'The Five Year Plans brought glory to Stalin and misery to his people' - How valid is this judgement?

Akshat Krishna

11TS

GCSE History Coursework Task 2:

‘The Five Year Plans brought glory to Stalin and misery to his people.’

How valid is this judgement?

‘Brought glory to Stalin . . .’ – is this the only, or the most important reason why Stalin embarked on his industrialisation programme? 10 marks

Unmistakably, it is true that one of the most important reason why Stalin introduced the Five Year Plans was to earn the glory he always wanted to earn from the Russian public and supporters of Communism across the globe. It is alluring to derive that his introduction of the Five Year Plans was for his objective of portraying his own pose as an undisputed Soviet Union leader as well as increasing his power. This is evident as the initiation of the industrialisation programme led to the “disposal” of his political opponents – the Right leaders Tomsky, Bukharin and Rykov who were still interested in not getting rid of the NEP which was holding back industrialisation for the Soviet Union. Besides, the fact that Stalin disagreed with Trotsky on the idea of modernisation and suddenly changed his mind to industrialise the economy within five years when he came into power after getting rid of Trotsky and the Left Party reveals Stalin as a conniving and shrewd trailblazer concerned principally in his own supremacy.

However, apart from his motive of his glorification, there are other distinct reasons why Stalin started his industrialisation. Firstly, one of main goals which Communism in this case the Soviet Union aimed to achieve was rapid industrialisation of Russia so that her industrialised economy can tally and be compared with that of the European countries. Under Lenin’s NEP, the Russian economy improved but the speed of industrialisation was not anywhere near the acceptable level which the Communists wanted in order to modernise the economy which would result in successful socialism. We know this is true as by 1926, the industry did reach the pre-war levels in many parts of the country but not to the extent of what it could have been had the country been more organised in the industrial targets which it aimed to achieve. Moreover, the break out of the Russian Revolution and previously World War I had already caused enough damage to the mere Russian industries which resulted in the disorganisation of the transport distribution of the meagre goods produced. Additionally, it was producing fewer industrial goods to many countries that were a lot smaller than her.

The leader Stalin got rid of the capitalism supporting NEP and schemed through the Five Year Plans to transform the USSR from a backward, agrarian and underdeveloped state to an industrial, competitive, and up to date country which can match with its rivals in the Western countries. He emphasised his views on the inferiority of Russia in a public speech in 1931 when he roared, “Throughout Russia has been beaten again and again because she was backward . . . All have beaten her because of her military, industrial and agricultural backwardness . . .” and prophesised, “either perish or overtake and outstrip the advanced capitalist countries.” Through the Five Year Plan, he aimed to certify adequate level of production and rapid transportation of manufactured or consumer goods. He hoped that by setting industrial targets for each of the industries in each Russian region and setting strict deadlines for them, he would then be able to make best use of Russia’s abundant industrial resources to process the brisk industrialisation needed to protect the country from the obstacles to come in the near future in order to survive.

Furthermore, political factors were also significant in the initiation of the Five Year Plans which Stalin brought about. Undoubtedly, the Russian Communists were living in a non-industrial society where it was believed that the survival of ideas such as Communism and Socialism were in peer danger and hence the industrialisation programme was started for the purpose of creating more workers who would indirectly be participating in the communist revolution as proletariat in the process of working and helping to industrialise the country. Hence, the introduction of the Plans would aggravate nationalisation to a large degree so the state control would be enabled to dispose the owners of private traders (capitalists Nepmen) who had selfishly benefited under the Tsar’s NEP not following the rules of Communism. The Five Year with its design was to wipe out selfish values of Capitalism which the Nepmen had brought about into the Russian society.

