Ukraine was historically known as the "Breadbasket of Europe" and was an important agricultural producer for the Soviet Union in the early 20th century. However, in the 1930s, Joseph Stalin instituted policies of agricultural collectivization and quotas that led the Soviet Union to confiscate land from Ukrainian farmers and blockade cities, starving millions to death in what is known as the Holodomor famine. An estimated 4 million Ukrainian lives were lost during this period as Stalin sought to eliminate resistance from independent farmers.