A2 FP1 : Collectivisation historiography

Question 1

According to Corin and Fiehn, why did Stalin introduce collectivisation?

Answer 1

“He had decided to break the peasants’ stronghold on the economy.”

Question 2

What do Corin and Fiehn say about the scale of suffering during the Great Famine?

Answer 2

That “all historians accept that the scale of human suffering was enormous” and that it “cannot be quantified”.

Question 3

What does Conquest cite as the reason for why there was a famine in Ukraine?

Answer 3

According to Conquest collectivisation had become the weapon to break peasant resistance, Ukraine was singled out for special treatment because of the strength of Ukranian nationalism and opposition to collectivisation.

Question 4

How to Corin and Fiehn describe collectivisation?

Answer 4

“Economically … a disaster.”
However it “succeeded in its main purpose - to provide the resources for industrialisation.” Additionally, “collecitivisation was an essential part of …modernisation … collectivisation was a political success.”