The Vyatka village in 1945–1953: the main problems of development

Abstract

Background. The search for optimal methods for the agricultural sector development of the economy, solving the problem of food security, import substitution and raising the standard of living in the countryside simultaneously with the response to the demographic threats of modern Russia determines the study of the historical experience of rural development. This makes it possible to comprehend the development and implementation of public policy measures in specific historical conditions  the transition from the Great Patriotic War in the context of the need to restore the national economy to the period of reforms in the agrarian sector in the thaw. The purpose of the study is to analyze the main measures of the state in this period of time in terms of their conditionality and effectiveness. Materials and methods. The validity of the from research results provided by the analysis and introduction into scientific circulation of new historical sources contained in the State Archive of the Russian Federation, Russian State Archive of contemporary history, Russian State Archive of economy, State Archive of the Kirov region and the State Archive of social and political history of the Kirov region. A special place is given to reports and statistics of the party and Soviet bodies, on the basis of which various economic decisions were made, as well as records, statistics, appeals and complaints to the authorities of ordinary peasants. The methodology of the article is based on the comparative-historical method, the use of which allows to compare the changes in the Vyatka village within the specified period; statistical method, the importance of which is obvious for comparing indicators and dynamics of agricultural development of the region. Results. The measures of state policy in relation to the agricultural sector of the economy and the peasantry and their reflection on the development of agriculture are studied. Specific historical information revealing the plight of the Soviet village as a whole in the country and within the Kirov region is analyzed. Conclusions. The analysis of documentary and historiographical sources allows the conclusion to make about the inviolability of the system of collective farms and state farms and administrative pressure on village as the main determinants of agrarian policy of the Soviet state in the postwar period, about the plight of the village and of the peasantry against the background of worsening demographic, food and other problems of the village, objectively determining need for changes.

Keywords

• agriculture
• village
• peasantry
• collective farms
• agrarian policy