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The Peasant Problem

The Peasant Problem. Peasants were the biggest benefactor of the revolution  land reform; had little interest in socialism Even with NEP, grain production still lower than 1913 levels

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The Peasant Problem

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  1. The Peasant Problem • Peasants were the biggest benefactor of the revolution  land reform; had little interest in socialism • Even with NEP, grain production still lower than 1913 levels • Crisis in 1927: grain prices fall; peasants sell ½ as much to state agencies as in 1926; not enough to feed the cities • Government blames NEP • Stalin orders draconian requisitioning methods

  2. The Great Turn(The Second Revolution) • Definition: The radical change in economic policy in 1928/1929 which  • Abandoned the New Economic Policy (NEP) and accelerated collectivization. • The term was taken from Stalin's article "Year of the Great Turn" published on November 7, 1929

  3. The Great Turn(The Second Revolution) • Why did Stalin support the Great Turn? • 1) 1927-1928: Stalin feared attack from Britain, France, & Poland (Japan?) • Need for strong industry to combat West • 2) A growing proletariat would broaden support for communism in Russia • 3) Saw himself as a modernIvan the Terrible or Peter the Great who would modernize Russia &  Great Power

  4. The Great Turn(The Second Revolution) • Why did Stalin support the Great Turn? • 4) A successful Russian economy would impress workersaround the world & increase the appeal of communism • 5) Many party members supported the “modernization” of the Soviet economy • Significanceof the Great Turn: policies brought great change to the Communist Party & the relationship between Party & people • Is this where the Soviet Union “went wrong”?

  5. The First Five-Year Plan (1928-1933) • Fifteenth Party Congress 1st FYP • Official end to NEP • Aim: To industrialize the USSR • Goals: • 250% increase in industrial production • 150% increase in farm production • Detailed targets produced for all industry; but in reality there was little planning from the top; government used terror  increases • Planning occurred @ the local & regional level to make sense of the instructions they were given

  6. Propaganda (First Five Year Plan)

  7. Collectivization • Why did Stalin introduce collectivization? • Need for capital to finance industrialization; farm exports  revenue • The existing system was unlikely to produce more food; peasant farms too small to utilize modern equipment • Unless change was implemented, Stalin would face annual grain crises and/or be held ransom by peasants & kulaks (who had little sympathy with communism) • Collective farms would use less labor – modern techniques – release people  cities

  8. 3 Main Types of Collective Farm • Toz – peasants owned their land but shared machinery & cooperated in activities (sowing & harvesting) • Sovkhoz – owned & run by the state; peasants paid a wage (like a factory worker) • Kolkhoz – land was held in common and run by elected committee; 50-100 households put together; all land, tools & livestock pooled; farmed the land as one unit but retained 1 acre of private land + a “cow, a pig, & a fowl”

  9. Soviet propaganda poster: "Comrade, come and join the kolkhoz!"

  10. Collective Farm

  11. War on the Kulaks • Voluntary collectivization was unsuccessful • By 1929, 90% of peasants did not join collective farms • 1928-1929: Grain  cities lower than ever • Stalin: • 1) forced 25 million peasants to form 240,000 collective farms • 2) kulaks were to be destroyed • Dec. 1929: mass collectivization & “dekulakization” began; met with violent opposition (esp. Ukraine); opposition crushed • NKVD & Red Army troops surrounded towns; used machine guns to force surrender (transported survivors to remote areas where many died of starvation & disease

  12. War on the Kulaks (cont’d) • March 1930: ½ of the peasants joined collective farms; productivity destroyed • Many slaughtered animals instead of giving them to collective farms • Many collective farms were hopelessly inefficient; crop yields plummeted • Faced with famine, Stalin back-tracked • “Dizzy with Success” article published

  13. “Dizzy with Success” • This is a reference to an article published in Pravda (March 1930) that suggested collectivization had been pushed ahead too quickly by party officials who were “dizzy with success” • The pace needed to be slowed – so houses, small plots and animals would no longer be collectivized • Peasants left collective farms @ an alarming rate & planted the spring wheat • Once this happened, Stalin resumed collectivization (summer 1930)

  14. Collectivization • 1935: 94% of crop land was collectivized • See “A plan of a collective farm” page 161 in SHP CRULS

  15. Rate of population decline in Ukraine and South Russia. 1929-1932

  16. Victims of the Famine (Holodomor)

  17. The Famine 1932-1933.

  18. Results of Collectivization • Stalin achieved his aims • Farming  mechanized • 1930: 25,000 tractors & 1,000 combines • 1940: 525,000 tractors & 182,000 combines • 1940: wheat crop 80% higher than in 1913 • Growing towns had a regular supply of food • Grain exported • Labor released for industry • Life in the countryside closer to communist ideals

  19. Results of Collectivization • Stalin’s policies can be seen as disastrous: • Human cost: 1931-1933 10 million died of famine (esp. Ukraine); some parents even killed & ate their children • Stalin’s wife suicide in 1932; blamed him for the misery in the USSR • By 1933: livestock production fell to the 1928 level • Collective farms inefficient • Government interference & lack of worker incentive; mechanization slow to arrive; peasants poorly paid & the promised schools & clinics rarely materialized

  20. Industrialization • The First Five Year Plan: • Top priority was given to heavy industry • (iron, steel, chemicals, electric power, etc.); focus on production of weapons & military improvements • Low priority to light industry (consumer goods); enough to provide people with minimal living conditions • The State Planning Commission (Gosplan) determined all economic matters (wages, factories, products, etc.)

  21. Poster from 1930, translation reads: “We Will Turn the Five Year Plan into a Four Year One”

  22. Industrialization • (1st FYP) To achieve production goals, the Communists: • 1) used propaganda better days ahead • Many young workers formed “shock brigades” • 2) rewarded outstanding workers with pay differentials & social approval • 3) punished unsuccessful plant managers by demotion & arrest as saboteurs • Note: treat all statistics from this time with caution

  23. Industrialization • Weaknesses of the 1st FYP: • 1) quantity put @ the expense of quality • 2) living standards remain low (no priority to consumer goods) • 3) people could lose their jobs if they were sick; simple errors & accidents were labeled as “sabotage” • 4) factory managers under enormous pressure, may be declared an enemy of the state • 5) secret police deployed in the factory

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