 starter activity

starter activity Study the Soviet posters that follow. What is their message? What links them?

Let’s take them by storm – the last year of the five year plan. Government poster from 1931

Tractors and day nurseries – movers of the new nation, Soviet government poster from 1930

Mastering machinery – be in the first ranks of the builders of communism. Soviet government poster, 1934

Kolkhoznik, guard your fields against the class enemies. Government poster, 1933

Key words: The Great Turn (1927) collectivisation OGPU How did Stalin build socialism in the countryside?  Learning objectives TBAT explain the reasons why Stalin introduced collectivisation To explain how Stalin collectivised Russia To evaluate the consequences

 Your task • Read p.39-41 (Bunce) and note down the reasons why Stalin decided to collectivise farms • In your opinion, what was the most urgent reason for Stalin?

Reasons for collectivisation Economic factors – decline of grain production (1927-9), worsening standards of living for farmers, limited surplus grain to sell on to foreign countries Ideological factors – collectivisation would foster communism in countryside Political factors – collectivisation appealed to Stalin’s left-wing supporters; Grain Procurement Crisis (1927-9) showed how Stalin could be held hostage by Kulaks & failure of NEP

 Your task • Read p.41-43 (Bunce) and explain how Stalin collectivised Russia. Use these subheadings to help: • Emergency measures • Liquidation of kulaks • Twenty-five-thousanders • Dizzy with success • Famine

Course of collectivisation • Emergency measures – rationing reintroduced; grain hoarding criminalised; kulaks sent to labour camps • Liquidation of kulaks – ‘dekulakisation’ introduced; collective farms formed BUT resentment led to destruction of crops, livestock & machinery • Twenty-five-thousanders– socially conscious industrial workers sent into countryside • Dizzy with success – Pravda article, blaming over enthusiastic local officials • Famine – grain seizures, farmers executed or exiled, grain taken to cities or exported

Imagine Stalin is holding a press conference with a handful of his trusted aids. Write at least 3 questions you wish to ask Stalin about collectivisation. You may want to think about these areas: his true motives, dekulakisation, the 25000’ers, the NEP

 Your task Read Bunce, p.43-5 and note down the consequences of collectivisation in Rural areas Urban areas Within Communist Party  How similar were the consequences to War Communism?

Consequences – rural areas 10,000,000 exiled as part of dekulakisation, 10% of peasants Unrealistic targets Productivity declined – no incentive to work hard; 1933 harvest 9m tonnes less than 1926; livestock numbers halved Mechanisation slow – expensive to hire tractors from MTS, struggled to meet demand By 1941 all farms collectivised

Consequences – urban areas Grain procurement by state increased, e.g. 11m tonnes (1928) to 23m tones (1933) Grain exports increased, e.g. 0.03m tonnes 19298) to 5m tonnes (1931) Standard of living fell – prices increased, wages fell, meat consumed decreased 2/3 btwn 1928 & 1932 Growing suspicions of peasants by industrial classes Urbanisation increased, e.g. 22 to 63m (1922-1940)

Consequences - political Fear of civil war - party leadership united behind Stalin Kulaks & peasant saboteurs blamed Left-wing Communists supported collectivisation as true communism

 Your task Study the source sheet your teacher provides. What can you learn from each sources about the effects of collectivisation & dekulakisation you get. Which source is most useful for historians investigating this period of Russian history?

 Extension task • Read about the impact of collectivisation on Smolensk (Fiehn, p.216). How typical was collectivisation there compared with elsewhere in Russia?

Key words: The Great Turn (1927) collectivisation OGPU How did Stalin build socialism in the countryside?  Learning objectives TBAT explain the reasons why Stalin introduced collectivisation To explain how Stalin collectivised Russia To evaluate the consequences  Plenary

 starter activity