chapter 11

Question 1

collectivisation

Answer 1

• began in 1928 during a grain shortage
• peasants would pool their land with other families and farm together
• stalin wanted to industrialise the ussr

Question 2

reasons for collectivisation

Answer 2

• fear of invasion - western powers helped the whites during the civil war, war scares in the late 1920s
• disappointing output - industrial production remained low, failure of agriculture under the nep
• communist principles - less than 1% of land collectivised under nep, stalin didn’t want the kulaks to become wealthier
• leadership - consolidated his position, would remove right wing members of the party (bukharin, tomsky, rykov)
• control of the people - stalin didn’t trust the peasants, saw them as enemies of communism, saw what happened during war communism
• industrialisation - agriculture would finance the 5 year plans, mechanisation crucial but there would be less farm workers who produced insufficient food
• nep - not enough food produced, surplus grain fell after 1926, grain crisis in 1927-8, peasants began hoarding grain, seen as sabotage
• attack on kulaks - pressure to remove kulaks after nep

Question 3

kolkhoz

Answer 3

• collective farm
• 240k by 1940
• 80 peasant families
• 500 hectares of land
• machine tractor stations - 2900 by 1933

Question 4

sovkhoz

Answer 4

• 3600 hectares
• had its own tractors
• peasants worked as paid labourers
• described as a ‘factory without a roof’

Question 5

opposition to collectivisation.

Answer 5

• peasants in the ukraine and caucasus set fire to their farms and slaughtered their animals
• 30 million out of 60 million cows, 16 million out of 34 million horses killed
• de-kulakisation squads sent in - 10 million deported
• collectivisation slowed down in 1930, began again in late 1930
• 62% of peasant households collectivised in 1932, 93% in 1938

Question 6

successes of collectivisation

Answer 6

• enough food to feed towns and red army produced
• schools and hospitals on farms
• MTS were successful and sped up farming after 1935
• more than 90% of land collectivised by 1936
• greater control over peasants

Question 7

failures of collectivisation

Answer 7

• famine in 1932/3, 6-10m peasants died + 5m dead in ukraine/northern caucasus
• peasant opposition led to decline in grain production (73.3m in 1928 to 67.6m in 1934)
• government seized peasant grain, led to peasants moving around, internal passports introduced
• farming was inefficient, not enough food until mid 1930s, grain production didn’t match 1914 until 1940