Misuse of funds and theft of public property in agriculture in the late 1960s – the first half of the 1970s as a reflection of the socioeconomic reality of the Russian village (by the materials of the prosecutor’s investigations in Kuibyshev region)

Abstract

Background. The significance of the problem under study is due to the fact that the peasantry has always been the most disenfranchised part of society in our country. In the middle of the 1960s the state begins the consistent implementation of the reorientation from the policy of merciless exploitation of peasant labor pursued for decades to comprehensive economic support for the development of collective farms and state farms, strengthening both the financial situation and the legal status of collective farmers and state farm workers. How-ever, the severity of the problem of compliance with law and order in agricultural production has not only not decreased, but has increased in some areas. The purpose of the study is to analyze the most common examples of misappropriation of funds and embezzlement in col-lective farms and state farms of Stavropol district of Kuibyshev region in the late 1960s – the first half of the 1970s, as well as to identify the socio-economic and moral roots of this phe-nomenon. Materials and methods. The solution of the tasks set in the work was achieved by applying the comparative-historical method to the analysis of documents extracted from the funds of the Togliatti archive. Results. The closed reports of the prosecutor’s office on the results of the conducted in 1969–1975 were studied. checks in collective farms and state farms of Stavropol district of Kuibyshev region. Their result was the identification of a large number of cases of misappropriation of funds intended for the development of agricultural production, as well as theft of material resources associated with it. Were identified, grouped and analyzed and the most common of them. Conclusions. Theft of public property in agri-culture in the late 1960s – the first half of the 1970s were a widespread social phenomenon. It had objective reasons generated by the very nature of the Soviet command-administrative model of the state and society. As for the misappropriation of funds, in the conditions of Soviet reality it was the fastest and most effective way to solve many economic and social issues on the ground.

Keywords

• collective farms
• state farms
• misappropriation of funds
• theft
• stavropol district
• kuibyshev region