Question

Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953. During this time, people had very few freedoms. Stalin was a dictator, which means he had total control and made all of the decisions. He followed communism, which is a system where the government owns most property and controls how goods are made and shared. He created a command economy, which means the government decided what to make, how much to produce, and who would get it. Farmers were forced to work together on large government-run farms called collectives. Because the government took most of the food for itself, millions of people starved.

In the United States, the government is a democracy, which means rule by many. People can vote for their leaders, businesses decide what to make and sell, and citizens have many freedoms. Life in a democracy is very different from life under Stalin’s dictatorship.


Adapted from ©2019 Pearson Online & Blended Learning K–12 USA

A complete answer will:

be 3-4 sentences using information from the passage.
explain what a dictatorship is.
explain the type of economy Stalin created.
describe what happened to farmers and how it affected people.
compare life in the Soviet Union to life in the U.S. and share your thoughts.


You may use the sentence starters below to help you, or you may write your own original 3-4 sentences. Be sure to include all of the requirements listed above.



Stalin was a _________, which means ________________. He created a __________ economy, which is ________________. Farmers had to work on __________ and ________________.

In the United States, we ________________. I am ___________ because ________________.

Answer 1

Stalin was a dictator, which means he had total control and made all of the decisions for the country. He created a command economy, where the government decided what to make, how much to produce, and who would get goods. Farmers were forced to work on large government-run collectives and the government took most of the food, causing millions of people to starve. In the United States, we live in a democracy where people can vote and businesses decide what to make; I am relieved for these freedoms because life under Stalin’s dictatorship was harsh and dangerous.