The Great Turn: economic debates and collectivisation

Economic debates

• Left wing (rapid industrialisation): impose high taxes on the peasants to fund industrialisation and introduce collective farms to increase production
• Right wing (socialism at a snail's pace): keep the NEP for 20 years, keep taxes low for the peasants and allow peasants to own their own farms and trade freely

Stalin argued that Russia should abandon the NEP and introduce rapid industrialisation whereas Bukharin argued that if they didn't have the support of the peasants, Russia could collapse and so they should stick with the NEP. The Central Committee agreed with Stalin.

The problem with rapid industrialisation

• Russia was far…