1. How was socialism built in the countryside?
Lesson outcomes:
To identify the economic issues of the late 1920s
To assess the policies introduced with Stalin to deal with the economic problems
To evaluate how far these economic changes met the needs of Russia
Starter: what do we already know about the economy in Russia?

2. Watch the clip below to discover what my big problem is?
(Stop at 48seconds)
Can you suggest how I could solve it?
Watch the rest of the clip to discover if you were right.

3. What do you think it might mean?
Collectivisation
One of Stalin’s first economic policies was the policy of ‘collectivisation.’
What do you think it might mean?
Good link with website extract

4. Collectivisation
One of Stalin’s first economic policies was the policy of ‘collectivisation.’
Traditionally, peasants had worked on small farms with limited technology. Stalin planned to merge all the small farms into larger ‘collective’ farms. These new, larger farms would pool the labour and resources and therefore operate more efficiently. State provided tractors and fertilisers would modernise production making the farm more efficient.

5. What do the following images suggest about Stalin’s economic policies?

6. What do the following images suggest about Stalin’s economic policies?

7. What do the following images suggest about Stalin’s economic policies?
20min BBC Docu clip on Collectivisation and Purges

8. Your task:
Stalin hoped that peasants working on large farms together would be more productive than working alone. You are going to test this theory by producing a collectivised presentation on ‘collectivisation’. In your groups you will need to divide up the tasks. Use the headings on the following slides to help you. Remember the success of this task relies on you working collectively as a group. Google Docs

9. Collectivisation of Agriculture – Past exam qs
How far do you agree that the collectivisation of agriculture made an essential contribution to Stalin’s transformation of the Russian economy? (June 09)
How accurate is it to say that the most important result of the collectivisation of agriculture was that it imposed Communist control on the countryside? (June 11)
To what extent did collectivisation improve Soviet agriculture in the years 1928–41? (June 12)

10. Economic factors
Poor harvest
Workers for industry
Can sell surplus
2. Ideological factors
Capitalist attitudes of peasants
Why did Stalin Collectivise? Read p (Bunce) and note down the reasons why Stalin decided to collectivise farms. Use the 4 subheadings provided. In your opinion, what was the most urgent reason for Stalin? 5mins
3. Political Factors
Role in beating the right wing
Stalin’s personal ideas
4. The Grain Procurement Crisis

11. Why Collectivise? Economic Factors: Ideological Factors:
1926 saw record grain harvests for the USSR. However 1927, 28 and 1929 were all poorer. This forced the price in agriculture to rise and consequently the standard of living decreased.
The decrease in agriculture production also affected the government, which relied on surplus grain to export to help industrialisation. If there were no grain surpluses then their would be no money for Russia’s industry.
Collectivisation promised increased efficiency accompanied by mechanisation. This meant that fewer people would be needed to work on the farms, and extra manpower could go to the industry. Collectivisation also promised higher yields.
Ideological Factors:
It was clear in the way that peasants farmed (subsistence) that they were very capitalist. In fact little had been done to change agriculture under communism. Collectivisation provided a way in which capitalist peasants could embrace socialism.
Political Factors:
Collectivisation helped Stalin win power and defeat Bukharin.
The radical nature of collectivisation also appealed to the left wing of the party.
Grain imports were un-socialist and were slowing down industrialisation and therefore Collectivisation was a better option.

