Stalin was determined to modernise Russia.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2021). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1-4] e.g. 'They experienced Stalin's policy of Russification where everybody had to become Russian.'
2. [1-4] 'Russian was taught in all schools.'
3. [1-4] 'Many people from ethnic minorities, such as the Chechens and the Ingush, were deported to Siberia where they became second-class citizens. Millions died.'
4. [1-4] 'The Holodomor famine was a terror-famine campaign organised by the Soviet authorities against the Ukrainian population.'
5. [1-4] 'Many minorities who were in the Soviet elite suffered during the purges when they were targeted.'
6. [1-4] 'There was a policy of decossackisation to try and finish off the Cossacks.'
7. [4-5] e.g. 'Stalin regarded Russia as being surrounded by capitalist enemies. He was always worried about its security. Developing heavy industry was important so that Russia could produce defences and weapons to make it a major power. Then it would be able to defend itself against foreign threats as it was able to do against Germany.'
8. [2-3] e.g. 'This was important to make Russia a modern state.'
9. [2-3] 'To make Russia strong militarily.'
10. [2-3] 'He wanted to make Russia self-sufficient in these materials and products so that Russia did not depend on other countries.'
11. [2-3] 'Developing heavy industry was an essential base for the further development and modernisation of Russia.'
12. [4-6] e.g. 'I agree with this. The kulaks suffered very badly. They were regarded as enemies of the communist state by Stalin and he dealt with them very harshly. He wanted to eliminate them completely. Many were murdered or sent to labour camps and many lost their land. Millions of them died because of Stalin's hatred of them. Many of them slaughtered their livestock rather than give them up to collective farms.'
13. [4-6] OR e.g. 'It was not just kulaks that suffered. The policy of collectivisation led to the famine of 1932–33. Not enough food was being produced and millions of peasants died in the famine. Industrial workers also suffered from Stalin's economic policies. His policies led to the rapid growth of industrial towns. These grew so quickly that they became overcrowded with insufficient housing and facilities and the workers living in dreadful conditions.'
14. [2-3] e.g. 'Many kulaks were shot.'
15. [2-3] 'Many kulaks were sent to labour camps.'
16. [2-3] 'Many kulaks were deported to other, more barren parts of the USSR.'
17. [2-3] 'They all had their land taken away from them so it could be collectivised.'
18. [2-3] 'Many peasants died in the 1932 famine, not just kulaks.'
19. [2-3] 'Industrial workers lived in terrible and over-crowded conditions.'
20. [2-3] 'The pressure to increase production quickly led to safety being ignored at work with many workers suffering as a result.'