Key topic 4: Economic and social changes, 1924–41 - 1 Agriculture and…

The idea

Stalin introduced collectivisation to address the limitations of the New Economic Policy (NEP) and fund rapid industrialisation. The NEP, allowing private farming, led to a grain procurement crisis by 1927; peasants (kulaks) hoarded grain to drive up prices, threatening food supplies for the urban workforce. Ideologically, the NEP was a retreat to capitalism, creating a wealthy peasant class incompatible with socialism. Stalin needed to modernise agriculture through mechanisation to increase yields and free up peasants to work in new factories. Furthermore, exporting surplus grain was essential to buy foreign machinery for the Five-Year Plans, making absolute state control of agriculture vital for the Soviet Union's survival.

What earns the marks

• Explain the economic problems of the NEP, specifically the grain procurement crisis of 1927-28 and the hoarding of grain by peasants.
• Identify the ideological reasons for change, noting that the NEP fostered capitalist elements (kulaks) which contradicted communist principles.
• Discuss the need to increase agricultural efficiency and output through mechanisation and economies of scale on collective farms.
• Link agricultural changes to industrialisation, explaining that surplus grain was needed for export to purchase foreign industrial machinery.
• Explain that modernising agriculture would release surplus peasant labour to work in the expanding industrial cities.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Treating agricultural changes and industrialisation as separate, unrelated policies.

  Put it right: Emphasise that collectivisation was primarily introduced to serve and fund the Five-Year Plans for industry.

• Stating that the NEP was a complete failure from the start.

  Put it right: Note that while the NEP initially helped recovery after the Civil War, it had reached its limits by the late 1920s and could not support rapid industrialisation.

• Ignoring the ideological motivation against the kulaks.

  Put it right: Include Stalin's desire to eliminate the kulaks as a class, as they represented rural capitalism.

Exam tips

• Use the term 'grain procurement crisis' to describe the immediate economic trigger for Stalin's agricultural changes.
• Always link collectivisation to the Five-Year Plans; Stalin needed grain to feed workers and to export for industrial equipment.
• Remember the ideological angle: Stalin wanted to bring the peasantry, who were traditionally conservative, under strict communist control.