Dekulakization? How the Soviets saw it

How did the soviets explain their perspective and policies on the Kulak class? there's much discussion on this topic but rarely using the thoughts they so clearly put out there and even published in English!
luckily I hoard Soviet ephemera!
#soviethistory #sovietunion #ussr
Sources:
"Concerning Questions of Agrarian Policy in the U.S.S.R."
Speech Delivered at a Conference of Marxist Students of Agrarian Questions
December 27, 1929:
www.marxists.org/reference/ar...
Definition of Kulak from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia:
encyclopedia2.thefreedictiona...
Decree of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks "On measures to eliminate kulak farms in areas of continuous collectivization." January 30, 1930:
www.marxists.org/reference/ar...
and
istmat.org/node/30863
Dictatorship and Democracy in the Soviet Union by Anna Louise Strong 1934:
www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...
"What about Russia? An Honest Reply to Honest Questions" by Anna Louise Strong 1936
"The Soviets Expected It" by Anna Louise Strong 1942
I won't apologize for using an Anna Louise Strong as she is not cited enough, not talked about enough, and truly a wonderful window to view the Soviet Union through, a window i wish more people looked through.
I only say this because inevitably I will get some comments of people upset for using her or making wild claims despite not reading all of her work like I have.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:03 What is a Kulak?
02:38 What does the decree say?
05:21 "Top secret decree"
06:00 How did the soviets explain it?
06:29 Dictatorship and Democracy
09:29 An honest reply to honest questions
13:10 The Soviets Expected It
14:02 Outro + Links
LINKS:
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Email (Serious inquiries only)
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[@Trolls90Degrees]

Amazing video on a difficult and multifaceted topic. Also something that I've noticed many times across most socialist experiments is a willingness to admit to their governments excesses and failures.

[@LadyIzdihar]

Exactly! I just received a book that's a compilation of speeches and studies from the equality of women in the USSR conference from 1956 and when asked difficult questions about where they want to be with their equality they're very honest about where they're failing and what they are trying to achieve. It's never malicious or filled with lies, it's always very realistic.

[@ABPHistory]

even socialist movements are willing to accept failures and excesses

[@rimaq_]

@@ABPHistory but capitalist ones on the other hand rarely do so, look at the American system

[@ABPHistory]

@@rimaq_ very true

[@vNTCv]

@@rimaq_ I'd argue that capitalist nations cannot admit to their failures because if they do the illusion of capitalism being the only system that works would come crumbling down like the house of cards it is.

[@lacybookworm5039]

Interesting, to learn how the kulaks were felt with. The information I had come across previously focused on the failure to quickly and efficiently divide up the land among the peasants. I've heard much about how the revolution, and later the Soviet Union, fell short of many of their ideal goals. It is refreshing to learn about what was achieved. 😊

[@seductive_fishstick8961]

amazing video as usual, they seem to just be getting better and better! And happy 100 year anniversary of the formation of the USSR!

[@ernstthalmann4306]

Ayy thanks for recognizing an amazing anniversary. Can't wait for the USSA: United Socialist States of America.

[@fsexplorer9727]

@@ernstthalmann4306 You forgot the R and the I: RUSSIA: Reborn United Socialist States of Islamic America Just wanted to add the I because of shifting demographic and religious trends in the US.

[@ktpeters89]

Great video! I’m a descendent of kulaks from Ukraine (mennonites). Mennonites have done a pretty good job of portraying themselves as innocent victims of a tyrannical SU but the more research I do, the more I discover that wasn’t the case. Thanks for adding to the conversation!

[@daycentchunage5341]

Takes a lot of intellectual bravery to make an objective assessment of your ancestors' actions, especially on such a controversial topic. Kudos.

[@gabrielmiller9517]

Another Mennonite! This history is deeply painful and nearly taboo in a lot of our families. I appreciate this video for helping create a more full picture.

[@ninyaninjabrifsanovichthes45]

I thought Mennonites were only a US thing, like the Amish. Its interesting to see that there are Mennonites in other countries.

[@scrixdaasd4953]

Wow show easy it make belive in intrment camps. I would never make a video, about same culture schools norway good. How nice just hope that ussr was sealing grain on internasjonale marker will there was no hunger. And blaming people that force in doing new stuff. Just russ today blame 600 russ solder. Die beacuse force putin speech.

[@scrixdaasd4953]

@@gabrielmiller9517 yo it watching why amircan need to make kill nativ people. Video and soure person is from that. And 0 reflect to curent time.

[@redstarbetty7997]

Want more and more of Anna Louise Strong's works every time I watch one of your videos! Her writing is so accessible and she was and still is a perfect voice for open-minded westerners. Having returned to socialism after decades of lost conviction after the USSR collapsed in '91, I'm now doing all the historical research and theory brush-up that I didn't do when I was a radical red flag waving teen (I probably wouldn't have drifted away back then if I'd had a firm grasp of theory and more understanding of the forces involved in the end of the USSR - instead I ended up falling for the western cold war propaganda!)

