causes

• Communist ideology


  • Abolish private property
  • Replace private farming with state-run farming
  • End capitalism and inequality
  • Private property was a foundation of capitalism and a cause of inequality
• Communists were suspicious of peasant farming as it implied an individualistic desire to make money which was closer to capitalism than socialism
• Collectivising farms


  Peasants would see the superiority of social methods and embrace communism wholeheartedly
• Communists


  • Wanted to create an efficient economy
  • Believed large farms were likely to be more efficient that small farms, as expertise and equipment could be shared to increase production
• NEP


  New Economic Policy
• Agricultural production fell

  There was no market for additional farmed goods - there was a limit to the amount of goods that soviet consumers wanted
• Increased production in 1926


  Led to a fall in prices as farmers produced more than consumers wanted
• In 1927 farmers decreased production


  To push up grain prices
• 'Grain procurement crisis'


  Food supplies decreased, leading to shortages in the cities and higher profits for farmers
• 'Kulak grain strike'


  Rich farmers were putting their own profits ahead of the soviet unions need to industrialise
• NEPs economic problems and the threat of the kulak capitalists holding the government ransom


  Led many communists to believe that the NEP had run its course and needed to be replaced by a more radical policy that dealt with the kulaks and restored economic growth
• The leadership struggle : 

  • The defeat and expulsion of zinoviev,kaminev and trotsky meant that the left wing of the party, a significant minority, had no leader
  • By moving to the left, stalin hoped to retain his supporters, pick up supporters of the united opposition and in so doing gain more support than bukharin
  • As he moved to the left, stalin gained a majority of support in the central committee and was therefore able to become the undisputed leader of the communist party 
• Dekulakisation : 

  • Peasants resisted requisitioning by hiding or destroying grain
  • Stalin claimed this resistance was an attack on socialism by the capitalist kulaks 
  • Therefore, he initiated the ‘liquidation of the kulaks as a class’ - in theory this was meant to take farms and equipment from the richest peasants, in actuality, this meant the killing of all peasants who resisted government policies