How successful was Collectivisation?

How successful was Collectivisation?

1. Successes

   • By 1941 98% of all Russian Farms were collectivised
   • Grain exports rose from 0.03 in 1928 to 5 million tonnes in 1931
   • Grain procurement rose from 11 million tonnes in 1928 to 23 million in 1933
   • Chaos and fear of a civil war unites the Soviet Party and its leaders behind Stalin
   • Urbanisation is accelerated: mass migration to towns and cities-19 million
     • Provides a work force for industrialisation
   • The peasantry is no longer a political force/threat as its no longer able to oppose the government
   • OGPU/Secret Police are central to the Soviet State: Stalin's authority is enforced in the countryside as well as towns and cities
   • Stalin is reinforced as a political Leader
     • Blame was placed on Kulaks and 'peasant sabatoeurs' making Stalin look better and no longer guilty for famine etc.
   • Funds are provided for the First Five Year Plan in 1928
   • Industrial workers were able to be fed and therefore keep producing products/materials

2. Failures

   • Peasant revolts caused livestock to be killed
     • 1/4 of all cattle/pigs/sheep are destroyed by 1929 and horses are halved by 1931
     • Crops were burned
   • Grain harvests were worse than under the Tsar
     • 1913: 80 million Tonnes
       • 1925: 75 million tonnes
   • Famine/holodomov in 1931 caused: 7 million deaths
   • Dekulakisation caused a lack of skilled workers which the 25000 didn't replace having no understanding of agriculture
   • 10 million sent to Gulags
     • 2-3 million died in those Gulags
       • 1929: 150,000 Kulak familes exiled
         • 1931: 285,000 familes exiled
   • Economic policy was chaotic and a lot of grain was left to rot
   • Peasants lost the incentive to work with the farms not their own
   • Standard of living for Peasants dropped.