[@minamimoto2193]

Thanks for this information! I had a heated discussion with my brother about this topic just the other day -- I wish, I had had this detailed information back then... 😅

[@digdigdigo]

not the #stalin and #farmers

[@LadyIzdihar]

It was just a really odd choice of which words to hashtag 😂

[@konstantinkelekhsaev302]

Now Just So We Are Not "Biased", Lets See What Non-Bolsheviks had to say about kulaks "Peasant life from the time of the abolition of serfdom to the present day has been characterized by the flourishing of the kulaks, who have taken over the entire peasant economy. Rescuing the peasant in need, lending him money or goods in difficult times, the kulak makes him pay godlessly dear for his services and absorbs himself the lion's share of the benefit derived by the peasant from the loan granted to him. Despite this, he adopts an arrogant and imperious tone of address, demands slavish obedience, allows himself the most outrageous mockery and knows no limits to his tyranny. All public affairs at the gathering are decided in the way that pleases him and is beneficial, and no one dares to utter a word against his plans, although everyone understands perfectly well how unprofitable such an influence is reflected on the economy. This is not the place to describe in detail the activities and methods of kulaks. They are too well known and sufficiently developed in the literature. Ivan Koshko 1899 - "Small public credit as a powerful means of combating the impoverishment of our peasant" "In close connection with the question of collecting state, zemstvo, and public taxes that fall on the peasant population, and, one might say, mainly on the basis of these penalties, a terrible ulcer of our rural life has developed, which, at the end of it, corrupts and takes away the people's well-being - this is the so-called kulaks and usury. Once indebted to such a usurer, the peasant can almost never get out of the noose with which he entangles him and which for the most part leads him to complete ruin. Quite often the peasant already plows and sows and gathers grain only for the kulak." Alexey Ermolov 1892 - "Harvest failure and public disaster" "Of all the "Happy Corner" only in the village of B. there is a real kulak. This one loves neither land, nor farming, nor labor, this one loves only money. Everything with a kulak is based not on farming, not on labor, but on capital, on which he trades, which lends out at interest. His idol is money, the increase of which he only thinks. He inherited the capital, obtained by unknown means, but by some unclean means." Alexander Engelgardt "Letters from the Village 1872-1887"

[@ABPHistory]

great excerpts

[@dynamitewolft4194]

this makes me not like kulaks

[@konstantinkelekhsaev302]

@@dynamitewolft4194 And this is not when Bolsheviks were in power. You can guess how they would act later.

[@muha0644]

The worst thing is when someone has a wrong opinion, and is unwilling to listen to the other side. They form a conclusion having heard of only one side of the story.

[@rakkatytam]

The worst is in the end it comes down to faith. They will say, "well pro Soviet sources are biased, lies, and propaganda." And of course, we think the same of these "western" sources. So where does that leave us? Guess, I can only show them how much I suffered/suffer from western imperialism. But then they say,"...well it would be far worse under communism" Sad

[@Yet.Another.Rapper.KiG.V2]

The bad guys have innoculated them against the truth. They are allergic to it, even a few words caused a flustered reaction.

[@j0h4nn41]

Thank you as always for sharing historical tidbits like these, truly theres no better place on the english/western internet than your channel ☺

[@ABPHistory]

other good recommendations would be marxist paul and its called leninism, both cover USSR well

[@tivahh]

@@ABPHistory thank you for more recommendations!! It is really hard finding them in English.

[@ABPHistory]

@@tivahh yes and a good book about the subject would be another view of stalin!

[@manuelflores7575]

Hakim, Second Thought, Yugopnik, Luna Oi are also good

[@mjatriumxironreign8969]

@@manuelflores7575 yo you advertising almost every communist channel

[@henriashurst-pitkanen8735]

Always fantastic to see this topic dealt with and examined, unfortunately lacking in many other Leftist KZbin channels who don't seem to cover this topic with the analysis it deserves!

[@whitneyhouston9879]

Very few cite primary sources and give them proper context. Love this gem of a channel

[@pattidoyle5102]

It’s missing on the Right as well!

[@elowin1691]

@@pattidoyle5102 Well yeah, just kinda what's expected from there

[@AssassinFOURnolan]

You are an amazing human being, never let your mind doubt for a moment how appreciated your efforts and existence is.

[@BlackIce3190]

Playing defense for mass murder is hardly amazing.

[@crazymangoz9583]

@@BlackIce3190please read…the Black Book of Communism and Mein Kampf don’t count.

[@poopoo-dk4hu]

When the KZbin algorithm actually helps you find an informative content creator for once! Subbed!

[@LadyIzdihar]

Welcome! 😁

[@ernstthalmann4306]

My whole feed is commie goodies 😋 😍 ☺ I beat the algorithm

[@poopoo-dk4hu]

@@ernstthalmann4306 mine is getting there! can't wait :D

[@danielhadad4911]

​@@ernstthalmann4306 Can you suggest us some creators? The more, the better.

[@ernstthalmann4306]

@@danielhadad4911 SecondThought is awesome socialist content.

