A. D E

AL and the

KOLKHOZ PEA A T

FOREIG L GUAGES PUBLI HI G HOUSE

A. ANDREYEV

STALIN and the

I(OLI(HOZ PEASANTRY

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FOREIGN LANGUAGES PUBLISIIING HOUSE Moscow 1950

The present edilion is a t r anslat ion of a pamphlet 'vriUen by A. . ndr eyev on t 1e

occasion of J. Y . Stalin' s s eventieth birthday, published by Gospolit ' zdat, l\1o cow 1950.

Printed in the Unio n of Soviet Socialist Repu blics.

1'he seventieth birthday of Comrade Stalin is a big holiday not only for the peoplesJ of the Soviet Union but for the working people of the world as well. The new historical epoch-the epoch of mankind's liberation from capitalist slavery' the epooh of the victories of ComlnU­nism over the old, moribund capitalist system, is associat­ed with the name of Comrade Staltin. A new type of state, where there are no exploiters and exploited, was set up for the first time under the leadership of Lenin and Stalin. Comrade Stalin is the architect of the Constitution of the first Socialist State. The peoples of the world know that it was under the leadershi.Jp of Comrade Stalin that the fascist hordes vvere routed and mru1kind saved from the horrors of fascist barbarity. The working people of all countries see iu Comrade Stalin their leader and virtual liberator. Stalin is the banner of peace against the insti­gators of a new war.

Our kolkhoz peasantry are celebrating Comrade Stalin's seventieth brirthday with a particular feeling of joy and thank him frO!ID the bottom of their heart for all he has done for the kolk'hozes . They know that the radical change in the Hfe of the multimillion peasant masses is directly linked with the name of Comrade Stalin. In the Great October Socialist Revolution the Bolshevik Party, guided by Lenin and Stalin, realized the age-old aspirations of the countryside by handing over all 1fue land to the peasantry, simultaneously elimillating the land­lord class. Another revolution of great 1magnitude was the

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collectivization of the countryside, carried out by the Bol­shevik Party, under the leadership of Comrade Stalin.

In the course of this deep-going upheaval and the victory of the kolkhoz system the most difficult problem of transforming the small, '.individual peasant households into large-scale socialist farming was olved, and the mo t numerou clas of the bourgeoisie-the kulaks-aboli hed. This was accompanied by a technical revolution in agri­culture with the in.troducti•on of modeDn machinery. The dist•inction between town and countryside is being obliter­ated. The ,peasantry itself developed into the new kolkhoz peasantry, something unknown in the annals of history. At the same time an end was put forev·er to oppres ion, bleak poverty, starvation and ignorance in the country­side. The cultural tandards and material condition of the pea antry radically changed.

In his cooperative plan the great Lenin outlined the principal

1paths ·along whic-h the ,peasantry would pas

over to ocialist con truction, to the collectivization of agriculture. Comrade Stalin, the man of genius, elabo­rated this plan and put it into practice. Coli ctivization proved to be the s1hortest way to drawing the pea ant households into ocialist construction. It also made it pos­sible to ov rcome the ·extreme lag in agriculture in a short space of time and fovrn ~ united front of sociali t con­struction in the country. In his s:p ·ech to his constitu nts in February 1946, Comrade Stalin s1aid: "The collective method ,proved to be an exceedingly progressive method not only because it did .not call for the ruination of the peasants, but also, and particularly, because it enabled us in· the course ·of everal years to cover the entire coun­try with large coli ctive farn1.s oo.pable of employing mod­ern machinery, of utilizing all the achievements of agri­cultural soien.ce and of .providing the country with more marketable produce.

"There is no doubt that without the policy of eollec-

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tivization we· would not have been able to put an end to the age-old backwardness of our agriculture in so short a time."

It was under the leadership· of Co1nrade Stalin that the heroic path of buildin·g collective farms was traversed, and the difficulties of the initial ,p·eriod of collectivization and final consolidation ,of the kolkhoze · as th-e .sole force in the village successfully surmounted. It was not smooth sailing but a course ooupled with d~fficulties which had to be surmounted, for not a single example of such a re­organization was known in history. It wa no simple transition frOJTI one form of economy to another; the kolkhozes took s·hape and entrenched themselves in a bit­ter class struggle ,against the kulaks , bukharinites and trotskyites. The Bolshev~k Party, led by Comrade Stalin, cleared the path for the kolkhoz system, ruthlessly de-troying it en·emies.

