CLEP Western Civ II

Answer: B - The goal of the first Five Year Plan was to industrialize the Soviet Union. Stalin hoped that with concentrated efforts the Soviet Union could rival the industrial power of Western Europe. The plan also included agricultural reform, since an increase in the food supply had provided the foundation for England’s Industrial Revolution. Consequently, farms were collectivized in an attempt to increase production. This was also part of a larger strategy to make the Soviet Union self-sufficient by ending dependence on foreign trade or loans. The outcome of World War I had isolated the Soviet Union, due to the failure of the European powers to include the Soviet Union in the post-war peace talks, and the invasion by anti-Communist forces during the Civil War that followed the Revolution.