This is an excerpt from the beginning of an article by Josef Stalin, the leader of the Soviet government. It was originally published in the Soviet newspaper Pravda in 1930.
This is an excerpt from the beginning of an article by Josef Stalin, the leader of the Soviet government. It was originally published in the Soviet newspaper Pravda in 1930.
The Soviet government's successes in the sphere of the collective-farm movement are now being spoken of by everyone. Even our enemies are forced to admit that the successes are substantial. And they really are very great. It is a fact that by February 20 of this year 50 per cent of the peasant farms throughout the U.S.S.R. had been collectivised. That means that by February 1930, we had overfulfilled the five-year plan of collectivisation by more than 100 per cent. It is a fact that on February 28 of this year the collective farms had already succeeded in stocking upwards of 36,000,000 centners, i.e., about 220,000,000 puds, seed for the spring sowing, which is more than 90 per cent of the plan. It must be admitted that the accumulation of 220,000,000 puds of seed by the collective farms alone - after the successful fulfilment of the grain-procurement plan - is a tremendous achievement.
What does all this show?
That a radical turn of the countryside towards socialism may be considered as already achieved.
1. What does Stalin claim about collectivization? What is his evidence?
2. If you read this article by Stalin as a Soviet citizen living in the cities, what would you think to be true about the collectivization of agriculture?