Collectivisation, 1930s

What was collectivisation in the USSR?

Collectivisation was a policy of uniting small individual farms into larger collective farms. There were different types of collective farms. 'Kolkhozes' were farms where the peasants 'owned' the land, while 'Sovkhoz' were state-owned farms. This was enforced by the Soviet government in the late 1920s - early 1930s.

When was collectivisation introduced in the USSR?

Collectivisation was announced in 1927, encouraged by the government in 1928 and then enforced in 1929.

What happened to the peasants under Soviet collectivisation?

Under collectivisation, peasants were forced to share resources and work to government targets. Any profits left after state demands were met were shared equally among members of the collectives.

Why did Stalin bring in collectivisation in the USSR?

There were 7 important reasons why Stalin brought in collectivisation:

• ❖ Ideologically, it would socialise the peasants and turn them into good communists by getting rid of private farms and removing class divisions by destroying the kulaks.
• ❖ Economically, collectivisation would fund industrialisation by increasing food production to feed the workers and to sell grain abroad.
• ❖ Collectivisation would enable farming to be mechanised which would free workers for the industrialisation process.
• ❖ Politically, collectivisation would increase the Communists Party's control over the countryside.
• ❖ Politically, it would enhance Stalin's reputation in a similar way as the introduction of the Five Year Plans had.
• ❖ Politically, it would help Stalin remove Bukharin as a rival in the leadership struggle as he favoured the NEP.
• ❖ Between 1927 and 1928, the government struggled to get enough grain to feed the workers in the towns because of the 'Scissors Crisis'. The peasants hoped that by reducing grain production it would push up prices. Collectivisation would stop this from happening.

How was collectivisation brought into the USSR?

There were 4 key ways in which collectivisation took place:

• ❖ Propaganda, force and terror were all used.
• ❖ Initially, voluntary collectivisation was tried, but failed as the peasants resisted it and killed their animals as well as the officials sent to collectivise them.
• ❖ In December 1929, Stalin announced the 'liquidation of the kulaks as a class', also known as dekulakisation, and any peasant that opposed collectivisation was labelled a 'kulak' and attacked.
• ❖ Stalin enlisted an army of 25,000 party activists called the Twenty-Five Thousanders to force the collectivisation of the farms and to identify kulaks.

What were the consequences during collectivisation in the USSR for peasants who refused to collectivise?

The following happened to peasants that refused to cooperate:

• ❖ They were branded a 'kulak', and became targets for persecution.
• ❖ Around 30,000 kulaks were killed between 1930 and 1931.
• ❖ Up to 10 million were transported to labour camps in Siberia, where many were worked to death.

What were the initial problems with Soviet collectivisation?

Initially, there were 2 main problems with collectivisation:

• ❖ Both the richer and poorer peasants resented the government interfering in their lives.
• ❖ Peasants frequently destroyed their own crops and slaughtered their animals rather than hand them over to the communists.

What were the key features of Kolkhozes, or collective farms, during collectivisation in the USSR?

The 5 key features of a Kolkhoz were:

• ❖ All land, tools and livestock were shared.
• ❖ The government decided what was grown, the hours worked and what jobs were to be done. The peasants were controlled so they could not leave the Kolkhoz.
• ❖ They consisted of 50 to 100 households.
• ❖ The government took most of the produce and paid very low prices so the farmers were paid very little.
• ❖ Families could have an acre of land to grow vegetables or keep animals.

What was the role of machine tractor stations during collectivisation in the USSR?

Machine Tractor Stations, or MTS, were:

• ❖ Created so collective farms could rent machinery such as tractors.
• ❖ Created to control the peasants as they were run by the Communist Party.
• ❖ Used to oversee the collective farms to ensure compliance.
• ❖ Problematic. It was costly for the peasants to rent machinery as there wasn't enough of it and it was poorly maintained.

What were the successes of Soviet collectivisation?

Collectivisation had 6 main successes:

• ❖ Farms were collectivised. In 1931, over 50% of households were collectivised. By the end of 1934, 70% of peasant households were in collectives. This increased to 90% by 1936.
• ❖ By the end of 1931, 22.8 million tonnes of grain had been collected. This was enough to feed the cities and export to fund industrialisation.
• ❖ It broke peasant resistance and destroyed the kulaks.
• ❖ It enabled rural areas to be turned communist.
• ❖ It meant the Communist Party extended its control over rural areas.
• ❖ There was enough machinery and changes in farming methods for peasants to be freed up so they could move to work in the new factories.

What were the failures of collectivisation in the USSR?

There were 4 main failures of collectivisation:

• ❖ Peasant opposition severely reduced production levels which took years to recover. Grain production did not exceed pre-collectivisation levels until 1935. Meat production did not return to pre-collectivisation levels until 1955.
• ❖ The USSR's agricultural technology did not improve.
• ❖ The machine tractor stations failed to deliver what was needed in terms of enough working machinery.
• ❖ The policy contributed to the Great Famine of 1932 - 1933. In the spring of 1932, a famine began in Ukraine and other areas (north Caucasus, Kazakhstan). By late 1934, approximately 7 million people had died.

How was collectivisation used to oppress Ukraine during collectivisation in the USSR?

Collectivisation was used to oppress Ukraine in 6 key ways:

• ❖ Ukraine, which was part of the Soviet Union, was a state with rich farmland.
• ❖ Lots of Ukrainians refused to join the collective farms. Those who resisted were brutally oppressed.
• ❖ Stalin wanted to destroy Ukrainian nationalism and culture because of this opposition.
• ❖ The government increased the grain quotas, despite food production decreasing between 1932 and 1933.
• ❖ Officials took everything from the peasants when they could not meet the quotas.
• ❖ Thus, Ukraine suffered greatly during the Great Famine of 1932 - 1933, which is also called the 'Holodomor' - meaning 'death by hunger'.

How did collectivisation in the USSR contribute to the Great Famine?

Collectivisation made the Great Famine of 1932 - 1933 worse in 4 key ways:

• ❖ It severely disrupted farming which resulted in a decrease in production.
• ❖ The peasants resisted it by killing their animals and destroying their crops which meant there would be less food produced in subsequent years.
• ❖ The new collective farms were often badly run by the Twenty-Five Thousanders, who had little farming experience. This was the name given to workers from industrial cities who voluntarily left their homes to work on the frontline in rural areas.
• ❖ Many of the most experienced farmers were either deported, imprisoned in the gulags or executed.