j.v.

stalin
concerning the policy of eliminating of the kulaks as a class

first published: itrasnaya zveda, no. 18, january 21, 1930;

source: j. v. stalin, works, volume 12, pages 184-189. foreign languages
publishing house, moscow, 1953
transcription/html: mike b. for mia, november 2007
public domain: marxists internet archive (2005). you may freely copy, distribute,
display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works.
please credit �marxists internet archive� as your source.

the article, "the elimination of the kulaks as class," in no. 16 of krasnaya

zvezda1 is undeniably correct in the main, but it contains two inaccuracies of
formulation. it seems to me that these inaccuracies must be corrected.

1. the article says:

"in the restoration period, we conducted a policy of restricting the capitalist

elements of town and country. with the inauguration of the reconstruction period,
we passed from the policy restricting to the policy of ousting them."

this statement is incorrect. the policy of restrict ing the capitalist elements
and the policy of ousting them are not two different policies. they are one and
the same policy. ousting the capitalist elements in the countryside is an
inevitable result and component part of the policy of restricting the capitalist
elements, the policy of restricting the kulaks' exploiting tendencies. ousting the
capitalist elements in the countryside must not be regarded as equivalent to
ousting the kulaks as a class. ousting the capitalist elements in the countryside
means ousting and overcoming individual sections of the kulaks, those unable to
bear the burden of taxation and the soviet government's system of restrictive
measures.

naturally, the policy of restricting the kulaks' exploiting tendencies, the policy
of restricting the capitalist elements in the countryside, cannot but lead to the
ousting of individual sections of the kulaks. consequently, ousting individual
sections of the kulaks cannot be regarded otherwise than as an inevitable result
and a component part of the policy of restricting the capitalist elements in the
countryside.

we pursued this policy not only in the restoration period, but also in the period
of reconstruction, and in the period following the fifteenth congress (december
1927), and in the period of the sixteenth conference of our party (april 1929), as
well as after that conference right down to the summer of 1929, when the phase of
complete collectivisation set in, and when the change to the policy of eliminating
the kulaks as a class began.

if one examines the most important documents of our party from, say, the
fourteenth congress in december 1925 (see the resolution on the report of the
central committee2 ) to the sixteenth conference in april 1929 (see the resolution
on "ways and means of promoting agriculture"3 ), one cannot fail to notice that
the thesis about "restricting the exploiting tendencies of the kulaks," or about
"restricting the growth of capitalism in the countryside" always goes side by side
with the thesis about "ousting the capitalist elements in the countryside," about
"overcoming the capitalist elements in the countryside."

what does that mean?

it means that the party does not separate the ousting of the capitalist elements
in the countryside from the policy of restricting the exploiting tendencies of the
kulaks, from the policy of restricting the capitalist elements in the countryside.

both the fifteenth party congress and the sixteenth conference stood
wholeheartedly for the policy of "restricting the exploiting proclivities of the
agricultural bourgeoisie" (fifteenth congress resolution on "work in the
countryside"4 ), for the policy of "adopting new measures to restrict the
development of capitalism in the countryside" (ibid.), for the policy of
"resolutely restricting the exploiting tendencies of the kulaks" (see fifteenth
congress resolution on the five-year plan5 ), for the policy of "an offensive
against the kulaks" in the sense of "passing to further, more systematic and
persistent restriction of the kulak and private trader" (ibid.), for the policy of
"still more resolute economic ousting" of the "elements of private-capitalist
economy" in town and country (see fifteenth congress resolution on the report of
the central committee6 ).

consequently, a) the author of the above-mentioned article is wrong in depicting

the policy of restricting the capitalist elements and the policy of ousting them
as two different policies. the facts show that what we have here is one general
policy of restricting capitalism, a component part and result of which is the
ousting of individual sections of the kulaks.

consequently, b) the author of the above-mentioned article is wrong in asserting

that the ousting of the capitalist elements in the countryside began only in the
period of reconstruction, in the period of the fifteenth congress. in point of
fact, the ousting took place both before the fifteenth congress, in the
restoration period, and after the fifteenth congress, in the reconstruction
period. in the period of the fifteenth congress the policy of restricting the
kulaks' exploiting tendencies was only intensified by new and additional measures,
as a result of which the ousting of individual sections of the kulaks was also
bound to be intensified.

2. the article says:

"the policy of eliminating the kulaks as a class entirely follows from the policy
of ousting the capitalist elements, being a continuation of this policy in a new
stage."

this statement is inaccurate and, therefore, untrue. naturally, the policy of

eliminating the kulaks as a class could not have fallen from the skies. the way
for it was prepared by the entire preceding period of restricting, and hence of
ousting, the capitalist elements in the countryside. but this does not mean that
it does not differ radically from the policy of restricting (and ousting) the
capitalist elements in the countryside, that it is a continuation of the
restriction policy. to say what our author says is to deny that there has been a
change in the development of the countryside since the summer of 1929. to say what
he does is to, deny that during this period we have executed a turn in our party's
policy in the countryside. to say what he does is to create a certain ideological
refuge for the right elements in our party, who are now clinging to the fifteenth
congress decisions in opposition to the party's new policy, just as at one time
frumkin clung to the fourteenth congress decisions in opposition to the policy of
promoting collective farms and state farms.