[@MrEmbryonicjones]

i started 'dicatorship and democracy' on my plane ride yesterday! what a happy coincidence, i feel like i accidentally did the correct reading for class

[@LadyIzdihar]

🤣 regardless, I'm so happy to hear you are reading it! It's very valuable and insightful

[@MidwesternMarx]

Great video as always! You’re our favorite modern Soviet historian!

[@LadyIzdihar]

Thank you so much! 💖

[@AceNavigates]

Loved this! I'm totally jealous of your collection of writings and memorabilia! Can't wait for your next video Comrade.

[@sebastianpeady5850]

Your videos are always enlightening.

[@mattda13att]

Wow! I think this was your best video yet comrade! Thank you for sharing it

[@bjumpork0112]

Fantastic video. I learned a lot in these few minutes about kulaks then I ever did before

[@anastasia7091]

You're doing a great and important job, comrade. Спасибо

[@antifascist7818]

Brilliant! Love your work & I wasn't aware of this Anna Louise Strong woman, excellent comparison of hers that you found on the Kulaks. 🙏✊

[@nektariosorfanoudakis2270]

I had a Grandparent who was a veteran in the Greco-Italian war, and after he was wounded he spent most of Axis Occupation in the hospital, including the famine period. All of his fellow ex-fighters in the hospital were organised in EAM-ELAS, supposedly except him. One day, the Security Battalions came for the Veterans, their first crime, including himself. He survived. But after Dekemvriana, after he picked a fight with Organisation X probably, he returned back to his village, allied to the Right-Wing, and became a Greek analogue of a Kulak. He had 11 children (to enslave his 15-year-old wife with reproduction probably, she was also a terrible person and was disseminating rumours the Quisling government and the Nazis did, including blood libel) and was obsessed with accumulating property. He had one of those state-granted certificates of Anticommunism (πιστοποιητικά εθνικοφροσύνης) so that he was given the right to open a shop with knick-knacks, he had a local monopoly in cigarettes for example. He even denounced a son of his for fighting against the CIA-backed Military Junta in the Polytechnic Uprising as a student, he was a top one. End result? His other children, who he taught nothing about the workd but being obsessed with working and accumulating property, maybe some humanist rhetoric here and there, had values so twisted, that some of them support the ideology of the people that invaded Greece back in the day, the ideology of the death squads that came for him. He would die a second time if he knew how many of his children, even Grandchildren are "Golden Dawn" losers or sympathetic to them. With the garbage narratives they listened at as children, it makes sense. Moral of the story is, don't become a f*cking Kulak, it's stupid, also it makes you and your spawn evil. 😅

[@josephgeorge5741]

Great content as always, Comrade!

[@Ailasher]

Oh, the link to IstMat (Истмат)! Nice.These guys have been publishing Soviet archival documents for a quite time.

[@kytalksrap]

Just found your channel and im so grateful I did! As a sociology and geopolitics nerd your content is like candy to me. Humanizing the caricatured image of the soviet union that most of us grew up understanding as reality is super important work.

[@genossewurzelkobold3141]

Дружба, товарищи, с Новым Годом!

[@yamisa8059]

Не осталось у вас товарищей

[@joeyjevne]

Thank you for all the fascinating info… Appreciate you!

[@anthonyrispo1229]

I am not a "fellow comrade," but I find you to be so enjoyable and informative to listen to. You have a gift for conveying your knowledge. It would be lovely to hear you have a debate and or open discussion with an opposing view by someone who is as much a good actor as yourself. This is what we need these days.

[@xabieretchepare3910]

Very great and insightful video!

[@Kou-ts1vw]

I'm sad my notifications for your videos got turned off.. but I felt like watching some of your content and saw this today so it's okay!!

[@Ben_Ilic_56]

Thank you for an excellent and accessible video that tackles one of the most challenging parts of Soviet history. I must look up those pamphlets and have a read.

[@TPHimbo]

I love your work, your sound has gotten a lot better from when I was first listening.

[@CANNNIBALIX]

excellent video, thank you

[@albertcapley6894]

Great video comrade!

[@korana6308]

Great work. Love your videos.👍👍

[@daycentchunage5341]

First time I've ever been recommended a good Marxist-Leninist channel by KZbin. Well done, comrade, and I look forward to viewing more of your videos and hopefully supporting the channel.

[@basedmarxist1762]

Love your content, queen, keep going!

[@danielwoo3629]

Great video, the history we aren't told in the west makes the most sense.

[@Octoberfurst]

Thank you for making this video. It counters a lot of anti-Soviet propaganda. 😀

[@digdigdigo]

just finished it, your content is so good!!

[@LadyIzdihar]

Thank you so much! I'm trying to get better!

[@ernestokrapf]

your content is so calming, great work!!

[@mechtar92]

Happy USSR creation day

[@numbers3076]

Extremely well-done video as always. Thank you for touching down on such a sensitive topic. The more we speak about it, the more it will be understood. I was wondering if you could cover a video on homosexuality within the USSR, especially in the Stalin era?

