In the Soviet Union, what was a collective?

1 Answer
Jan 2, 2017

A Collective is several small units join together into one. The Soviet Union it was common for many small farms to be Collectivized.

Explanation:

Collectivization refers mostly to agriculture but can apply the such things as fur collectives and other parts of the economy that can be united to impose government control and to create efficiencies of scale. Larger operations being more seen as more efficient than smaller ones.

Collectivization, in this context, is distinctive of the Command Economy.

The Soviet Union created 2 types of farming organizations. One was the Collective Farm where many small farms were Collectivized and the other was a State farm where former estates were made into very large state farming operations. The Collective farm was seen to be a intermediate step with the intention that all farms become large State farms.

Collective farms were often shown as unsuccessful but the model was emulated by China, and Vietnam. Actual statistical analysis of collective performance is difficult as the statistics are hard to separate from propaganda. Famines developed in the 1920s and 1930s Soviet Union because of crop failures and Government intervention. Collectivization in the Soviet Union was seen to show poor worker productivity.

Co-operatives, another form of collectivization, have been reasonably successful in other places.