12.  Your task
Read p (Bunce) and explain how Stalin collectivised Russia. Use these subheadings to help:
Emergency measures
Liquidation of kulaks
Twenty-five-thousanders
Dizzy with success
Famine

13. Course of collectivisation
Emergency measures – rationing reintroduced; grain hoarding criminalised; kulaks sent to labour camps
Liquidation of kulaks – ‘dekulakisation’ introduced; collective farms formed BUT resentment led to destruction of crops, livestock & machinery
Twenty-five-thousanders – socially conscious industrial workers sent into countryside
Dizzy with success – Pravda article, blaming over enthusiastic local officials
Famine – grain seizures, farmers executed or exiled, grain taken to cities or exported

14. Collectivisation Timeline 1927–1939
1927 Stalin announced collectivisation – peasants asked to take part voluntarily. Ignored.
1928 Food shortages. Police confiscated food and took it to the towns.
1929 Stalin announced compulsory collectivisation, enforced by the army. The peasants burned their crops and barns, and killed their animals.
1930 Famine. Stalin paused collectivisation. Peasants were allowed to own a small plot of land.
1931 Collectivisation re-started. By 1932 two-thirds of the villages had been collectivised. More resistance, burning/ killing. Meanwhile, the government took more food for the towns, so:
1932–3 Famine, esp. in Ukraine (where 5 million died). Stalin blamed, and declared war on, the Kulaks – their land was taken and they were shot/ sent to labour camps in Siberia/ whole villages surrounded and killed.
1934 All 7 million kulaks ‘eliminated’.
% of land collectivised; 90% peasants live on one of ¼ million kolkhoz; 4,000 state farms. Farming run by government officials.

15. Pace of Collectivisation
Policy towards rich peasants
Policy towards poorer peasants
Reaction of the Peasants
1928: Emergency Measures
Government power over economy increased
Rationing in cities
Requisitioning of grain introduced
Spring 1929
Policy is resumed as Stalin’s power within the parties grows
1929
Mass collectivisation begins
‘dekulakisation’ ends capitalist farming
‘Twentyfive thousanders’
1930
‘Dizzy with success’
Collectivisation suspended
1931
Collectivisation reintroduced
Famie begins

16. Pace of Collectivisation
Extreme measures taken but halted due to resistance
Much faster than original proposal of 30% of farms by 1934
Requires immediate collectivisation of all farms
Forced mass collectivisation to begin with
Suspended sue to chaos created
Pressure to resume second wave of collectivisation
Policy towards rich peasants
‘kulaks’
‘Kulaks’ were targeted as enemies of Communism
Article 61 of Criminal Code is revised: can now send rich peasants to labour camps for up to two years for ‘failure to carry out general instructions’
Stalin aims to ‘liquidate the kulaks as a class’ ends capitalism within farming
Twenty-five-thousanders’ assist with the ‘dekulakisation’
Most executed or exiled to Siberia
Died of disease or hunger in the labour camps ‘gulags’.
(kulaks have mainly been removed)
Hugely ambitious targets set – anyone not achieving them would have all grain requisitioned
Peasants caught hiding food were shot
Policy towards poorer peasants
Grain requisitioning is punished. (Article 107 Soviet Criminal Code)
Poorer peasants rewarded for informing on richer neighbours. Given the land of the ricer peasants.
As before
Stalin wants them to lead the way – poorest peasants to pool their resources and all share in the harvest
Stalin sends the ‘twenty-five-thousanders’ into the countryside to instruct the poorest peasants and teach them how to use new machinery – also forced them into collectivised farms
Continued to be forced into collectivised farms
½ of farms collectivised by March 1930
August: many farms returned to their farms
By the end of the year: Only ¼ of farms remained collectivised
Reaction of the Peasants
Created huge resentment towards the policy – Bukharin persuaded the party to suspend the policy
Many peasants reluctant to inform on neighbours and members of the Community
Resistance continues but is less of a problem for Stalin who has more power now
Majority of the Russian peasants were not the ‘poorest’ so therfoe this was a loss of independence and financial gain
Peasants destroyed livestock and grain – 18 million sheep and goats and horses were destroyed in 4 years
Mass resistance continued
Led to surge of hostility towards the government and chaos
Peasants were reduced to desperate measures such as eating horse manure or even dead bodies of humans
1928: Emergency Measures
Government power over economy increased
Rationing in cities
Requisitioning of grain introduced
Spring 1929
Policy is resumed as Stalin’s power within the parties grows
1929
Mass collectivisation begins
‘dekulakisation’ ends capitalist farming
‘Twentyfive thousanders’
1930
‘Dizzy with success’
Collectivisation suspended
1931
Collectivisation reintroduced
Famine begins

17. Plenary
Why did Stalin do it?
(SixFactors Now To Collectivise Kolkhoz)
1.   Soviet agriculture was backward
Old-fashioned/ inefficient/ no machinery/ too small/ subsistence (only grew enough for themselves).
     
