CREATIVE EVENTS

 AS/2 – Russia 1903-1941

 

 

This is about the last years of the Tsars, the takeover of Russia by communism, and what the communists, led by Lenin and Stalin, did when in power.  It’s a gripping period of History, and very useful as preparation for A2 Level, when we look at Russian foreign policy in Module 3 (A2/1).  The Russian module will take us up to Christmas (after this module we have Christmas holidays and the exams)

 

Causes and consequences of the 1905 revolution - 1903-1917

 

Time permitting, we start with a look at the 1905 revolution – why and how it started, what happened and what the results were.  At this stage you get the chance to find out about the war between Russia and Japan, Russia’s own “Bloody Sunday” in 1905, the October Manifesto (Russia’s first constitution) and the actions of the government at this time.  We also explore the origins of opposition to the Tsars.

 

We think about how secure the Russian Empire was in 1914.  Did it have a chance of survival, or was its downfall inevitable?  There were a number of problems Russia experienced between 1905 and 1914.  We consider if these in themselves were enough to bring down the Tsar, or if the decision to go into World War One was really what brought him down.

 

Lenin and revolution - 1917-1924

 

We look at why and how the February 1917 revolution happened, thinking about long-term and short-term factors.  Was it the events of the 1914-1917 period that brought the Tsar down, or was it the whole rotten structure of Tsarist Russia before that that really mattered? You will decide.  Was the Tsar unlucky to fall?  How much did he contribute to his own downfall.  All will become clear.

 

Then we’re on to the October 1917 revolution – the Bolshevik (or communist) revolution.  This one wasn’t against the Tsar (who had already fallen from power), but against the temporary Provisional Government.  We’ll investigate why it happened and why it was successful, the role of key leaders like Lenin and Trotsky, and the part the Provisional Government had in its own downfall.

 

Now the Bolsheviks never considered the Revolution to be complete after the October revolution, and the 1917-24 period (in fact, the period right up to 1941) is the story of what they did to work towards that Revolution.  We look at the success of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War (again focusing on the roles of Trotsky and Lenin, as well as the Bolsheviks’ enemies), and the tough political measures taken by the Bolsheviks before and afterwards.  We think carefully about why the Bolsheviks were able to win the Civil War and strengthen their grip on power.  How important were such things as force, the role of individuals, economic policy?  You’ll work all this out for yourself.

 

As well as this we deal with economic policy and culture.  We explore the War Communism policy and the New Economic Policy and how effective they were – and did they truly represent communism.  In culture, we think about the big cultural debates and how much culture really mattered to Lenin.

 

We finish by considering Lenin as a revolutionary leader.  What kind of a leader he was, and how successful he was.

 

 

 

Stalin and revolution - 1924-1941

 

Stalin took power in 1929, but it seemed far more likely that somebody else would.  We start this part by deciding why this little pipe-smoking Georgian should win the race for power in Russia (now called the USSR) against such heavyweight rivals.  What problems did he face? What methods did he use to take power, and which were most effective? Does Stalin deserve all the credit for his success, or did his opponents simply blow it?  All will be revealed.

 

With Stalin in power, we move on to his economic policies in agriculture and industry.  For Stalin, the economy’s development was vital to help complete the Revolution mentioned above – so economic policy also had a political purpose, to strengthen communism.  We look at the successes and failures of Stalin’s harsh economic policies, and consider if it was all worth it.  We also (as we do with Lenin) investigate how much changed in economic policy under Stalin.  We remember too, how Stalin’s economic successes helped him keep power.

 

After this, we get into Stalin’s political actions, the most shocking of which were his Purges.  We go into depth on how Stalin’s Purges, Personality Cult and Constitution helped him strengthen his own personal grip on the USSR, and how increasingly he set himself above the Communist Party (in a way that would have horrified Lenin).

 

Culture under Stalin is next.  Once again, we look at Stalin’s personal domination of Soviet culture.  While Soviet culture was intended to reflect the achievements of the October Revolution and the Communist Party, even more so it was intended to glorify Stalin.

 

As with Lenin, we finish Stalin with an assessment of him as a leader.

 

 

The Exam

 

 

 

• The exam for this module will be taken at the end of Year 13. 

• It will last 1 hour 30 minutes

• It makes up 25% of the total A Level and 50% of the AS

• In the exam, you get the opportunity to display your skills in both shorter questions and more extended writing