THE USSR AND

COLLECTIVISATION
 Collectivisation Policies and Events
timeline

1939
Great number of
1927-28 1930 1932 farms
Grain 1929 Kulaks The Great collectivised
procurement Dekulakisation burned their Famine (99% of farms
crisis begins farms begins collectivised)

1927 1928 1929 1931 1933

Collectivisation Start of Stalin Some peasants are Start of the second
announced as collectivisation introduces a sent to labour Five Year Plan.
voulntry (introduced as policy of all-out camps due to End of Great
voluntary) and the collectivisation attempting to resist Famine
first Five Year Plan collectivisation
THE ECONOMIC REASONS BEHIND
COLLECTIVISATION

By the end of the 1920s, the USSR’s agricultural production became inefficient, so
Stalin believed that by introducing collectivisation, the agriculture in Russia would
modernise and therefore grow. Most farms in the 1920s were relatively small, and
the crops were harvested manullay, so advanced machinery, such as tractors, were
rarely used, which resulted in a slow outcome of crops.
Stalin saw that collectivisation would be ideal, as collective farms would be bigger
and more machinery would be used, increasing crop production. Motor Tractor
Stations (MTS) would provide farms with tractors, with the help of industrilisation,
and farming experts would teach the farmers new methods of farming.
By doing so, crop production would increase, and that would help the Soviet Union
by: providing food for workers in the towns and cities, allowing the government to
sell their food in order to pay for their macheniery and by introducing machinery,
fewer people would need to work on agricultural land.
 POLITICAL REASONS BEHIND
COLLECTIVISATION

Stalin wished to gain complete power, and by introducing collectivisation and opposing the
NEP, it insured that he would become the upper hand in the USSR.
Stalin also used collectivisation to make the communist ideology reach the countryside, as it
was mainly present in the cities. The Party’s power wasn’t strong in the countryside as there
weren’t enough Party members to control the emormus area. The lack of control resulted in
Stalin and other communists worring about the countryside workers possibly rebelling, or not
living up to Lenin’s wishes.
 IDEOLOGICAL REASONS

Collectivisation was introduced by Stalin to help him expand

communisim across the Soviet Union. Stalin also wanted to get rid of the
NEP, as it was encouraging peasants to follow captialist ideas, such as
profitting from their crops, owning private property and farmers being
allowed to provide jobs to other peasants who didn’t own land.
By introducing collectives to the countryside, communist values and ideas
would come with it. Collectiviation would end private property, as all
farming land became state-owned and all crops and livestock were sent to
the state to aid in feeding industrial workers.
A community-like environment was established, called Kolkhozes, as
collectives resulted in shared facilities between the peasants, such as
gyms. The peasants would learn to work together, instead of individually,
when it came to farming, as they worked on the same plot of land.
 GRAIN PROCUREMENT
CRISIS 1927-28

One of the many reasons that resulted in collectivisation in the USSR was the grain
procurement crisis. The grain procurement crisis is the policy of purchasing produce
from farms in order to feed industrial and urban workers. The Russian government
could no longer afford the required amount of grain for their urban workers.
This grain shortage was a result of some peasants keeping some of their crops inorder
to boost prices, and the low income of the farming peasants that decreased the
peasants motivation to meet the needed amount of crops.
The peasants’ actions turned various Party members against them, as rationing in cities
took place. Some argued that increasing the farmers’ income would solve the crisis;
many Party members disagreed and wanted a permanent solution instead.
Stalin introduced collectivisation as a permanent solution to the grain procurement
crisis, as it would gaurantee the constant flow of produce, as the farms would now be
state-controlled.
 OPTIONAL COLLECTIVISATION

Stalin first introduced the Collectivisation policy in December of 1929, as a solution

to the USSR’s failing agriculture, but had made it voluntary. He first made it
voluntary, to give peasants a sense of control. Most peasants didn’t wish to go into
collectives, as they liked profitting off of their produce, and working on their land in
the way they wished. When collectives became mandatroy, many peasants tried
rebelling by burning their land, livestock and crops.
After the peasant’s violent reaction, which could’ve resulted in a civil war, Stalin sent
officials such as the military and the secert police to stop the peasants forcefully from
rebelling.
 THE KULAKS AND CLASS DIVISIONS

