1

History The History course consists of two units:

• All students study Stuart Britain and the Crisis of Monarchy, 1603–1702

• Students have the choice of studying either Revolution and Dictatorship: Russia, 1917-1953

or Democracy and Nazism: Germany, 1918-1945.

At enrolment, you will be asked which option you wish to study.

To help you to make this choice, we have set summer work on both topics. If you are unsure which option to choose, read through the work for both options. This may help you to decide which topic interests you more. However, you only need to complete the work for the option you plan to study.

The Task:

You do not need any prior knowledge of the topic to complete the task – just use the information in the texts provided.

The task is designed to show us how well you can:

• understand a piece of extended writing

• extract information from a piece of extended writing

• use this information to provide answers to questions

• Express your ideas clearly in writing.

Answer the questions in the spaces provided on the sheet.

Russia work Pages 2-7 Germany work Pages 8-13

Revolution and Dictatorship: Russia, 1917-1953

2

On page 4/5 is a copy of the introduction to a textbook on this topic. It provides an overview of the period you will study. Read the introduction and use it to answer the questions below. Try to put your answers in your own words, rather than copying from the text. The marks for each question are shown on the right.

Question: Marks: 1. According to the first sentence of the extract, why could it be argued that the Russian

Revolution of October 1917 was the most important event of the twentieth century?

1 mark

2. How did other countries respond to the creation of a Communist state in Russia?

1 mark

3. Which two leaders helped to create and develop the Communist state in Russia in this period?

2 marks

4. Lenin was a follower of the teachings of Karl Marx. What did Marx believe about:

a. How human history developed?

b. How Communism would be achieved?

2 marks

5. Who were the Bolsheviks?

1 mark

6. In 1917, Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia. How were they able do this?

1 mark

3

7. After Lenin’s death, Stalin became leader of Russia. How and why did he want to transform Russia?

2 marks

8. List three ways in which Stalin’s policies changed Russia.

3 marks

9. According to Corin and Fiehn (the authors of this textbook), what different roles were played by Lenin and Stalin in this period?

• Lenin …

• Stalin …

2 marks

10. Read the section on the October Revolution 1917 – pages 6-7. To what extent do you think Lenin was responsible for the Russian Revolution of October 1917?' ( 100 -120 words approx - Use a separate sheet of paper)

5 marks

TOTAL MARKS AVAILABLE: 20 marks

4

From:

Communist Russia under Lenin and Stalin, Chris Corin and Terry Fiehn (2004)

5

6

RUSSIAN REVOLUTION: - Historians have differing views about why the Revolution of October 1917 happened.

The Russian Revolution is often depicted as a revolution of the people – but to what extent was this true?

The Russian Revolution is a pivotal event in modern history. Along with the French Revolution of 1789, the Russian Revolution is one of the most studied, analysed and interpreted of all

revolutions. The events in Russia between 1905 and 1924 have drawn the attention of thousands of historians and millions of students. These events shaped not just the future of Russia, but the future of Europe and the world. Without the Russian Revolution, the 20th century would have taken a radically different course. With no revolution, for example, the outcomes of World War II might have been different and the Cold War, a five-decade-long period of tension and estrangement between Soviet bloc and Western nations, would never have come to pass. The Russian Revolution has given rise to

some significant questions. Was the revolution part of an inevitable process, as Marx himself claimed, or was it a response to conditions in Russia?

To what extent was the October Revolution popularly supported? Was the October Revolution (when the Bolshevik Party came to power), a popular revolution or simply an opportunistic coup?

The Tsarist system of government collapsed in February 1917 and a Provisional Government ruled until October 1917, when the Bolshevik Party, led by Vladimir Lenin, seized power.

