Describe the key features of Stalin's Five-Year Plans.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme. The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. Level 1 (1-2 marks): Identifies some basic features (e.g., industrialisation, targets).
2. Level 2 (3-4 marks): Describes several features with some detail (e.g., focus on heavy industry, collectivisation, Gosplan).
3. Level 3 (5-6 marks): Describes key features in detail, showing clear understanding of their implementation and impact (e.g., command economy, unrealistic targets, use of propaganda and terror, impact on agriculture through collectivisation, rapid industrial growth in specific sectors).
4. Indicative content includes: state control of economy; setting of ambitious production targets (e.g. for coal, steel, oil); focus on heavy industry rather than consumer goods; role of Gosplan; use of propaganda and Stakhanovites; use of forced labour/gulags; collectivisation of agriculture to fund industrialisation.