Collectivisation

Collectivisation

1. Traditionally, peasants had worked on small farms with little technology. Stalin planned to merge all farms into collective farms ‘Kolkhoz’

2. The farm was to be farmed as one unit and peasants could keep up to one acre for themselves

3. Once the quota had been met, peasants could sell any surplus at local markets

4. Collective farms had to deliver quotas of grain which the state sold to towns

5. 50-100 households would be put together and all tools, land and animals combined

6. The state would provide tractors and fertilisers which would help modernise production

7. MTS Stations: Machine Tractor Stations

   • They hired and maintained machinery
   • MTS stations also had a political department to spy on the peasants and to ensure order

8. Liquidation of the Kulaks- Dec 1929

   • Dukulakisation – poorest peasants would be able to use Kulak’s resources
   • Collectivisation = loss of independence and loss of £
   • Peasants rebelled, destroying grain and livestock rather than giving it to the Communists

9. Collectivisation Stops- March 1930

   • Disregarded human suffering caused
   • ‘Dizzy with success’ – Pravda – so good it would be suspended
   • Kulak’s and families either shot or herded into trucks and exiled to Siberia
   • Chaos in agricultural economy
   • Hostility and sabotage

10. Collectivisation Resumes- 1931

    • Unrealistic goals
    • Severe punishment for sabotage and failing to meet targets
    • All grain confiscated
    • International offers of aid rejected
    • Famine as a result of government policy
    • 10million deaths during famine
    • Grain sat in barns rotting

11. Pay

    • Workers received no wages but were given ‘workdays’
    • At the end of the year, the profits of the farm were calculated and divided up according to the number of workdays
    • Most made little profit so peasants relied on selling what they produced on their private plots