History of Ukraine

Collectivization in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Three Soviet general secretaries were either born or raised in Ukraine: Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev (depicted here together); and Konstantin Chernenko. ©Image Attribution forthcoming. Image belongs to the respective owner(s).
1928 Jan 1 - 1930

Collectivization in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

Ukraine

Collectivization in Ukraine, officially the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, was part of the policy of collectivization in the USSR and dekulakization that 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.


In Ukraine this policy had a dramatic effect on the Ukrainian ethnic population and its culture as 86% of the population lived in rural settings. The forceful introduction of the policy of collectivization was one of the main causes of the Holodomor. In Ukraine collectivization had specific goals and outcomes. The Soviet policies related to collectivization have to be understood in the larger context of the social "revolution from above" that took place in the Soviet Union at the time.


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%.

Last Updated: Sat Dec 31 2022

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