Soviet collectivization was a policy implemented in the late 1920s and early 1930s under Joseph Stalin to consolidate individual landholdings and labor into collective farms. The goal was to increase agricultural productivity and ensure state control over food production. This process often involved the forced removal of peasants from their land and the establishment of large, state-run farms known as kolkhozes. The policy led to widespread resistance among farmers, resulting in significant social upheaval. Many peasants faced harsh penalties for refusing to join collective farms, and the resulting famine, particularly the Holodomor in Ukraine, caused millions of deaths. Collectivization ultimately transformed the Soviet agricultural landscape but at a tremendous human cost.