Collectivization in Ukraine during the period when it was part of the Soviet Union, and was officially called the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, was part of the policy of collectivization in the USSR and dekulakization. It was pursued between 1928 and 1933 with the purpose to consolidate individual land and labour into collective farms called kolkhoz and to eliminate enemies of the working class. The idea of collective farms was seen by peasants as a revival of serfdom.
The policies had a dramatic effect on the Ukrainian ethnic population and its culture, as 86% of the population lived in rural settings. Their forceful implementation was one of the main causes of the Holodomor. In Ukraine, collectivization had specific goals and outcomes.
The formation of collective farms were based on the large village farms in collective ownership of village inhabitants. Estimated yields were expected to increase by 150%. The ultimate goal of collectivization was to resolve "grain problems" of the late 1920s.
In the early 1920s only 3% of the peasantry of the Soviet Union were collectivised. Within the first five-year plan 20% of peasant households were to be collectivised, although in Ukraine the number was set at 30%.
Policy of collectivization
Approaches to changing from individual farming to a collective type of agricultural production had existed since 1917, but for various reasons (lack of agricultural equipment, agronomy resources, etc.) were not implemented widely until 1925, when there was a more intensive effort by the agricultural sector to increase the number of agricultural cooperatives and bolster the effectiveness of already existing sovkhozes. In late 1927, after the XV Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, then known as the All-Union Communist party (Bolsheviks) or VKP(b), a significant impetus was given to the collectivization effort.
In 1927, a drought shortened the harvest in southern areas of Ukraine and North Caucasus. In 1927 and 1928 the winter tillage area was badly affected due to low snow levels. Despite seed aid from the state, many affected areas were not re-sown. The 1928 harvest was affected by drought in most of the grain producing areas of Ukraine. Shortages in the harvest and difficulties with the supply system invoked difficulties with the food supply in urban areas and destabilized the food supply situation in the USSR in general. In order to alleviate the situation, a system of food rationing was implemented in the second quarter of 1928 initially in Odessa, and later spread to Mariupol, Kherson, Kyiv, Dniprelstan (Dnipropetrovsk), and Kharkiv. At the beginning of 1929 a similar system was implemented throughout the USSR. Despite the aid from the Soviet Ukrainian and the Central governments, many southern rural areas registered occurrences of malnutrition and in some cases hunger and starvation (the affected areas and thus the amount of required food aid was under-accounted by authorities). Due to the shortage of forage livestock, its numbers were also affected (see table below). Most of kolkhozes and recently refurnished sovkhozes went through these years with few losses, and some were even able to provide assistance to peasants in the more affected areas (seed and grain for food).
Early stages Despite an intense state campaign, collectivization, which was initially voluntary, was not popular amongst peasants: as of early 1929, only 5.6% of Ukrainian peasant households and 3.8% of arable land was "collectivized". In early 1929, the methods employed by the specially empowered authority "UkrKolhozcenter" changed from a voluntary enrolment to an administrative one. By October 1, 1929, a plan for the creation of kolkhozes was "outperformed" by 239%. As a result, 8.8% of arable land was "collectivized".
"Fast track collectivization"
The next major step toward "all-over collectivization" took place after an article was published by Joseph Stalin in Pravda, in early November 1929.
While "summoned" by the November 10–17, 1929 meeting of VKP(b) Central Committee, the "Twenty-Five Thousanders" only trained at special short courses, the main driving force of collectivization and dekulakization in Ukraine became a "poor peasants committee" ("komnezamy") and local village councils (silrady) where komnezams members had a voting majority.
The USSR Kolhozcenter issued the December 10, 1929, decree on collectivisation of livestock within a 3-month period (draft animals 100%, cattle 100%, pigs 80%, sheep and goats 60%). This drove many peasants to slaughter their livestock. By January 1, 1930, the percentage of collectivized households almost doubled, to 16.4% of the total number of households. + Ukraine livestock (thousand head) Year Totalhorses Workinghorses Total cattle Oxen Bulls Cows Pigs Sheepand goats1927 5056.5 3900.1 8374.5 805.5 ... 3852.1 4412.4 7956.31928 5486.9 4090.5 8604.8 895.3 32.8 3987.0 6962.9 8112.21929 5607.5 4198.8 7611.0 593.7 26.9 3873.0 4161.2 7030.81930 5308.2 3721.6 6274.1 254.8 49.6 3471.6 3171.8 4533.41931 4781.3 3593.7 6189.5 113.8 40.0 3377.0 3373.3 3364.81932 3658.9 ... 5006.7 105.2 ... 2739.5 2623.7 2109.51933 2604.8 ... 4446.3 116.9 ... 2407.2 2089.2 2004.71934 2546.9 2197.3 5277.5 156.5 46.7 2518.0 4236.7 2197.1
Despite the infamous January 5, 1930, decree, in which the deadline for the complete collectivization of Ukraine was set for the period from the end of 1931 to the spring of 1932, Ukraine authorities decided to accelerate the completion of the campaign by autumn of 1930. The high expectations of the plan were outperformed by local authorities even without the assistance of the 7500 "Twenty-Five Thousanders who had reached some areas only by mid-February – by March 70.9% of arable land and 62.8% of peasant households were suddenly collectivized. The dekulakization plan was also "over-performed". Almost 200,000 households (3.8% of total peasant households) were affected by the requisition of property, land, and houses. Some of the peasants were arrested and deported "to the north". Many arrested kulaks and "well-to-do" farmers resettled their families to the Urals and Central Asia, where they were often exploited in others sectors of the economy, such as timber cutting.Wheatcroft and Davies The term kulak was ultimately applied to anybody resisting collectivization as many of the so-called kulaks were no more well-off than other peasants.
