How was Collectivisation carried out?

What were the 3 main methods employed to carry out Collectivisation?

Force, terror and propaganda

Why were kulaks identified as a ‘class enemy’?

To frighten the middle and poor peasants into joining the kolkhozes

Why were villagers often unwilling to identify kulaks?

They helped them out in difficult times or lent them animals to plough their land, part of village community in which ties to peasants were stronger

Who were the 25 Thousander?

An army of 25000 party activists to help revolutionise the countryside

What was their (25 Thousanders) role in Collectivisation?

Root out kulaks and persuade the middle and poor peasants to sign a register demanding to be collectivised

What happened to the kulaks?

Dekulakisation- each region given a number of kulaks to find and they found them whether they existed or not

What 3 categories were Kulaks divided into?

Counter-revolutionaries who were to be shot or sent to forced-labour settlements, active opponents of collectivisation who were deported

How did propaganda help with the process of de-kulakisation?

Helped to extol the advantages of collective farms and to inflame class hatred, effective in some areas

How did propaganda help with the process of de-kulakisation? (2)

Many poorer peasants denounced their neighbours as kulaks. Children encouraged to inform on neighbours and parents

Give 3 examples to illustrate how the peasants restricted Collectivisation

Root and armed resistance, one riot lasted 5 days and armoured cars had to be brought in, peasants burnt crops, tools and houses rather then hand them in to the state, raids to recapture animals

What was Stalin’s response to the peasant resistance?

He wrote an article for Prauda in Mar 1930, saying his officials had moved too fast, calling them ‘dizzy with success’

What did Stalin call for?

A return to voluntary principle and end to coercion

In what year was Collectivisation restarted?

1931, pedants forced back into collectives they left, so by the end of 1931, USSR had taken in over 50% of peasants households, large areas of USSR collectivised

What happened in the famine of 1932-34?

Collectivisation was pushed even harder this time, a result was the famine. 7 million died (5 mil in Ukraine)