Blame for the disintegrating economy was firmly placed on the better-off peasants, the kulaks, who, as class enemies, grew rich at the expense of others. Kulaks were, according to Lenin, ‘prepared to strangle and massacre hundreds of thousands of workers … We declare war on the kulaks! Death to them!’ Other peasants were encouraged to murder the kulaks – who were really just more efficient peasants – spelling disaster for Russia’s agriculture.
