Stalinism

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/stalinism

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the ideological foundation?Stalinism, a variant of Marxism-Leninism emphasizing 'socialism in one country'
2. What is the period of dominance?Approximately 1927-1953
3. Why did Stalin want to build socialism in one country?Stalin believed the Soviet Union could create a socialist society on its own, even if other countries were capitalist. He thought this would make the USSR strong and safe.
4. How did Stalin change farms?He forced small farms to join together into big collective farms called kolkhozes and state farms called sovkhozes. This was meant to grow food faster for the industrial factories, but it caused many problems for farmers.

Socialism in One Country: The theory that a socialist state could build socialism internally without waiting for international revolution.
Totalitarianism: A political system where the state holds total authority over society and controls every aspect of public and private life.
Collectivization: The forced consolidation of individual landholdings and labor into state-controlled collective farms.
Gulag: The system of Soviet forced labor camps where millions were imprisoned and often died.