Why did Stalin collectivise the farms?
• Stalin achieved most of his aims: • Grain production rose to nearly 100 million tonnes in 1937, although the numbers of animals never recovered. • Russia sold large quantities of grain to other countries. • Some 17 million people left the countryside to go to work in the towns. • The kulaks were eliminated. • The peasants were closely under the government’s control. • However, the human cost was immense: • Perhaps 3 million kulaks were killed. • There were famines in 1930 and 1932-3 when 5 million people starved to death.
