Lumea rurală şi agricultura din Banat în primele două decenii de regim comunist (1945-1965)
The Rural World and the Agriculture in Banat in the Two First Decades of the Communist Regime (1945-1965)

Summary/Abstract: In 1945, almost 80% of the Romanian population lived in the countryside. The peasants were very traditional and did not accept changes. Between 1945 and 1949 the communists continuously disturbed the Banat villages. In the beginning, in order to attract the peasants to the regime, an agricultural reform was carried out. The peasants however could not benefit from the land granted because their crops were immediately blocked and compulsory quotas were imposed. This led to the tragic poverty of the peasants in Banat. The production of grain decreased by half in comparison to the period between the two world wars, and the live stock decreased to a third.Between 1949 and 1962 the collectivization of the agricultural activity followed in the region of Timişoara (Fig. 1-12). The land lots were merged together and the first kolkhozes were set up. In the beginning, their operations were poor and thus some of the collectivists started to starve. Reports of the advisors sent to villages are then presented. The dynamics of such kolkhozes in the region between 1949 and 1962 is described. The coercive methods applied against the disobedient peasants are described, the measures against the persons who tried to escape the handing over of the compulsory quotas or refused to join the collectivization is also pointed out. Collectivization was difficult to carry out. Until 1957, only one third of the region’s surface was collectivized. Between 1957 and 1958, this increased to two thirds. The peasants were tricked into getting enlisted into associations, and then such associations were transformed into kolkhozes. Only at the beginning of the 1960s, after 15 years of communist regime, did the condition of agriculture start to improve and the standard of living of the peasants to increase.

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