[@mikeyiniko]

Again, great stuff. I am reminded of the methodology of Domenico Losurdo, who strove to demonstrate the power of the dialectic in his research. Finding out about your offerings has been a real pleasure to someone who has long been interested in the crossroads of communism and Islam, and in paritcular, the complexities of the woman question impacted at that crossroads. Salaam alaikum.

[@scrumpy8192]

Great video!

[@taseenb]

Brilliant work on (probably) the most misrepresented topic in history

[@tobe459]

Thanks for video. Actually my grandfather was kulak and was departed to Siberia.

[@andreimoga7813]

thank you 🙏i will get to reading

[@Wolfkiller]

Commenting for the algorithm because you are awesome

[@LadyIzdihar]

💖💖💖

[@nickmartin1797]

Do you know of any sources specifically regarding the process in Siberia, especially with how the sizable nomadic populations underwent collectivization and dekulakization?

[@Velvet_Intrigue]

This was great!

[@geeseareassholes]

just want to say thank you for your research and perspective! the section on Ukrainian famine especially helps to add nuance to a discussion that usually either falls into "VICTIMS OF LE EVUL COMMIES" or "famine never happened". regardless of our opinions on Marxism, all scholars can benefit greatly from your research

[@stolenflowers4775]

If you could put that "What About Russia?" pamphlet up online somehow or share a link that would be amazing!!! Thank you!

[@Shimansaji]

I was curious wether you coved the Kulak question, well done. Ramadan Mubarak.

[@AnActualDinosaur]

Excellent video! It's great to have all these questions tackled directly and on a short format, but still filled with evidence!

[@LadyIzdihar]

Thank you!! I'm trying to improve!

[@tudoraragornofgreyscot8482]

@@LadyIzdihar Ok, so i just checked the video. It's... certainly something. You clarify that you use sources from the Soviet perspective and Soviet friendly sources and the thing is that it does just that, you show us the official and highly favorable view of the collectivization process. You cite the official definition of what a Kulak is, meaning a rural bourgeois that engaged in exploitative actions in the countryside, amassing large fortunes. And this is presented contrary to Marxism-Leninism, but it doesn't really tell you the rationale or the motives behind collectivization beyond "capitalism bad, therefore we must collectivize". After their victory in the Russian Civil War and the failure to bring the revolution to Germany, the Bolsheviks had a completely devasted country, where the peasants were totally distrustful and resentful of the authorities after centuries of oppression because of serfdom from the Tsar and the confiscations of grain by both Whites and Reds and were basically ungovernable, which was a problem in a mostly agrarian country. In the cities there was widespread unrest because of the shortages of food, the breakdown of industry and the authoritarianism of the party meant that the Bolsheviks were on very thin with their core base unhappy and the majority of the country hostile to them. So to appease the peasantry they stopped the requisitions and introduced a tax (first in kind and later in money), and then they legalized private trade and ownership in small and medium sizes. This basically meant a concession to the peasants to let them be in exchange for grain and a pacification of the majority of the country. Now, in the countryside the social classes of the rural village (mir) weren't really as in the city were you could see a bourgeois class and a proletarian class. In the village the social composition was more uniform, with the peasants having a strong communal sense and being generally very protective of their customs and way of life. So when the Communists talked about the Kulaks oppressing poor peasants, they didn't really saw any of it and generally closed ranks against party agitators and any attempts from the state to disrupt and change their ways. However, the independence of the peasantry from the party made most the Soviet leaders uncomfortable, with the scissor crisis (the prices of industrial goods rised and the price of grain decreased) that peasants saw few reasons to sell grain and instead started to hoard it to make grain prices raise again. It also didn't help the communists that the peasants, probably for their first time in existence, had the luxury of finally be able to eat a lot more so they consumed a lot of their food. Fewer grain in the cities meant more hungry workers, and hungry workers were angry workers with the government. It also meant that they had fewer grain to export, the only means to acquire foreign currency from a very hostile capitalist world. So the situation (apart from the obvious ideological reasons) became very egregious to the party leaders, aka Stalin who had outmaneuvered the Leftist and later United Opposition. The collectivization sparked controversy between Stalin and the Right Opposition that advocated a more gradual approach to socialism in the countryside. Stalin in the end won the debate and collectivization went ahead, however the process was very messy and violent and the definitions of what a Kulak was often now clear and fluid meaning that a poor peasant of yesterday was the kulak of today. And more often than not most of the comittees of peasants that formed quickly transformed to vicious attacks on other peasanst. Collectivization was created and implement with the intent of bringing the peasantry under the control of the state and get the grain they need without the need of negotiations.

[@Arjava.]

​​​​@@tudoraragornofgreyscot8482Mass production in agriculture was always going to happen in both the capitalist and socialist world. It's more efficient and any interest group that wants more production will push for that. Either the farmers are bankrupted to get their land or the local labor is reorganized and that's what happened on most of the planet. Small concerns only remain in mixed economies like India, which is inefficient but represents the interests of the small holders and some of their labor. Look at the mass protest movement in India, 200mil.

