Collectivization of Agriculture

1. Why was collectivization necessary?
Collectivization was the socialist solution for agriculture. You could not build a socialist state when the majority of the population were private landholders who sold their products on the market. Collectivization would socialize the peasantry. Mechanized agriculture requires fewer peasants to work the land. The peasants could go to the factories when they left the farms.

2. What is a kolkhoz?
A farm where all the land was collectively owned. It had 50-100 families. Everything (livestock, land etc.) was pooled. Each family had one acre for private use. Each farm had a set quota they had to give to the state.

3. Who is a kulak?
A kulak is a better-off peasant. They had moderate incomes. They might hire labor and have a small surplus of food to sell. They do not want to join collective farms because they worked hard to be somewhat successful on their own, they don't want to share their wealth. Kulaks were the most enterprising peasants or the peasants with good machinery or good animals.

4. How were the kulaks dealt with by the government?
The government wanted to get rid of the kulaks because they were resisting collectivization because they refused to join kolkhozes and other collective farms. The government got rid of them through force, terror and propaganda. A group of activists called "The Twenty Five Thousanders" told peasants that kulaks were the "class enemy."

5. How did the peasants resist collectivization? What happened as a result?
Peasants rioted, they burned crops, tools and houses rather than giving them to the state. The peasants stole back animals that had been put into collective farms. Peasants killed their animals and didn't give them to the government or collective farm.

Examine the collective farm as illustrated in the reading, "A plan of a collective farm.":
6. What is a MTS Station?
A machine and tractor station. Mechanized agriculture would require fewer peasants to work the land, this means they could work in factories instead.


7. What were the dual purposes of the MTS Stations?
They supported collective farms and also controlled the countryside. Each MTS had a political department that's job was to get rid of anti-soviet elements and troublemakers. It also made sure that each kolhkoz gave the state its quota of grain.

8. How did a kolkhoz work and what was its relationship with the nearby town and its MTS?
The first priority of a collective farm was to deliver quotas of grain and other products to the state. The state paid very low prices, then sold the produce to the towns at slightly higher prices. Once the state quota had been met, peasants could sell any surplus a the local market. This came mostly from the peasant's private plots and was the main source of dairy products for the urban population.