what was the point of departure of the fifteenth congress in proclaiming an

intensification of the policy of restricting (and ousting) the capitalist elements
in the countryside? its point of departure was that, despite this restricting of
the kulaks, they, as a class, nevertheless were bound to remain for the time
being. on those grounds, the fifteenth congress left in force the law on renting
land, although it knew very well that it was mostly kulaks who rented land. on
those grounds, the fifteenth congress left in force the law on hiring labour in
the countryside, and demanded that it should be strictly observed. on those
grounds, it was again proclaimed that dekulakisation was impermissible. do these
laws and decisions contradict the policy of restricting (and ousting) the
capitalist elements in the countryside? certainly not. do these laws and decisions
contradict the policy of eliminating the kulaks as a class? certainly, they do!
consequently, these laws and decisions must now be set aside in the areas of
complete collectivisation, which is spreading by leaps and bounds. incidentally,
they have already been set aside by the very progress of the collective-farm
movement in the areas of complete collectivisation.

can it, then, be affirmed that the policy of eliminating the kulaks as a class is
a continuation of the policy of restricting (and ousting) the capitalist elements
in the countryside? obviously, it cannot.

the author of the above-mentioned article forgets that the kulak class, as a
class, cannot be ousted by taxation measures or any other restrictions, if this
class is allowed to retain instruments of production and the right to free use of
land, and if in our practical activity we preserve in the countryside the law on
hiring labour, the law on renting land, and the ban on dekulakisation. the of
restricting (and ousting) the capitalist elements in the countryside? its point of
departure was that, despite this restricting of the kulaks, they, as a class,
nevertheless were bound to remain for the time being. on those grounds, the
fifteenth congress left in force the law on renting land, although it knew very
well that it was mostly kulaks who rented land. on those grounds, the fifteenth
congress left in force the law on hiring labour in the countryside, and demanded
that it should be strictly observed. on those grounds, it was again proclaimed
that dekulakisation was impermissible. do these laws and decisions contradict the
policy of restricting (and ousting) the capitalist elements in the countryside?
certainly not. do these laws and decisions contradict the policy of eliminating
the kulaks as a class? certainly, they do! consequently, these laws and decisions
must now be set aside in the areas of complete collectivisation, which is
spreading by leaps and bounds. incidentally, they have already been set aside by
the very progress of the collective-farm movement in the areas of complete
collectivisation.

can it, then, be affirmed that the policy of eliminating the kulaks as a class is
a continuation of the policy of restricting (and ousting) the capitalist elements
in the countryside? obviously, it cannot.

the author of the above-mentioned article forgets that the kulak class, as a
class, cannot be ousted by taxation measures or any other restrictions, if this
class is allowed to retain instruments of production and the right to free use of
land, and if in our practical activity we preserve in the countryside the law on
hiring labour, the law on renting land, and the ban on dekulakisation. the author
forgets that the policy of restricting the exploiting tendencies of the kulaks
enables us to count only on ousting individual sections of the kulaks, which does
not contradict, but, on the contrary, presumes the preservation for the time being
of the kulaks as a class. as a means of ousting the kulaks as a class, the policy
of restricting and ousting individual sections of the kulaks is inadequate. in
order to oust the kulaks as a class, the resistance of this class must be smashed
in open battle and it must be deprived of the productive sources of its existence
and development (free use of land, instruments of production, land-renting, right
to hire labour, etc.).

that is a turn towards the policy of eliminating the kulaks as a class. without
it, talk about ousting the kulaks as a class is empty prattle, acceptable and
profitable only to the right deviators. without it, no substantial, let alone
complete, collectivisation of the countryside is conceivable. that is well
understood by our poor and middle peasants, who are smashing the kulaks and
introducing complete collectivisation. that, evidently, is not yet understood by
some of our comrades.

hence, the party's present policy in the countryside is not a continuation of the
old policy, but a turn away from the old policy of restricting (and ousting) the
capitalist elements in the countryside towards the new policy of eliminating the
kulaks as a class.

j. stalin
notes

1. krasnaya zvezda (red star)�a military and political daily newspaper founded in
january 1924. in march 1953 it became the central organ of the u.s.s.r. ministry
of defence.

2. see resolutions and decisions of c.p.s.u. congresses, conferences and central

committee plenums, part ii, 1953, pp. 73-82.

3. for the sixteenth party conference resolution on "ways and means of promoting
agriculture and tax relief for the middle peasant," see resolutions and decisions
of c.p.s.u. con- gresses, conferences and central committee plenums, part ii,
1953, pp. 455-69.

4.see resolutions and decisions of c.p.s.u. congresses, conferences and central

committee plenums, part ii, 1953, pp. 350-68.

5. for the fifteenth party congress resolution on "directives for the compilation
of a five-year economic plan," see resolutions and decisions of c.p.s.u.
congresses, conferences and central committee plenums part ii, 1953, pp. 330-49.

6. see resolutions and decisions of c.p.s.u. congresses, conferences and central

committee plenums, part ii, 1953, pp. 313-21.