The ·ocialist system· in the country ide 1aid the solid foundation for building Communism in the country; and the kolkhoze , built up by the Party and the people, un­der the guidance of Comrade Sta'llin, became a firm basis of the Soviet sy ten1..

The Great Patriotic War was a serious test of the trength of the kolkhoz sy terriL As Comrade Stalin has tated, it wa a great chooll which te ted and examined

all the forces of the people. Although agriculture and the kolkhoze were u.p against big difficulties they st~ood the te t with honour and succes fully coped with the job of npplying the ar,my and the country with food and in­

dustry with raw materials. In spite of the great deva ta­tion cau ed by th,e war and the consequences of this war, the kolkhoze emerged from it morally and politically ~ tvonger tlian ever before.

After the Great Patriotic War Comrade Stalin rai ed before the Party, _in all its magnitude, the task of raising agriculture to a higher level. The Stalin program to

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achieve this task was outlined in the decisions of the Feb­ruary ( 194 7) Plenum of th1e Central Committ e of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks).

In pursuance of this decision the Party carried out extensive work in agriculture. The realization of this pro .. gram· in three years helped to solve the grain problem; the cro:p yield and gross harvest of grain and tprincipal industrial crops topped the prewar level; our kolkhozes made serious headway in restor,ing livestock; the herd of large-horned cattle, sheep, goats and hogs now greatly ex­ceeds the prewar figure; there has been an increase in livestock productivity; the kolkhozes and sovkhozes are successfully carrying out their state delivery plans. Agri­culture has been liberally equipped with machinery these past few years: tractors, agricultural machines, lorries, spare parts and also with fertilizers and fuel. Already in 1948 it received three times m ·ore the num,ber of tractors it did in the la t prewar year. This year agriculture is re­ceiving three to four times more tractors and other agricul­tural machines, and also more mineral fertilizers and fuel for tractor and .machines·, than in the last ~prewar year.

Our machine and tractor stations-this important lever of the state in further developing agriculture-are now operating much tmore €fficien·tly. Last year the machine and tractor stations already exceeded the prewar level for the productive utilization of tractors. This year they serviced over 40 million hectares more land than in the prewar year, simultaneously cutting down on the tin1e re-quired and im:proving the quality of agricultural work.

Sociali t emulation, which developed apace in the kol­khozes, machine and tractor stations,, sovkhozes, districts an~d regions, played a big role in putting into effect the Stalin program for promoting agriculture. This powerful soc-ialist emulation movement was supported, on the pro­posal of Comrade Stalin, by the ukases of the Presidium of the Supreme oviet of the U.S.S.R. to confer the

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title of Hero of Socialist Labour and to award Orders and medals to foremost agricultural wor~kers for their achievements in farming and stock raising. In 1947-48 alone nearly 110,000 such agricultural workers "\vere deco­rated "\vith Orders and medals for their achievements; of thi number more than 4,000 received the title of I-Iero of Socialist Labour.

With the solution of the grain problem Comrade Stalin raised the question of further developin.g livestock breed­ing as the central task of the Party and the state in pro­moting agriculture. The Stalin program for further de­veloping livestock was outlined in the well-known Deci­sion of the Coun~cil of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. and the Central Committee of the C.P.S.U.(B.) on the Three-Year Plan (1949-51) for developing commonly-owned kolkhoz and sovkhoz livestock. The results of the first year show that the kolkhozes and sovkhozes· are forging ahead with the job: the plan for large-horned cattle is being overful­filled, the targets for S1heep and goats met; great head­way has been ·m ·ade in· increasing the number of hogs, While the plan for horse breeding is being carried out successfully.

In connection with the 1946 drought in the Central Black-Earth regions , Con1.rade Stalin, while rendering ex­tensive state aid to the kolkhozes and kolkhoz peasant , advanced the task of introducin.g serious measures to pre­vent droughts in these regions; he al o raised the question of taking radical steps to ecure high and stahl crop yields in the South, the Ukraine, Volga areas and Central' Black­Earth regions. This task is .formulated in the plan-ap­proved by the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. and the Central .Con1.mittee of the C.P.S.U. (B .) in 1948-for the planting of shelter belts, introduction· of travopolye crop rotations and building ()f ponds and reservoirs. This plan, rightly called the Stalin plan to transform nature, was widely supported by the kolkhozes: the target for

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1949 has been over.fulfilled by a wide margin; over half a million hectares have been planted with shelter belts. There is: no doubt that the ,great Stalin· jplan to transform nature will be completed far ahead of time.

