11 - Agriculture And Collectivisation

Question 1

What was collectivisation?

Answer 1

Collectivisation was the process whereby peasants gave up their own plot of land to pool their land with other families. This would allow space for modern machinery to be used and there would be fixed produce, with concrete wages for peasants.

Question 2

What was the surplus produce from collectivisation used for?

Answer 2

The surplus produce would be used to feed the industrial workers, or to trade abroad to fund industrialisation.

Question 3

What were the main reasons for collectivisation?

Answer 3

• Fear of invasion: Stalin would have to modernise industry and agriculture in order to compete with the west
• Poor output: Agriculture was not producing enough food for industrial workers, Stalin felt state control was needed.
• Industrialisation: Needed grain for export and other assets to fund industrial changes
• Communist principles: Stalin believed the NEP was a step back towards capitalism
• Leadership: The right of the party wanted to keep the NEP, this was Stalin’s justification for removing them.
• Control of the people: Stalin particularly saw the peasants as a threat to communism and wanted to remove their independence they gained in the NEP. He especially wanted to remove the Kulaks, who were the wealthier peasants that benefited from the NEP.

Question 4

What were the problems with the NEP?

Answer 4

Agriculture was still based on small peasant plots with little use of machinery, farmers were still not producing enough food for workers in the city.

The peasants also started to become wary of growing too much food, knowing it would be seized by the state at a low price.

Question 5

What were the two types of collective farms present?

Answer 5

• Sovkoz: Larger than Kolkhoz farms, State farm run by a manager, often had more facilities such as nurseries and schools. State owned all land and took all produce, peasants were paid a fixed wage and the farms had their own tractors.
• Kolkhoz: Run by a committee of peasants, there was also an important chairman, who was often a communist party member. Peasants provided food at very low prices and received a small wage, they could keep any surplus and they also had their own private plot of land.

Question 6

What were the MTS?

Answer 6

Machine Tractor Stations, contained most the machinery required for farming, including tractors. There was about one for every 40 collective farms.

Members of the secret police were employed in some of the early MTS, as another method of control over the peasants by Stalin.

Question 7

How did many peasants resist and how were they punished?

Answer 7

Many peasants resisted collectivisation by hiding their equipment, burning their crops and slaughtering livestock so they would not have to give it to the state.

The peasants who resisted were sent to Labour camps and if they resisted arrest they were shot dead. Around 10 million people were deported

Question 8

What was Holodomor and to what extent was it genocide committed by Stalin?

Answer 8

• There was already widespread famine in the USSR due to collectivisation leading to a drop in production, and food shortages. This was because many peasants resisted collectivisation and decreased production
• In Ukraine, a series of peasant rebellions and some armed uprisings took place, the same area where the Reds faced opposition in the Civil War.
• The Soviet Politburo made a series of decisions to deepen the famine, so Stalin could gain control of Ukraine.
• Villages and towns were blacklisted (prevented from receiving food) and the police ransacked homes of peasants and removed all food
• From 1931 to 1934, 3.9 million Ukrainians died of hunger
• Ukrainian culture was also attacked, many religious leaders were removed, as well as political establishments. All of this action was censored by the media.

Question 9

What were the advantages of collectivisation?

Answer 9

• Over 90% of farmland was collectivised, and in some farms production improved and peasants learnt how to use machinery
• Rationing of bread and many other foods ended, there was more control on food
• State were able to export surplus grain to earn foreign currency to fund imports for industrialisation

Question 10

What were the disadvantages to collectivisation?

Answer 10

• 3 million people starved during the 1932-1933 famine
• Peasant resentment and lack of cooperation resulted in less production and peasants damaging machinery as they did not learn how to use it
• Machinery was often faulty due to a lack of worker experience, and MTS did not have skilled workers to fix them