Creating a Kolkhoz Society: the Sovietization of the Lithuanian countryside (1940–1965)

Even thirty years after restoring the independence of Lithuania, the history of collectivization remains a rather mysterious topic. This research attempts to grasp more concretely the historical reality that has so far only glimmered in historical research, because it was dominated by the topics of anti-Soviet resistance and Soviet repressions, terror. This dissertation seeks to look at the Soviet takeover of the Lithuanian countryside and the collectivization not from the perspective of the resistance or the Soviet authorities, but from the perspective of neutral rural residents who did not actively participate in the resistance. The research aims to identify and define the social, cultural, economic, and political processes and changes that took place in the Lithuanian countryside under sovietization from 1940 to 1965. This dissertation attempts to look at the sovietization of the countryside as a process of tearing apart the inter-war society and the creation of a new, kolkhoz society