2.   Food was needed for workers in the towns
Essential if the Five-Year Plans were to succeed.
3.   NEP was not working
By 1928, the USSR was 20 million tons of grain short to feed the towns.
4.  Town-workers were needed
If the USSR was to become modern/ industrial, peasants needed to migrate to work in the towns.
5.   Cash Crops were needed
If the USSR was to industrialise, peasants needed to grow cash crops (eg grain) which could be exported to raise money to buy foreign machinery and expertise.
   
6.   Kulaks opposed Communism
The Kulaks opposed Communism – they liked their private wealth. They hid food from the government collectors. Also they were influential, and led peasant opinion. Stalin wanted to destroy them.
What are the key points that you have learnt about Stalin and the NEP from your studies today?

18. Read pages 36-43 in Lynch and make any additional notes that you need to on collectivisation
Write an intro and conclusion to the essay question ‘how far did collectivisation improve Russian agriculture?’

19. Imagine Stalin is holding a press conference with a handful of his trusted aids. Write at least 3 questions you wish to ask Stalin about collectivisation. You may want to think about these areas: his true motives, dekulakisation, the 25000’ers, the NEP

20. The consequences of collectivisation

21. We arrived at the large building of Petrovo towards evening
We arrived at the large building of Petrovo towards evening. There was an unearthly silence. A peasant spoke. All the dogs have been eaten, that why it’s so quiet; he said. There are hundreds of people here dying of hunger. I don’t know how many die each day. Many are too weak to come out of their houses. We’ve eaten cats, dogs, mice and birds. Tomorrow you will see that the trees have no bark- we’ve eaten that. And we’ve eaten horse manure. We fight over it.
From ‘I Choose Freedom’ by V. Kravchenko, 1932
Children starving in

22.  Your task
Read Bunce, p.43-5 and note down the consequences of collectivisation in
Rural areas
Urban areas
Within Communist Party (Political Consequences)
 How similar were the consequences to War Communism?

23. Consequences – rural areas
10,000,000 exiled as part of dekulakisation, 10% of peasants
Unrealistic targets
Productivity declined – no incentive to work hard; harvest 9m tonnes less than 1926; livestock numbers halved
Mechanisation slow – expensive to hire tractors from MTS, struggled to meet demand
By 1941 all farms collectivised

24. Consequences – urban areas
Grain procurement by state increased, e.g. 11m tonnes (1928) to 23m tones (1933)
Grain exports increased, e.g. 0.03m tonnes 19298) to 5m tonnes (1931)
Standard of living fell – prices increased, wages fell, meat consumed decreased 2/3 btwn 1928 & 1932
Growing suspicions of peasants by industrial classes
Urbanisation increased, e.g. 22 to 63m ( )

25. Consequences - political
Fear of civil war - party leadership united behind Stalin
Kulaks & peasant saboteurs blamed
Left-wing Communists supported collectivisation as true communism

26.  Your task
Study the source sheet your teacher provides. What can you learn from each sources about the effects of collectivisation & dekulakisation you get.
Which source is most useful for historians investigating this period of Russian history?

27. What was collectivisation?
Collectivisation was Stalin’s method of bringing socialism and economic efficiency to the countryside.
However, collectivisation in the countryside failed – but in terms of industrialisation there was some success.
The policy created economic chaos, famine and massive open hostility to the government.
The policy strengthened Stalin’s position, and in this way was regarded as a political triumph.

