Notes on Stakhonovite simulation

The Stakhanovite movement was seen as a way of compelling management to adopt new production methods and increase rates of production. Those reluctant to do so were branded as saboteurs, with the warning "such pseudo leaders must be removed immediately". Many workers wanted to become a stakhanovites. When Stakhanovism started, workers resented the increased norms and there was increased tension between managers and workers. Some workers demanded to become Stakhanovites in order to gain increased pay and privileges. Ex) they demanded good tools but other workers resented that the would-be Stakhanovites got the best equipment. Stakhanovism presented managers with problems. Workers put them under a lot of pressure to be classified as a Stakhanovite and wanted good tools to do the job more efficiently, but there was not enough of these to go around. Such shortages frustrated workers and could lead them charging the managers with wrecking 'hindering us from working in a Stakhanovite fashion." Managers had to deal with other problems arising from Stakhanovism such as : resentment from workers who did not want production norms to increase and distortions in the production process caused by resources being focused on Stakhanovite workers. Managers were judged on total output not output from specific areas within enterprise. The stakhanovite campaign gave them the chance to overcome inertia in industry and put pressure on managers to improve productivity and raise output.


Character: (would-be Stakhanovite)
A) A would-be Stakhanovite's aims would be that we want the equipment like the Stakhanovites have and that we want to be treated the same as them. What the would-be Stakhanovites would have to do is that we need to show that we are the same as the Stakhanovites and we want to be supported by the managers with them. What the problems we would face would be not being treated the same as everyone and people striking against us. We want to overcome inertia in industry and put pressure on the managers like the Stakhanovites had done so that we can be like them.

B) If we, the would- be Stakhanovites, had a successful attempt it would help everyone that is working to have the same job opportunities and equipment. Having this equipment would help all of us so that we can be the same and treated the same and have the same output and that we wouldnt have food shortages that would frustrate the workers. We would not have to bother the managers or lose our jobs either.

Yes the group will support the would-be Stakhanovites because we want the would-be Stakhanovites to be the same as the Stakhanovites and to be treated the same. It is not fair that the Stakhanovites get the better equipment and they were not starved. This is why the group supports them because we are the people that want this for everyone so that we can all be the same. We want the same opportunites as the stakhanovites do. We want to charge the managers because then they will see that we are just like them and that we should have the same oportunites.

Collectivization of Agriculture

1. Why was collectivization necessary?
Collectivization was necessary because before collectivization the USSR was the bourgeois system and it will be changed to socialisim. The USSR needs a agricultural transfer so that it can be a collective ownership. Stalin wants the peasants to create food to please the workers so that they work and create industries so that the USSR will become industrailized

2. What is a kolkhoz?
The Kolkhoz were the collective farms that 50 - 100 families would live in. It pooled livestock, tools and land but the families had one acre to theirselves for their own use.

3. Who is a kulak?
The Kulaks are the better off peasants, middle peasants, poor peasants and landless laborers

4. How were the kulaks dealt with by the government?
The Kulak were dealt with by the government by other peasants having to live with them and they would have to share. The government expected more from them because they had more supplies then other peasants.

5. How did the peasants resist collectivization? What happened as a result?
The peasants resisted collectivization by killing their animals instead of giving them over to the government. As a result they were killed.

Examine the collective farm as illustrated in the reading, "A plan of a collective farm." Answer the following question:

6. What is a MTS Station?
a MTS station is a machine and tractor station that was established to support collective farms, they maintained and hired out machinery.

7. What were the dual purposes of the MTS Stations?
The MTS stations dual purposes were also used to control the countryside. Each MTS had a political department. Its job was to root out anti societ elements and troublemakers, and establish party cells in local areas. It was also there to ensure that every kolkhoz handed over its quota of grain.

8. How did a kolkhoz work and what was its relationship with the nearby town and its MTS?
Workers on the kolkhoz received no wages. THey were credited with 'workdays' in exchange for their labor on the collective fields. At the end of the year, the profits of the farm would be divided up according to the worke=days each peasant had put in. Also kolkohoz had to hand in their quota.