Above all, the fiscal and political issues which encouraged Stalin to intensify industrialisation were correlated with the idea of the fear of foreign invasion and war scare which were two of the most speculated topics of discussion amongst the Russian public in the 1920s. Because the NEP had not been able to make sufficient industrial and economical improvement, the Soviet Union was under the threat that if the country was to be attacked by the foreign capitalist Western Countries it wouldn’t have anywhere near as much industrial sources to survive and hence would be conquered. In addition, how could one forget the reminiscences of the aid the countries of France, Britain, Japan and the US provided to the Whites during the 1918 – 1921 Russian Civil War as well as the speculation which the Soviet Union brought about that the USSR was under threat of attack by China in the east and Britain in the West.. Moreover, the fact that there was a raid on the Soviet Trade mission in London by the British government in 1927 followed by the assassination of the Soviet diplomat in Poland. This again confirmed Stalin of his claim that the foreign countries were plotting to weaken Russian industry to such as extent that the foreign powers could easily crush her without her being able to put on much resistance against foreign attacks which further persuaded Stalin to magnify the scale of industries in the country. He set targets for the Russian industry to be fully capable of producing modern armaments so that Russia could defend herself from foreign attacks.

Looking back at the idea of his aim of personal glorification, it is evident that the phrase “Stalin is the Lenin of today” had become a popular one by 1925 as Stalin was such a great follower of Lenin. This indicates us that Stalin used his praise as a golden opportunity to develop an image of himself as a laborious man of temperance as it is clear that it was his show of dedication which led to Tsaritsyn being renamed to Stalingrad. Furthermore, later on after 1945, his childhood home was converted into a shrine. However, there is enough evidence to prove that Stalin went to extremes to expand his popularity. For example, in 1929, for his fiftieth birthday, he received greetings from some organisations that were blatantly made up and didn’t even exist. Again, as time passed, the numbers of paintings, posters, poems and photographs of sculptures published to depict Stalin as an omnipotent superhuman dramatically increased to such as extent that there were greetings almost everyday from 21st December 1949 to August 1951. This indicates us that the introduction of the Five Year Plans may have been a major link in Stalin’s chain of individual elevation – an attempt of such magnitude that would magnify his fame and esteem to the highest level.

In conclusion, personally, I believe that the idea of Stalin’s glorification is not the only important reason why he decided to embark on his industrialisation programme, the issues discussed above were all linked and contributed significantly to bring about rapid industrialisation – Stalin’s main aim as the leader of the USSR. The fear of foreign invasion and uncertainty over the survival of communism was due to Russia’s backward economy which provoked Stalin to plan ways to quickly industrialise so he could earn praise and glory from his fans in Russia and around the world in the process.

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‘Brought glory to Stalin . . .’ – is this the only way in which the achievements of the Five Year Plans can be described? 20 marks

Without a shadow of a doubt, the introduction and the implementation of the Five Year Plans were the main basis of the glory Stalin earned as a leader of the Communists Party in power. As he came to power, the fear of foreign invasion and uncertainty over the survival of communism due to Russia’s backward economy provoked Stalin to plan ways to quickly industrialise so he could earn praise and glory from his fans in Russia and around the world in the process. This is exactly what happened when in 1937 Russia came out as a modern state with forceful heavy and light industries which meant that it matched the Western countries whom Russia dreaded most over the topic of foreign incursion.

In fact, now Russia could match the industrial forces of powers like Britain, France, the USSR and Japan which is why she could get herself out of hot water when the German Hitler invaded her in 1941. Still, evidence of his intentions of earning glory still remain prominent by the propaganda posters that he had got the Soviet Union to publish as well as the campaigns in cinema, radio and newspapers to portray his personal grandeur in the industrialisation development of Russia. Most famously, a poster which shows Stalin marching alongside the miners of the Moscow underground which in a way overshadows the effort of the workers under his own personal splendour as his figure was enlarged in the poster so he looks above anyone else to blatantly convey that “Stalin is behind everything” and that all the country’s workers respect him and follow his ambitious orders.

Nevertheless, the glorification is by far not the only way or the most important way in which the achievements of Stalin’s ambitious agenda could be described. There is sufficient evidence to prove that through Stalin’s motivated plan, Russia’s heavy and light industries as well as her communication, agriculture and academic system improved drastically to a staggering extent.

