The Liquidation of Small Settlements of the Northern Districts of Lviv Region in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century
Authors: RACHKOVSKYI Hryhorij 
Published: October 2022

The settlement structure of the countryside was the most affected by administrative and territorial reforms during the Soviet period. Radical changes took place in rural settlements in late 1940s and early 1950s. Earlier Soviet regime stopped the transformation of the peasantry into a farming stratum by force. The growth of the farm type motivated the spread of dispersed forms of rural settlement. The main thesis of the article is large-scale process of liquidation of small settlements in the second half of the twentieth century as the result of state policy of the USSR. This led to the destruction of dispersed forms of rural settlements. Khutirs represented sole homekeeping and entrepreneurial initiative in rural areas in the second half of the twentieth century; they were declared a major obstacle to collectivization. Unification of social, political and economic life in the USSR did not provide for the existence of such settlements. The liquidation of the khutirs was to overcome peasant individualism. The scattered form of resettlement and land use contradicted the principles of organizing the work of collective farms. Archival documents show that the khutirs were also considered the main centers of support for the underground movement. The basis for the liquidation of khutirs was the resolution of the Central Committee of the VKP(b) (All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)). CPSU(b) and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of May 27, 1939. The total liquidation of khutirs in the western regions of Ukraine was continued by the resolution of the Council of Ministers of Ukrainian SSR and the Central Committee of the VKP(b) № 2467 of August 12, 1950. The new stage of the campaign began on July 4, 1952 with the issuance of another order of the Government of the USSR. The liquidation of farms took other forms in the following years. On the example of the northern districts of Lviv region, changes in the settlement structure are highlighted in this article. In the northern districts of Lviv region, a khutir was the main type of small-scale settlement that belonged to one rural community. The destruction of the khutirs began under the initiative of the central government of the USSR, which did not take into account the interests of the peasants. Lists of settlements to be resettled were formed on the basis of proposals sent to the regional authorities by the heads of district executive committees. The lack of clear criteria for the typology of settlements has led to heterogeneity of the lists. The resettlement process only had a coordinated form at the documentary level. In fact, people have experienced huge difficulties and inconveniences related to the new rural order, housing, land development, shortages of goods and so on. Large-scale process of liquidation of small settlements in the second half of the twentieth century was the result of state policy of the USSR. The disappearance of this type of settlement is connected with the implementation of a purposeful state policy.