Collectivisation

There are a number of reasons why Stalin chose to move away from the N.E.P. and chase a new policy. He needed to increase his proletariat, those that work in the cities, in order to have a sufficiently large work force to drive industrialisation and as collectivised farms would require less workers due to the introduction of machinery, it was thought that these would free up workers for the cities. On top of this, the Nepmen and kulags who had benefited from the N.E.P. were drawn towards capitalist ideas, and Stalin needed to change that and introduce socialism into the countryside, as it was limited to the cities despite the party claiming they were for the people, of which 80% were peasants. The N.E.P. stood for everything the communist party stood against, it was a limited form of capitalism, and although it was introduced by Lenin, it had only been introduced as a temporary policy to enable the economy to grow again following the destruction caused in the first world war.

The grain procurement crisis of 1927-1928 led to the introduction of collectivisation. In 1927, there was a significant shortage of grain in the cities as the government was paying extremely low prices for produce, and with the increasing threat of war with Germany, peasants chose to hoard their produce, keeping it for themselves and storing it. To combat this, Stalin introduced grain requisitioning. He sent soldiers and NKVD (secret police) forces into the countryside to seize grain. This initially worked and rationing was reduced in the cities, however, the peasants weren't just going to sit down and allow these people to steal everything they worked hard to produce. In 1928, there was widespread resistance from the peasantry who took up arms agains the soldiers, as well as burning some of their stored grain. This couldn't continue, and Stalin realised he needed a new and improved policy. Cue collectivisation.

Collectivisation basically meant that peasants had to give up their home, land, animals and farming equipment to…