To process the first Five Year Plans, the focus was turned on the “Heavy industries” of iron and steel, fuels coal and oil as well as electricity. The purpose of this beginning was to lay a thriving foundation on which the future second and third Five Year Plans would build on improving the Russian wealth. This is because he realised that he had the responsibility of the industrial development of a country who although was rich in natural means but had industries only concerted in remote areas such as Siberia lacking organised transportation for the distribution of goods. In order to achieve his aims, he exported thousands of workers from all parts of the country and set up new factories as industrial centres for them to run in cities which had only heard of industrialisation. He enhanced the communication system by building new railways, canals and roads which were especially beneficial to the distribution of manufactured products which also increased the sale agriculture machinery such as tractors. Stalin’s and hence the Soviet Union’s main achievements in the Russian communication method in the 1930s were the Moscow – Volgo Canal, River Dnieper Dam and the Moscow Underground Metro with stunning stations built across several regions. The result of good communication and new industrial plants was a dramatic increase in the production of agriculture machine tools. This also increased the production of armaments in industries due to a remarkable increase in the production of pig iron from 3.3 million tons in 1927 to its nearly double 6.2 million tons by 1933.

Moving on, this started a series of relieves for Stalin as it allowed the thriving USSR to prepare for defence in case of a dreaded foreign capitalist invasion and also enabled the USSR to compete with the industrial counties of the West who according to Stalin had always crushed Russia throughout her history due to her disorganisation and backwardness as he mentioned in a speech in 1931, “we are 50 to 100 years behind the advanced countries. Either we make good the difference in ten years or they crush us”. Due to the new dams and hydroelectric power stations that were getting built at a high speed as well as the electricity production rocketing, Stalin also didn’t have to worry about where he was to get his energy source from to run his industries.

Inevitably, the Second Five Year Plans enhanced the achievements of its predecessor. As well as boosting the heavy industries to such an extent that the production of electricity and steel nearly trebled from 13.4 million tons and 5.9 million tons in 1933 when the First Five Year Program was concluding to 1937 – the end of the second set of Plans when they had become 36.3 million tons and 17.7 million tons respectively.

Through these series of campaigns, he was also getting workers to produce more grain to feed the growing members of industrial workers as well as selling it to foreign countries to raise funds for buying industrial machinery needed for use on harvests which were to be collectivised so that more efficient and mechanised methods of farming could be used to produce more food which could be rationed equally to everyone so that no one starves. Moreover, the collectivisation process would also release the labour needed in growing industries of the cities. The result was that the mining industry rocketed as more mines of coal, tin, lead and other minerals were dug for the advancement of the chemical industry. The production of coal increased again more than doubled from 64.3 million tons in 1933 to 128 million tons in 1937. Meanwhile, as far as improvement in agriculture is concerned, the beneficial method of collectivisation brought a dramatic increase in grain production – from 69 million tons in 1933 to a huge 95 million tons by 1940 when the second Five Year Plans were over. Above all, the result of these Five Year Plans was that it helped to nearly eliminate unemployment from Russia as there were enough industrial workplaces and hydroelectric power plants where people could work and living off.

Likewise, the educational system and medical care also benefited from the competitive and rapid progressing attitude, Stalin had introduced in the country to. This is manifest as the getting education in schools was made compulsory and free for all types of people in the Russian society as Stalin had invested vast amounts of money in training centres of universities as well in the world of work and the fact that it was estimated by statisticians that there were more doctors per head population in the developing Russia than the already developed Britain. Also, there was a steady built up of hospitals and nursing rooms were built in each region in Russia to take care of her rising population with so many hard working workers.

All factors considered, I have come to a conclusion that I disagree with the idea of Stalin’s glorification being the only way in which the achievements of the Five Year Plans can be described but is only a very small part of the complete thriving description which it deserves. There are enough significant substantiation that through the Five Year Plans brought glory to the whole of the USSR under Stalin as they transformed her backward and disorganised state to a modern and competitive one which it needed to be if it was to compete with the industrialised capitalist Western countries or defend herself from their dreaded attacks such as that of Germany’s in 1941 and protect the communism beliefs of the Soviet Union which it did to a notable extent. All the achievements of the Five Year Plans play a significant role in describing her as a successful scheme of improving USSR’s economy. They infused the idea in Russia that hard work and especially voluntary hard work and sacrifices were worth it as it was for the progression of an advanced and flourishing society for Russia’s children.

