6. The scenario below is adopted from THE NAZI NON-AGRESSION PACT, AND THE SOVIET CHOICE FOR EDUCATION. Assess the scenario below and write your answers on the grid provided.

THE FIVE-YEAR PLANS

In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and World War I, the weakened condition of the Soviet economy was clearly visible. Output in every economic sector had declined: agricultural output was well below pre-war levels; the availability of consumer goods had fallen dramatically; and industrial output faced a long, slow path to recovery.

During the early to mid-1920s, Soviet leaders engaged in a great deal of internal debate about the relative importance of peasant owned and controlled agriculture on the one hand and state-run industry on the other. The essential question concerned the best path to economic growth: Was economic growth national wealth and prosperity best achieved through growth of private farms and the agricultural sector or was it best achieved through state-directed investment in industry? Soviet leaders clearly felt that they could not pursue both and that a choice would have to be made.

The Five-Year Plan called for investing in industry by limiting the resources available for the production of consumer goods and the farm sector and directing those resources to the production of such industrial essentials as steel and electricity. For this to be accomplished, the profits from agricultural would have to be used for investment in industry and satisfying citizens desires for consumer goods and housing would have to be delayed. The alternative was to encourage the use of resources to satisfy the immediate desires of citizens for food and other agricultural and consumer goods. This would mean delaying investment in the capital necessary for heavy industry and future industrial strength.

6a. consider the Soviet leaders choice: [12 marks]

Alternatives:	Five Year Plan: emphasize investment (industry)	No Five-Year Plan: emphasize consumption (agriculture)
Benefits to the USSR
Action taken (alternative chosen) check one box			1
Opportunity Cost (alternative NOT chosen) mark with X
Benefits Refused

6b. Evaluation assessment question.

Given the alternatives and the benefits of each, as they were considered at the time, do you think the leaders made the right choice? Explain your answer.