1) The Soviet view. The explanation as to why the October Revolution of 1917 happened, given by Soviet historians writing in the years up to 1989, mirror ‘official’ state histories, published by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in the late 1930s. According to these Soviet histories, the Russian Revolution was orchestrated and led by Lenin and the Bolsheviks, on behalf of the working masses. Lenin and the party acted as the ‘vanguard of the proletariat’, overthrowing a corrupt government while imbuing Russian workers, soldiers and peasants with ‘class consciousness’. The October Revolution was both necessary and inevitable. These historians argue that the working masses wanted change, they had been exploited and oppressed by a narrow ruling class and endured poor working conditions and very low wages. They felt Lenin and the Bolsheviks message was relevant to them as a way of improving their lot, therefore the working masses supported the Bolsheviks helping to cause the October Revolution.

2) The American diplomat and historian George Kennan argued that the Russian Revolution was brought on by modernisation. According to Kennan, decades of economic growth, at

7

the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th, was not matched by social reform or political modernisation. The policies of the Tsar’s economics minister, Witte, during the 1890s kick-started Russian industrialisation, which led to the rapid expansion of two classes: the industrial working class and the professional middle class. Both of these classes had considerable revolutionary potential: the workers sought improved conditions while the middle class demanded greater political representation. The tsarist autocracy was not intelligent enough to foresee these changes or competent and flexible enough to manage them. So in part the character of Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, 1894-1917 also played a role in the revolution as he wanted his country to become economically stronger but was also determined to stick to autocracy and was not flexible enough to listen to the concerns of Liberal business owners or workers. As a consequence, old problems remained, and the Tsarist system broke down under the strains of World War I.

Theodore von Laue expanded on Kennan’s theory by pointing out that the industrialisation of the 1890s was not a natural or organic process triggered by a changing and modernising society as Russia quite simply did not have a “middle class”. Instead it was a top down initiative pushed forward by Witte (the economics minister) and funded by foreign loans and investment, as the government desperately tried to stop Russia being left behind.

These historians argue that the fall of the Tsarist government in the February Revolution of 1917 did not inevitably mean that Russia would have a Communist Revolution in October 1917, but it did mean there would be considerable and challenging problems facing any new government.

3) The historian Richard Pipes attributes the October Revolution to the actions and manipulations of Lenin. According to Pipes, Lenin was the most significant source of unrest and was little more than a chance-taker who exploited the disorder of 1917 to hijack power.

Pipes and other historians also note that although the Bolsheviks built up support in the workers’ councils in Moscow and Leningrad they were not well supported in the countryside. Most of Russia’s population was peasantry and this group turned to the Social Revolutionary Party (SRs) as the party proposing the revolutionary changes they wanted, such as changes to land ownership. It was therefore not mass support by workers that brought Lenin to power, since most workers were peasants, but Lenin’s own political skill.

8

Democracy and Nazism: Germany, 1918-1945

On page 10/11/ is a copy of the introduction to a textbook on this topic. It provides an overview of the period you will study. Read the introduction and use it to answer the questions below. Try to put your answers in your own words, rather than copying from the text. The marks for each question are shown on the right.

Question: Marks: 1. According to the first paragraph of the extract, which one event can be held

responsible for all developments in German history in this period?

1 mark

2. After the First World War, a new state was created in Germany. What was the name of this new state?

1 mark

3. Name three threats to this state.

3 marks

4. How and why did the Nazi Party benefit from the Wall Street Crash of October 1929?

2 marks

5. Explain another reason for Hitler’s appointment as German Chancellor.

1 mark

9

6. When did Hitler become Chancellor of Germany?

1 mark

7. What is particularly controversial about the extent of Germany support for the Nazi regime?

1 mark

8. List four of Hitler’s aims for Germany.

4 marks

9. How did the Second World War affect the popularity of the Nazi Party?

1 mark

10 Look at the two views in the chart of Germany’s History ( page 12-13). To what extent do you think that Hitler’s rise to power happened because of strong cultural beliefs that existed in Germany that made it unsuited to democracy? ? (100 – 120 words approx.) Use a separate sheet of paper

5 marks

TOTAL MARKS AVAILABLE: 20 marks

10

From:

From Kaiser to Fuhrer: Germany, 1900-1945 by Martin Collier (2009)

11

12

13

14