3. ‘Brought misery to his people . . .’ in what ways did the Soviet people suffer? Is there any way in which life improved? 20 marks

Stalin’s extreme scheme of modernisation of the USSR were for the purpose of making the USSR compete with the Capitalist Western countries. The first Five Year Plans still lead to staggering achievements even though it couldn’t quite meet all its targets set. For example, although the production of oil did exceed its target of 19 million tons, the production of steel was nearly two million tons less than its predicted 8.3 million tons whereas pig iron production target was still two million tons more than the targeted 6.2 million. The rapid industrialisation improved life for most people in the cities as the new huge steel mills erecting at Magnitogorsk in the Urals and the new dams and hydroelectric powers (providing the heavy industries’ energy requirements) had become sheer employment centres.

Unsurprisingly, the second Five Year Plans built on the triumphs of its predecessor. Nevertheless, in this new programme, the concentration was not just on the heavy industries of coal, oil and iron but also to boost the mineral industry, communication and transport. We know this is true as the lead, tin and zinc industries intensified whereas many new canals and railways being built, the Moscow underground railway being the most magnificent centrepiece project. This further helped in reducing unemployment in Russia to such extent that foreign observers such as Dr Hewlett Johnson, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral began to believe that Russia has become a land “where none are employed” as there is such enthusiasm in the Soviet workers.

Furthermore, by the late 1930s many Soviet workers had improved their conditions by acquiring well paid skilled jobs and earning bonuses for meeting targets. Under this second industrialisation programme Russia thrived to such a high degree that in 1940, there were more doctors per head of population in USSR than in capitalist countries like Britain. Moreover, the edification system improved immensely as schooling became free and compulsory for all types of people as Stalin started huge investments in the teaching methods based in colleges and in the workplace.

Moreover, by the process of collectivisation, Stalin got enough grain to feed the hungry Soviet workers in the cities before the famine stuck. It was the result for this that the grain production excelled from 36 in 1921 to 95 in 1940. Stalin’s goal of improving the agricultural Russia also meant that the machine tool industry also excelled as well as the huge improvement in modern chemical industry. This allowed the use of modern machinery such as tractors on the now collectivised farms which intensified the farm produces benefiting the Russian economy as these food bonuses were exported abroad for profit.

Besides, people who were keen to work extra in the factories and in the various hydroelectric power plants did do well as they received better housing and salary and were not exposed to poverty and crowdedness to a very large extent. These were the main ways in which in which life improved for the Soviet people.

Inevitably, the over ambitious nature of the Five Year Plans had to pay a price in order to achieve any success. This cost was paid largely by people who worked as workers in the USSR. Firstly, life was made very harsh for them by Stalin who set them very strict goals to achieve and severely fined and punished them if they were unsuccessful. Although there was adequate factory discipline, there were also some very ruthless chastisements such as absences and lateness were dealt by sac which also led to the loss of accommodation. Even though some factory workers tried to escape the brutal work and harsh regulations, Stalin proved too clever for them as his secret police introduced internal passports to prevent open transfers of workers from one firm to another in the USSR.

Though workers like Alexei Stakhanov who managed to cut an amazing 14 times the average coal cut for a shift became dramatically famous, known as the “Hero of Socialist Labour”, destiny wasn’t the same for other employees. This is manifest as many political opponents or even suspected opponents of Stalin’s regime were mercilessly sentenced to hard labour in imprisonment. Besides, workers had often been proven guilty of sabotage when they had accidentally done something wrong in their factory and deported to remote places such as Siberia where they found hard to survive having been given no home to live in or work to earn money from.

