Name: Date:

Class:

Sec 3E History Holiday Intervention

Section A: Source-Based Case Study

Question 1 is compulsory for all candidates.

Study the Background Information and the sources carefully, and then answer all the
questions.

You may use any of the sources to help you answer the questions, in addition to those
sources that you are told to use. In answering the questions you should use your
knowledge of the topic to help you interpret and evaluate the sources.

1 (a) Study Source A.

What can you tell from this source about the outcome of Stalin’s first
Five-Year Plan? Explain your answer, using details of the source. [5]

(b) Study Source B.

What is the purpose of this poster? Explain your answer. [7]

(c) Study Source C and D.

How different are these sources? Explain your answer. [6]

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Did Stalin’s Five-Year Plans benefit the Russians?

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Read this carefully. It may help you to answer some of the questions.

After Stalin rose to power in the Soviet Union in 1928, he introduced a policy of rapid
industrialisation to transform Russia from an undeveloped agricultural-based economy into
a modernised one. Three Five-Year Plans were implemented by Stalin from 1928 to 1939
to raise the industrial output targets of Russia. He claimed that his policies led to industrial
growth, better jobs and more food for the people. It also allowed the Soviet Union to
defend itself against foreign powers. Yet, to what extent did Stalin’s Five-Year Plans
benefit the Russians?

Source A: A table comparing the changes in industrial output* in the Soviet Union and
other industrial nations from 1929 – 1933, taken from a communist website.

*Industrial output = Amount of goods produced in factories

Source B: A propaganda poster promoting the Five Year Plan, 1928. The caption
writes, “Workers, let’s build up the Soviet Union”

Pictures of
smiling
Soviet
Workers
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Source C: A speech by Joseph Stalin to the Russian Parliament, 1935.

Life has improved, comrades. Life has become more joyous. And when life is joyous, work
goes well. Hence, the high rates of our industrial output from the Five-Year Plans. Our
Communist revolution is the only revolution in the world which has achieved not only
political results but also material results. Freedom alone is not enough. If there is a
shortage of bread, a shortage of butter and fats, a shortage of textiles, and if housing
conditions are bad, freedom will not carry you very far. It is a distinctive feature of our
revolution that it brought the people not only freedom, but also material benefits and the
possibility of a prosperous and cultured life.

Source D: An account of a Russian worker on Stalin’s Five-Year Plan, 1931.

Why can’t they give us, the workers, enough to eat? Their Five-Year Plan indeed! All they
do is to promise us sausages and boots in a few years’ time! Let them give these things to
us now. We cannot stand it any longer. A revolution is sure to come. The Communists are
killing us workers and peasants. Everything’s bad, bad, bad. So what if the five-year
plans have high industrial output levels? We workers can’t even get boots and we can’t
get clothes. We can’t get food, except bread. How can we work all day with our bellies
empty? There’s nothing in Russia for us. The Five-Year Plan? It’s all lies, lies, lies!

Copyright Acknowledgement:

Source A: © Marxist Internet Archive; https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/australia/hill-ssi/chapter1.htm; 2008

Source B: © http://correspondingfeatures.com/tag/soviet-propaganda/
Source C © Peter Oxley; Russia 1855-1991, From Tsars to Commisars; Oxford University Press; 2001.
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Source D © Chris Corin and Terry Fiehn; Communist Russia under Lenin and Stalin; John Murray; 2002.
Section B: Structured-Essay Questions

Answer one question.

2 This question is on the Impact of World War I.

(a) Explain how the following reasons caused the League of Nations to fail: [8]

(i) Structural Weaknesses

(ii) Post-War Attitudes of Major Powers

(b) The ‘War Guilt Clause’ term in the Treaty of Versailles was the main reason
why Germany hated the Treaty of Versailles. How far do you agree with this [11]
statement? Explain your answer.

3 This question is on the Rise of Stalin.

(a) Explain how the following reasons caused Stalin to rise to power [8]
in the Soviet Union:

(i) Non-disclosure of Lenin’s Testament

(ii) Pretending to be Close to Lenin

(b) ‘Stalin’s Manipulations were the main reason why he was able to rise to
power in the Soviet Union.’ How far do you agree with this statement? [11]
Explain your answer.

End of Paper