agricultural and social developments in the countryside

what was the initial emphasis for Stalins great turn agricultural policy?

-what was the effect?

-voluntary collectivisation, persuading peasants of the benefits of working communally through posters, leaflets and films

-this had limited effect.

what was the “ural siberian method” and why wasnt it working?

-the ural siberian method involved the forcible seizure of grain and the closing down of private markets.

-it brought unrest in rural areas

by 1929, what percentage of farms had been collectivised?

less than 5%

what did stalin blame poor grain supplies on?

-what did he announce to russia?

-stalin believed that some grain procurement problems had been cause by richer kulaks holding back supplies

-in december 1929 he announced that he would “annihilate the kulaks as a class”

what was the time period for collectivisation stage 1 ?

1929-1930

collectivisation stage 1

-how did the government begin the first collectivisation campaign ?

the government began the campaign by issuing new procurement quotas, with punishments for peasants who did not keep up with deliveries.

collectivisation stage 1

what new propaganda campaign was launched?

-a deliberate propaganda campaign was launched against the kulaks.

-a rift was created in the peasant class between the poor and better-off farmers

collectivisation stage 1

what was the governments collectivisation policy by the end of 1929?

-how were they carried out? 4 reasons.

-by the end of 1929, the government had begun a programme of all out, force collectivisation.

-peasants were driven into collectivise by local party members (often students from cities) with support of the ogpu and red army .

-stalin declared that kulaks must be “liquidated as a class” and were not permitted to join collectives.

-the red army and OGPU wer eused to identify, execute or deport kulaks.

collectivisation stage 1

what percentage of peasant households were supposedly made up of kulaks?

4% of peasant households

collectivisation stage 1

what was the issue with identifying kulaks?

what were the consequences?

-it was not always easy to distinguish between peasant types and practice.

-c15% of peasant households were destroyed and c150,000 peasants were forced to migrate north and east to poorer land

collectivisation stage 1

what did some peasants do to avoid being labeled as kulaks?

some tried to avoid being labled as kulaks by killing their livestock and destroying their crops.

-this further added to rural problems.

collectivisation stage 1

what did stalin announce on january 1930?

-stalin announced that 25% of the grain farming areas were to be collectivsed that year

-brutal treatment of kulaks was used to frighten poorer preasnts into joining collectives

collectivisation stage 1

by 1930, what percentage of peasant households had been collectivised?

-by march 1930, 58% of peasant households had been colectivised through a mixture of propaganda and force

collectivisation stage 1

in an article, what did stalin write about the success of collectivisation?

what did this lead to ? 3 reasons.

-stalin wrote in an article that party members were becoming “dizzy with success”, and there was a brief return to voluntary collectivisation.

-peasants were allowed to leave collectives and had their livestock returned to them (as long as they were not kulaks)

-this reduced the collectives numbers: in october 1930 only c20% of households were still collectivised

what were the years for stage 2 of collectivisation??

collectivisation stage 2

-how did collectivisation develop in stage 2?

-stalins climb down was a temprorary tactic. once the peasants had sown the spring crop, in 1931 the process of collectivisation gradually increased, to reach 100% of peasant households by 1941.

collectivisation stage 2

what was a kolkhoze?

- a typical collective farm, which was created by combining small individual farms together in a cooperative structure.

collectivisation stage 2

what was the nature of the kolkhozes?

-compromised a single village in which peasants live in the same houses as before, have their own plot of land to work on, as welll as teh communal fields.

-the average kolkhoze comprimised 75 families and livestocl.

collectivisation stage 2

what were the4 features of every kolkhoze?

-peasants had to deliver a set quota to the state of up to 40%.

-goods left after procurement is distributed to peasants according to the number of “labour days” they contribute.

-each under control of a communist party member who acted as chairman of the collective, ensuring central control.

-from 1932, peasants were barred from leaving through a system of internal passports.

collectivisation stage 2

what was a sovkhoz?

-a collective farm owned and run by the state. the peasants who worked on these were paid a regular wage, much like factory workers.

collectivisation stage 2

what was the nature of the sovkhozes?

-labourers classified as workers, rather than peasants, and paid a fixed wage.

-movement was restricted like kolkhoze peasants.

-sovkhoze workers specialise in large scale production.

collectivisation stage 2

-what the expecations on the development of kolkhozes and sovkhozes? why?

-peasant opposistion to becoming wage labourers forced stalin to permit most farms to be of the kolkhoz type in the 1930s.

-the official expecation was that alll kolkhozes would be turned into sovkhozes in the longer term.

what were machine tractor stations ?

-there were 2500 machine and tractor stations established to support collective farms. they maintained and hired out machinery.

-typically, peasants had to hand over 20% of hteir produce for this service

what was the political side to the MTS stations?

-each MTS had a political department
-they rooted out ‘anti soviet’ elements, and established local party cells.

-they ensured that kolkhozes handed over the correct quota of grain.

what are 3 key facts about the MTSs?

2500 established from 1931, however there was only one MTS for every 40 collective farms by 1940.

-State farms typically received better machinery such as combine harvesters and chemical fertilisers

-vetinary surgeons, surveyors and technicians were sent to the countryside to advise on new mechanised farming methods.

what statistics show success in mechanisation?
-what staistics show failure?

by 1938, 95% of threshing and 72% of ploughing was mechanised

however, use of lorries was limited: by the end of 1938, there were 196,000 lorries in use to transport goods, compared to over a million in the US.

what was a social consequence of collectivisation ?

-widespread violent opposistion, amounting to civil war in the countryside.

-many peasants refused to join collectives, especially those from highly fertilse areas such as ukraine

-peasants burnt farms nad crops, and killed livestock in fears of being labled kulaks.

what was the response to unrest in the countryside?

-armed forces brutally crushed unrest

-peasants who resisted were classified as kulaks/class enemies

-millions of peasants deported to remote areas such as Siberia, and herded into labour camps as “work gangs”

-anyone who stole from collectives would be jailed for 10 years.

what was a consequence of dekulakisation?

-the removal of some of the most successful and skilled farmers in the countryside

what were the consequences of the terror?

10 million peasants died

-by 1939 around 19 million peasants had migrated to towns. for every 3 peassants who collectivised, one left the countryside to become an urban worker.

what was the famine?

1932-1934

-severe drop in food productions between 1932-1934, through an arguably man made famine. one of the worst in russian history.

what is the overall judgement on the success of collectivisation?

overall, the state achieved its purpose, the workforce was fed and exports of grain increased.

how did production suffer during the period of opposition?

-agricultrual production fell dramaticlally, sometimes to pre 1913 levels, but exceeded pre collectivisation levels after 1935.

-grain and livestock destroyed, (30% of cattle pigs and sheep were slaughtered between 1929 and 1933, and only recovered post 1953)

what were issues with the management of collecitivsation?

-poorly organised in early years
-party activists who administered farms new nothing of arming, and there was a lack of mechanisation.

what was the political impact of collectivisation?

-soviet regime extended its control over the countryside, through party management of collectives. peasants could not resist the regime ever again.

-those on the right who opposed collectivisation such as Bukharin and Rykov lost power.