In addition, the conditions for workers on Stalin’s major projects were appalling and incredibly dangerous which led to thousands of deaths and accidents. No wonder an estimation was made that the Belomor Canal had cost Stalin huge investments as well as nearly 100,000 lives. Meanwhile, as peasants flooded into cities to work in factories, all the main communication services became severely overcrowded – transports such as trams or buses were crammed to the point of suffocation. Moreover, overcrowding was not just limited to the transport. The housing system was state controlled but because of the rising population, two room flats were shared by several families using them for sleeping, living and eating. In new industrial cities such as Magnitogorsk, factories were built directly before the houses so workers had to live in all sorts of temporary structures living in severe poverty. To make life even worse, statistics reveal that the rapid industrialisation scheme actually led to a dramatic decrease in workers’ wages between 1928 and 1937. Evidently, a couple that worked in 1932 earned only as much as a man or woman would have in 1928.

However, the most hardship under Stalin’s regime was faced by the peasants and especially rich peasants by the process of collectivisation. The backward methods of farming used by these wealthy peasants was hindering the Russian industrialisation needed to make the country strong and wealthy. Modern and more productive methods such as tractors or fertilisers couldn’t be used on small striped farms accustomed to the old fashioned three field system of cultivation. The use of wooden ploughs or frails to reap the grain harvest was not efficient enough to produce large amounts of food which could be bought by the government to feed the increasing number of industrial workers in the cities. Besides, the government needed money to finance new industries, the transport system – railways, power stations and mines. Peasants were the best targets to pay for the development areas as there were the majority of the population. They would have allowed Stalin to raise money for his industrialisation programme by exporting surplus food to foreign countries.

Stalin declared in 1928 that the country was already 2 million tonnes short of the minimum amount grain needed for feeding the workers in the cities which could lead to a famine. The approach he adapted to solve the problem was unbelievably harsh on peasants. He got the police to raid their farms. However, this was not enough and Stalin was forced to set out his ideas of collectivisation which meant that peasants were to put their lands, animals and tools together to form large joint farms (kolkhoz) so that modern methods such as tractors and fertilisers could be used. The vast majority of the kolkhoz produce was sold to the government and the profits shared out. Discordantly, the peasants had contrasting views. They didn’t want to break tradition passed on by their ancestors for centuries. They could little point in sharing their resources with others to increase production for feeding the hungry town workers when they had enough to eat. Even though Stalin tried to entice them into accepting collectivisation by offering free seed and perks to sow, the farmers were still concerned over the fact that their farms would be controlled by the communist state. What’s more, they were also asked to grow crops such as flax for industrial purposes rather than grain to feed themselves.

Stalin openly roared that all the peasants were to adapt collectivisation but yet realised that he would face strong opposition from the wealthy five million peasants known as the kulaks as they had the most to lose – two or three horse, several cows and a bigger than average size farm. This is exactly what happened as the kulaks overtly refused to share their resources and outputs which led to collectivisation seen as a forbidding, astringent and violent fight where the Soviet propaganda was instructed to crush them. Stalin was determined to liquidise the Kulaks – arrest them in thousands and send them to labour camps, deport them to remote regions like Siberia or force them to poor-quality land depending on the level of threat they possessed Conversely, the bitterness because of collectivisation was at its peak when starving peasants helplessly saw the Communist officials export their hard earned produces aboard. Still showing resistance, the remaining kulaks slaughtered their cattle and burnt their farms instead of letting the Communists have them.

Even in February 1930, when the government boasted that the majority of the peasants handed over their land for collectivisation, the grain shortage problem had not been solved. The result was a famine in the cities as food production fell drastically with grain production falling from 83.5 million in 1930 to 69.6 million in 1932. This led to millions dying in Russia’s richest agriculture regions of Ukraine and Kazakhstan disrupting the economy. In 1933, Malcom Muggeridge, a British journalist working in the USSR during the famine, interviewed an old man about the conditions in the countryside to which he replied, “We have nothing, absolutely nothing.” After looking anxiously to see if he is being spied on by communists soldiers. This shows the hatred and threat which the peasants had for Stalin and his communist officials and hence his Five Year Plans. No wonder the Germans were the first to be welcomed for driving out the Communists when they invaded in 1941.

