the British government broke off diplomatic and economic ties with the Soviet Union (May 27,1927), thereby dealing a severe blow to the Soviet economy.

Feeling threatened, the Russians decided to decrease Soviet Russia’s economic de¬pendence on
areas beyond its borders, and to make the Soviet Union a world power. To execute this plan, Russia needed Ukraine’s resources at all costs. Without Uk¬rainian coal and iron, the Soviet Empire’s economy would not be able to exist And so, Moscow began to fear for Ukraine.

According to Moscow, “provocations” in China created a particular threat to Uk¬raine and Byelorussia. On this occasion, K. Voroshilov, Commissar of Military Affairs, stated that “English imperialists … expected that along with our weakening in areas of commerce and industry, there would ultimately be a weakening of the western borders and this would provide opportunity for our neighbors to stir up Ukraine and Byelorus¬sia.”

The Russians claimed that England was preparing for anti-U.S.S.R. intervention. Their fear for Ukraine was growing because the English press stated that, in case of war, England would support Poland and other neighboring countries. In August 1927, the Plenary Assembly of the Central Committee for the Russian Communist Party of Bolsheviks emphasized that the English government “is leading a widespread diplomatic war against the U.S.S.R.; is organizing an economic credit blockade against the U.S.S.R.; is responsible for plots and terrorist acts on Soviet territory; and is sup¬porting counter-revolutionary groups in the Caucasus, particularly in Georgia (and) in Ukraine…”4

In December 1927, the 15th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bol¬sheviks ratified directives for implementing the first five-year plan for Soviet agricul¬ture. In these directives it was stated that “the fastest tempo of development should be established in those branches of heavy industry that would increase Soviet economic strength and defense capabilities in the shortest time span: that would guarantee continued development even in case of an economic block; and that would diminish dependency on the capitalist world and would favor agricultural transforma¬tion—based on advanced technology and collectivization”.5

In accordance with the decisions of the Bolshevik Party, the economic plan for self-sufficiency and intensification of military capabilities of Soviet Russia was attained through industrialization and collectivization of the entire U.S.S.R, with the help of Ukrainian resources. These resources were essential for Moscow’s expediency in be¬coming a world power.
Keeping in mind that these resources were under constant threat because of the self-determination tendencies of the population, plus the peripheral location of the Uk¬rainian republic, the Soviet Russian government decided to establish a second large

………………………….

3 Ibid, p. 212.
4 Ibid, pp. 217-218.
5 K.P.S.S. v rezoliutsiyakh i resheniyakh s”yezdov, konferentsiyakh i plenumov Ts.K. (The Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the Resolutions and Decisions of Congresses, Conferences and Plenary Sessions of the Central Committee), No. 2. Moscow, 1954, p. 457; Istoriya S.S.S.R. (History of the U.S.S.R.), vol. VIII, Moscow, 1967, p. 459.