Rise of Communism under Stalin in Russia (1917-1939): Revolutions, NEP, Five Year Plans and Purges, ISC Class 11

What Rise of Communism under Stalin in Russia (1917–1939) is about

Weightage: CISCE gives no Class XI unit weightage for ISC History. Rise of Communism under Stalin in Russia (1917–1939) is topic 9 of the Class XI syllabus (World History) and can be asked anywhere in the 80-mark Paper I (Theory, 3 hours). Class XI is examined by the school, so your school sets the paper and decides how many marks each topic carries.Source: CISCE ISC History (851) syllabus, examination year 2028, Class XI

Key concepts

Causes and results of the March Revolution (1917)

Causes
1. Autocracy: Tsar Nicholas II ruled as an absolute monarch; after 1905 the Duma had little power and was repeatedly dismissed.
2. Peasants: most Russians were poor peasants who wanted the nobles' land; redemption payments and land hunger caused unrest.
3. Workers: long hours, low wages and crowded housing in Petrograd and Moscow; strikes were frequent.
4. National minorities resented Russification.
5. World War I: defeats against Germany and Austria; over 7 million casualties by 1917; refugees and shortages; the Tsar took personal command (1915), so he was blamed for defeats.
6. Discredited court: while the Tsar was at the front, the Tsarina and the monk Rasputin influenced government, causing scandal.
7. Economic collapse: inflation, fuel and bread shortages in the cities in the winter of 1916-17.

Course: strikes and bread riots in Petrograd (beginning on International Women's Day); soldiers sent to suppress them joined the crowds; a Petrograd Soviet of workers' and soldiers' deputies was formed; Duma leaders formed a committee.

Results

• Nicholas II abdicated (March 1917), ending 300 years of Romanov rule.
• A Provisional Government of Duma leaders (Prince Lvov, later Kerensky) took office, promising a Constituent Assembly.
• 'Dual power': the Petrograd Soviet shared real authority; its Order No. 1 told soldiers to obey the Soviet first.
• Civil liberties were granted; political prisoners released; exiles, including Lenin, returned.

Worked example

[4] Explain four causes of the March Revolution of 1917 in Russia. (Understanding)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Autocracy of Nicholas II; powerless Duma - 1 mark.
2. Peasant land hunger and workers' poor conditions - 1 mark.
3. Defeats and huge casualties in World War I; Tsar blamed as commander - 1 mark.
4. Food and fuel shortages, inflation; Rasputin scandal - 1 mark.

Answer: Nicholas II ruled as an autocrat and ignored the Duma; peasants wanted land and workers suffered low wages and long hours; World War I brought defeats and over 7 million casualties, for which the Tsar as commander-in-chief was blamed; and inflation, food and fuel shortages in the cities, together with the scandal of Rasputin's influence, made the people turn against the monarchy.

Weaknesses of the Provisional Government and the November Revolution

Weaknesses
1. It continued the war: the failed June 1917 offensive caused more losses and desertions.
2. It postponed land reform until a Constituent Assembly met, so peasants began seizing land themselves.
3. It delayed elections to the Constituent Assembly.
4. Dual power: it had to share authority with the Petrograd Soviet, which controlled the soldiers and workers.
5. It could not solve food shortages and inflation.
6. It was not elected; it represented mainly the middle classes and lacked legitimacy.
7. The Kornilov affair (August-September 1917): when General Kornilov marched on Petrograd, Kerensky had to arm the Bolshevik Red Guards to defend the city, which strengthened them.

The Bolsheviks

• Lenin returned in April 1917 and issued the April Theses: end the war, transfer land to peasants, nationalise banks, 'All power to the Soviets'. Simple slogans: 'Peace, Land and Bread'.
• After the failed July Days, Lenin fled, but the Kornilov affair revived the party; by September the Bolsheviks had majorities in the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets.
• Trotsky led the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet.
• On 24-25 October (6-7 November) 1917 the Bolsheviks seized key points and the Winter Palace almost without resistance; the Congress of Soviets approved the new government (Council of People's Commissars, headed by Lenin).
• First decrees: Decree on Peace and Decree on Land (nobles' land to peasants).

Worked example

[4] Explain four weaknesses of the Provisional Government that led to the November Revolution. (Analysis)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Continued the unpopular war; June offensive failed - 1 mark.
2. Delayed land reform and the Constituent Assembly - 1 mark.
3. Dual power with the Petrograd Soviet; Order No. 1 - 1 mark.
4. Kornilov affair armed the Bolsheviks; shortages unsolved - 1 mark.

