In the intro concentrate on your judgement and try to make this TWO SIDED.

Collectivisation had political and economic aims - to eliminate the kulaks, spread communist ideas and to increase production so that Russia could feed itself. It certainly increased Stalin's control of the people and in the end, it did lead to more efficient farming and increased production. However, this was only achieved at great human cost.

It had some economic success - 62% of farms were collectivised by 1932 and by 1940 over 400,000 collectivised farms had been set up. These were more modern (new methods/ tractors/ fertilisers/ larger-scale) and the fact that they were better mechanised meant that workers could be released to work in the towns which was essential if the Five Year Plans were to succeed (17m move to towns to work in industry 1928-1934). By 1940 plenty of grain was produced to feed the industrial workers and some grain could be exported in order to get money for investment in industry (it was easy to collect grain from collectivised farms and easier to secure lower prices through fear and control). Some collectivised farms had new houses and facilities such as nurseries and schools and some peasants cooperated with the process believing that they were working together for a stronger nation.

However the theory was often different to the reality. In many areas there was fierce resistance to the process and peasants refused to hand over their animals and buildings. They burnt crops, tools and houses rather than hand them over to the state. This destruction by rebellious peasants combined with the inexperience of collective farm managers resulted in a sharp decline in many areas of production. This caused so much disruption to agriculture that there were severe food shortages. Furthermore when there was a disastrous harvest in 1932 there was a terrible famine - for example 7 million died in the Ukraine. In the event figures for grain production did not reach 1914 levels until 1940. Also the production of machinery for the farms - such as tractors - was often flawed. For example 50% of tractors broke down as soon as they left the production line. Ultimately the problem of food shortages was never solved as, since produce had to be given to the state at a fixed price there was no incentive for peasants to increase productivity and they worked harder on their own private plots of land. By 1937 52% of vegetables 70% of the meat and milk were produced on the private plots of land. This meant that the system of collectivisation was being by-passed or undermined.

Collectivisation did have success in securing Stalin's political aims. Kulaks were eliminated as a class which pleased Stalin - he felt they weren't really Communist since they represented what he considered to be the worst elements of Lenin's NEP and thought they would never completely support his regime. Furthermore the process of enforcing state control did much to eliminate opposition to Stalin in the countryside because people became too afraid to protest. Requisitioning gangs and shock brigades were sent in to enforce the collectivisation process with threats and violence and many were deported or killed. This was important since Russia as a vast country and 84% of the population were peasants. If Stalin could control them then his overall command of Russia would be stronger.

Overall collectivisation achieved Stalin's political aims and made Russian agriculture more modern, but the peasants still preferred to work for themselves, Russia still suffered from food shortages and during the process about 13m people died.