Abstract:
The forced collectivization and the establishment of the kolkhoz system, achieved with unfair prices and colossal sacrifices, by undermining the productive forces of the village households, constituted effective levers for the Stalinist regime to squeeze not only the surplus of agricultural products from the villages but also a part of the products necessary for peasants' consumption. In the first years after the end of collectivization, it became possible to increase the volume of cereal collections 2 to 3 times, even under the conditions of the general decrease in the agricultural production, ensuring the needs of the cities and the export operations. From the Stalinist authorities' point of view, the forced collectivization had to secure the success of the accelerated industrialization and militarization of the USSR economy.
