Stalin's approach 'socialism in one country', created a great need for developing the industrial and military might of the Soviet Union. However his plan to industrialise Russia could only be carried out if they were able to import machinery from the West. This capital would have to be paid for, so it was decided funding would be generated by the exportation of one saleable item the country possessed at the time, food. In order to collect enough capital to engage in his speedy industrialisation plan, Stalin brought in the three five years plans in which collectivisation occurred in the first. Collectivisation, caused by the need for rapid industrialisation put enormous pressures on the Soviet people, and had catastrophic effects for them.

In 1928, famine threatened the people of the Soviet Union once again. The production of food was not keeping up with the population's demand and Stalin's industrialisation programme for the country could only be carried out if it were able to import machinery from the west, in effect squeezing investment capital out of the peasantry. Partly because of the weather and part

ly because of a reduction in sown area due to lack of technology, the harvest of 1928 was devastatingly poor. Bread rationing was re-introduced and by 1929 the miniscule grain stockpiles were causing anxiety amongst the peasantry. When the people learnt that the grain which had been forced from them was being left to rot in unprotected storage, extensive peasant violence and riots rapidly spread across the nation, so collectivisation was introduced as an action to control the riotous peasants and help push the country towards industrialisation. This process involved the State seizing the land from its owners and dividing it up into a number of government and family owned farms which had to produce state quotas of produce. Collectivisation made it easier to produce grain at rock bottom prices, accrued labour for the new factories through the labour camps, and by forcing large scale production, it was possible to make an increased grain production, however this did not prove to be a favourable option among the peasants.

A result of the upheaval was the deaths of millions of peasants in the famine of 1932-1933, which was sadly and irresponsibly man-made. Not only the peasants winter supply, but also portions of seed grain were seized, and unfortunately due to the iron curtain shielding communist Russia from the rest of the world at the time, foreign aid was unable to intervene, due to lack of knowledge, despite the agricultural glut which the capitalist world was enduring at the time. To discourage the starving peasants from stealing their own grain, which was being stored for the towns or foreign export, the death penalty was extended to theft, and not surprisingly, for three decades after 1929, the Russian diet remained deficient in protein.

As Stalin refused to repay foreign debts consumed by the previous Tsarist government, the other countries refused to lend him any more money so he insisted that most of the capital be generated internally. However Stalin shiftily received some help from the US and paid for their help partly in grain, at the time large numbers of Russian's were starving. Stalin's decision increased the burden of industrialisation on his people by lowering their living standards. The speed in which the changes were to be underwent, also increased the pressures of the people, both stress wise and physically, through brutal methods of repression, because more capital for investment had to be squeezed out of consumption, and in effect out of their living standards, in a shorter time. As Stalin's 'socialism in one country' theory required that Russia be strong enough to fend off any foreign attacks, the priority for military go

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Approximate Word count = 1801
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)