The grain procurement crisis occurred during the implementation of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in the Soviet Union in 1927. In general, in the 1920s, two more economic crises occurred in the country, which indicated serious problems not only in the agricultural, but also in the industrial sector of the economy. Unfortunately, in order to overcome them, the authorities resorted not to market methods, but to the administrative-command system, solving problems by force, which further worsened the economic situation of peasants and workers.
Background
The causes of the grain procurement crisis should be sought in the economic policy pursued by the Bolshevik Party in the 1920s. Despite the economic liberalization program proposed by V. Lenin, the new leadership of the country, headed by I. Stalin, preferred to act by administrative methods, preferring the development of industrial enterprises rather than the agricultural sector.
The fact is that already in the mid-1920s, the country began to actively purchase and produce industrial products at the expense of the village. The export of grain became the main task of the government, since the funds received from its sale were necessary forindustrialization. The grain procurement crisis was caused by unequal prices for industrial and agricultural products. The state bought bread from the peasants at a reduced price, while artificially inflating the prices of manufactured goods.
Such a policy has led to the fact that farmers have reduced the sale of grain. A crop failure in some regions of the country led to a deterioration in the situation in the country, accelerating the phasing out of the NEP.
Procurement issue
Prices for grain offered by the state to the peasants were clearly underestimated compared to market prices, which was contrary to the principles of the NEP, which assumed free economic exchange between town and country. However, due to the policy of the state, which was primarily concerned with the development of industry, the peasants reduced the sale of grain, even reduced the area under crops, which gave the party leadership a reason to blame the village. Meanwhile, low grain prices did not stimulate peasants to develop agricultural production.
Thus, in the winter of 1927-1928, they supplied the state with 300 million poods of grain, and this was more than one million less than last year. It should be noted that the harvest at that time was very good. The peasants suffered not only because of low prices, but also from the shortage of manufactured goods, which they so needed for agricultural production. The situation was also aggravated due to the fact that riots often occurred at the points of delivery of grain to the state, in addition, rumors about a possible outbreak of war were actively spreading in the village, which intensifiedindifference of rural producers to their work.
The essence of the problem
The grain procurement crisis has led to the fact that the state has reduced the revenues needed to purchase industrial goods abroad.
Also, the disruption of grain purchases in the village led to the fact that the industrial development plan was under threat. Then the party headed for the forced seizure of grain from those peasants who refused to sell grain to the state at special, purchase prices that were below market prices.
Party Measures
The grain procurement crisis caused a response in the country's leadership, which decided to take away surplus products, for which special inspections were created in different parts of the country (Stalin led a group that went to Siberia). In addition, large-scale purges began on the ground. In the village councils and party cells, those who, in the opinion of the top leadership, could not cope with the supply of bread to the state, quit. Also, special detachments of the poor were formed, who confiscated bread from the kulaks, for which they received 25 percent of the grain as a reward.
Results
The grain procurement crisis of 1927 led to the final curtailment of the NEP. The government abandoned the plan to create cooperatives, which Lenin once insisted on, and decided to radically transform the agricultural sector, creating new forms of interaction between the countryside and the state in the form of collective farms and machine and transport stations (MTS).
Problems with the supply of bread to the cities led the party to introduce food and industrial cards, canceled after the end of the Civil War. Since the industrial sector functioned normally due to the active support of the state, the kulaks, we althy peasants, were blamed for all the troubles. Stalin put forward the thesis about the aggravation of the class struggle, which gave rise to curtail the NEP and move on to collectivization in the countryside and industrialization in the cities. As a result, the peasants were united into large farms, the products of which were supplied to the state, which made it possible to create the largest industrial base in the state in a fairly short time.
