Collective Farming:
Collectivisation in Agriculture was the ideology of Stalin. He believed that Russia's agriculture was in a terrible state and he thought that using this new way of agriculture that he could fix things and make it better. He said:
"Agriculture is developing slowly, comrades. This is because we have about 25 million individually owned farms. They are the most primitive and undeveloped form of economy we must do our utmost to develop large farms and to convert them into grain factories for the country organized on a modem scientific basis."
By saying this, he really gave his people hope, in some areas there were famines going on and land was in some places un-farmable. So the use of modern and scientific information could help improve farming in those areas, since no one was really farming except the peasants and even that was merely subsistence farming, for them and their family to survive off of. But that subsistence farming was not satisfying enough for Stalin and he was determined to do something in order to get what he wanted. In order to do all this and achieve the goals that he wanted to achieve, he introduced the idea of collectivism. This was the idea that all the little small farms would be pushed together to make one bigger ones called collective. This was not just used for the peasants, but everyone. They were so big that it gave them reason to use machinery; And now the more food that can be grown, the better the cities and factories could suitably feed their workers and citizens. The key to collective farms was the idea of using science technology and machinery. Collectives were up and running by the 1930's and over 50% of all farms were combined. This seemed like a great idea to Stalin and others, but many people did not agree too. There was the poor peasants who did have their small farms, and they put their trust in Stalin, granted they did not really have anything to lose, and then there was the richer peasants. The richer peasants however were not as acquiescent as the other peasants, they felt that they had worked very hard for what they had earned and did not find it fair to be taken from them for the greater good of the country, these people were referred to as "Kulaks".
"Look at the kulaks farms : their barns and sheds are crammed with grain. And yet they are holding onto this grain because they are demanding three times the price offered by the government." - Joseph Stalin
If you read the quote said by Joseph stalin above, you can see that he is trying to turn the two groups against each other, in order to get what he wants. But actually many peasants "rich" or "poor" did not love the idea of Collective farms, the land that Lenin had given them due to their rights was now being taken by Stalin. Villages that refused collectives had soldiers sent to them and they were shot as "enemies of the revolution" or "enemies of the people", to make their deaths sound justifies when in reality they were not. The villages that were due for collectivism, but did not reach it yet killed their animals and destroyed their grain so that they could not be taken by the soldiers and the "Secret Police". This rebellious behavior sparked an era in which animals were slaughtered and crops and grains were intentionally ruined. Its ironic because Stalin wants to move forward and what these people are doing is only bringing them backward.
"Agriculture is developing slowly, comrades. This is because we have about 25 million individually owned farms. They are the most primitive and undeveloped form of economy we must do our utmost to develop large farms and to convert them into grain factories for the country organized on a modem scientific basis."
By saying this, he really gave his people hope, in some areas there were famines going on and land was in some places un-farmable. So the use of modern and scientific information could help improve farming in those areas, since no one was really farming except the peasants and even that was merely subsistence farming, for them and their family to survive off of. But that subsistence farming was not satisfying enough for Stalin and he was determined to do something in order to get what he wanted. In order to do all this and achieve the goals that he wanted to achieve, he introduced the idea of collectivism. This was the idea that all the little small farms would be pushed together to make one bigger ones called collective. This was not just used for the peasants, but everyone. They were so big that it gave them reason to use machinery; And now the more food that can be grown, the better the cities and factories could suitably feed their workers and citizens. The key to collective farms was the idea of using science technology and machinery. Collectives were up and running by the 1930's and over 50% of all farms were combined. This seemed like a great idea to Stalin and others, but many people did not agree too. There was the poor peasants who did have their small farms, and they put their trust in Stalin, granted they did not really have anything to lose, and then there was the richer peasants. The richer peasants however were not as acquiescent as the other peasants, they felt that they had worked very hard for what they had earned and did not find it fair to be taken from them for the greater good of the country, these people were referred to as "Kulaks".
"Look at the kulaks farms : their barns and sheds are crammed with grain. And yet they are holding onto this grain because they are demanding three times the price offered by the government." - Joseph Stalin
If you read the quote said by Joseph stalin above, you can see that he is trying to turn the two groups against each other, in order to get what he wants. But actually many peasants "rich" or "poor" did not love the idea of Collective farms, the land that Lenin had given them due to their rights was now being taken by Stalin. Villages that refused collectives had soldiers sent to them and they were shot as "enemies of the revolution" or "enemies of the people", to make their deaths sound justifies when in reality they were not. The villages that were due for collectivism, but did not reach it yet killed their animals and destroyed their grain so that they could not be taken by the soldiers and the "Secret Police". This rebellious behavior sparked an era in which animals were slaughtered and crops and grains were intentionally ruined. Its ironic because Stalin wants to move forward and what these people are doing is only bringing them backward.
Review Questions:
1. Do you agree with Stalin or the peasants? Is collective Farming good or bad and why.
2. Did the people who did not want to take part in collective farming deserve to die?
3. What do you think Stalin was hoping to happen by attempting to turn the rich and poor peasants against one another?
2. Did the people who did not want to take part in collective farming deserve to die?
3. What do you think Stalin was hoping to happen by attempting to turn the rich and poor peasants against one another?