Soviet Collectivisation and Its Specific Focus on Central Asia

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to illuminate the relatively little-known process of collectivisation in Soviet Central Asia. The aim is to show the specifics of the collectivisation of Soviet agriculture, using the example of Kazakhstan. The peasants were first given some land, only to have it taken it away over the course of several years, during the process of collectivisation. The poor farmers, especially those who lacked good civil morals, perceived the process chance to control the future development of the countryside. It seems most of them did not see or were not able to see the purpose of the changes in the social structure of the village, or especially the real intentions of the communists. Any manipulative ideological influence on the countryside is very harmful in its effect, and the consequences are difficult to remove even after a long period of time.This article deals with the current economic and agricultural transformations in Central Asia and demonstrates a risk for the insensitive procedures used in agricultural transformation to be repeated.