[@Cassedy3]

That last quote was awe inspiring. Also, love that Cheburaska next to "Caucasian Cuisine"

[@zwischenburkaundbikini2418]

Salam alaikum comrade, thanks for the insightful video about this topic.

[@Zhicano]

This video has been very helpful with getting rid of the obfuscation of the nature of kulaks. I've read many comrades misconstrue what they did and what went on. Giving the detractors leeway

[@DinoCism]

It's always good to hear Stalin in his own words.

[@forrestsmith8857]

You have an amazing collection of antique socialist texts. I’m jelly.

[@remoman]

ACCELERATED INDUSTRIALIZATION, increased appropriation of grain from the peasants, forced collectivization, liquidation of the kulaks, production declines, and hunger are the main links in a chain of events that led to the famine of 1932- 33 in the Soviet Union and to millions of deaths.

[@modelarsky]

well, i wonder what would happen in 1940s, if it wasn't for a decade long accelerated industrialisation and collectivisation... oh, i know - we would speak of polish, ukrainian, russian, baltic and hundreds of more peoples as we speak of native americans today - colonised, exterminated, forgotten. USSR fought speedy and forced collectivisation in the early years of its existence, however in ten years of the rise and rearmament of the 3 reich, they were forced to either build a defense, or perish

[@remoman]

@@modelarsky Hitler would have steamrolled the USSR without the American Lend Lease program supporting them. Read some history.

[@remoman]

@@modelarsky Military Equipment Aircraft (14,795 total): Fighter planes: P-39 Airacobra, P-40 Warhawk Bombers: B-25 Mitchell, A-20 Havoc Transport planes: C-47 Skytrain Tanks (7,056 total): M3 Lee M4 Sherman Trucks (375,883 total): Studebaker US6 trucks GMC trucks Jeeps (51,503 total): Willys MB Ford GPW Motorcycles (35,000 total): Harley-Davidson motorcycles Artillery: Anti-tank guns: 57 mm M1 Anti-aircraft guns: 40 mm Bofors Industrial Equipment and Materials Locomotives (over 1,900 total): Steam locomotives Diesel locomotives Railcars (11,000 total): Freight cars Tank cars Steel and Aluminum: Steel plates Aluminum ingots Machine Tools: Lathes Milling machines Drilling machines Communication Equipment: Radios (SCR-300 and SCR-536) Field telephones Signal equipment Food Supplies Canned and Dried Foods: Canned meat (SPAM) Canned fish Dried milk Canned vegetables Grains: Wheat Flour Cornmeal Other Foods: Sugar Fats and oils (vegetable oil, lard) Chocolate and coffee Raw Materials Fuel: Aviation gasoline Motor gasoline Lubricants Rubber: Natural rubber Synthetic rubber Chemicals: Explosives Industrial chemicals Pharmaceuticals Clothing and Medical Supplies Uniforms: Winter clothing (coats, boots, gloves) Standard military uniforms Medical Supplies: Medicines (penicillin, sulfa drugs) Bandages Surgical instruments Medical kits Support Services Technical Assistance: Training for the use of American equipment Technical manuals and documentation On-site support and advisory teams

[@thegoodgodabove8264]

I've mentioned and heard of kulaks before so it's super cool to see a video discussing them and the Soviet Union specifically and not just as a passing point. So thank you for yet another information video, you're killing it Also I know you've mentioned getting books from random pop up antique shops before, is that where you purchased these pamphlets?

[@Ailasher]

The phenomenon of "kulaks" is quite typical. It started as an middleman between the land owner/market and the rural community and ended as an owner who lives at the expense of the community. The Bolsheviks didn't have to explain in their articles and speeches: what is the phenomenon of "kulakism" and what is wrong with it. This was a well-known knowledge for contemporaries. Now, bourgeois propaganda is trying to present them as "pioneer entrepreneurs", "hard workers", "victims of dictatorship violence"; although their essence was no different from the criminal essence of those who were engaged in the primary accumulation of capital. They just managed to stop them, unlike someone like Rockefeller.

[@illogicalslayer9856]

They are basically calling a property manager who did some hands on work for the two properties he managed for an owner at minimum wage, who the owner bequeaths those properties to them on his death, an exploited worker because he didn't outsource the maintenance he did when he inherited them. To analogise it to today. Kulaks are hardworking peasants like my hypothetical guy is a hardworking worker who made "savvy" investments.

[@Ailasher]

@@illogicalslayer9856 Close, but still a miss. The first iteration of the kulaks, these were former headmen who were literate unlike their fellow villagers and dealt with the documentation of their masters. Then, a little magic happened, and with the reform of the emancipation of the peasants from serfdom they received some of the best land holdings. There was also the option of going out through close contacts to trade grain or other, more valuable goods, but this still led to the scheme of "we had common plots that we allocated to tillage by lot, and now you owe me at 50%.". Also, "I'll probably, well definetly, scam you on of the goods trade". The second iteration was in 1917, when the Bolsheviks distributed allotments according to the "number of eaters in the family". Then primitive genetics worked: you have, for example, 7 surviving children out of 14 born, by the age at which they were fit not only as "little helpers" but also as workers. Of these, 5 were male. And I have five survivors of which 3 are female. Yes, women work just as hard as men if they want to eat, but first, the pressing issue is their marriage, moving in with their husband and dropping out of the production cycle, and second, the physical condition of the average man and the average woman who live in roughly the same conditions and eat the same food. Congratulations: you won the Darwin's lottery and now I'll probably be the one coming to you to borrow grain for planting at the same 50%.

