Kolektivizace

Kolektivizace refers to the process of collectivization, primarily associated with the Soviet Union during the 1920s and 1930s, though similar policies were implemented in other communist states. The term originated from the Russian word *коллективизация* (kollektivizatsiya), meaning "collectivization," and involved the forced consolidation of individual farms into collective farms (*kolkhozy*) or state farms (*sovkhozy*). The goal was to centralize agricultural production, increase efficiency, and eliminate private land ownership in favor of state-controlled farming.

The policy was initiated under Joseph Stalin’s leadership, following the New Economic Policy (NEP) of the 1920s, which had allowed limited private enterprise. By the late 1920s, Stalin sought to accelerate industrialization and reduce reliance on peasant farming, viewing collectivization as essential for economic modernization. The process was carried out through state-sponsored propaganda, coercion, and sometimes violent suppression of resistance, particularly in Ukraine, the Caucasus, and Kazakhstan.

Kolektivizace led to widespread opposition, including the Ukrainian famine of 1932–1933, known as the Holodomor, where millions died due to forced grain requisitions and agricultural disruption. Resistance from peasants, known as *kulaks* (wealthier farmers), was met with deportations, executions, and the destruction of livestock and crops. By the mid-1930s, most agricultural land in the Soviet Union was collectivized, though productivity initially declined before stabilizing under state control.

The policy had lasting effects on Soviet agriculture, shaping the collective farming system that persisted until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Similar collectivization efforts occurred in Eastern Bloc countries, such as Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, under Soviet influence during the Cold War. The legacy of kolektivizace remains a contentious topic, debated in terms of its economic impact, human cost, and role in Soviet agricultural policy.