The massive swing towards collectivized agriculture during the 1930s was one of the Soviet Union's most defining moments. Where the state had been previously weak in the countryside, the movement of the peasants onto the collective farms (the kolkhoz) changed that for the rest of the USSR's history. It also created dislocations and conflicts that will be at the heart of the next few weeks' worth of episodes. 

Bibliography for this episode: 

1. Allen, Robert C. Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution Princeton University Press 2003

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