Back to the full dot-point answer
EnglandHistoryQuick questions
Non-British Period Study (Unit 2)
Quick questions on Stalin and the Soviet state 1928 to 1941 - OCR A-Level History Unit 2
4short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What are the Five Year Plans?Show answer
The Five Year Plans (the first from 1928) drove rapid industrialisation, directed by the planning agency Gosplan and prioritising heavy industry (coal, steel, electricity, machinery). Output of heavy industry rose dramatically, building the industrial base that would later sustain the USSR in the Second World War. The cost was immense: forced labour, appalling conditions, neglect of consumer goods, and unreliable statistics. The exam debate is whether the plans were a genuine industrial success or a human catastrophe, and the strongest answers judge both.
What is the Great Terror?Show answer
The Great Terror (1936 to 1938) escalated after the murder of Kirov (1934) and used show trials of Old Bolsheviks, mass arrests, executions and the Gulag labour camps, run by the secret police (the NKVD), to destroy real and imagined enemies. It purged the party, the army and society, securing Stalin's total dominance through terror and a pervasive cult of personality.
What is q1?Show answer
Assess the consequences of the Five Year Plans for the Soviet Union by 1941. [20 marks]
What is q2?Show answer
What was the kulaks' fate under collectivisation? [2 marks]
Have a question we have not covered?
This dot-point answer is short enough that we have not extracted many short questions yet. Read the full dot-point answer or ask Mo, our study assistant, in the chat for follow ups.