... Improved grain productivity was a prerequisite to pay for imported agricultural and capital goods for industrial development. On this there was widespread agreement. However, there were serious differences of opinion over three key decisions. Firstly, how the increased production would be achieved. Secondly, whether the peasants should be persuaded or forced to achieve this gain and thirdly, how long it would take to produce the desired results. There had always been huge problems in agriculture in 1928. The countryside had been overpopulated for centuries, creating a land shortage, although there were also vast, inhospitable areas. There was a lack of production because of old fashioned methods, like strip farming. When collectivisation (combining many small farms into large collectives) was introduced in 1928 it was described as 'voluntary.' Stalin claimed it was a free choice but it was enforced on a very reluctant peasantry, who were the most conservative class ...

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