The Economy (1924 - 41): Collectivisation Flashcards
How many tractors did Stalin require made every year?
50,000
In the 1920s, what did Stalin want to transform Russia into?
From an agrarian country into an industrial one. He wanted to modernise the nation.
What was the first step in industrialisation?
Collectivising agricultural production
What is collectivisation?
The policy of transforming ownership of farmland to the state.
Which year in particular had a terrible harvest and caused bread to be rationed in cities?
1928
What did the terrible harvest of 1929 cause?
Bread rationing in the cities.
What did Stalin want to prevent, in terms of agriculture?
Grain involvement crises.
What would prevent grain crises?
A reliable, consistent food supply from the countryside to feed urban workers. Also so money could be made on surplus grain for industrialisation.
Whose plan was collectivisation initially?
Lenin’s. He attempted in during civil war.
Were industrialisation and collectivisation wants of the mass population?
No. It was imposed by elites.
What did Stalin call the industrialisation and collectivisation policies?
The ‘second revolution’.
When did Stalin announce compulsory collectivisation?
1929
Who did he accuse of hoarding produce and monopolising land?
The Kulaks
What did Stalin accuse the Kulaks of?
Hoarding produce to keep food prices high and monopolising the best land.
Like Lenin, what did Stalin attempt with the rural kulaks?
To create class warfare in the countryside so that kulaks would be blamed for policies.
Did Kulaks actually exist?
No. They were simply harder working and more successful peasants.
What did Stalin announce in Dec 1929?
Liquidation of the kulaks as a class.
What job were activists of the OGPU given regarding the liquidation of the kulaks?
Used as means of finding and destroying kulaks. They stormed villages and shot or deported kulaks.
Who were the OGPU?
Joint State Political Directorate
Why did Stalin enforce a culture of fear and terror on the countryside (using the OGPU)?
It would be easier to enforce collectivisation on them.
How many urban activists were involved in collectivisation?
> 25,000
What did the urban activists force kulaks to do?
Sign a register demanding to be collectivised.
Between Dec ‘29 - Mar ‘30 how many farms were collectivised?
Almost half of all peasant farms
What was a Kolkhoz?
A collective farm in which all peasants worked the land for the good of collectivism. They owned nothing. All their animals, equipment, land, produce and belonging was under the state’s ownership.
In the Kolkhoz, how much land could peasants hold?
Up to one acre.
What were Sovkhozes?
State farms where workers were paid wages
What was the end goal of Kolkhozes?
To become Sovkhozes.
What did peasants do in rebellion to collectivisation?
Burned crops, tools, barns and houses and slaughtered animals. Refused to sow grain and organised riots and armed resistance.
How many cases of arson occurred within three months of peasant rebellion to collectivisation?
30,000
Who led most organised riots of peasants?
The peasant women
How were peasant riots ended?
By troops brought in by the government.
Who did Stalin blame openly blame for the violence towards peasant rebellions?
The activists, who were ‘over-enthusiastic’. Due to the peasant rebellions, he ended the collectivisation.
How did peasants react to end of collectivisation?
Many returned to sowing fields.
When did Stalin return to collectivisation?
After peasants returned to sowing the fields. This time, progressively.
What was the punishment for peasants (adults and children) getting caught taking ‘even a handful’ of grain?
Death or deportation.
By how much did Stalin raise Ukraine’s grain procurement quotas by?
44%
What did Soviet law mean for peasant food supply? (1932-1934)
Soviet law required the government’s quota to be met before peasants got their own share of grain so there was not enough for the peasantry to live on.
How many deaths did collectivisation cause?
About 12 million
How many died from starvation in Ukraine as a result of collectivisation between 1932-34?
7 Million
What other problems prolonged the damage caused by collectivisation?
Many plough animals had been killed. The Kulaks had been purged. Activists brought in to work the land knew little about farming. Grain requisition continued.
When did the collectivisation-caused famine occur?
Between 1932-34
By 1932, how many farms had been collectivised?
2/3 of farms
When had virtually all peasants been collectivised?
Late 1930s.
How many Kolkhozes were there in total?
250,000
How much of the peasantry lived on kolkhozes?
90%
