Stalin's Collectivisation and Five-Year Plans: Agriculture and Economy in the Soviet Union, Summaries of Russian

Download Stalin's Collectivisation and Five-Year Plans: Agriculture and Economy in the Soviet Union and more Summaries Russian in PDF only on Docsity! Subject: History Topic: 4.2 Collectivisation Year Group: 13 1. Why did Stalin collectivise? 1 What was collectivis- ation? 1. Moving agriculture to large farms where peasants worked together to meet quotas. 2. There were three types of collecvtive farm Kolkhoz, Sovkhoz and Toz 2 Why did Stalin force peasants into collectivis- ation? 1. Larger units of land would allow machinery and more modern methods. 2. Machines meant fewer peasants needed so rest could more to towns. 3. Easier to procure grain 4. It fitted with socialist ideology. Key word Definition Kolkhoz Most common type of collective farm where 50-100 households farmed land as one unit Sovkhoz State run collective farms where workers received a wage Toz Sometimes voluntary, peasants owned their own land but shared machinery Kulak A wealthy/ successful peasant 2. How was collectivisation carried out? 1 What problems did Russian agricul- ture face? 1. Scissors crisis of 1928-9 highlighted the ability of peasantry to disrupt food supply to towns and cities. 2. Peasantry was seen as backward and out of control of Communists 2 Who carried out collectiv- isation? 1. Stalin enlisted an army of 25,000 urban party activists. 2. OGPU and the military were used to suppress any resistance 3 What methods were used? 1. Force – Villages were ‘persuaded’ to sign a register demanding to be collectivized. 2. Terror – ‘Kulaks’ or those who resisted were rounded up and shot, imprisoned or deported. 3. Propaganda – Anti-kulak and promoting collectives 4. What impact did Collectivisation have on agriculture? 1 How was output affected? 1. Grain output did not achieve pre-collectivisation levels until 1935 2. Livestock took until 1953 to reach pre-collectivisation levels 2 What impacted output? 1. Sabotage by peasants 2. Too few tractors and animals to pull ploughs 3. Collectives were poorly organised 4. Party activists had poor knowledge of farming 5. Many of best farmers were killed during dekulakisation 3 How quickly were farms collectivised? 1. By March 1930 58% of peasant households were collectivised but this reduced to just 20% by October after Stalin relaxed measures on the back of complaints and resistance. 2. Once crops had been sown in 1931 collectivisation was brutally enforced again so that by 1934 70% of households were in collective farms. 3. 100% of peasant households were collectivised by 1941 5. 3. What impact did collectivisation have on the peasants? 1 How did peasants resist? 1. Riots and armed resistance: Large numbers of party officials were killed 2. Sabotage: Burned crops, tools and houses. Slaughtered animals and gorged on them (25-30%) 3. Women’s revolts: All-female revolts were more successful as soldiers were less likely to take action 4. Flight: By 1939 about 19 million peasants had migrated to towns (1 in 4) 2 How were rebels and Kulaks dealt with? 1. In 1929-1930 alone about 15% of peasant households were destroyed 2. An estimated 10 million peasants died as a result of resistance or effects of deportation 3 Why was there a famine from 1932 to 1934? 1. Despite poor harvests in 1931 and 1932 state procured more than double 1928 levels of grain and continued to export. 2. Huge amounts of animals had been slaughtered as part of resistance 3. There was a drought in 1931 4. Some have claimed Stalin/Communists deliberately caused the famine to punish areas of resistance like Ukraine 4 How severe was the famine? 1. Robert Conquest has estimated that as many as 7 million died as result of the famine. 2. Areas which were usually the best for grain producing such as Ukraine, and Kazakhstan were particularly badly hit, highlighting the man-made nature of the famine.