Collectivisation

Stalin wanted production to be directed by the Communist state rather than by private owners. His two main policies were collectivisation, which transformed agriculture, and the Five Year Plans, which directed industrial expansion. They were intended to work together: the countryside would supply food for industrial workers, while grain exports would help pay for machinery imported from abroad.

Collectivisation transformed both farming and power in the Soviet countryside. Instead of peasants working separate farms, Stalin wanted them brought together into large collective farms, sharing resources and meeting government targets. The policy was intended to support rapid industrialisation, but it also helped the Communist Party control rural life.

Land reform and collectivisation were different policies. Land reform redistributed ownership to individual peasants; collectivisation reorganised those farms into larger units. The government hoped that sharing labour, animals and equipment would improve efficiency.