Due to the NEP, class divisions developed. Stalin saw this as a problem, as class divisions
didn’t exist in communist ideology, and planned to abolish class divisions in the country
side. After introducing collectivisation in 1929, the next step was to get rid of the kulaks,
who were the highest class of peasants due to the opportunites given by the New
Economic Policy.
So in 1929, dekulakisation began. Kulaks were one of the main peasants to oppose
collectivisation, as they had worked hard to gain their money and land. Even though
kulaks only gained more than the average peasant in a small amount, communists still saw
them as a ‘higher class’.
Stalin and the rest of the party used propaganda posters to make kulaks seem like greedy
captislists. Stalin also forbid kulaks from joining collectives and were sent to
dekulaksation camps. Soon, any peasant was sent to dekulaksation camps if they opposed
collectivisation, and were sent to exile in Siberia or exicuted. Propaganda poster against kulaks
 Collectivisation had resulted in a great famine that spread across the Soviet Union between 1932-
33. though no exact number is known, it is believed that around 4-5 million Russians died due to
THE GREAT starvation.
FAMINE Many people had done great measures to survive, such as eating tree bark, mice, earthworms, ants
and some resorted to cannibalism. The Soviet government published posters saying that
cannibalism is punishable by law, and that it is a barbarian act. This resulted in over 2,500 people
convicted of cannibalism.
One of the worst hit regions was the Ukraine. In the Ukraine, the famine was known as Holodomor,
meaning ‘extermination by hunger’. Many historians suggest that Holodomor was a man-made
tragedy, and Stalin’s motive was due to political reasons. Farmers in the Ukraine tried to deny
collectivisation, and many Ukrainians wished to leave the Soviet Union, so Stalin saw the famine
as a way to set boundaries and communist ideology.
The famine is believed to be caused due to the many animals being killed by rebellious peasants
and the exile of the most experienced and capable farmers. Collectives were also badly run due to
the unexperienced managers set by the government. After forced collectivisation, the peasants put
little to no effort to excelling in the newly set collective farms, as there was no motivation, such as
a personal profit to the farmers, since everything was state-owned. This all later resulted in a major
drop in produce.
Even with the major decrease in production, the state increased the quotas for farmers to unrealistic
amounts. When the farmers couldn’t keep up with the set quotas, Stalin claimed that the peasants
were trying to destroy collectives and deny the state’s instructions.
The USSR denied any outside aid, as it would make them seem ‘weak’. Officials stopped starving
peasants to leave the famine-hit regions by military checkpoints.
 Collectivisation regualted the flow of produce for a while,
which benefited the USSR’s economy. The steady
outcome of crops was used to feed Russia’s industrial and
urban workers living in the cties, and was also sold to
forigen countries in order for the Soviet Union to pay for
industrial equipment such as macheniry.
Peasants moved to towns and cities to become industrial
SUCCESSES OF workers, thus helping in Russia’s industrial economy, as
they helped in factories.
COLLECTIVISATION
Collectives helped in emphasising communist ideology
and control in the countryside, as private land, class
divisions and personal profit no longer existed.
Collectivisation helped improve Stalin’s political status.
Ending the NEP helped Stalin defeat Bukharin in the
Soviet’s struggle for power.
 By 1928-33, grain production was reduced by 7%, while
livestock dropped dramaticaly. The great decrease in
agricultural production resulted in the drop of urban-living
standards.
It took a long time for livestock numbers to recover, while
grain production was recovering by 1935.
Stalin’s aims of creating a modern agricultural standard
never came about. there wer many obsticals denying that
from happening, such as:
FAILURES OF
COLLECTIVISATION • 2 million peasants being sent to exile, and 5 million deaths
due to the Great Famine – slowing the pace of production
in collectives
• Grain harvest and livestock numbers decreased
• The MTS didn’t supply enough tractors to the collectives
– making it harder to harvest crops faster
• Experienced farmers were sent to exile (due to
dekulakisation) and collectives were run bady by
inexperinced mangers being sent from the state.
 REFERENCES

• Taylor, Simon. History. Pearson Education, 2017.

• “Collectivisation in Practice - Collectivisation in Stalin's Russia - GCSE History
Revision - BBC Bitesize.” BBC News, BBC,
www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/ztqmwxs/revision/1
• Zasenko, Oleksa Eliseyovich, and Andrij Makuch. “The Famine of 1932–
33.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 5 Mar. 2020,
www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine/The-famine-of-1932-33.
• “Collectivisation: Agriculture under Stalin.”  Schoolshistory.org.uk,
schoolshistory.org.uk/topics/european-history/russia-soviet-union/collectivisation-
agriculture-stalin/.