Effects of Collectivisation

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  • What were the effects of Collectivisation?
    • Between November 1929 and March 1930 60% of all farms were collectivised. Opponents were labelled Kulaks and were transported to the Gulags or arrested and shot.
    • At no time was a definition of who a Kulak actually stated. So 'de-Kulakisation' was hit and miss and encouraged random acusations and violence.
    • Each area was given a target of Kulak families to arrest and deport. An almost arbitrary terror descended on the villages.
    • Nevertheless there was huge opposition from the peasants, especially when the Churches were ransacked or turned into barns or meeting places and personal property was confiscated too in some areas.
    • Warhouses were often broken open and personal goods restored to their owners. Faced with such widespread opposition the Party had to back down.
    • Stalin made a speech in March 1930 (Dizzy with Success) accussing loyal party officials of being over - zealous and allowing peasants to leave the collective farms. Many did.
    • Once the 1930's harvest had been safely collected collectivisation began again. By 1931 over 50% of peasant families were collectivised.
    • The consequences of opposition were dreadful. Tractor Station were linked to collectives, in an attempt to mechanise production.
    • Of course there were not enough tractors, and peasants didn't know how to look after them, so many quickle became unserviceable.
    • 50 per cent of tractors were soon out of action.
    • Because grain procurements were so high, income for peasants on the collectives were very low, reducing the incentive to work. This encouraged the setting up of Kolkhozes.
    • Many peasants began to spend more time on their private plots - By the end of the 1930's these were producing most of the country's eggs, milk and meat - than on their official duties.

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