[@illogicalslayer9856]

@@Ailasher Yes even in socialism having more wealth meant you had more surviving kids and therefore got the welfare at a greater rate. I am glad my analogy got close though but Kulaks were a very weird case of Tsarist reform.

[@Ailasher]

@@illogicalslayer9856 "Yes even in socialism" C'mon! Really? It was literally during the Civil War and a quote from quotes: the "state capitalism", that is, the NEP. Socialism began with a process of central planning and collectivization, to mechanize the work of rural communities. That's the essence of dialectical materialism: it's not enough to just say "OK, now we have "it", so let's have a party, now!" This is idealism (in the philosophical sense). This should actually be "present" - this is actually the good ol' materialism.

[@illogicalslayer9856]

@@Ailasher Yes I was commenting on the lower phases of communism not able to fully overcome the capitalist relations. Not in a this will never work way but as a material reality that need to be continually worked on. It is a transitional state it isn't going to be perfect.

[@terminalpreppie8439]

Great video and I really appreciate your admission of the selectivity and bias in these works at the end. I find too often Marxists have an almost cult like tendency to read works favorable to their world views uncritically. And you did a great job of presenting these works in the context of understanding the soviet perspective rather than being infallible sources with flawless information. Regardless these works are absolutely important to understanding and humanizing the Soviet experience, which is far too often mythologically demonized especially as it pertains to the specific events discussed. Def subbing

[@rakkatytam]

Wish Fidel and Che would have been harsher on Cuba's version of "kulaks." There is a group of people that lives in Miami that is just so insufferable

[@endcaps1917]

You mean the gusanos

[@rakkatytam]

@@endcaps1917 Yeah thanks

[@urrich5747]

Lebedev-Kumach's poems are called "fist" and "monologue of a foreign worker."

[@Daerryon]

Just discovered your channel, it's a great work with many sources to shed light on an important part of our history

[@hee_hee9964]

thats a nice intro song, what is it called?

[@anglo-irishbolshevik3425]

Thank-you for your great work in giving us this perspective. I've subscribed because I want to hear more from you.

[@Wn9618]

Such a nuanced view of the "other" side of the kulak situation than what I’m used to reading makes me wonder if I’d be more receptive to it earlier on if I lived in a more extreme capitalist society like the US (unlike Norway where I live) I still think it’s a very complicated and grey phenomenon, but I really appreciate the analysis you did here. Very interesting!!

[@aloneandscared1]

Informative video as always :)

[@lisakeitel3957]

Thanks to you. I don't think I could find those in spanish. Except in Cuba.

[@georgeuferov1497]

Я только что наткнулся на этот канал, но мне уже нравится

[@tricketytrace]

Looking fresh! Killing it with the stiez

[@Illstatefishing]

New sub comrade!! Midwestern Marx sent me

[@swhopkinson]

Always good to the the Soviet Perspective as well as Amerucan/Western one.

[@SawVorhees]

loved the video and book recommendations, much love from Brazil

[@Rocinante0489]

I love this so much

[@0ld.Richard]

Very well done, thank you.

[@hiera1917]

Could you do a video on the deportation of the Crimean Tatars

[@nikolapetrovic3502]

Jeez girl I'm amazed with you first time i see you and you got an subscriber! Please do more history don't stop you're the best!

[@tokarev3094]

Currently reading through "The Years of Hunger" by Wheatcroft and Davies and I am very much surprised what a "perfect storm" the sowing and harvesting of '31-'32 was. They really had the worst weather for crops and ergot and rust along with insects did a lot more damage. Of course there was damage caused by Kulaks and "Independent Peasants" and that makes the situation all the more difficult. The Soviet government constantly lowered grain requirements, reduced exports and provided seed and grain aid, but the dire situation was discovered too late.

[@ln5747]

Kulaks were working with the local Communists as the policies were all failing. They were given a ration for themselves which they planted at the right time, the rest was planted at the wrong time as ordered by the government. This gave the impression they were keeping for themselves, causing the shortages and the rest of the crop failing was their fault. Result was break up the Kulaks, split it between peasants, use the money to pay the peasants a subsistence and fund industrialisation with the 'profit'. All failed of course. It's almost like leaving people alone makes things work.

[@tokarev3094]

@@ln5747 unfortunately Collectivization led to higher crop yields as opposed to the decentralized independent farming method that preceded it. A case can (and has been) made for the Kulak class to grow, but as the Bukharinite right-wing of the CPSU was the only one to even come close to such a proposal, it is highly unlikely such a policy would have been tolerated by a revolutionary communist party. Robert C. Allen, in his book "Farm to Factory" posits that the Soviet model of a planned economy was "the best" option available to the country at the time and concludes that a swing towards a more market-friendly economy would have slowed growth and possibly cost the USSR the war against Nazi Germany. Which historians' works have you found to be the most resourceful on this topic?

