Collectivisation Flashcards

1
Q

economic causes

A
  • poor harvests in 1927, 8 & 9, increasing prices of agricultural products affected the government as they had been selling grain surpluses abroad since 1921 - they wouldn’t be able to build russia’s industry
  • larger farms would increase efficiency
  • wanted more workers in cities so, if few people were needed for farming more could move away
  • purging kulaks would provide slave labour
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2
Q

social causes

A
  • increased production would mean the government could provide a better standard of living for the industrial workers
  • efficiency = more food for urban workers
  • peasants weren’t embracing socialism - producing grain for themselves & profit rather than for the people
  • healthcare & education could be provided if peasants were all in the same place
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3
Q

political causes

A
  • more appealing to the left wing & many others than the right’s idea of importing grain (which would reduce industrialisation)
  • stalin had only visited a farm once but believed farming could be transformed with strong will & good leadership
  • removing private land ownership would be more communist
  • control over the peasantry
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4
Q

how many horses & sheep were destroyed?

A

1929-33 = 18 million horses & 100 million sheep

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5
Q

what did kulaks do with machinery?

A

destroyed any machinery they had rather than giving it to the bolsheviks

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6
Q

what happened to labour productivity in rural areas?

A

declined = as they didn’t own the land or gain much from their work, there was little incentive to work

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7
Q

1933 harvest comparison

A

9 million tonnes less than the 1926 harvest

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8
Q

mechanisation

A

ineffective in the early stages - network of machine tractor stations organised but didn’t start for a year

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9
Q

grain exports stat

A

rose from 0.03 million tonnes (1928) to 5 million tonnes (1931)

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10
Q

what happened when stalin reintroduced grain requisitioning?

A

resentment created between peasants & kulaks - stalin rewarded poorer peasants who informed on kulaks by giving them land which belonged to the kulaks

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11
Q

the 25,000

A

‘socially conscious’ industrial workers sent to rural areas to offer technical help to peasants about machinery - BUT they LIED!!! they were used for dekulakisation - found secret stores of grain & confiscated them, exiled kulaks & forced peasants into collective farms

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12
Q

‘dizzy with success’

A

a pravda article by stalin = still defended collectivisation but claimed some local party members had been ‘over enthusiastic’ & argued targets had been met so the policy would be suspended - never admitted it had caused problems

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13
Q

how many died in the famine & how many were exiled during dekulakisation?

A

10 million for both

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14
Q

when was collectivisation stopped?

A

march 1930

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15
Q

what happened to grain sent to cities?

A

often sat rotting in barns whilst peasants starved in nearby villages

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16
Q

EVALUATION = rise in living standards?

A

NO! - even in the cities they fell sharply as their wages value fell by 1/2 from 1928-32 - amount of meat consumed by them decreased by 2/3

17
Q

EVALUATION = rise in gdp, industrial & agricultural output?

A

grain exports increased but grain produced decreased from 1926

18
Q

EVALUATION = meeting the needs of the state/people?

A
  • the state, yes = provided more grain for exports to generate funds for industrialisation, strengthened stalin’s position, increased urbanisation (18%-50%, 1928-39) BUT he failed to bring socialism & economic efficiency to the countryside
  • for the people - DEFINITELY NOT!!!