Five Year Plan Dbq

The 5 year plan that was imposed on the USSR from 1928 until 1932 was implemented in order to achieve the rapid industrialization of Russia. Collectivisation was part of the five year plan and the aim was that it should modernize agriculture so that more peasants could instead work within industry. However, the collectivisation proved to be a failure since passive resistance broke out, the goals of grain production were not met and decreased, and modernization of farming proved unattainable. The statement that “The price was awful” therefore does apply to an extent, however it is important to consider perspectives as shown by different sources.

In source A, Stalin implies that peasants are being forced, against government policy, to work on collective farms. He suggests that “The Party’s policy rests on the voluntary principle, not force”. This however is contradictory to the real agenda of the USSR government. The government used force and deprived peasants of food and water themselves, if the peasants refused to collectivise. This degradation of peasants who refused to collectivise is shown in source C, in which, according to Churchill, Stalin admits to

calling the resisting peasants Kulaks.

It was not only forced collectivisation that was the issue, but the famine that came as a result of this policy.

Source B shows this since the reporter writes that there is famine in Russia, and people are crying “There is no bread; we are dying” (Source B). In source D, Robert Service confirms this by stating that “millions were lost from dekulakization or grain seizures”. However the communists did not want to admit to the famine or the lack of grain, and wanted to give a better image of the process. This is shown by the statement in source B that “In a train a communist denied to me that there was famine.” Stalin also indicates the unwillingness of the party to admit to the failure of collectivisation when, according to source C, he tells Churchill “We increased the food supply, and the quality of the

grain”.

The physical methods of modernization during collectivisation did not prove efficient or attainable either. As claimed in source D, the state did not “fulfil its promise to supply 100 000 tractors by the end of the Five-Year Plan. Only half of these were built”. The fact that modernization of farms was unsuccessful is also apparent in Source C. According to Churchill, Stalin states “We gave tractors to the peasants, they were spoiled in a few months. Only collective farms with workshops could handle tractors”.

Despite there being widespread passive resistance towards collectivisation in the USSR, source E depicts an entirely different picture. The Party official that is in charge of the roll-call seems to have all the female agricultural workers in order, since they are standing in a line. Also, the female agricultural workers are smiling and look happy. However, it is important to note that is a party official that is present is being photographed. It is likely that force was used by him in this situation to have the women give the public the impression that they supported collectivisation.

In conclusion, it can be claimed that the claim in source D that “the price was awful” is applicable to collectivisation in the USSR. Despite denial by party supporters that collectivisation was efficient (Sources B and C). and voluntary (Source A), the real situation was that collectivisation lead to grain and food shortages, and resistance (Sources A-D). Also, as shown by source D and C, agricultural modernization proved unsuccessful. However, in source E, the message conveyed is that agricultural workers supported collectivisation. This however is an unreliable source. Therefore, despite the glorified depiction collectivisation by the USSR, the claim that “the price was awful” is true.