Collectivization in china: Some comparisons with the USSR∗

Abstract

The ‘collectivization’ of agriculture, in 1955–56 in China, and after 1929 in Russia, marked the transition from a private to a predominantly collective system of agricultural ownership, production and distribution; it was probably the most important event in the agrarian histories of the post‐revolutionary periods in these two countries, and the unique way in which it took place has had profound implications for the subsequent development of China and Russia. It would appear obvious that any discussion about’ the transition to collective agriculture would have a great deal to gain from looking at the comparative experience of these countries; this paper is a preliminary attempt at this task.¹