Sovkhoz

Under Stalin 's Collectivization campaign, most farmers were forced into either a sovkhoz or a kolkhoz. A sovkhoz would be organized by the state with workers who would be paid regulated wages, while in a kolkhoz the system of payment was different.

Initially, sovkhoz farms were the ones which were created by the state confiscating large estates, while kolkhozes were typically created by combining smaller farms together.

The distinction between sovkhoz and kolkhoz was not significant in practice most of the time. Both categories of farms were controlled by orders from the Soviet government and all produce was delivered to the state according to state-controlled prices. Government could decide to transform kolkhoz into sovkhoz or sovkhoz into kolkhoz.

In 1990, the Soviet Union had 25,500 farms, 45% of them being sovkhoz and 55% kolkhoz. The average size of a sovkhoz was 153 km&², more than twice the average kolkhoz. Sovkhoz farms were more dominant in the Asia n part of Soviet Union.

See Collectivisation In The USSR and Agriculture Of The Soviet Union for general discussion of Soviet agriculture, its history and efficiency. Also these can be known as Sovkhozy and Kolkhozy. How much impact did Collectivisation have on the USSR in the years 1928 to 1941?

Collectivisation altered the lives of many people in the USSR. Depending on your rank in the status hierarchy it altered your lives in either a good or bad way. For many peasants, Kulaks and all of the proletariats collectivisation was a disaster and took many of their lives due to the famines and executions that arose. Ultimately, in agricultural terms, the collectivisation campaign turned Russia from a major agricultural exporter into a country unable to feed itself, in the short term. However for Stalin and Russia’s industry, it proved to be a major success. Many of the reasons why Stalin introduced collectivisation were accomplished, but he was oblivious to the suffering of his people.

From the point of view of Stalin the policy of collectivisation was a huge success and it managed to turn the countries advancement around. All of the reasons that he introduced the plan were completed. By 1939, 99 percent of land had been collectivised and 90 percent of the peasants lived on one of the 250,000 kolkhoz now established. Farming was run by government officials. The government took 90 per cent of production and left the rest for the people to live on. The other side to the answer was that an astonishing amount of people were killed. The kulaks were killed as a result of the policy and the innocent people that starved to death died due to the time taken to eventually get the process to work due to laziness in getting it done more quickly. We need to look at these effects in more detail in order to answer the question. The production of food was vital in order to give the workers sufficient meals to get them healthy enough to work and improve Russia’s industry.

There are two impacts that the production of food had on Russia. Firstly in the short term, not enough food was produced and many people went hungry. There were major famines due to the uncooperation from the workers, as many were against collectivisation and decided to refuse to work. As a result many people died. However in the long term, collectivisation proved to be a major success. Grain production rose to nearly 100 million tonnes in 1937. This was an astonishing improvement and it really improved the worker’s health and quality of life. They could now eat sufficient meals and wouldn’t be as hungry as they were during the famine. For the workers that managed to get through the famine the food they were now able to eat changed their lives. This could have made them even more determined to work harder and produce even more grain to sell overseas.

Collectivisation also allowed Russia to create allies within Europe. As a result of producing more grain, the country could now sell it overseas to other countries. This not only boosted the countries economy, but it also made the country friends with the buyers in case of a crisis or invasion. This proved helpful for the USSR at the start of the Second World War, where the rise in industry of the country proved to be vital.

Collectivisation improved the industry of the country. The money coming in from the rise in food production made the industry of Russia rocket, making the country more advanced technologically. This was not the only reason the industry rose however. Stalin had wanted citizens from the farming land to move to the towns where the main industry was so they would work in factories as oppose to on farms. As a result of collectivisation, around seventeen million people moved from the countryside to go to work in the towns. Collectivisation had an impact on the type of farms as well.
Collectivisation introduced two different types of farm. A sovkhoz, typically translated as state farm, was owned by the Soviet state. A sovkhoz would be organized by the state with workers who would be paid regulated wages. These workers were known as sovkhozniks. The other type of farm was a kolkhoz. Kolkhozes were typically created by combining smaller farms together they were collective owned farms. Under Stalin's collectivization campaign, most farmers were forced into either a sovkhoz or a kolkhoz. he distinction between sovkhoz and kolkhoz was not significant in practice most of the time. Both categories of farms were controlled by orders from the Soviet government and all produce was delivered to the state according to state-controlled prices. Government could decide to transform kolkhoz into sovkhoz or sovkhoz into kolkhoz. To the peasants it didn’t matter if they were placed in a sovkhoz or a kolkhoz. They just needed to try and survive the famines.

Collectivisation not only did these good things for the country, it also rapidly declined the population of the USSR. Famine struck Russia on two separate occasions, taking an extraordinary amount of lives, approximately 5 million. Stalin thought it was their fault by not co-operating with him and did nothing about it. He didn’t really take notice at the amount of people that were dying. It must have been a miserable and hard life for the peasants. Stalin blamed the Kulaks, the minority of wealthy and successful farmers, and decided to execute or send every one of them to the gulag. The Kulaks were liquidized and the government now had control over all the farming. This would have eradicated corruption within the agricultural industry and they were able to control produce depending on the countries needs.

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Sovkhoz