[@ln5747]

@@tokarev3094 on which topic?

[@tokarev3094]

@@ln5747 the topic you posted about an hour ago (see above post).

[@shushunk00]

does izdihar means -promotion/advertisement/leaflet/proposal(it does in my language)?

[@havok627]

It means to blossom or flourish in Arabic

[@sentientnatalie]

Happy USSR Day! :D Another wonderful video! With reference to the question and answer concerning future famines, it tended to be quite common that in countries that were highly famine-prone, such as those in Eastern Europe and Asia, socialist governments actually worked to end famines, hence the Soviet Union never having a famine like that of 1932-33, or even any, since then, same with China after the Great Leap Forward, and it was common for them throughout their history to have as frequently as one famine every year. For the Russian Empire, I think it was 1-2 every 10 years or so? In any case, more great information to aid in debunking that vile genocide myth first peddled by Ukrainian nationalists, Nazis and the US press, now increasingly supported still by Ukrainian nationalists ofc, and still Nazis ofc, and by a growing number of capitalist powers in the world, all as part of a propaganda effort to discourage people from being even remotely sympathetic to socialism. These same people will insist that capitalism is not responsible for food shortages, but when they refuse to feed the world because it isn't profitable, at least 10 million people a year die from starvation. And those are just the starvation deaths under capitalism, there are many millions more, and the resources are there to make things better, but capitalists are going to capitalism, the bastards. We also know that with food, they destroy it if they can't sell it, to keep the prices up. It's insane...! The kulaks were rural capitalists, let us never forget that. Anyway, thank you again for this, Lady Izdihar! :) Happy New Year, and workers and oppressed peoples of all nations unite!

[@illogicalslayer9856]

If only the people who peddled this weren't such racists that pointing out democratic India in the same time as China had more famines which were worse and more frequent in the same time frame, would make them think or concede but no they are too blinded by their ideology and racism. EDIT: I misread the article the three times I read it before. They didn't have famines but died from government neglect at 5x the rate of China's famine deaths from 1947-1980. Still morally equivalent and capitalism still worse. Or could differentiate between Soviets not saying racist things about Ukrainians while screwing up their response to the 1932-33 famine and Churchill wishing death on Indian people while diverting essential food from Bengal on purpose to the war effort which didn't even need it.

[@Dorian_sapiens]

Of course Nazis and capitalists tell this and a million other lies about socialism. This is their job, so it is no surprise. What's sad is when people who think they are socialists repeat the same lies as the Nazis and capitalists.

[@sentientnatalie]

@@Dorian_sapiens Yes, and these people who call themselves socialists are probably just socdems, "the moderate wing of fascism", if you recall what Comrade Stalin said.

[@zapradon9076]

It would be helpful to also include the work of Mark Tauger, a researcher into famines. As it actually turned out is that the decreased harvest was not that it was inefficiently not harvested so much as they were victim of wheat rust, a disease that is hard to recognize. The crop looks healthy until you get to harvest and get only 30% of what you thought you were going to get. But they had no agronomists to diagnose it, and so jumped to 'human error' instead. The fact that Stalin took responsibility and attempted to alleviate it with rationing and shipping grain to Ukraine should speak well of him--if anyone knew the real story. Thank you for this.

[@ln5747]

Sounds like communist inefficiencies 😂

[@modelarsky]

​@@ln5747yeah let's hear about capitalist efficiencies - irish famine? beghal famine? milions dead of hunger every year? that is efficent, but in making profits

[@ln5747]

@@modelarsky are you seriously starting a comparison over communist and capitalist famines? 🤣

[@modelarsky]

@@ln5747 then show us a way for industrialisation and the end of hunger without communism nor capitalism! 😂 however, it is important to compare open racial intent of capitalist famines and conqesuences of those (mass profits), to mass organised relief in socialist countries, and progress never seen in history happening in few years afterwards (inspite such tragedies)

[@ljkking622]

@@modelarskycommunism doesn’t work. How many times can you try the same thing and not see it? Why aren’t all you comrades fighting to move to Cuba or North Korea? It’s easy to be a communist in a free country but try being free in a communist country. Where are the millions dead every year from hunger from capitalism?

[@naomigullison2171]

So well researched and so well paced. I'm genuinely thrilled to see some rad left content that's this high quality. (not hating on any other creator, just the algorithms)

[@Ottmar555]

Which books would you recommend to learn about Stalin?

[@nedhir8991]

Another view on Stalin

[@SawVorhees]

also Domenico Losurdo

[@AustinJosephTamargo]

God bless you you are a beautiful amazing person

[@tivahh]

AMAZING video!! Thank you!

