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To wrap up this look at collectivization in the USSR, I focus in on the famine years of 1932-33. Why it happened, how it affected people, how the state responded. Really kind of hard to describe the scale of it, although I give it a shot.
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The first year of collectivization was a wild time, even before the massive famine of 1932-33. The world of the peasantry was turned upside down, and modes of life that had predominated for generations were changed forever. And a bunch of people got deported and a band of Communist faithful showed up to lend a hand.
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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.
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The commencement of the 1st Five Year Plan in the USSR signaled quite a break from state policy as it was in the 20s. And by that, I mean kicking the NEP to the curb. This shift caused no small debate within the Soviet hierarchy, and Stalin would use the divisions as a wedge against his enemies.
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New miniseries! Today I begin covering the First Five Year Plan, the mother of all five year plans. You might have heard about them in places other than the USSR, you might even have one of your own. But there isn't anything like this one. I break down why the Plan was so central to Soviet history, as well as take time to introduce the supporting players on Stalin's team that were integral to actually executing the plan.
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Today's episode is a double-conclusion as both the Long March and this miniseries come to a close. The northern course of the March was more notable for adverse climates and geography, which was probably worse than what the Nationalists could throw at them.
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By autumn 1934 it was clear that the Communists could not stay in southeast China. The solution was to step out for a walk, a long one.
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Switching gears in China, today I switch to covering Mao and the CPC's misadventures in southern China. The stretch of time between the end of the 20s and the start of the Long March were filled with false starts and missed opportunities as competing interests among the Communists squandered the victories over Chiang Kai-shek's encirclement campaigns.
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OK, so there's a lot more to this episode than the Xi'an Incident, but it's the most dramatic. Other than that, we've got secret societies, half-baked ideologies, and the false impression that things could get better in KMT China.
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With the Japanese outright occupying Chinese territory, Chiang Kai-shek had to move fast. A war was guaranteed, but preparations still needed to be made and domestic enemies still needed to be taken care of.
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