Collectivization Dbq

During the 1920s, the Soviet Union was facing many economic problems. In attempt to fix them, Stalin proposed the idea of collectivization. This policy required individual farms to become united into large collective units.

By doing this, he believed that the food production and the use of modern technology would increase and that industrialization could be achieved. In addition, he wanted to created a more socialist nation, especially in the rural areas, and have complete control of the peasants. Stalin also wanted to get rid of his political rivalries and prove to the world that communism is a success. However, this policy didn’t achieve most of his goals, which is why it was not completely successful. In fact, many people would consider

it to be a failure.
One of the main reason why it failed was because many people did not like the idea of giving up their land, crops, and livestock, especially the kulaks, who were the richer peasants. However, these people were believed to be greedy and untrustworthy. This is because Stalin made it seem as though they were enemies of the state, who were hoarding all of the grain. He told the nation that they were the reason for all of the economic issues because they were keeping the food to themselves. Though, in reality, they just happened to be more skilled in farming and were able to make enough for their family and a small profit from trading.
In order to fix the issue of unequal distribution of crops, Stalin used a method of collecting grain called the Ural-Siberian method.

This called for meetings in villages that asked for peasants to locate the kulaks, which was difficult, due to the fact that the term did not have a clear definition. The people, who were considered to be kulaks, were forced to confiscate all of their extra grain and meet their quotas. However, if they fail to do so, they were punished severely. Due to this, riots and unrest were created throughout the nation. Crops were destroyed, and livestock was either eaten or killed. As a result, government officials were sent to arrest millions of people, who were executed, placed in labor camps, or deported out of the country. This caused the productivity of the work force to declined, which lead to famine and

death.
Although many people starved to death as a result of this policy, some of the famine that had occurred was intentional. For instance, in Ukraine, Stalin deprived people of food on purpose, and about six million died as a result. He placed high quotas, which took away majority of the food, leaving none left to feed them. When they asked for aid from other cities, the country’s borders were closed off to ensure that no food entered.
Stalin used them as an example for all of the farmers who refuse to collectivize because he wanted to encourage production.

By promoting fear, the number of collective farms increased, which helped him achieve his goal. Also, the food taken from the Ukrainians were given to foreign trade, which allowed Stalin to buy machinery used to increase production. This helped modernize farming methods and equipment, which made it more efficient. In addition, many of the people in Ukraine were forcibly removed from their homes and placed into factories. This increased industrialization in the Soviet Union. Due to this, the Ukraine genocide was considered to be a success for

Stalin.
Although it had many economic downfalls, the policy of collectivization was very successful politically. Because many people rebelled, Stalin had to put more troops across the Soviet Union. Due to this, every village soon had loyal party officers. This not only increased his control over the peasants, whom he considered to be backwards people, but also aided in the spread of communist beliefs in the rural areas. This allowed for education to grow and opposition to decline.
However, the message of communism was not only spread in the Soviet Union. Many socialist from around the world would come to Russia and visit the collective farms. In order to conceal all of the negative aspects of it, such as famine and death, Stalin would create fake models of the villages that would only show positive effects of it, making it seem as though it was successful.
Furthermore, Stalin wanted to create more socialism in the countryside. In order to do this, all of the farms must become completely collectivisized. At first, the percentage of collective farms were relatively low, due to the resistance of peasants. In 1930, it was at about 24 percent. However, the use of propaganda and force allowed the number to increase. By the time 1941 came, it was at 98 percent.
Stalin’s agricultural policy of collectivization was not completely a failure nor a success. The population greatly declined as a result of starvation, execution, and deportation, which caused productivity to go down as well. Livestock also decreased and was not able to return to the numbers that it had once been until many years later. This is why it was considered to be an economic failure. However, industrialization did increased as well as technology, but not as much as Stalin wanted. Though, the policy was successful politically, especially in gaining control and spreading communist ideas throughout the Soviet Union.