Stalin's rise and the Soviet economy: the power struggle after Lenin, the defeat of Trotsky, the Five-Year Plans for industry and the collectivisation of agriculture.

What this dot point is asking

You need to explain how Stalin won the power struggle after Lenin's death in 1924, defeating Trotsky, and how he transformed the Soviet economy through the Five-Year Plans and collectivisation. CCEA examiners reward an understanding of why Stalin outmanoeuvred his rivals and a judgement that weighs the achievements of his economic policies against their enormous human cost.

The power struggle after Lenin

When Lenin died in 1924, there was no clear successor, and a struggle for power followed among the Bolshevik leaders.

The Five-Year Plans

Stalin believed the Soviet Union had to industrialise rapidly to survive, famously warning that the country must catch up or be crushed. From 1928 he launched the Five-Year Plans.

• The plans set huge targets for heavy industry: coal, steel, oil, electricity and machinery.
• New industrial cities and projects, such as Magnitogorsk and the Dnieper dam, were built at great speed.
• Output of heavy industry rose dramatically, transforming the Soviet Union into a major industrial power, though at the cost of poor working and living conditions and the use of forced labour.

Collectivisation of agriculture

Many peasants resisted bitterly, slaughtering animals and burning crops rather than hand them over. The state seized grain ruthlessly, and the disruption and requisitioning caused a devastating famine, worst in Ukraine in 1932 to 1933, in which millions died. Collectivisation gave the state control of the countryside, but at a terrible human cost.

Examples in context

Model consequence paragraph. "Collectivisation had two great consequences that must be weighed together. It gave the Soviet state control of grain and of the peasants, funding the drive to industrialise and feeding the cities, which was Stalin's aim. But the human cost was catastrophic: peasants resisted by destroying crops and animals, the state seized grain ruthlessly, and the resulting famine, worst in Ukraine in 1932 to 1933, killed millions. The most important consequence was therefore the combination of the state's gain of control with the immense suffering of the countryside, a transformation achieved through coercion and at a terrible price." This scores highly because it ranks consequences and balances achievement against human cost.

Try this

Q1. What post gave Stalin his key advantage in the power struggle? [2 marks]

• Cue. General Secretary of the party, which let him control appointments and build a base of loyal supporters.

Q2. What were the Five-Year Plans for? [2 marks]

• Cue. Rapid industrialisation, setting huge targets for heavy industry such as coal, steel and machinery.

Q3. What was collectivisation and what did it cause? [3 marks]

• Cue. Combining peasants' farms into state collective farms; resistance and grain seizure caused a devastating famine, worst in Ukraine in 1932 to 1933.