper investigates changes in approaches to the study of this time, which range from a categorical condemnation of the Stalinist regime in the late 1980s and early 1990s to a deep understanding of the victims of Stalinism and a careful study of the demographic upheavals of the 1930s, with subsequent attempts at historical generalizations. This path reflects the evolution of historical science, moving from one-sided interpretations to a multifaceted understanding of the processes that shaped the destinies of people and entire nations during that difficult period. The demographic processes of the early 1930s in the USSR are analyzed by researchers through the prism of the famine of 1932–1933, the consequences of which were comprehensively studied in researches of the 1990s and early 2000s. However, sources such as estimated data and summary reports of the Central Department of National Economic Accounting of the USSR do not fully reflect the real picture, which emphasizes the need to take into account regional peculiarities.