In conclusion, I feel Stalin’s Five Year Plans had both benefits and drawbacks although the benefits were tarnished by its drawbacks to a considerable extent. The biggest positive influence was the removal of the “backward” tag from the USSR as its heavy, machinery, modern chemical industries excelled whereas the major shortcomings was that the food production decreased as there was a famine due to the resistance shown by peasants against the new untraditional method of collectivisation even though big industries were built for producing agricultural machinery. In my personal opinion, I believe the Soviet people living in the countryside suffered most by sacrificing their grain produce to feed the industrial city workers which still didn’t prevent the famine harming the Russian economy. Previously, before the famine, even though the workers in cities were exposed to considerable hardships, they were considered better off in a sense than their “western colleagues” also working in millions in the Capitalists countries of America, Europe, Asia and the Far East where a substantial monetary crash led to mass employment throughout the 1930s. At least they didn’t have to queue for charity hand outs of food or were forced to live in shanty towns made of rubbish like the American workers did as USA unemployment rocketed to 15 million in 1933.

4. What verdict would you give on the Five Year Plans? 10 marks

Unmistakably, an extensive and striving industrialisation curriculum was probably the supreme resolution for Russia’s problems. Because the Russian economy didn’t improve to an acceptable level under the NEP, the leader Stalin got rid of this capitalism supporting organisation. As an alternative, he introduced the communism supporting Five Year Plans by which he aimed to transform the state from being underdeveloped and backward to becoming industrial and modern. By setting over ambitious production targets for each Russian industry, he planned to fully exploit Russia’s profuse manufacturing assets to carry out the rapid industrialisation needed to shield the country from the obstacles to come in the near future. Stalin was in fear of a foreign invasion as he emphasised in his speech in 1931, “All have beaten her because of her military, industrial and agricultural backwardness”.

Meanwhile, when the first Five Year Plans were under way in 1929, the laid back Russian public began to criticise the rapid speed of industrialisation. However, Stalin justified his actions by conveying that Russia is fifty to hundred years behind the capitalist and advanced Western countries and she must catch up with them as soon as possible – hopefully in ten years in order to avoid being crushed by them. This is why the Five Year Plans was the spot on policy to intensify the country’s economy. The main reason for this is most workers were laid back, untrained and uneducated living in a country which was as backward as it was a hundred years earlier. In order to change this nonchalant attitude amongst workers, strict factory discipline and higher output goals were necessary so that there would be more production and hence more money earned which would be used to improve the education system and communication system as well as make the industry powerful enough to produce modern armaments to protect Russia from foreign attacks. This is exactly what happened as by the end of the second Five Year Plans in 1937, Russia came out as a powerful and modern state which matched the industrial forces of Western countries. She no longer dreaded an incursion by them and it was the mixture of this fresh confidence and strength which allowed her not to only withstand Germany but to ultimately defeat her when Hitler tried to invade Russia in 1941. This again shows us that Stalin had modernised Russia effectively to a large degree.

Noticeably, from a positive point of view, it can be argued that the long term benefits of the Five Year Plans were worth the short term sacrifices. It is true that there was strict factory discipline such as lateness or absenteeism to be dealt with sack along with dangerous conditions in factories along with crowded housing as the peasants came to cities to work. However, the splendid benefits of the scheme can also not be forgotten. The fact that the output from heavy and light industries doubled, new chemical and machine tool industries were set up along with the mineral extraction excelling to very impressive extents all contributed to the funds that were raised. These funds were utilised into improving the communication and transport system as new roads, canals and railways were built. The new competitive attitude of the Russia saw the apparent benefits in her educational system and medical care as schooling was declared free and compulsory courtesy of Stalin who invested huge sums of money in training schemes of universities and at workplaces. In addition, modern hospitals were built in each Russian region and it was estimated that there were more doctors per head populating in Russia than in Britain. What’s more, unemployment was eliminated as there were enough workplace where people could serve and earn a living off.

