Stalin’s Modernisation of Russia

When Stalin came to power Russia was still a very backward country, He wanted to modernise Russia from – This To this

This is what Stalin said in “We need to modernise quickly. We are 20 years behind the other European countries. If we do not catch up soon they will be too strong and will defeat us in war” How useful is this source as evidence of why Russia needed to modernise?3 The five year plans Stalin decided to control industry and give everyone TARGETS to meet. Workers who met the targets were rewarded but those who did not were punished! (copy)

1928 (million tons) Target for 1932 (million tons) Amount in 1932 (million tons) Coal Oil Iron Steel Five year plans and industry What happened to industry under the 5 year plans?3

This is what a worker said about the five year plans – Source A “It is impossible for us to meet our targets. I work in a steel factory and no matter how hard we work we never meet our quotas for steel production. Comrade Stalin says we have to modernise or other countries will attack us” How fully does this source describe the 5 year plans? You must use evidence from the source and your own knowledge. Source B is from a history text. “Russia was very backward and there was the fear that the western countries would defeat them in war. Stalin set very difficult targets for all the workers to meet” How far do sources A and B agree about the 5 year plans?

Stakhanovites This photograph is of Stakhanov and his team taken in 1935 Alexander Stakhanov was a coal miner Who (with a lot of help) cut fourteen times more coal than normal. He was hailed as a hero of the Soviet Union and was given massive publicity. How useful is the photo as evidence of workers under the 5 year plans?

Under the 5 year plans railways, the Moscow underground, dams, canals, new towns and factories were all built. However living conditions did not always improve. Source A “I visited a very badly built construction which housed 150 families. There was no separate toilet and kitchen. There were no baths and only cold water” Source B Everything in this broken down building seemed to be shared. Several families used the same toilets and kitchen. The building was 5 stories high with many families living in each level” How far do sources A and B agree about the worker’s houses?3 Source C “The 5 year plans brought remarkable changes. Moscow was surrounded by new factories and housing estates. A hydro-electric power station was built at Volkhov. There were nickel and copper mines in the Ukraine and iron ore at Magniogorsk.” How fully does source C describe the achievements of the 5 year plans? 4 You must use the source and recalled knowledge