Agricultural Collectivisation & its Impact

Collectivisation

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

Initial problems with collectivisation

Both richer and poorer peasants resented the government interference in their lives. It was not only kulaks who opposed the change.
Peasants frequently destroyed their crops to avoid handing it over to the communists.

Collectivisation paused

Because of this, collectivisation was paused in 1930.
Stalin accused party officials of being overzealous (too forceful) in their attempts to force peasants to give up their produce (even though they were just following orders). This slowed down the collectivisation campaign.

Starvation

By 1933, at the end of the campaign, a famine led to 1.3 million deaths in Kazakhstan and 1 million in Russia.
- 5.7 million died across the whole country during the collectivisation years.
Yet the Communist Party now controlled the countryside.

Oppression

Ukraine was a nation with rich farmland that was part of the Soviet Union. Lots of Ukrainians refused to join collective farms.
The people who resisted were brutally oppressed. Stalin wanted to smash Ukrainian nationalism and culture.

Interpretations

Fitzpatrick 'Everyday Stalinism' (1999):
- Since [the Communist Party] believed that this revolutionary transformation was in the long-term interests of the people, they were willing to force it through, even when, as with collectivization, a majority of the relevant population clearly opposed it. They explained popular resistance as a result of the backwardness, prejudices, and fears of the unenlightened masses.'

The Successes and Failures of Collectivisation

Though collectivisation led to widespread famine and oppression, Stalin saw some successes.

Successes

Stalin saw the policy as a political success because it meant he was now in control of the countryside.
Each Machine Tractor Station had a secret police officer to control the area.
Grain which could be sold abroad was used to pay for the Five-Year Plans, which Stalin sold as an economic success.

Failures

Overall yields saw no significant increases during collectivisation, and only small amounts of grain could be sold overseas.
Russia’s agricultural technology did not improve, the policy was hugely unpopular, and resulted in a huge loss of life.
Food supplies to the cities remained poor because of the chaos in the countryside.

Holodomor

The starvation which happened in the Ukraine was known as ‘Holodomor’. This means ‘extermination by hunger’.
Stalin refused foreign assistance, and denied that the famine existed.
Some historians have suggested that the death toll was as high as 3.3 million people. By June 1933, 28,000 people were dying each day.

1Communist Government in the USSR, 1917-85

1.1Establishing Communist Party Control, 1917-24

1.1.1The Creation of a One-Party State

1.1.2Government under Lenin

1.1.3Centralisation of Power

1.1.4End of Topic Test - Establishing Control

1.1.5A-A* (AO3/4) - Establishing Control

1.2Stalin in Power, 1928-53

1.2.1The Elimination of Opponents

1.2.2The Purges of the 1930s

1.2.3End of Topic Test - The Elimination of Opponents

1.2.4Stalin's Power Over the Communist Party

1.2.5Stalin's Power During & After the Communist Party

1.2.6End of Topic Test - Power Over the Communist Party

1.2.7A-A* (AO3/4) - Stalin in Power

1.3Government, 1953-85

1.3.1Changes in Leaders' Control of the State

1.3.2Khrushchev's Attempts to Reform Government

1.3.3End of Topic Test - Government 1953-85

1.3.4Stability & Stagnation, 1964-85

1.3.5End of Topic Test - Stability & Stagnation

1.3.6A-A* (AO3/4) - Government 1953 - 85

2Industrial & Agricultural Changes

2.1Towards a Command Economy

2.1.1Nationalisation of Industry, Communism & the NEP

2.1.2End of Topic Test - Towards a Command Economy

2.2Industry & Agriculture in the Stalin Era

2.2.1Five Year Plans & Industrial Change

2.2.2Five Year Plans & Industrial Change 2

2.2.3End of Topic Test - Five Year Plans

2.2.4Agricultural Collectivisation & its Impact

2.2.5Recovery from War after 1945

2.2.6End of Topic Test - Collectivisation & Recovery

2.3Changes in Industry & Agriculture, 1953-85

2.3.1Light Industry, Chemicals & Consumer Goods

2.3.2Investment in Agriculture & Virgin Lands

2.3.3Attempts at Reform after 1964

2.3.4End of Topic Test - Industry & Agriculture

2.3.5A-A* (AO3/4) - Industry & Agriculture

3Control of the People, 1917-85

3.1Media, Propaganda & Religion

3.1.1State Control of Mass Media & Propaganda

3.1.2Attacks on Religious Beliefs & Practices

3.1.3Attacks on Religious Beliefs & Practices 2

3.1.4End of Topic Test - Media, Propaganda & Religion

3.1.5Cults: Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev

3.1.6A-A*/ - Media, Propaganda & Religion

3.2The Secret Police

3.2.1Attacks on Opponents of the Government

3.2.2The Roles of Yagoda, Yezhov & Beria

3.2.3Andropov & Late Opposition to Soviet Rule

3.2.4End of Topic Test - Secret Police

3.3The State & Cultural Change

3.3.1Proletkult, Avant-Garde & Socialist Realism

3.3.2Nonconformity from the 1950s

3.3.3End of Topic Test - State & Cultural Change

3.3.4A-A* (AO3/4) - Control of the People

4Social Developments, 1917-35

4.1Social Security

4.1.1Full Employment Benefits

4.1.2Housing & Social Benefits

4.1.3Khrushchev, Brezhnev & Stable Society

4.1.4End of Topic Test - Social Security

4.2Women & Family

4.2.1Changing Status of Different Groups

4.2.2Changing Attitudes to Family

4.2.3Changing Attitudes to Family 2

4.2.4End of Topic Test - Women & Family

4.3Education & Young People

4.3.1Growth of Primary, Secondary & Higher Education

4.3.2Reduction of Illiteracy

4.3.3State Control of the Curriculum

4.3.4End of Topic Test - Education & Young People

4.3.5A-A* (AO3/4) - Social Developments

5Historical Interpretations

5.1What Explains the Fall of the USSR, 1985-91?

5.1.1Economic Weakness

5.1.2Attempts at Economic Reform

5.1.3Failure To Reform The Communist Party & Soviet Gov

5.1.4Impact of Reforms

5.1.5End of Topic Test - Economic Reform

5.1.6Impact of the Nationalist Resurgence

5.1.7Impact of the Nationalist Resurgence 2

5.1.8End of the USSR

5.1.9Gorbachev & Yeltsin's Responsibility

5.1.10End of Topic Test - Nationalist Resurgence

5.1.11A-A* (AO3/4) - Explaining the Fall of the USSR

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