Agricultural and social developments in the countryside

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  • Created by: steloah1
  • Created on: 25-04-22 22:41
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  • Agricultural and social developments in the countryside
    • Collectivisation
      • Stage 1, 1929-30
        • Deliberate propaganda to promote class warfare (build resentment towards kulaks)
          • Kulaks represented 4% of the population, in practice c15% of peasant household destroyed and c150,000 peasants forced to migrate
            • Peasants killed and burnt their own crops and livestock to avoid being labelled as kulaks
        • Peasants forced into collectives by the Red Army and OGPU
        • Announced in 1919 that 25% of grain farms should be collectivised
          • 58% of farms had been C'd due to propaganda and force
            • Local officials were becoming too rigorous in their approch - "dizzy with success"
              • Voluntary C permitted- in October 1930, only 20% of farms were C'd
      • Stage 2, 1930-41
        • 50% in 1931 to 100% on 1941
        • Kolkhoz - combination of small farms. The average comprised of c75 families
          • Had to deliver 40% of crops to the state
          • Share leftover profit or goods in accordance to how many 'labour days' someone contributed
          • each Kolkhoz was under the control of a communist party member
          • Internal passports introduced so peasants could not leave
      • Reasons
        • The Grain procurement crisis in the winter of 1927-8
        • Need for food to support expansion of the workforce in the 5 year plan
        • Ideologoical conviction to liquidate the kulaks (1929 speech)
    • State farms
      • The Sovkhoz
        • State farms created in the 20's as an example of 'socialist agriculture of the highest order'
          • Seen by communist purists as the 'ideal' form of farming
        • Larger than Kolkhozes and were created with  confiscated land from large estates
        • Deemed suitable for Ukraine and south Russia
        • Peasant opposition to becoming wage labourers forced Stalin to allow most farms to be Kolkhoz
    • Mechanisation
      • Machine Tractor Stations in 1931
        • Aimed to make farming more efficient
          • Hired machinery and tractors to farms
            • 2500 were established / 1 for every 40 farms
              • State farms received most support
          • By 1938, 95% of threshing, 72% of ploughing and 48% of harvest was carried out mechanically
            • Limited transport - 196,000 lorries in USSR and over 1 million in USA in 1938
    • Failure of collectivisation
      • Most peasants did not join C farms voluntarily = violent opposition
        • Hostility in Ukraine
          • Many regarded this as a 'new serfdom'
      • Peasants burnt livestock and crops to not be called Kulaks
        • Kulaks killed or sent to Siberia to work in camps
        • Dekulakisation removed the most skiled marmers
      • 10 million peasants dies as a result of resistance or deportaion
      • Peasants were supposed to recieve a share of 'profits' but quotas were too high for there to be any excess
        • Little incentive to work hard
        • Allowed the practice of private farms
          • 52% of veg and 70% of meat produced this way in the late 1930's
    • The famine of 1932-1934
      • Drought hit many areas in October 1931
        • Combined with peasant deportations = decrease in production
      • 1932- famine in Ukraine
        • 1932-1932 - famine in Kazakhstan and northern caucausus
    • Success of collectivisation
      • Industrial workforce was fed and grain export increased
        • During peasant opposition, output sometimes fell to below 1913 levels
          • Not enough MTS and party leaders did not know enough about farming
        • Grain output did not exceed pre-C levels until after 1935
          • It took livestock until 1935
      • Rural-urban migration
      • Millions of peasants starved and dies in the interests of "economic socialisation"
        • 25-30% of animals were slaughtered by peasants between 1929 and 1933
      • Stalin was able to extend his political power to the country side
      • Those who oppsoed collectivisation (Bukharin and Rykov) lost power and influence
        • Apart from small plots, any remains of capitalism that was based on private enterprise were removed

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