Answer: The Provisional Government kept Russia in the war, and its June offensive failed; it postponed land reform and elections to the Constituent Assembly; it had to share power with the Petrograd Soviet, which controlled the army through Order No. 1; and in the Kornilov affair it armed the Bolshevik Red Guards, who then had the strength and popularity to overthrow it in November.

Lenin's New Economic Policy (1921): reasons and impact

Reasons
1. War Communism (1918-21): during the civil war the state requisitioned grain, nationalised industry and banned private trade. Peasants hid grain or grew less.
2. Economic collapse: by 1921 industrial and farm output had fallen far below pre-war levels; famine (1921) killed millions.
3. Peasant revolts, such as in Tambov province.
4. The Kronstadt mutiny (March 1921): sailors who had backed the Bolsheviks in 1917 demanded free soviets and an end to requisitioning; it was crushed, but it shocked Lenin.
5. Lenin saw that the regime would not survive without peasant co-operation; he called NEP a 'strategic retreat'.

Main features

• Grain requisitioning replaced by a tax in kind (later in money); peasants could sell their surplus on the market.
• Small private businesses and private trade were allowed again.
• The state kept the 'commanding heights': heavy industry, banks, transport and foreign trade.
• Foreign experts and investment were invited; a stable currency was introduced.

Impact

• Recovery: by the mid-1920s farm and industrial output had returned to roughly pre-war levels.
• Rise of 'Nepmen' (private traders) and better-off peasants ('kulaks').
• Political debate: many Bolsheviks saw NEP as a betrayal of socialism; industry, especially heavy industry, grew slowly; grain supplies to cities remained a problem.
• Political control tightened even as the economy was freed: other parties banned and factions within the party forbidden (1921).

Worked example

[4] Why did Lenin introduce the New Economic Policy in 1921? (Understanding)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. War Communism's requisitioning angered peasants; output fell - 1 mark.
2. Economic collapse and famine of 1921 - 1 mark.
3. Peasant revolts and the Kronstadt mutiny (March 1921) - 1 mark.
4. Need to win peasant co-operation: a 'strategic retreat' - 1 mark.

Answer: War Communism's grain requisitioning had turned peasants against the regime and output had collapsed; famine struck in 1921; peasant revolts and the Kronstadt mutiny of March 1921 showed that even former supporters were rebelling; so Lenin introduced NEP as a strategic retreat to win back peasant co-operation and revive the economy.

Stalin's rise to power

Rivals after Lenin's death (January 1924): Trotsky (Commissar for War, brilliant orator), Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin and Stalin.

Factors that helped Stalin
1. General Secretary (from 1922): control of party appointments let him place his supporters in key posts, who then voted for him.
2. Lenin's Testament criticised Stalin as too rude and suggested his removal, but it was not published, partly because it also criticised others.
3. Lenin's funeral: Stalin appeared as Lenin's loyal disciple and chief mourner; Trotsky was absent.
4. Trotsky's weaknesses: seen as arrogant, a late convert from the Mensheviks, and as a possible military dictator; he did not build a following in the party.
5. 'Socialism in One Country': Stalin's idea of building socialism in Russia first appealed to party members more than Trotsky's 'permanent revolution' abroad.
6. Shifting alliances: with Zinoviev and Kamenev against Trotsky (1924-25); then with Bukharin and the Right against the united opposition of Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev (1926-27); finally against Bukharin (1928-29).
7. Results: Trotsky was expelled from the party (1927) and exiled from the USSR (1929); Bukharin lost his posts (1929). By 1929 Stalin was supreme.
8. Underestimated by rivals, who thought him a dull administrator, he used the ban on factions to brand opponents as splitters.

Worked example

[4] Explain four factors that helped Stalin to rise to power after Lenin's death. (Analysis)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Post of General Secretary: control of appointments - 1 mark.
2. Lenin's Testament suppressed; Stalin presented himself as Lenin's heir - 1 mark.
3. Trotsky's arrogance and lack of a party base - 1 mark.
4. Socialism in One Country; playing Left against Right - 1 mark.

Answer: As General Secretary Stalin controlled party appointments and filled key posts with loyal supporters; Lenin's Testament criticising him was kept secret while he posed as Lenin's faithful heir; Trotsky's arrogance and lack of a party following made him easy to isolate; and Stalin's policy of Socialism in One Country, together with his skilful alliances first with the Left and then the Right, let him defeat each rival in turn.

