Collective Farms of Black-Earth Villages in Russia during the New Economic Policy Period

The authors consider the problem of the development of collective farms in the villages of the provinces of the Central Black Earth Region. The peculiarities of the peasants’ perception of the new forms of agricultural production are shown with their article, and an assessment of the villages of those peasants is also given. The authors analyze the behavioral models of various social groups in villages in the course of collective farm construction. The novelty of the research consists in both its thesis and the use of materials from regional and central archives; a number of documents are introduced into scientific use for the first time. They contain information about the development of collective farms, assessments of their effectiveness by peasants, and the influence of Soviet power during the New Economic Policy (NEP) period on the activities of artels, communes and agricultural associations. The authors studied the main aspects of the collective farms’ development: their social composition, problems and dynamics of development, reasons for liquidation, and size. As a result of the study, it was concluded that in the NEP period members of collective farms of the Central Black Earth Region had conflicting interests, a conflict which affected the course of their development. At the same time, practically all categories of peasants were pessimistic towards artels, communes, and partnerships as strategies for joint cultivation of their land.