WACE Modern History Year 2016 Mark 93.50 Pages 72 Published Jan 3, 2017 Modern History ATAR Russia and the Soviet Union By Yasmin (99.2 ATAR)
Your notes author, Yasmin. Yasmin achieved an ATAR of 99.2 in 2016 while attending St Stephen's School (Tapping) Currently studying Political Science and International Relations at The University of Western Australia Achievements: Top in Modern History ATAR Top in Politics and Law ATAR Top in Human Biological Sciences ATAR WACE Certificate of Achievement in Modern History ATAR Dux of Humanities 2016 Yasmin says: I am a seventeen year old girl from Perth, Western Australia, but was born in England. Asides from schoolwork, I had and still have many hobbies such as going to the beach, going shopping and spending time with my boyfriend, friends and family. I am bubbly, confident and friendly and would love to help as many people as possible to succeed in their studies! :) Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
Year 12 ATAR Modern History Russia and the Soviet Union 1914 1945 Yasmin Kirkham THE SYLLABUS Elective 2: Russia and the Soviet Union 1914 1945 (World War I to the end of World War II) An overview of Russia in 1914 as background for more intensive study of the period The significant ideas of the period, including autocracy, Marxism, communism, Leninism, Stalinism, and collectivisation The internal divisions and crises within Russian society, including the impact of World War I; the causes, events and outcomes of the February and October Revolutions in 1917 The initial reforms and decrees of the Bolsheviks; the opposition to the Bolsheviks; the Brest- Litovsk Treaty; the civil war and the reasons for the Bolshevik victory The significance of the struggle of Josef Stalin and Leon Trotsky for power and the reasons for the success of Stalin The changes that transformed Russia, including War Communism; the New Economic Policy; the creation of the USSR; the Five Year Plans and how they contributed to state control of the economy, forced rural collectivisation, state- created famine and the modernisation of the Soviet Union The social/cultural impact of Bolshevism and Stalin s Cultural Revolution to 1945, including women, nationalities, youth and education (Komsomol), the arts (including Social Realism) and religion The different experiences of individuals and groups in the period to 1945, including nobility, the clergy, peasants and factory workers; and the methods the regime employed to control them, including mobilisation and propaganda, repression, the Purges and the Great Terror The impact of World War II and the methods that enabled the USSR to secure victory The role and impact of significant individuals in the period, including political, military and social/cultural leaders
1. Tsarist Russia Geographical, Social and Political Structure of Russia Geographical In 1894 Imperial Russia covered over 8 million square miles Between 1815 and 1914 the population quadrupled from 40 million to 165 million, and was mostly concentrated in European Russia Controlling such a variety of people over such a vast territory had long been a major problem for Russian Governments In 1897 there was a total of 55.5 million Russians, with a total of 63.5 million non- Russians The Trans- Siberian Railway was the only train- line across Russia Tsardom Since 1613 the Russian Tsars had been members of the Romanov dynasty à the tsar was an absolute ruler and this was clearly expressed in the Fundamental Laws of the Empire, issued by Nicholas I in 1832 Russia was politically backward to say the least, as by the beginning of the 20th century all of the major Western European countries had some form of democratic or representative government, and has also undergone major industrial progress In the 19th century there had been a wide variety of secret societies dedicated to political reform or revolution, but these were promptly dealt with by the tsar s secret police, the Okhrana In 1881 Tsar Alexander II was assassinated by terrorist group The People s Will The Orthodox Church was very detached from the growing population, as in 1900 a Moscow suburb with 40 000 people had only one church and one priest The Church taught the population that it was their duty to be totally obedient to the Tsar as he was appointed by God Social 82% of Russians were peasants, and the low number of urban workers (4%) was a sign that Russia had not achieved the major industrial growth that had taken place in other countries The peasants were predominantly illiterate and uneducated, and their sheer size as a social class led to their being regarded with a mixture of fear and contempt by the governing elite, who believed that these dangerous dark masses could only be contained by repression
The Army Conscription was regularly used as a form of punishment for law- breakers à the Russian army was notorious for the severity of it s discipline and the grimness of the conditions in which its soldiers lived (1 million soldiers died under Nicholas I s reign in peacetime) The cost of maintaining the army and the navy accounted on average for 45% of the government s annual expenditure Problems of Reform Alexander II began giving reforms such as greater freedom to press and the media, and the Emancipation of the Serfs in 1861, however this only saw him be assassinated Therefore, Alexander III was extremely authoritarian (his reign was known as The Reaction ), with the Statute of State Security in 1881 giving greater powers to the Okhrana and tightening press censorship Debates between Westerners and Slavophiles ; Westerners believed Russia should adopt the best features of the political and economic systems of the Western European countries, whereas the latter urged the nation to preserve itself as Holy Russia by glorifying in it s Slav culture and separate historical tradition Tsar Nicholas II believed firmly in autocracy à I shall defend the principle of autocracy as unswervingly as my deceased father Nicholas s reign started with a stampede at his coronation ceremony in which 1300 people were killed. He was seen as insensitive and uncaring Nicholas was influenced by his tutor Pobedonostev who saw all reform as a threat to autocracy Nicholas carried on policies of Russification, emphasising superiority of all things Russian, and therefore nationalities suffered and discrimination against non- Russians became more vindictive and open in the 1980s Jew began to be blamed for Russia s problems, and the number of pogroms increased massively under Nicholas II At a point when unity and cohesion were needed, Russification treated over half of the population as inferior, leading to frustration and disaffection Russo- Japanese War War broke out with Japan because there was a quarrel over land in the ice- free port of Manchuria, and also because Tsar Nicholas wanted to achieve victory in order to stop the people from questioning his government The Russians had a superior attitude towards the war, assuming they would easily win Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)