Collectivisation of agriculture

Reasons

• Grain procurement crisis (1927-28): peasants held back grain because state prices were low, threatening food for towns and the army.
• Industrialisation needed food for workers and grain exports to pay for machinery.
• Ideological: private peasant farming was capitalist; collective farms would be socialist and could use tractors.
• To break the independent power of the kulaks.

Policy (from 1929)

• Peasants' land, animals and tools were pooled into collective farms (kolkhozy) run by the members under state direction, which had to deliver set quotas to the state; state farms (sovkhozy) employed wage workers.
• Machine Tractor Stations provided tractors and also supervised the farms.
• 'Liquidation of the kulaks as a class' (from 1929-30): those labelled kulaks were deported, imprisoned or killed.

Impact

• Peasants resisted by slaughtering animals and burning crops; livestock numbers fell drastically (between 1929 and 1931 the number of cattle fell by about a third).
• Grain output fell while state procurement continued, causing the famine of 1932-33, in which millions died, especially in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
• By the late 1930s nearly all farming was collectivised; the state controlled grain, which financed industrialisation.
• Long-term: Soviet agriculture remained inefficient; peasants were tied to the farms.

Worked example

[4] Why did Stalin collectivise agriculture, and what was its human cost? (Evaluate)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Grain procurement crisis; secure food for cities and exports - 1 mark.
2. Finance industrialisation and use machines; socialist farming - 1 mark.
3. Kulaks deported or killed; peasants slaughtered animals - 1 mark.
4. Famine of 1932-33 killed millions, especially in Ukraine - 1 mark.

Answer: Stalin collectivised farming to end the grain procurement crisis, guarantee food for the cities and exports to pay for industrialisation, and replace private peasant farming with socialist, mechanised farms. The cost was terrible: kulaks were deported or killed, peasants slaughtered their animals in protest, and the famine of 1932-33 killed millions, especially in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

Industrialisation and the purges

Five Year Plans (planned by Gosplan)
1. First Plan (1928-32): concentrated on heavy industry: coal, iron, steel, oil, electricity and machinery. It was declared complete in four years. New industrial cities such as Magnitogorsk and projects such as the Dnieper dam were built. Production of oil, coal and steel roughly doubled between 1929 and 1933.
2. Second Plan (1933-37): continued heavy industry, with more attention to transport (railways, canals, the Moscow metro) and somewhat more consumer goods; the Stakhanovite movement (1935) rewarded workers who exceeded their norms, after the miner Alexei Stakhanov's record output.

• Methods: high targets, propaganda, piece-rates and bonuses, harsh discipline, internal passports, and forced labour from the camps (Gulag).
• Results: the USSR became a major industrial power and could fight World War II; but consumer goods, housing and wages lagged, quality was often poor, and the human cost was high.

Purges (the 'Great Terror', 1937-38)

• Background: the murder of the Leningrad party chief Kirov (December 1934) was used as a pretext.
• Show trials (1936-38): leading Old Bolsheviks, including Zinoviev, Kamenev and Bukharin, confessed to absurd charges of treason and were executed.
• The army was purged: Marshal Tukhachevsky and a large part of the senior officer corps were shot or imprisoned (1937).
• Ordinary citizens, party members, managers and national minorities were arrested by the NKVD (secret police, under Yezhov); hundreds of thousands were executed and over a million sent to labour camps.
• Reasons: to remove all possible rivals, to find scapegoats for economic failures, Stalin's suspicion, and fear of a war with enemies within.
• Results: Stalin's absolute power and personality cult; an atmosphere of fear; a weakened army and loss of skilled people.

Worked example

[4] Explain the main features of the First Five Year Plan. (Recall)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Period 1928-32, planned by Gosplan; declared complete in four years - 1 mark.
2. Priority to heavy industry: coal, iron, steel, oil, electricity - 1 mark.
3. New industrial cities and projects: Magnitogorsk, Dnieper dam - 1 mark.
4. High targets, propaganda, harsh discipline, forced labour; consumer goods neglected - 1 mark.

Answer: The First Five Year Plan (1928-32), drawn up by Gosplan and declared complete in four years, gave priority to heavy industry: coal, iron, steel, oil and electricity. It created new industrial cities such as Magnitogorsk and great projects like the Dnieper dam. It relied on very high targets, propaganda, harsh labour discipline and forced labour, while consumer goods and living standards were neglected.