[@PakBallandSami]

this is a very interesting topic as a person who love soviet history and how they did stuff this is video is good for me iam also very happy that you recommended some books and sources so people can further understand the topic and it is good to hear the other sides perspective on this to have a better understand of this topic like i say history is very complex and it not alawys so black and white

[@SleazyCommunist]

Your collection is impressive. Do you have anything related to the avant-garde, prolekult? Their art has made it to the West, and some of their poetry but otherwise there is a dearth of information about them aside from a single book published in 1990.

[@tymanung6382]

Was this art movement the same as Constructivism + other modern art movements?

[@tymanung6382]

There are a no. of books on these art movements.

[@SleazyCommunist]

​@@tymanung6382 Prolekult was strange and varied. For example a lot of Lunacharsky and Gorky's God-Building is available to read about. While Gastev's mechanization of man is primarily regulated to meme-status outside of a single blogpost by Charnel house. These guys imagined themselves as a cultural vanguard to the Bolshevik's political vanguard. Stalin did ultimately see fit to do away with the prolekult in favor of socialist realism and other more traditional movements. So I am curious about what might have been written about them at the time in the Soviet Union. Both condemnation or support.

[@stasacab]

My great uncle worked in deporting the kulaks in the Karelian ASSR. He never understood, he never approved. He came the USSR only because his wife wanted to go there and when he was asked to give his passport, he left to Finland. He kept sending packages to his family that continued to live in Karelia and elsewhere. Karelia was poor, the farms were small and there were no kulaks to speak of.

[@Looter92]

The US didn't recognize the Soviet Union until Nov 1933 so I don't think you will find any pamphlets published in the US before that, but maybe you can?

[@LadyIzdihar]

Nothing officiated by the government, but plenty of printing presses focused on human rights and the working class printed pamphlets about the Soviet Union before 1933.

[@johnmanole4779]

@@LadyIzdihar there you go. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bX6qYmCpbqysea8

[@johnmanole4779]

@@LadyIzdihar "exploration this! Exploration that!" What do they mean by this word anymore? Exploration? Beating their employees? Taking more then half of their stuff?

[@Comuniity_]

​@@johnmanole4779 I'm guessing you mean "exploitation" and not "exploration" exploitation in the Marxian sense of the word is extraction of surplus labor value, or put another way let's day you generate $100 an hour of capital for a company, you only get paid $10 while the boss gets $90 even though they didn't do anything to produce that capital. That $90 is your surplus labor value being extracted, and that's exploitation

[@sideeggunnecessary]

Wonderful video, would love to see more deep dives into historical perspectives.

[@georgekostaras]

Thanks for covering a controversial topic

[@LadyIzdihar]

Thanks for watching it, hopefully everything I tried to provide was reasonable and not taken in bad faith!

[@jmagowan12]

I think what happened was s tragedy. That said I don't know what the Soviet government could have done even as much as they were partly responsible. I am Irish in Ireland and it sickens me no end when European and descended people's claim what happened was genocide, when the USSR did all they could to minimize it when it happened. England committed genocide on Ireland and other places in the 19th century where they starved us so they could build an empire with our food, land and labour. The USSR was trying to build a union of equals and they tried to minimize and not maximise starvation, emigration and cultural evisceration as England did and still does. I am so glad the USSR and other socialist nations existed or exist as they prove our dreams of freedom, liberation, real peace, prosperity and unity not only possible but necessary!

[@genedebsfan]

I created a new Playlist to store this video, named "Absolute #1"! Smearing Stalin is the immediate oppositional smugness response. Now I am armed with the answer.❤

[@two_owls]

I think this video is a good start for explaining the "Soviet" perspective on the Kulaks and would be interested in further videos elaborating what I presume to be variety of thought within the USSR at the time. We got Stalin and Strong this time. Next time, how about some party members that disagreed with Stalin's reasoning, some peasants who recounted their experiences in Ukraine, some former Kulaks reminiscing about their resettlement experiences?

[@illogicalslayer9856]

Left communists and Kulaks get too much representation in this discussion I want to hear from more perspectives just not them because they have been signal boosted for decades at this point and I am tired of hearing from them. We already know what they think "wah they took my hoarded grain to feed the community and we had to suffer with the poors instead of having more food to ourselves for that winter" and "Stalin bad, anything not Trotsky or Lennin bad and we would have done it better".

[@Armyjay]

I found it *both* interesting and insightful. I’m going to look up those Anna Louise Strong pamphlets. Your obvious passion for all things Soviet and the chagrin you can’t quite hide when critiquing western anti-Soviet propaganda are both incredibly endearing and make your videos a pleasure to watch. I can’t go without mentioning your fabulous fur hat and jacket ensemble, you certainly look the part Comrade. Спасибо.

[@BoogsterSugar]

Just wanna put here how I always like that the globe in your logo does show the place where I live here in America and I don't know, my Sudaca heart feels seen, feels belonged, feels listened, I like that. Thanks for the amazing smart video comrade!

[@driftingonvirtualether]

does the great soviet encyclopaedia has an English version?

[@LadyIzdihar]

Yes! I showed a picture of the English one

[@driftingonvirtualether]

@@LadyIzdihar oohhh, nice. Now I need to find if there is a PDF of it.