Libmonster ID: KG-1302
Author(s) of the publication: V. T. ANISKOV

Under the editorship of I. M. Volkov. 1976. 279 pp. Circulation 29,000. Price 1 rub. 18 kopecks.

The historiography of the Soviet village was supplemented with a new generalizing work. M. L. Bogdenko and I. E. Zelenin, senior researchers at the Institute of Soviet History of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, are known for their monographic works on various periods of the history of state farms .1 This time they published a joint study, which is the first consolidated publication on the history of state farm construction in all the years of Soviet power. This is especially important because the study of the development of state farms lagged significantly behind the study of the history of the collective farm village. The first attempt to create a generalizing historical essay could be successful only if it not only takes into account everything achieved earlier in the development of the problem, but also presents the results of scientific research carried out by the authors during the preparation of the book. They have successfully solved this problem.

The structure of the book is based on a well-thought-out scientific periodization, which is the basis for considering such "cross-cutting" issues of the history of state farms as their construction, improvement of management, forms and methods-

1 M. L. Bogdenko. Construction of grain state farms in 1928-1932, Moscow, 1958. Sovkhozy SSSR. 1951-1958. Moscow, 1972: I. E. Zelenin. Zernovye sovkhozy SSSR (1933-1941 gg.) [Grain state farms of the USSR (1933-1941)]. Sovkhozy SSSR (1941-1950). Moscow, 1969; his. State farms in the first decade of Soviet power. 1917-1927. Moscow, 1972.

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the formation of the state-farm group of workers, the growth of their creative activity, the results of the economic activity of state farms. The authors show the development and implementation of Lenin's ideas on state farm construction, reveal the main patterns and specifics of each of the stages in the history of state farms, which gives the essay a retro-perspective and corresponding completeness.

Revealing Lenin's ideas of state farm construction and their implementation in the first Soviet decade, M. L. Bogdenko and I. E. Zelenin report on the origin of state farms, the difficulties of their organization, aggravated by the civil war. The book shows the role of V. I. Lenin in the creation of state farms, determining their place in socialist construction, in particular his attitude to the question of the relationship between state farms and communes, and the subsidiary economy of state farm workers. Lenin's assessment of international significance-the experience of creating state farms on the basis of landlords ' estates-is clearly presented (pp. 20-21). At the same time, it would be desirable to note the significance of the experience of overcoming the first failures and mistakes that were corrected on Lenin's initiative for subsequent collective-farm and state-farm construction. This experience and Lenin's foresight enabled the party to quickly and correctly decide on the question of eliminating excesses during the years of mass collectivization. We should speak more fully about the discussions between supporters of communes and state farms (pp. 14-15).

The authors highlight in relief the initial stage of forming a group of state farm workers, but their production activities are shown less clearly. The book analyzes the SEARCH for a better system of state farm management in 1921-1927, in particular, the first experience of transferring state farms to self-financing, initiated at Lenin's suggestion in 1922 (p. 29), the formation of the trust system as the most effective form of state farm management in those conditions, the organization of food processing in state farms on an industrial basis (p. 31-33). The authors note that while individual farms were noticeably successful, state farms as a whole experienced serious difficulties during the recovery period due to an acute lack of technical means and weak funding. A more tangible strengthening of state farms began in 1925-1927 in connection with the resumption of budget allocations and the beginning of systematic lending (pp. 35-37). At the same time, it should be emphasized that by the end of the 1920s, the party's radical measures to strengthen state farms were being carried out as an important preparatory measure on the eve of mass collectivization, in which state farms were given a special organizing role. On pages 40-41, it is correctly noted that, although by 1927, in grain production, state farms still played a small role, they were almost the only producers of selective varietal seeds. However, these farms are hardly shown in the book. It would also be desirable to describe in more detail the struggle against the opponents of the party's agrarian policy (pp. 31-49).

