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The Great Transformation

Soviet Collectivization and its Human Cost

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Overview

Agricultural Restructuring

Collectivization, implemented in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940, represented a fundamental restructuring of the agricultural sector. Initiated as part of the first five-year plan, this policy sought to consolidate individual landholdings and labor into state-controlled entities, primarily the Kolkhozes (collective farms) and Sovkhozes (state farms).

Strategic Objectives

The Soviet leadership anticipated that this transformation would yield significant benefits: an increased supply of foodstuffs for urban centers, a greater availability of raw materials for industrial processing, and enhanced agricultural exports through state-mandated quotas. Collectivization was viewed as the definitive solution to persistent agricultural distribution crises, particularly concerning grain procurement.

Policy Context

This policy marked a decisive shift away from the New Economic Policy (NEP) and represented a core tenet of Stalinist economic and social engineering. It aimed not only at economic efficiency but also at asserting state control over the peasantry, a class viewed with suspicion by the Bolsheviks.

Background

Post-Revolutionary Policies

Following the Russian Civil War, the policy of prodrazvyorstka (forced requisitioning) was replaced by the less drastic prodnalog (food tax) under the New Economic Policy (NEP). While the NEP allowed for private agriculture and market sales, the Communist Party harbored a deep-seated aversion to private land ownership, viewing it as a breeding ground for capitalism.

Ideological Debates

Figures like Leon Trotsky advocated for agricultural cooperatives and voluntary collective farms as part of an industrialization program. However, Joseph Stalin ultimately adopted and intensified the concept of collectivization, implementing it with a level of brutality that distinguished his policy from earlier proposals. The Bolsheviks targeted wealthier peasants, or kulaks, blaming them for withholding grain surpluses.

Agricultural Challenges

Pre-revolution land distribution had resulted in millions of small, fragmented peasant holdings. While the NEP saw a recovery in grain production, peasants often consumed more of their produce rather than selling it due to the low prices offered for manufactured goods. This led to food shortages in cities, exacerbating the perceived crisis and providing justification for state intervention.

Crisis of 1928

Grain Procurement Shortfall

By 1928, the Soviet Union faced a significant shortfall in grain procurement. The government's demand for grain, essential for funding its ambitious industrialization program and feeding a growing urban workforce, was met with peasant resistance. The peasants, unwilling to sell grain at state-imposed low prices, often resorted to hoarding.

State Requisitioning

In response to the shortfall, the Politburo reintroduced emergency measures, including grain requisitions. These seizures, often targeting middle peasants when kulak reserves were insufficient, discouraged further production and led to increased peasant discontent. The government's inability to secure adequate grain supplies intensified the pressure for a radical solution.

Towards Nationwide Collectivization

The perceived failure of voluntary methods and the ongoing crisis led the Central Committee in November 1929 to decide upon a nationwide program of collectivization. This decision effectively signaled the end of the NEP and the beginning of a period of intense state control over the agricultural sector.

All-out Drive, Winter 1929-30

Accelerated Implementation

The period from autumn 1929 to winter 1930 witnessed an unprecedented acceleration of collectivization. Within months, the percentage of collectivized peasant households surged dramatically, far exceeding initial five-year plan projections. This rapid pace was facilitated by the deployment of 25,000 "socially conscious" industrial workers to the countryside, known as "twenty-five-thousanders."

Modernization Goals

The stated aim was to modernize Soviet agriculture by consolidating land into larger, more manageable units suitable for mechanization. The introduction of tractors, particularly American models, was promoted as a key propaganda tool, symbolizing the promise of a technologically advanced, collective farming future.

Resistance and Repression

This aggressive push was met with widespread peasant resistance, including protests, armed uprisings, and the slaughter of livestock to prevent their confiscation. The state responded with harsh measures, including the deportation and execution of kulaks and other perceived opponents of collectivization.

"Dizzy with Success"

Stalin's Article

In March 1930, Stalin published an article titled "Dizzy with Success," acknowledging the rapid pace of collectivization and the excesses committed by local officials. He called for a temporary halt to the most aggressive tactics, attributing the "outrages" to overzealous cadres.

Temporary Abatement and Resumption

The article led to a temporary reduction in collectivization pressure, with many peasants leaving collective farms. However, this was short-lived. By March 1931, decrees were issued forbidding peasants from leaving collective farms, and collectivization was intensified once more, eventually reaching over 90% of Soviet agriculture by 1936.

Political Maneuver

Many historians interpret Stalin's article as a strategic move to deflect blame for the failures and brutality of the collectivization campaign onto lower-level officials, thereby managing popular discontent and consolidating his own power.