Closely following the affairs of the kolkhozes and' daily guiding the1n in their work, Comrade Stalin, on learning that the Rules of the Agricultural Artel were violated, in all sharpness raised th·e question in 1946 that an end be put to all kinds of distortions of the PaTty's :policy in the kolkhozes and that all those who encroach on the oom­monJy-owned property of the kolk,hozes be severely pun­ished. In accolidance with this the Council of Ministers of the U.S.S.R. and the Central Com·mittee of .the ·C.P.S.U.(B.) adopted, on Septemb.er 19, 1946, the Decision "Concern­ing Measures i\.bolishing Violations of the Rules of the Agricultural Artel in the Kolkhozes.'' Since this decision was first adopted the Party !has don·e much to remedy the shortcomings and to further strengthen the kolkhozes in regar·d to organizati,on and efficiency.

The kolkhoz peasantry has, traversed a glorious path under the leadership of the great Stalin. T·he kolkhoz system has radically altered the situation in agriculture: the appearance of the village has changed a has also its people. Productivity of labour is immeasurably higher than it was in the peasant household of old Russia, and than it is in any capitalist country. Big changes have been effected in the structure of the acreage under crops, the share .of wheat has greatly increased, select eed i used for the bulk of the so'\-ving; many new k 1inds of crops are now being .cultivated, ne"v breeds of ~cattle raised; re­gions are no longer divided into ~consumer and pvoducer regions; in the mechanization of farm work our agricul­ture is the most advanced. Summarizing the results it can be said that our kolkhozes and sovkhozes are con­fidently forging ahead and successfully tackling the tasks -of raising the crop yields, of increasing livestock and its

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productivity, of securing an abundance of foodstuff and raw materials for industry and further strengthening the kolkhoz systen1 in regard to organization an.d effioiency.

Under the leadership• of Comrade Stalin our kolkhozes are moving toward new achievements•, are winnin.g new positions . . A. new factor is ·the continued increase in com­monly-owned property. The indivisible funds of the kol­khozes-the basis of socialist wealth and decisiv·e oondi­tion in the developmen·t of the kolkhozes- have nearly doubled compared to 1939. The volume of kolk,hoz marketable produce is on fb,e upgrade, different branches of husbandry are bein.g developed on an ever wider scale. Along with farming and stock raiS'ing, horticulture and all kinds of subsidiary un.d ertakings are being widely 1pro­moted; an increasing number of kolkhozes are ~oing in for travopolye crop rotations, an essential condition for raising the .•crop yields.

A new factor is that agricultural work is being mechan­ized in all its branches. In the prewar period agricultural machinery was introduced in the k10lkhozes in the main to cultivate the .soil, sow and harvest about half of the grain· an.d certain industrial crops. Today the sowing, cultiva­tion and harvesting of nearly all industrial crops is being mechanized as well as all processes ·Connected ·with horti­culture and the planting of shelter belts. Stock raising, too is ,beginn·ing to be mechanized l<ln a wide scale. New machineS! have made their appearan:ce on the kolkhoz fields: the self-,propelled coml)ine, the beet combine har­vester, flax combine harvester, the potato-planting and potato-harvesting machines, the cotton harvesting machine, the self-propelled mowing machines, not to mention many other types of machine. E[lectri.fication of agriculture and of the kolkhozes proceeded apace after the war; ijhe kol­khozes slljpplied with electricity tripled compared to the prewar figure. In th.e last year alone n early t en times more kolkhtOzes have been electrified than in the prewar year

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of 1940. We already have entire regions where nearly all kolkhozes are supplied with electricity. Thus, labour in agriculture is more and m ,ore beginnin~g to resemble in­dustrial labour. Apart from greatly facilitating the work, the release of a considerable part of labour power in the

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kolkhozes, as a result of mechanization, makes it possible to develop new !branches of husbandry and to transfolilll the kolkhozes into a highly~rofitable rand diversified economy.

