Measures for the consolidation of rural settlements in Ukraine during the late Stalinism period (second half of the 1940s – early 1950s)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the measures implemented by the Soviet regime aimed at consolidating rural settlements in Ukraine during the second half of the 1940s and early 1950s. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity, and a systematic approach. Both general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction) and specialized historical methods (historical-genetic, problem-chronological, retrospective, comparative-historical) were employed. The scientific novelty lies in the comprehensive examination—based on archival documents introduced into scholarly circulation for the first time—of post-war measures implemented by the Stalinist regime that were explicitly focused on or indirectly aimed at expanding large villages at the expense of liquidating or gradually depopulating small settlements. Conclusions. The consolidation of villages was a deliberate policy of the Soviet government aimed at deepening socio-economic transformations and altering the spatial structure of rural Ukraine. Among the primary measures transforming the settlement system during the late Stalinist period, the most significant were campaigns to liquidate farmsteads (khutory), forced migration actions, the amalgamation of collective farms (kolkhozes), and showcase experiments in creating agro-towns. The Soviet policy of liquidating small settlements served as an instrument of depeasantization and was coercive and discriminatory in nature. The dynamics of this process demonstrate a shift from targeted individual measures in the second half of the 1940s to a comprehensive reduction of the small settlement network in the 1950s. Rural population migrations were designed to reinforce the ongoing rurbanization policy. The amalgamation of collective farms fostered rural urbanization by developing the productive and social infrastructure of central farm settlements, while simultaneously laying the groundwork for the depopulation and decline of small villages. All measures were executed by directive means through Communist Party and state resolutions in the interests of the ruling regime. The consolidation of rural settlements unfolded against the backdrop of post-war reconstruction, exacerbating the acute shortage of resources required for recovery. The interests of rural residents were brutally ignored by the authorities, as the state sought to shift the financial burden of these planned campaigns onto the collective farms and the peasantry.