The authors analyze in detail the state farm construction during the pre-war five-year plans. Unlike the previous decade, when the bulk of state farms were created on the basis of former landowners ' estates, in the late 1920s and early 1930s the state farm sector grew primarily due to the capital construction of new agricultural areas. The book highlights not only the scale of this construction, but also the party's measures to eliminate leftist mistakes, which concretizes the party's general principled line in socialist construction in rural areas. The authors present generalizing data on changes in the composition of state farm workers, analyze the activities of political departments of state farms in the 30s, the movement of innovators in state farm production, reveal the living conditions of workers on the eve of the war, and provide information on the size of wages of state farm workers (p. 93). Less successful is the material concerning state farms ' assistance to collective farms (pp. 97-102). The conclusion that the political departments were not only party bodies, but also economic bodies is categorical (p. 66), as well as the statement about the extensiveness of state-farm production during the first five-year plan as its main difference from intensive development in the second five-year plan (p. 63, etc.).

Briefly, but succinctly described in the book about state farms during the Great Patriotic War. Showing the damage caused to them by the Nazi invaders, M. L. Bogdenko and I. E. Zelenin rightly note that the terms of occupation, as a rule, did not affect the nature and size of the damage caused to state farms, because during the retreat the enemy destroyed or removed everything that he could. The authors characterize the mass labor heroism of state farm workers in the restoration of the Soviet Union.

page 149

farms. Summarizing data on the state of the economy of state farms convincingly confirms the conclusion that state farms, like all agriculture in the country, successfully passed the tests of wartime. However, there are some shortcomings in the coverage of this period. The difficulties of 1943 are explained one-sidedly (only by the drought) (p.115), but it is already known from the literature that this year was also the most difficult because agriculture was affected by the extreme difficulties that grew with the course of the war. The conclusion that "collective farms produced lower yields than state farms" is not reasoned (p. 114). The data presented by the authors relate to the final stage of the war, and in 1941-1943 the yield on collective farms was slightly higher than on state farms. The activities of the political departments of this period are more poorly disclosed; the remark that "the main directions and methods of work of the political departments of MTS and state farms did not differ from the pre-war ones" needs to be clarified (p.106).

Investigating the state of state-farm production in the first post-war years, the authors reveal the severe consequences of the war and, against this background, the unprecedented work to restore the economy. They refute the idea of supposedly small allocations for the restoration of agriculture, noting that, despite the complexity of the situation and the limited capacity of the state, the party and the government allocated 2.6 billion rubles for this purpose in 1945-1950-significantly more than in the first two five-year plans combined (p. 128). Large amounts of money were allocated, but they were also not enough, since the consequences of the war, aggravated by the drought of 1946, were extremely severe. As a result, emphasis was placed on restoring the technical equipment of agriculture, and housing construction was carried out at a slow pace; the salaries of state farm workers were also relatively low (p.140). The authors give a reasoned assessment of the historically justified decisions of the February (1947) Plenum of the Central Committee of the Party, drawing attention, in particular, to the fact that it emphasized the need to abandon the narrow specialization of state farms, which is economically unprofitable in the specific conditions of the post-war years (p.130). The principle of historicism is also consistent in covering such an important issue as planning state-farm production: in those years it was based on strict regulation, but even then the party saw a different perspective (pp. 148-149).

Along with this, the book covers the leading role of state farms in agriculture somewhat one-sidedly. In general, the authors associate it with the preferential financing of state farms. They note, for example, that in 1946-1950 state farms received 23% of all state funds for replenishing agricultural funds, providing only 8-15% of state procurements (p. 158), and also point out that "extensive farming methods prevailed mainly in state farm production during these years" and "on the whole, the state farm system was unprofitable" (pp. 161, 163). Without touching on the essence of these conclusions, we note that such judgments, without showing the internal sources of the leading role of state-farm production, can lead to contrasting them with collective farms. Nor can we agree with the categorical remark that the methods of agricultural management used during the war were "purely administrative" (p. 141).