From a different perspective, one can assume that, perhaps, the short term sacrifices of the Soviet people didn’t pay them off to the extent they would have appreciated. This is evident as although the peasants in the countryside starved and sacrificed their grain produce to feed the industrial city workers, it still didn’t prevent the famine harming the Russian economy as millions died in Ukraine and Kazakhstan – two of Russia’s most industrial regions. Moreover, the collectivisation process even though it promised to bring about increased grain production and profits which would be equally shared out to avoid starvation, the peasants were forced to grow crops such as flax for use in industry rather than grain to feed themselves. Inevitably, this led to starvation and consequently a rebellion. However, Stalin was not prepared to accept any delay so he got the police to raid their farms. This meant more bitterness amongst starving peasants as they saw their produce being exported abroad. The biggest rebels – the rich Kulaks were either sent to labour camps or deported to remote regions or forced on to poor-yield land depending how dangerous they were categorised. This is why it is also very difficult to fully justify the human costs for the Five Year Projects as the appalling industrial conditions led to thousands of deaths and accidents as the Belomor Canal had cost 100,000 lives along with the starving peasants in the countryside as mentioned before.

Interestingly, the idea of Stalin’s own elevation through the Five Year Plans is prominent. He always wanted to earn glory from the Russian public and supporters of Communism across the globe to increase his power. This is why it should be considered more as a motivating feature rather than a side effect as most propaganda posters the Soviet Union published portrayed Stalin as “being behind everything” and that the Soviet workers obey his ruthless orders only because they respect him and not because they are under severe pressure from their bosses. Still, from a different viewpoint, Stalin’s glorification idea can be considered a side effect of the Five Year Plans to some extent. This is evident as he also embarked on his scheme because he was uncertain whether communism will survive considering USSR was geographically surrounded by powers which were dead against it. Therefore when he did become successful in improving the Russian economy by the start of the second Five Year Plans, it is not surprising that the Russian media portrayed him as an undisputed leader as they felt more secure in their country.

Undoubtedly, the 1930s was the era of world wide depression. In Russia, even though the workers in cities were exposed to considerable hardships, they can still be measured to be in a better state than the workers in the Capitalists countries of America, Europe, Asia and the Far East where an extensive financial crash led to mass unemployment throughout the 1930s. The new factories, huge steel mills and hydroelectric dams as well as the transport systems reduced the unemployment rates to such as extent that foreign observers such as Dr Hewlett Johnson, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral wrote reports about Russia as having become a land “where none are employed”. I believe what Stalin achieved for Russia during World Wide depression of the 1930s was absolutely spectacular – forceful heavy industries, new and contemporary machine tool industries, modern chemical industries, improved communication and transport as well as free education and medical system.

‘Brought misery to his people . . .’ – in what ways did the Soviet people suffer? Is there any way in which life improved? 20 marks
What verdict would you give on the Five Year Plans? 10 marks

MARKSCHEME

Question 1

INTRODUCTION - Is it true that the only and the most important reason why Stalin introduced the Five Year Plans was that he wanted to achieve glory.

HOWEVER not the only way

The question is basically asking apart from the fact that it would glorify Stalin, what other reasons are there that got Stalin to start on his industrialisation programme known as the Five Year Plans.

CONCLUSION Don’t you think there are several reasons that are important instead of just one reason being the most important one?

Give your verdict – in your personal opinion which reason do you think is the main one and the most important one why Stalin introduced the Five Year Plans ?

Tip – include statistics and dates as well as Stalin’s quotes in speeches (background knowledge)

Question 2

INTRODUCTION –

The question is basically asking you apart from glorifying Stalin, what were the other achievements of the Five Year Plans? Tip – include statistics

Nevertheless

Don’t you think that there are other achievements of the Five Year Plan which are important rather than just the idea of Stalin’s glorification?

CONCLUSION –

Don’t you think all the other achievements of the Five Year Plans play a significant role in describing the Five Year Plans as a successful scheme of improving USSR’s economy?
Did it not infuse the element of prosperity and competitiveness in the Russian society
In your personal opinion which achievement do you think is the most important?