Who were the kulaks in the context of Soviet policy?

Who were the kulaks in the context of Soviet policy?

• A. Wealthy farmers who resisted collectivization by killing livestock, destroying tools, and burning crops.
• B. Stalin sent them to labor camps in 1929.
• C. Wealthy foreign investors who bought farmland.
• D. Urban factory owners who organized peasant unions.

Answer: (B)

Kulaks were wealthier peasants who owned land and property and were perceived by the Soviet leadership as a threat to the drive for collectivization. The state responded with dekulakization, a campaign that confiscated their wealth, punished resistance, and drove many of them out of rural areas or into labor camps. This policy began around 1929 and intensified in the early 1930s, becoming a defining part of how Soviet authorities tried to enforce collective farming. So describing the kulaks as those who were targeted and sent to labor camps captures the essence of how the policy treated them, even though the campaign spanned several years and included more than one type of punishment.

Kulaks were wealthier peasants who owned land and property and were perceived by the Soviet leadership as a threat to the drive for collectivization. The state responded with dekulakization, a campaign that confiscated their wealth, punished resistance, and drove many of them out of rural areas or into labor camps. This policy began around 1929 and intensified in the early 1930s, becoming a defining part of how Soviet authorities tried to enforce collective farming. So describing the kulaks as those who were targeted and sent to labor camps captures the essence of how the policy treated them, even though the campaign spanned several years and included more than one type of punishment.