The 1921–1922 famine in Tatarstan was a period of mass starvation and drought that took place in the Tatar ASSR as a result of the Russian Civil War,[3][4][5] in which 500,000[1] to 2,000,000[2] peasants died.
"[10][clarification needed] Farming methods in the Tatar ASSR were outdated, similar to most non-Russian nationalities in the Soviet Union.
By 23 March, reports began to describe the developments in some kantons as a "famine" and documented peasants starving to death and committing suicide.
In response to the lack of food, many peasants prevented grain trucks from leaving Tatarstan and some refused to sow their fields.
[12] The famine also led to a sharp decline in the number of livestock and farming equipment as starving peasants sold off their property or slaughtered the draft animals for food.
[2] Historian James Long approximates that roughly 13% of the Tatar ASSR population fled to other parts of the country while another 10% died.