Collectivisation

Question 1

economic causes

Answer 1

• poor harvests in 1927, 8 & 9, increasing prices of agricultural products affected the government as they had been selling grain surpluses abroad since 1921 - they wouldn’t be able to build russia’s industry
• larger farms would increase efficiency
• wanted more workers in cities so, if few people were needed for farming more could move away
• purging kulaks would provide slave labour

Question 2

social causes

Answer 2

• increased production would mean the government could provide a better standard of living for the industrial workers
• efficiency = more food for urban workers
• peasants weren’t embracing socialism - producing grain for themselves & profit rather than for the people
• healthcare & education could be provided if peasants were all in the same place

Question 3

political causes

Answer 3

• more appealing to the left wing & many others than the right’s idea of importing grain (which would reduce industrialisation)
• stalin had only visited a farm once but believed farming could be transformed with strong will & good leadership
• removing private land ownership would be more communist
• control over the peasantry

Question 4

how many horses & sheep were destroyed?

Answer 4

1929-33 = 18 million horses & 100 million sheep

Question 5

what did kulaks do with machinery?

Answer 5

destroyed any machinery they had rather than giving it to the bolsheviks

Question 6

what happened to labour productivity in rural areas?

Answer 6

declined = as they didn’t own the land or gain much from their work, there was little incentive to work

Question 7

1933 harvest comparison

Answer 7

9 million tonnes less than the 1926 harvest

Question 8

mechanisation

Answer 8

ineffective in the early stages - network of machine tractor stations organised but didn’t start for a year

Question 9

grain exports stat

Answer 9

rose from 0.03 million tonnes (1928) to 5 million tonnes (1931)

Question 10

what happened when stalin reintroduced grain requisitioning?

Answer 10

resentment created between peasants & kulaks - stalin rewarded poorer peasants who informed on kulaks by giving them land which belonged to the kulaks

Question 11

the 25,000

Answer 11

‘socially conscious’ industrial workers sent to rural areas to offer technical help to peasants about machinery - BUT they LIED!!! they were used for dekulakisation - found secret stores of grain & confiscated them, exiled kulaks & forced peasants into collective farms

Question 12

‘dizzy with success’

Answer 12

a pravda article by stalin = still defended collectivisation but claimed some local party members had been ‘over enthusiastic’ & argued targets had been met so the policy would be suspended - never admitted it had caused problems

Question 13

how many died in the famine & how many were exiled during dekulakisation?

Answer 13

10 million for both

Question 14

when was collectivisation stopped?

Answer 14

march 1930

Question 15

what happened to grain sent to cities?

Answer 15

often sat rotting in barns whilst peasants starved in nearby villages

Question 16

EVALUATION = rise in living standards?

Answer 16

NO! - even in the cities they fell sharply as their wages value fell by 1/2 from 1928-32 - amount of meat consumed by them decreased by 2/3

Question 17

EVALUATION = rise in gdp, industrial & agricultural output?

Answer 17

grain exports increased but grain produced decreased from 1926

Question 18

EVALUATION = meeting the needs of the state/people?

Answer 18

• the state, yes = provided more grain for exports to generate funds for industrialisation, strengthened stalin’s position, increased urbanisation (18%-50%, 1928-39) BUT he failed to bring socialism & economic efficiency to the countryside
• for the people - DEFINITELY NOT!!!