28. The effect on rural areas
Collectivisation had a disastrous effect on the Russian peasantry.
Between 9,500,000 and 10,000,000 people were exiled as part of the dekulakisation drive.
In 1929 alone, 150,000 kulak families were sent to Siberia, which rose to 240,000 in 1930 and 285,000 in 1931.
In some cases, 10% of peasants in a single village were exiled.
The peasants who remained endured enormous hardship. They were forced to meet unrealistic targets and paid little for the crops they produced. Most farms were barely able to cover production costs.
Peasants were not filled with communist spirit, collectivisation created anger and resentment towards the government.
There was little incentive for hard work on collective farms as the peasants no longer owned the land and received little reward, as a result labour productivity declined in rural areas.

29. The effect on rural areas
Overall, collectivisation failed to raise agricultural production.
The peasants who were exiled were the hardest working and most enterprising. Without their talents and energy, production fell.
The harvest of 1933 was nine million tonnes less than that of 1926.
In terms of livestock, the number of horses halved between 1928 and 1932, while the number of pigs dropped by 65% in the same period.

30. Mechanisation
Collectivisation was also accompanied by mechanisation, but in the early phase was ineffective.
In June 1930, the Central Committee agreed the creation of a national network of Machine Tractor Stations (MTS). MTS was badly planned and not formally introduced until early 1931.
In order to extract more grain from the peasants, the government kept the price of hiring tractors high. Consequently, few farms were able to acquire new machinery.
By the end of 1932, there was almost 75,000 tractors and 2,500 MTS’ across Russia.
However, half of Russian farms were left out of the network and the extra tractors did not make up for the loss of millions of horses.
The MTS were unable to make significant improvements in Soviet agriculture productivity.
In some ways, the policy was an overwhelming success. In 1930, 25% of peasant households were collectivised. By 1941, all farms in Soviet Russia were collective.
However, the cost of this achievement was astronomical.

31. Industrialisation and urbanisation
One of the goals of collectivisation was to provide more grain for export in order to generate the funds to industrialise.
The amount of grain produced fell onwards from 1926.
But the amount of grain procured (bought up) and exported by the state increased.
In 1928, the state bought up 11 million tonnes of grain which rose to 16 million tonnes in 1929, and 23 million tonnes in 1933.
Similarly grain exports rose from 0.03 million tonnes in 1928, to over 5 million tonnes in 1931.

32. Effects of industrialisation on workers
There was no famine in the cities, but the standard of living for industrial workers fell sharply following collectivisation.
Wages fell by half between
The amount of meat consumed by workers fell by two thirds from
Collectivisation failed to deliver greater unity between workers and the peasants . The government blamed ‘kulak spirit’ among the peasants for poor harvests. The propaganda fed the suspicions of urban workers that the peasants were refusing to play their part in building socialism.
Stalin’s agricultural policy did play a part in increasing urbanisation. In 1928, 18% of Soviet citizens were working class and by 1939 this figure had risen to 50%.
In some cities, the urban population trebled during the 1930’s. Between 1922 and 1940, the number of Russians living in cities rose from 22 million to 63 million. Which created problems as the government were reluctant to invest in housing in urban areas.

33. Political consequences
The famine in the countryside and poverty in the cities created a crisis feeling in the top levels of the Communist Party.
Rather than provoking criticism of Stalin and his policies, the chaos united the Party behind their new leader. Party leaders were fiercely loyal to the new policies and blamed the kulaks and peasants for the problems
Stalin emerged from the mayhem of collectivisation stronger than ever before.

34. Overall outcome
Collectivisation led to deaths of over ten million peasants in the famine of
A similar number were moved to forced labour camps in Siberia.
Soviet agriculture would take decades to recover.
For Stalin the policy was a success, more grain was procured and exported, Russia was urbanised and Stalin had new heights of authority.