Rise of Communism under Stalin in Russia (1917–1939) in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Topics in this chapter

• Collectivisation, the Five Year Plans and the Purges
• The March Revolution, the Provisional Government and the November Revolution
• Lenin's New Economic Policy and Stalin's Rise to Power

Rise of Communism under Stalin in Russia (1917–1939): key facts

Revolutions

March 1917 (Tsar abdicates); November 1917 (Bolsheviks seize power)

February and October in the old calendar.

Between revolutions

April Theses; July Days; Kornilov affair August-September 1917

'Peace, Land and Bread'.

Civil war and NEP

War Communism 1918-21; Kronstadt March 1921; NEP 1921

Commanding heights kept by state.

Stalin's rise

General Secretary 1922; Lenin died January 1924; Trotsky expelled 1927, exiled 1929

Socialism in One Country.

Stalin's economy

Collectivisation from 1929; Plan I 1928-32; Plan II 1933-37

Famine 1932-33; Stakhanov 1935.

Purges

Kirov murdered December 1934; show trials 1936-38; Great Terror 1937-38

Tukhachevsky shot 1937; Bukharin tried 1938.

How the school exam asks Rise of Communism under Stalin in Russia (1917–1939)

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Tricks to remember Rise of Communism under Stalin in Russia (1917–1939)

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

• Provisional Government's fall: 'W-L-D-K'

  War continued, Land delayed, Dual power, Kornilov.

  Use it when: Weaknesses answer.

• NEP: 'Tax, Trade, Tiny firms; State keeps the top'

  Tax in kind, private trade, small businesses; commanding heights.

  Use it when: Features of NEP.

• Stalin's rise: 'Secretary, Secret, Split'

  General Secretary; Testament kept secret; split his rivals Left and Right.

  Use it when: Factors assisting his rise.

Rise of Communism under Stalin in Russia (1917–1939): exam-level solved questions

Ordered from exam level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Case-study practice (Section D style)

Read the situation, then answer every part. In a school exam set on the board pattern this is a 8-mark question split into 1 + 2 + 2 + 3 marks.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is split into step marks. Show every step: a right final answer alone rarely earns full marks.

Where students lose marks in Rise of Communism under Stalin in Russia (1917–1939)

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

• ✗Mistake: Mixing the two revolutions of 1917

  Causes of the March Revolution are written for November, or the reverse.

  ✓Do this: March: causes of the Tsar's fall. November: weaknesses of the Provisional Government and Bolshevik strengths.

  Usually costs: 2-3 marks.

• ✗Mistake: Calling NEP a return to full capitalism

  The state kept the commanding heights.

  ✓Do this: Say 'mixed economy' and name what the state kept.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Narrating Stalin's life instead of factors

  The syllabus asks for factors assisting his rise.

  ✓Do this: Number factors: post, Testament, Trotsky, ideology, alliances.

  Usually costs: 2 marks.

• ✗Mistake: Writing only achievements of the Five Year Plans

  A critical answer needs costs.

  ✓Do this: Add discipline, forced labour, low living standards.

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks.

• ✗Mistake: Wrong dates for the plans or purges

  Several overlapping dates in the 1930s.

  ✓Do this: Plan I 1928-32; Plan II 1933-37; purges 1937-38.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

Practice questions on Rise of Communism under Stalin in Russia (1917–1939)

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 1 mark · Very short answerExam level

   Which Tsar abdicated in March 1917?

   Hint

   Last of the Romanovs.

   Answer

   Nicholas II.

2. Q2 · 1 mark · Very short answerExam level

   What were Lenin's April Theses?

   Hint

   Three demands.

   Answer

   Lenin's programme of April 1917: end the war, give land to the peasants, nationalise banks, and 'All power to the Soviets'.

3. Q3 · 1 mark · MCQExam level

   The Kronstadt mutiny of 1921 was a revolt by:
   (a) Peasants of Tambov
   (b) Sailors of the Baltic fleet
   (c) Workers of Moscow
   (d) White army officers

   Hint

   A naval base.

   Answer

   (b) Sailors of the Baltic fleet.

4. Q4 · 1 mark · Very short answerHarder exam level

   Which leader's murder in December 1934 began the purges?

   Hint

   Leningrad party chief.

   Answer

   Sergei Kirov.

5. Q5 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   [4] Why did the Bolsheviks win popular support between April and November 1917?

   Hint

   Slogans, Kornilov, Soviets, leaders.

   Answer

   (1) Their slogans 'Peace, Land and Bread' and 'All power to the Soviets' matched what people wanted. (2) They opposed the war, which the Provisional Government continued. (3) The Kornilov affair made them seem defenders of the revolution and armed the Red Guards. (4) Disciplined leadership by Lenin and Trotsky won them majorities in the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets.

