lysenkoism 

Overview

After the Second World War, during the vying between the Eastern economic theory of communism and the Western economic theory of capitalism, Stalin decided to implement a new agricultural policy that would result in the death of millions. To understand both why Stalin put this policy into place as well as why it killed so many people, we must first dive into the demented brain of the man moving the pen. 

Stalin did indeed subscribe to evolution, but he did not subscribe to Darwinian evolution. Just before Charles Darwmin penned the Origin of Species, a French biologist was publishing his own rendition of evolution. Lamarck, said to almost be the founder of evolution, came up with a near identical system as Darwin, with one seemingly minor exception. Lamarck believed that traits were not passed down from generation in a hereditary fashion, but instead through the efforts of the predecessors. If a giraffe stretched its neck enough, then its offspring would have longer necks, for example. 

Stalin subscribed to this false interpretation, which was a driving force behind the massive crop failures across the Soviet Empire. He put a man named Trofím Denísovich Lysénko in charge of all agriculture in Russia, which in turn demanded that all crops be planted in the winter, as in theory, the harsh conditions should make the plants stronger. In reality, he ended up killing millions of crops, which led to millions of deaths across Russia and the Soviet satellite states. This shows the immense importance of the understanding of evolution, as humans do indeed use it to our advantage. Evolution is not studied for only a sense of mental benefit, but to also better the quality of the human condition.

References

Packard, A. S. (1901). Lamarck, the founder of evolution: His life and work. Longmans, Green, and Company.

Brain, S. (2010). The great stalin plan for the transformation of nature. Environmental History, 

15(4), 670-700. Great Stalin Plan for the Transformation of Nature