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The Soviet Union, the United States, and Industrial Agriculture

The Soviet Union, the United States, and Industrial Agriculture Abstract: The Soviet Union joined world trends in agricultural technology while demonstrating a special affinity for American practices. Contacts established in the 1920s ceased between 1947 and 1953, the Cold War’s tensest moments. To reestablish them, N. S. Khrushchev dispatched delegations of experts to the United States, the first in the summer of 1955. Visiting farms, factories, laboratories, and land-grant colleges, Soviet officials everywhere found a system of industrial farming comprised of high-yielding crop varieties, labor-saving machines, and modern management practices. Drawing on documents from archives in Moscow, I argue that Khrushchev looked to this industrial ideal to inspire his agricultural programs. Considered as a part of global trends, Khrushchev’s initiatives appear rational rather than “harebrained,” as critics have judged them. Contributing to scholarly inquiry into the postwar Soviet system, I also speak to our understanding of global agriculture, suggesting that the scholarship needs to consider the Soviet Union as part of developments shaping the postwar era. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of World History University of Hawai'I Press

The Soviet Union, the United States, and Industrial Agriculture

Journal of World History , Volume 26 (2) – May 27, 2016
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Publisher
University of Hawai'I Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 University of Hawai'i Press.
ISSN
1527-8050
Publisher site
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Abstract

Abstract: The Soviet Union joined world trends in agricultural technology while demonstrating a special affinity for American practices. Contacts established in the 1920s ceased between 1947 and 1953, the Cold War’s tensest moments. To reestablish them, N. S. Khrushchev dispatched delegations of experts to the United States, the first in the summer of 1955. Visiting farms, factories, laboratories, and land-grant colleges, Soviet officials everywhere found a system of industrial farming comprised of high-yielding crop varieties, labor-saving machines, and modern management practices. Drawing on documents from archives in Moscow, I argue that Khrushchev looked to this industrial ideal to inspire his agricultural programs. Considered as a part of global trends, Khrushchev’s initiatives appear rational rather than “harebrained,” as critics have judged them. Contributing to scholarly inquiry into the postwar Soviet system, I also speak to our understanding of global agriculture, suggesting that the scholarship needs to consider the Soviet Union as part of developments shaping the postwar era.

Journal

Journal of World History – University of Hawai'I Press

Published: May 27, 2016

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