6. Q6 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   [4] Distinguish between War Communism and NEP.

   Hint

   Grain, trade, industry, aim.

   Answer

   (1) Grain: War Communism requisitioned it; NEP replaced this with a tax and let peasants sell surplus. (2) Trade: banned under War Communism; private trade allowed under NEP. (3) Industry: all nationalised under War Communism; NEP allowed small private firms while the state kept the commanding heights. (4) Aim: War Communism served the civil war; NEP aimed at economic recovery and peasant goodwill.

7. Q7 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   [4] Why did Trotsky lose the struggle for power?

   Hint

   Personality, base, ideas, tactics.

   Answer

   (1) He was seen as arrogant and a late convert from the Mensheviks. (2) He neglected to build support in the party machine, which Stalin controlled. (3) His idea of permanent revolution seemed risky compared with Socialism in One Country. (4) He was outmanoeuvred by alliances against him and missed key moments such as Lenin's funeral; he was expelled in 1927 and exiled in 1929.

8. Q8 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   [4] 'The Five Year Plans were a success at a terrible price.' Evaluate.

   Hint

   Output versus people.

   Answer

   (1) Success: heavy industrial output rose rapidly; new cities, dams and transport were built. (2) The USSR became strong enough to withstand Germany in World War II. (3) Price: forced labour, harsh discipline, low living standards and few consumer goods. (4) Plans were tied to collectivisation and famine, so the success was real but bought with enormous suffering.

9. Q9 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   [4] How did the purges affect the Red Army?

   Hint

   1937, officers, preparedness.

   Answer

   (1) Marshal Tukhachevsky and other top commanders were shot in 1937. (2) A large part of the senior officer corps was killed or imprisoned. (3) Inexperienced officers replaced them and initiative was crushed by fear. (4) The weakened army performed badly against Finland (1939-40) and in the first months of the German invasion (1941).

10. Q10 · 8 marks · Long answerHarder exam level

    [8] (a) Explain the causes of the March Revolution and its immediate results. [4]
    (b) Explain the weaknesses of the Provisional Government that led to the November Revolution. [4]

    Hint

    (a) three causes, one result; (b) W-L-D-K.

    Answer

    (a) (1) Autocracy of Nicholas II and a powerless Duma. (2) Defeats and over 7 million casualties in the war; the Tsar blamed as commander. (3) Food and fuel shortages, inflation and the Rasputin scandal. (4) Result: the Tsar abdicated; a Provisional Government took office alongside the Petrograd Soviet (dual power). (b) (1) It continued the war; the June offensive failed. (2) It delayed land reform and the Constituent Assembly. (3) It shared power with the Soviet, which controlled the army through Order No. 1. (4) The Kornilov affair armed the Bolsheviks, who seized power on 6-7 November 1917.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1. 1.What was Order No. 1?Show answer

   The Petrograd Soviet's order that soldiers should obey the Soviet's orders first.

2. 2.Who led the Military Revolutionary Committee in November 1917?Show answer

   Leon Trotsky.

3. 3.What were the 'commanding heights' under NEP?Show answer

   Heavy industry, banks, transport and foreign trade, kept under state control.

4. 4.What were kolkhozy?Show answer

   Collective farms.

5. 5.What was the Stakhanovite movement?Show answer

   A campaign (1935) honouring workers who greatly exceeded their production norms, named after the miner Alexei Stakhanov.

6. 6.Which marshal was executed in the army purge of 1937?Show answer

   Mikhail Tukhachevsky.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

• ☐March 1917: autocracy, peasants, workers, war defeats (7 million casualties), shortages, Rasputin; Tsar abdicates; dual power.
• ☐Provisional Government: war, land delay, Assembly delay, dual power, Kornilov; Bolsheviks seize power 6-7 November 1917.
• ☐War Communism 1918-21; famine, Tambov, Kronstadt; NEP 1921: tax in kind, private trade, small firms, commanding heights.
• ☐Stalin: General Secretary 1922; Testament hidden; Trotsky isolated; Socialism in One Country; Left then Right; supreme by 1929.
• ☐Collectivisation from 1929: kolkhozy, MTS, kulaks liquidated; famine 1932-33.
• ☐Plans: I 1928-32 heavy industry; II 1933-37 transport, Stakhanov; purges 1937-38: show trials, army, NKVD.

Rise of Communism under Stalin in Russia (1917–1939): frequently asked questions