Collectivization in the Soviet Union

“Strengthen working discipline in collective farms” – Uzbek, Tashkent, 1933 (Mardjani)

Three broad categories of the peasants

File:Trotskyist Left Opposition-1927.jpg

Trotskyist Left Opposition-1927.jpg

Yakov Yakovlev. People's Commissar for Agriculture. USSR 1929

RIAN archive 79113 Seizing grain from kulaks

The removal of 5000 kg bell from St Volodymyr's Cathedral Kiev USSR 1930.jpg

Collectivization in the Soviet Union

Collectivization in the Soviet Union was a policy of forced consolidation of individual peasant households into collective farms called "kolkhozes" and "sovkhozes" as part of the first Five-Year Plan. This policy was pursued between 1928 and 1940 by the Communist Party under the leadership of Joseph Stalin.

Background

The roots of collectivization can be traced back to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Russian Civil War. The Bolsheviks aimed to transform the agrarian economy of the Russian Empire into a socialist one. The New Economic Policy (NEP) initially allowed some degree of private farming, but by the late 1920s, the Soviet leadership sought to accelerate the transition to socialism through collectivization.

Implementation

Collectivization began in earnest in 1929, with the goal of consolidating individual landholdings and labor into collective farms. The state provided machinery and other resources to these farms, which were expected to increase agricultural productivity and support the industrialization efforts of the Soviet Union. The process was often brutal and met with resistance from the peasantry. Many peasants were labeled as kulaks (wealthier peasants) and were subjected to dekulakization, which involved confiscation of property, arrest, deportation, and even execution. The policy led to widespread famine, most notably the Holodomor in Ukraine.

Consequences

The immediate effects of collectivization were disastrous. Agricultural production initially plummeted, leading to severe food shortages and famine. Millions of people died as a result of the famine, and the rural economy was devastated. However, in the long term, collectivization did lead to the mechanization of agriculture and the establishment of a system that the Soviet state could control more effectively.

Legacy

Collectivization remains a controversial topic in the history of the Soviet Union. While it achieved some of its goals, such as the consolidation of agricultural production and the support of industrialization, it also caused immense human suffering and loss of life. The policy is often cited as an example of the extreme measures taken by the Soviet government to achieve its ideological goals.

See also

• Dekulakization
• Holodomor
• Five-Year Plans for the National Economy of the Soviet Union
• Joseph Stalin
• New Economic Policy
• Russian Revolution of 1917
• Russian Civil War
• Communist Party of the Soviet Union