Peasants' Resistance

Forms of Opposition

Peasant resistance manifested in various forms, from passive non-compliance and sabotage to active protests and armed uprisings. Many peasants viewed collectivization as a "second serfdom," fearing widespread disorder, hunger, and the loss of their autonomy. Rumors about the socialization of children, communal living, and attacks on religion fueled their opposition.

Women's Role in Resistance

Women played a particularly active role in village protests, often acting as conduits for rumors and spearheading acts of defiance. They engaged in physical resistance, blocked deportations, and reclaimed confiscated property. Officials often perceived women's actions as less politically motivated, leading to lighter punishments and allowing them greater agency in resistance efforts.

Religious Persecution

The Soviet state's assault on religion, including the closure of churches, burning of icons, and persecution of clergy, further alienated the peasantry. Many peasants associated the Communist regime with atheism and the Antichrist, viewing collectivization as a spiritual as well as economic threat. This religious persecution intensified peasant resistance and solidarity against the state.

Results and Consequences

Devastating Human Cost

The collectivization drive, coupled with harsh state policies and devastating droughts, resulted in widespread famine, most notably the Holodomor in Ukraine (1932-1933). Estimates suggest millions died from starvation, disease, and repression. The campaign led to the dispossession, deportation, and execution of millions of kulaks and other perceived enemies.

Agricultural Decline

Despite the goal of increasing food supply, the immediate effect of collectivization was a sharp decline in agricultural output and a catastrophic loss of livestock. Peasants, demoralized and often denied adequate compensation or resources, reduced their labor efforts. The state's unrealistic quotas and mismanagement further hampered recovery.

Societal Upheaval

Collectivization fundamentally altered rural life, destroying traditional peasant communities and imposing a rigid, centrally controlled system. The process led to massive population displacement, the breakdown of social structures, and deep-seated resentment towards the Soviet regime.

Progress of Collectivization

Statistical Overview

The following table illustrates the dramatic increase in collectivization from 1927 to 1940, reflecting the rapid and often brutal implementation of the policy across the Soviet Union.

Year Collective Farms % Farmsteads Collectivized % Sown Area in Collective Use
192714,8000.8%
192833,3001.7%2.3%
192957,0003.9%4.9%
193085,90023.6%33.6%
1931211,10052.7%67.8%
1932211,10061.5%77.7%
1933224,50065.6%83.1%
1934233,30071.4%87.4%
1935249,40083.2%94.1%
193690.5%98.2%
1937243,70093.0%99.1%
1938242,40093.5%99.8%
1939235,30095.6%
1940236,90096.9%99.8%

Sources: Official Soviet statistical publications.

German Occupation

Temporary Measures

During World War II, German occupation authorities announced the end of Soviet collective farms in occupied territories. Alfred Rosenberg issued decrees promoting the restoration of family farms. However, wartime demands and internal disagreements within the Nazi administration led to the retention of most collective farm structures, often merely renamed "community farms," with limited actual redistribution of land.

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References

References

  1.  KUROMIYA, HIROAKI. “Revolution from Above.” Stalin, TAYLOR & FRANCIS, International, England, 2015, pp. 91–91.
  2.  A History of the Soviet Union from Beginning to End. Kenez, Peter. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
  3.  Lynne Viola, Peasant Rebels Under Stalin: Collectivization and the Culture of Peasant Resistance (Oxford University Press, 1996), 3–12.
  4.  Lynne Viola, "Bab'i bunti and peasant women's protest during collectivization," in The Stalinist Dictatorship, ed. Chris Ward. (London; New York: Arnold, 1998), 218–19.
  5.  Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution: a political biography, 1888-1938 by Stephen F. Cohen, p. 463
  6.  Western-Siberian resolution of deportation of 40,000 kulaks to northern Siberia, May 5, 1931.
  7.  Viola, Lynne, Peasant Rebels Under Stalin: Collectivization and the Culture of Peasant Resistance, Oxford University Press, Oxford (1996), p. 3.
  8.  Courtois, Stéphane, Werth Nicolas , Panné Jean-Louis , Paczkowski Andrzej , BartoÅ¡ek Karel , Margolin Jean-Louis Czarna księga komunizmu. Zbrodnie, terror, prześladowania. Prószyński i S-ka, Warszawa 1999. 164–165
  9.  Leonid Grenkevich, The Soviet Partisan Movement, 1941–1945: A Critical Historiographical Analysis, Routledge, New York (1999), pp. 169–71.
  10.  Joseph L. Wieczynski, ed., The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History, Academic International Press, Gulf Breeze, FL, 1978, vol. 7, pp. 161–62.
A full list of references for this article are available at the Collectivization in the Soviet Union Wikipedia page

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