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Collectivisation and the Five-Year Plans
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Stalin wanted to turn the USSR into a modern industrial power in ten years. Farming and industry were transformed at enormous human cost.
Collectivisation
Why: to grow more grain to feed workers and sell abroad to pay for industry, and to bring peasants under communist control.
From 1929, peasants were forced into collective farms (kolkhozes), sharing land and tools. Machine Tractor Stations supplied machinery.
The kulaks (richer peasants) were attacked: arrested, deported or shot. Many peasants killed their animals rather than hand them over.
From 1929, peasants were forced into collective farms (kolkhozes), sharing land and tools. Machine Tractor Stations supplied machinery.
The kulaks (richer peasants) were attacked: arrested, deported or shot. Many peasants killed their animals rather than hand them over.
Famine
Grain was still taken even when there was not enough to eat.
The famine of 1932 to 33 killed millions, especially in Ukraine.
By the late 1930s nearly all farms were collectivised, but output of grain and livestock had fallen badly at first.
The famine of 1932 to 33 killed millions, especially in Ukraine.
By the late 1930s nearly all farms were collectivised, but output of grain and livestock had fallen badly at first.
Industrialisation
Gosplan (the state planning agency) set targets in Five-Year Plans: 1928 to 32, 1933 to 37, and 1938 to 41 (cut short by war).
The focus was heavy industry: coal, iron, steel, oil and electricity. New industrial cities such as Magnitogorsk were built.
Stakhanov, a miner, cut a record amount of coal in one shift in 1935; the Stakhanovite movement urged others to copy him.
Successes: huge growth in heavy industry. Failures: poor quality goods, few consumer goods, and harsh conditions with forced labour.
The focus was heavy industry: coal, iron, steel, oil and electricity. New industrial cities such as Magnitogorsk were built.
Stakhanov, a miner, cut a record amount of coal in one shift in 1935; the Stakhanovite movement urged others to copy him.
Successes: huge growth in heavy industry. Failures: poor quality goods, few consumer goods, and harsh conditions with forced labour.
Give two reasons why Stalin introduced collectivisation.
- Industry needed more grain to feed the growing cities and to export.
- Collective farms let the state control peasants and take grain more easily.
Answer: To produce more grain for industry and exports, and to control the peasants.
Collectivisation (from 1929) forced peasants into kolkhozes and destroyed the kulaks, causing the 1932 to 33 famine. Gosplan's Five-Year Plans built heavy industry fast, helped by the Stakhanovite movement, but consumer goods were scarce and conditions harsh.
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