Five Year Plans & Grain Hoarding

Five Year Plans

After the apparent failure of the NEP and its reliance on capitalist principles, Stalin’s economic plan switched to Five Year Plans. This involved targets that aimed to generate very fast industrial growth.

Agricultural and economic targets

In farming, collectivisation was supposed to improve agricultural output. But it actually led to starvation for millions of Russians. It was introduced because in theory:
- Economically, selling excess grain abroad could be used for industrialisation. Russia could then modernise their farming methods.
- Collectivisation would produce more grain to feed the industrial workers.

Political and ideological targets

Politically, Stalin wanted more control of the countryside.
Ideologically, Stalin did not like the idea of capitalism which he believed was supported by the NEP.
- Industrial workers felt that peasants were benefiting from the revolution in a way that they were not.
Stalin believed in Marxist principles.

Marxist principles

Karl Marx said that in a developed human society, countries would be industrialised and factories made efficient and productive.
There would be a move towards urbanisation, and fewer people would be needed to work the land.
Private property would be abolished and wealth would be redistributed to the poor.
- Collectivisation was part of this process.

Problems with the NEP

Under the NEP, more successful farmers could buy land from poorer ones, and employ other people. This was essentially a form of capitalism. This made it unpopular with Politburo members like Stalin.
Ideologically, Stalin needed to get rid of the kulaks (wealthy peasants) who had benefited from the NEP.
Moreover, his rival Bukharin supported the NEP, which gave Stalin even greater motivation to end the policy.

Grain Hoarding

By 1927, peasant grain output was falling, and Stalin was struggling to feed Russia's cities. Opposition to the NEP within the Communist Party grew.

Grain output

Communists and workers in the cities were not willing to pay more for their grain to encourage production, because they did not want the peasants to be in control.
There were no signs of agricultural modernisation, although the NEP did lead to growth in small businesses.

Threat from abroad

The potential threat of war from neighbouring anti-Communist countries motivated the leadership into action, particularly given fears about how to feed the Red Army.
- This meant that more efficient farming methods were needed.

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.
The sovkhoz (‘state farm’) was larger than a kolkhoz (collective farm). Here peasants were paid a wage by the government. They earned more than those on the kolkhoz.

Grain hoarding

Because of grain hoarding during 1927-8, Stalin demanded grain seizures from peasants. This was known as the Urals-Siberian method.
Anyone who had been successful under the NEP (around 2% of peasants) or refused to join a collective farm during 1929-30 was branded as a ‘kulak’ and became a target for persecution.
Around 30,000 kulaks were killed in 1930-31. Many were transported to Siberia and worked until they died.

1The Leadership Struggle, 1924-1929

1.1Struggle for Power 1924-28

1.1.1Stalin & his Rivals

1.1.2The End of Lenin & Stalin

1.1.3Stalin & the Communist Party

2Five Year Plans & Collectivisation

2.1Changes in Industry

2.1.1Industrialisation & Gosplan

2.2Agriculture & Collectivisation

2.2.1Five Year Plans & Grain Hoarding

2.2.2Collectivisation

2.2.3Kulaks

3Purges, Show Trials & The Cult of Stalin

3.1The Use of Terror in the 1930s

3.1.1Purges

3.1.2NKVD

3.1.3Show Trials

3.1.4Labour Camps

3.2Propaganda & Censorship

3.2.1Art & Religion Under Stalin

3.2.2Media & the Cult of Stalin

3.2.3The Cult of Stalin

3.2.4History

4Life in the Soviet Union, 1924-1941

4.1Life in the Soviet Union

4.1.1Living Conditions & Ethnic Minorities in the USSR

5The Second World War, 1941-1953

5.1USSR in the War

5.1.11941-1942

5.1.21943-1945

5.2Stalin & WW2

5.2.1Stalin's Popularity

5.2.2Post-War Consolidation

5.3Post-War Recovery

5.3.1Economic Recovery

5.3.2The USSR by 1953

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