A new factor is that the kolkhozes are .pa sing over to more advanced methiQds .of farming and stock raising. This is stimulated iby the broad m·ovemen~t of foremost agricultural workers who, on the basis of their expe­rience, are applying new, more perfected methods for ob­taining hig·h crop yields and high livestock .Productivity. They are displaying remarkable ability in securing high crop yields, high productiVJity 1Qf labour and livestock, are :perforn~ing miracles that open up new, vast possibili­ties for moving forward. What ,is extremely important is that the individual records of our foremost agricultural workers are bein,g repeated by whole brigades, kolkhozes and even' entire districts. This is prom,oted, 01~ the other hand, by the introduction, on .an ever wider scale, of Mi­·churin's advanced teachings in the· kolkhozes. The appli­cation ,and development of ~these teachings hold out un­bounded perspectives to all branches of agriculture. Thus, our agriculture is being furnished with increasing possi­-bilities to forge ahead .at an unpreceden.ted rate while agricultural science is· being given 'vide soo,pe for ad-vancing. It is also Lbeing enriched daily with the latest experience acquired by agriculture's foremost worlkers.

A new faetor is that an ever bigger number of kol­khozes now apply advanced methods in organ·izing la­bour; they are passing over to the system when the labour expended and payment for workday units are directly linked up with their results in fanming and stock raising.

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\Vberever this systen1 is practised there is a notable in~­provement in the crop yields and in livestock productivity, and a greater economy of workday units. An increasing division of labour is taking place in the kolkhozes which are also going in f or specialization of their agricultural "\Vorkers, thus raising the skill of the latter. In this way the conditions are being furnished that make for a furth·er increase in the prlQductivity of labour.

Parallel with the growth of the commonly-owned econ­omy of the k olkhozes we have an improven1ent in the living standard of the kolkhoz peasants. We are witness­ing the further cultural development of the kolkhoz peas­antry, the considerable growth of their rural intelli­gentsia. Life h1 the kolkhoz village has become unusually rich and varied and in this respect differs little today from the town. The role of the "'\Yoman, "\Vho is now an equal men~ber of society, has radically changed in the country­side. The kolkl1oz system has given the country many ,plendid and capable "\VrOn'len. Suffice it to point out that

over 50,000 women h ·ave received the title of Hero of Socia list Labour, have been decorated with Orders and rnedals for their achievements in agriculture. Women con­stitute an· important force in the kolkhoz.

A new factor is tha.t our kolkh'Oz villages are begin­ning to look different "vith their nevv types of public build­ings, h ouses·, c.lubs, laboratories, •cinemas, rest hon1es and stadiun1.s; work is under "\Vay to lay out modern kolkhoz villages . The kolkhozes are .making ·it their common eon­cern to improve the living conditions of the peasants.

The job of training competent and experienced cadres for dill erent br.anches of production and mechanization in agriculture ·is successfully being carried out, and what is all hnportant, the nu·mber of trained and experienced kol­khoz executives and other leading kolkhoz cadres is steadHy increasing. This is the essential condition to en­suring success of the kolkhozes in their work. In those

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in tances 'vhere the kolkihozes have an efficient and firm lead r hip th work i properly organized and the con­omy rapidly develops.

Our nu·m rou Party oro-anizations and the Young Communi t I.J gue are an important factor en uring the uccess of the kolkhozes. Th·e numb r of Communi t in

the kolkhoze has lll1.0re than doubl d compared with the prewar figure and th numb r of kolkhoz Party organiza­tion~s more than. tripled. There has been a notable incre e in th number of Y.C.L. organizations in the villag s and in their m mbership.

All th e fact demon trate how far our kolkhoz y -tern has advanced und r the wi e lead rship of Con1.rade Stalin. The ntire cours of kolkhoz con truction, th equipm nt agricultur with new Inachinery have pre­par d the way to n · w and bi ger ucc sses. In a few ear · tin1. our acrriculture will have far outstripped the

pr nt I vel in all r · p cts. The rich experience acquired by our country in build·

ing the kolk'h ·ozes will mak it easi r for the other coun· tries to 'Pa over fron1. small pea ant farming to large-cale coli tive farming. The Communi t and Workers'

partie of the other countries have been armed with the teaching of the great .talin, the t aching of a 5 eniu , regarding the olution of th peasant question in the o­cialist Revolution.

It i with a f eling of legitimat pride that we look back on the path traver d by our P 1arty and people under th guidance of Comrade Stalin. Our whole Soviet peo­ple, all our koll hoz pea 'antry wish C mrade Stalin long year of lif and h alth so that we may ucc fully con- , tinue, und r his lead rship, to build a communist oci ty.

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