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— CH. 1 · ORIGINS AND IDEOLOGY —

Collectivization in the Soviet Union

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  • In October 1929, approximately 7.5% of peasant households in the Soviet Union belonged to collective farms. By February 1930, that figure had surged to 52.7%. This rapid transformation marked the end of the New Economic Policy and began a nationwide program designed to integrate individual landholdings into state-controlled entities known as kolkhozes and sovkhozes. The leadership believed this shift would immediately increase food supplies for urban populations and provide raw materials for processing industries. Planners expected that replacing small private farms with large collectives would solve the crisis of agricultural distribution that had developed since 1927. The problem worsened as the Soviet Union pressed ahead with its ambitious industrialization program, requiring more food to feed a growing workforce. Joseph Stalin viewed peasants as a major threat to socialism and sought to extract larger surpluses from agriculture to fund imports of machinery. Lenin had previously claimed that small-scale production gave birth to capitalism daily and hourly. The Communist Party saw collectivization as the only remedy for private agriculture, despite the fact that only about 1% of farmland was collectivized by 1928.

  • During the famine of 1932, 33, an estimated 5.7 to 8.7 million people died from starvation across the Soviet countryside. The center of the disaster lay in Ukraine and surrounding regions including the Don, the Kuban, the Northern Caucasus, and Kazakhstan where one million people perished. About 40 million people were affected by food shortages, including areas near Moscow where mortality rates increased by 50%. In Kharkiv alone, 120,000 people died during this period. Historians R.W. Davies and Stephen G. Wheatcroft used official archival statistics showing 2,577,065 registered deaths in Ukraine to extrapolate an excess mortality figure of 1,544,840 between 1932 and 1933. Some sources claim at least four million deaths occurred, characterizing the event as a genocide against the Ukrainian people. Stalin denied the existence of any famine and prohibited journalists from visiting collective farms. He blamed prosperous peasants known as kulaks for hoarding grain and sabotaging collection efforts. The government responded by cutting off food rations to opposing areas and fining peasants five times their quota if they failed to meet demands. Those who continued defiance faced deportation or exile.

  • The term Ural-Siberian Method was coined by Stalin to describe the new approach to grain procurement that targeted wealthy peasants. Article 107 of the criminal code provided the legal means by which the state acquired grain from those deemed uncooperative. Estimates suggest about one million so-called kulak families, representing perhaps five million people total, were sent to forced labor camps. Many peasant families were forcibly resettled into Siberia and Kazakhstan where some died during transit. On the 7th of August 1932, a decree called Protection of Socialist Property proclaimed that theft of kolkhoz property carried the death sentence. Under extenuating circumstances this punishment could be replaced by at least ten years of incarceration. A law nicknamed the Law of Spikelets allowed authorities to arrest even children who hand-collected or gleaned grain after harvest. These measures aimed to eliminate kulaks as a class through dispossession, deportation, and execution. The Soviet Union used these tactics to force compliance with collective farm systems while extracting maximum agricultural output for industrial goals.

  • In November 1929, resistance to grain seizures became widespread following the introduction of the Ural-Siberian Method. Massive hoarding occurred with burial serving as the common method for hiding grain. Illegal transfers of grain took place throughout rural areas. In a Russian village named Belovka, protestors beat members of the local soviet and set fire to their homes. Women played an essential role in opposing collectivization by physically blocking entrances to huts scheduled for exile. They forcibly took back socialized seed and livestock and led assaults on officials. When women faced trial they received less harsh punishments than men because officials viewed them as illiterate and backward. Livestock slaughter served as a major form of protest against joining collective farms. In the Central Black Earth Region during early 1930, peasants slaughtered 25% of cattle, 55% of sheep, 53% of pigs, and 40% of chickens within three months. Religious persecution also fueled revolt when churches closed and priests were arrested starting in 1929. Rumors spread that the Soviet state represented the Antichrist and would mark those who joined collectives with the Devil's stamp.

  • In May 1931, a special resolution ordered the deportation of 40,000 kulaks to sparsely populated areas in Tomsk Oblast within Western Siberia. Uprisings occurred in provinces like Buryatia where the Red Army put down a revolt in 1929. Northern Siberian groups including Nenets and Khanty also rose up in the early 1930s. In Kazakhstan, livestock numbers fell from seven million cattle to 1.6 million and from 22 million sheep to 1.7 million due to confiscation campaigns. Half a million people migrated to other regions while another 1.5 million fled to China. As many as one million died in the resulting famine among those who remained. Latvia experienced delayed collectivization until after World War II when the first kolkhoz was established in November 1946. By March 1949, about 40,000 people were deported and resettled throughout the USSR. Within two weeks following these deportations, 1,740 new kolkhozes were established. Rural life changed as farmers' daily movements became governed by plans formulated elsewhere and delivered through non-farming hierarchies.

  • The number of cows in the Soviet Union fell from 33.2 million in 1928 to 27.8 million in 1941 and further to 24.6 million in 1950. Pig populations declined from 27.7 million in 1928 to 27.5 million in 1941 then dropped to 22.2 million in 1950. Sheep numbers decreased from 114.6 million in 1928 to 91.6 million in 1941 before rising slightly to 93.6 million in 1950. Horse stocks plummeted from 36.1 million in 1928 to 21.0 million in 1941 and reached just 12.7 million by 1950. Only by the late 1950s did farm animal stocks begin approaching their 1928 levels. In many cases immediate effects included reduction of output and cutting livestock numbers in half. The subsequent recovery of agricultural production was impeded by losses suffered during World War II and severe droughts in 1946. Collective farm earnings in 1952 were estimated at only one-fourth of cash income from private plots. Despite initial plans, collectivization accompanied by bad harvests failed to meet expectations between 1929 and 1932.

Common questions

When did collectivization in the Soviet Union begin and how quickly did it expand?

Collectivization in the Soviet Union began in October 1929 when approximately 7.5% of peasant households belonged to collective farms. By February 1930, that figure had surged to 52.7% as the program integrated individual landholdings into state-controlled entities known as kolkhozes and sovkhozes.

How many people died during the famine of 1932 in the Soviet Union?

An estimated 5.7 to 8.7 million people died from starvation across the Soviet countryside during the famine of 1932. The center of the disaster lay in Ukraine and surrounding regions including the Don, the Kuban, the Northern Caucasus, and Kazakhstan where one million people perished.

What was the Ural-Siberian Method used by Stalin for grain procurement?

The term Ural-Siberian Method was coined by Stalin to describe a new approach to grain procurement that targeted wealthy peasants. Article 107 of the criminal code provided the legal means by which the state acquired grain from those deemed uncooperative while about one million so-called kulak families were sent to forced labor camps.

Why did peasants slaughter livestock during collectivization in the Central Black Earth Region?

Livestock slaughter served as a major form of protest against joining collective farms when peasants refused to surrender their animals. In the Central Black Earth Region during early 1930, peasants slaughtered 25% of cattle, 55% of sheep, 53% of pigs, and 40% of chickens within three months.

When was the first kolkhoz established in Latvia after World War II?

Latvia experienced delayed collectivization until after World War II when the first kolkhoz was established in November 1946. By March 1949, about 40,000 people were deported and resettled throughout the USSR before 1,740 new kolkhozes were established within two weeks following these deportations.

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All sources

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