"Dizzy with success"
The fast-track to collectivization incited numerous peasant revolts in Ukraine and in other parts of the USSR. In response to the situation, the Soviet regime stepped back: the March 2, 1930, issue of Pravda published the Stalin's article "Dizzy with success". Soon, numerous orders and decrees were issued banning the use of force and administrative methods. Some of "mistakenly dekulakized" received their property back, and even some mistakenly deported returned home but in insignificant numbers—most remained where they had been deported. The collectivization process was rolled back: by 1 May 1933 38.2% of Ukrainian peasant households and 41.1% of arable land had been collectivized. By the end of August, these numbers declined to 29.2% and 35.6% respectively.
Second "voluntary" collectivization A second forced "voluntary" collectivization campaign was initiated in the winter–summer of 1931 with significant assistance of the so-called "tug-brigades" composed from kolkhoz udarniks. Many kulaks along with families were deported from Ukraine.
According to declassified data, around 300,000 peasants in Ukraine out of a population of about 30 million were subject to these policies in 1930–31. Ukrainians composed 15% of the total 1.8 million kulaks relocated Soviet-wide.Davies and Wheatcroft, p.490 On July 20, 1931 – as a response to the numerous regional requests for additional numbers of kulak deportations Politburo of VKP(b) concluded that the "strategic task of the Party was almost accomplished. All further deportations were recommended to be administered only to individuals."Ivnitskyy "Tragedy of Soviet Village"
This second forced "voluntary" collectivization campaign also invoked a delay in sowing. As a result, cereal crops were heavily affected by the 1931 drought. During winter and spring of 1930–31, the Ukrainian agricultural authority "Narkomzem" Ukrainian SSR issued several reports about the significant decline of livestock and especially draft-animal power caused by poor treatment, absence of forage, stables/farms and due to the "kulaks sabotage".
According to the first five-year plan, Ukrainian agriculture was to switch from an exclusive orientation of grain to a more diverse output. This included not only a rise in sugar beet crops, but also other types of agricultural production were expected to be utilised by industry (with even cotton plants being established in 1931). This plan anticipated a decrease in the area of grain cultivated, in contrast to an increase of yield and area for other crops. By July 1, 1931, 65.7% of Ukrainian peasant households and 67.2% of arable land were reported as "collectivized". The main grain and sugar beet production areas, however, were collectivized to a greater extent — 80-90%.
Clarified "All-over collectivization" The decree of Central Committee of VKP(b) from August 2, 1931, clarified the "all-over collectivization" term - in order to be considered complete the "all-over collectivization" does not have to reach 100%, but not less than 68–70% of peasants households and not less than 75-80% of arable lands. According to the same decree "all-over collectivization" accomplished at Northern Caucasus (Kuban) - 88% of households and 92% of arable lands "collectivized", Ukraine (South) – 85 and 94 percents respectively, Ukraine (Right Bank) – 69 and 80 percents respectively, and Moldavian ASSR (part of Ukrainian SSR) – 68 and 75 percent.Compendium of Soviet Law for 1931. Moscow, 1932
As of the beginning of October 1931, the collectivization of 68.0% of peasant households, and 72.0% of arable land was complete.С.В. Кульчицький, Опір селянства суцільній колективізації, Ukrainian Historical Journal, 2004, № 2, 31-50.
1931 plan The plan for the state grain collection in Ukraine adopted for 1931 was over-optimistic — 510 million poods (8.4 Tg). Drought, administrative distribution of the plan for kolkhozes, together with the lack of relevant management generally destabilized the situation. Significant amounts of grain remained unharvested. A significant percentage was lost during processing and transportation, or spoiled at elevators (wet grain). The total Winter sowing area shrunk by approximately 2 million hectares. Livestock in kolkhozes remained without forage, which was collected under grain procurement. A similar occurrence happened with respect to seeds and wages awarded in kind for kolhoz members. Nevertheless, grain collection continued till May 1932 but reached only 90% of expected plan figures. By the end of December 1931, the collection plan was accomplished by 79%. Many kolkhozes from December 1931 onwards suffered from lack of food, resulting in an increased number of deaths caused by malnutrition registered by OGPU in some areas (Moldavia as a whole and several central rayons of Vinnytsia, Kyiv and North-East rayons of Odessa oblasts) in winter-spring and the early summer months of 1932. By 1932 the sowing campaign of Ukraine was obtained with minimal power as most of the remaining horses were incapable of working, while the number of available agricultural tractors was too small to fill the gap.