The main reason Joseph Stalin created collective farms, known as kolkhozes, was to increase agricultural productivity and ensure state control over the farming sector in the Soviet Union. By consolidating individual farms into collective units, Stalin aimed to modernize agriculture through mechanization and the use of new farming techniques.
In the early 1930s, after the disastrous effects of the 1920s NEP (New Economic Policy), which allowed some private ownership of land, Stalin believed that collective farming would eliminate the inefficiencies of a fragmented land ownership system. He thought that pooling resources and labor would lead to greater efficiency and more reliable food production, essential for supporting the rapidly industrializing nation.
Additionally, collective farms were also a means to exert political control. By controlling the agricultural sector, the government could more easily distribute resources, regulate food supply, and suppress any opposing elements in rural areas. It was part of a broader strategy of collectivization, aimed at aligning the peasantry with the socialist state and ensuring mass support for Stalin’s policies.