M. L. Bogdenko and I. E. Zelenin cover in detail the development of state farms during the period of completion of socialist construction. Based on the analysis given in the materials of the September 1953 Plenum of the Central Committee and other party documents, they emphasize that the lag in agriculture was primarily caused by objective conditions, including the difficult international situation of those years. At the same time, the authors cite the shortcomings in the management of state and collective farms revealed by the party, primarily deviations from Lenin's principle of material interest. The book analyzes the system of economic and organizational measures to quickly overcome the backlog of agriculture. The authors emphasize the urgent resolution of the grain problem through the extensive development of virgin and fallow lands in the eastern regions, the main form of which was state farms (pp. 172-173). "The construction of new state farms," they write, " was recognized at this stage as the main means of implementing the policy of accelerating grain production in the country, and became a specific task for the state. a feature of a new stage in the development of agriculture" (pp. 175-176).

The book provides an explanation of such complex problems from an economic and social point of view

page 150

from the point of view of measures such as the transformation of weak collective farms into state farms and the consolidation of old farms. The authors do not forget to say that there were some excesses in these largely forced measures and that the Central Committee of the CPSU promptly clarified the issues that affected the fundamental problems of communist construction. As a result of the package of measures, from 1953 to 1958, grain production on state farms increased almost fivefold, and livestock production almost doubled. "These years," the authors write, "greatly enriched the practice of state farm construction, were a period of intense search for the best forms of organization and management of production, the growth of the ranks of state farm workers, their party and public organizations, and the general enormous growth of the state sector in the agricultural economy" (p.217). One cannot, however, agree without reservations with the conclusion that "the 1950s were not yet a time of profound qualitative changes in the development of the state farm sector" (ibid.), because it was a question of creating the starting points for the entry of state farms into the period of developed socialism. Everything will return to its historical place, if we clarify that those years have not yet been marked by modern qualitative changes. The book sovkhoz construction during the seven-year period is very briefly considered in the book.

M. L. Bogdenko and I. E. Zelenin devoted a significant part of their work to the activities of state farms in the conditions of developed socialism. The decisions of the March (1965) Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, developed later in the documents of subsequent plenums of the Central Committee, XXIII, XXIV and XXV Party congresses, played a special role in the analysis of the state of agriculture, the development of a scientifically based program for radical restructuring of all work in the countryside. Revealing the outstanding significance of the March Plenum, the authors note that its decisions covered all the most important issues of the party's agrarian policy at the present stage, were distinguished by a comprehensive approach, novelty and depth. The book shows the beneficial impact on the development of agriculture of a sharp increase in state allocations, the transition to stable procurement plans, the transfer of state farms to full economic accounting, the acceleration of technical progress, the specialization of state farm production on a new material and technical basis, and an increase in the level of organizational work in rural areas. The authors cite some generalizing materials from the experience of implementing the program of inter-farm cooperation and agro-industrial integration, and pay special attention to the promising significance of collective-farm and state-farm associations, "in which a single process of product production is developed, interaction and interweaving of collective - farm and national ownership forms takes place, which greatly accelerates the process of blurring essential boundaries between them" (p. 243). Turning to the question of the development of state farms at the present stage, they conclude that" for the first time in recent years, after many years of predominant development in breadth, state farm production has firmly taken the path of deep intensification and has begun to grow mainly in depth " (p.269).

In general, the book is a serious generalizing study.

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V. T. ANISKOV, M. L. BOGDENKO, I. E. ZELENIN. STATE FARMS OF THE USSR: A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH (1917-1975) // Bishkek: Library of Kyrgyzstan (LIBRARY.KG). Updated: 20.01.2025. URL: https://library.kg/m/articles/view/M-L-BOGDENKO-I-E-ZELENIN-STATE-FARMS-OF-THE-USSR-A-BRIEF-HISTORICAL-SKETCH-1917-1975 (date of access: 09.02.2025).

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