MODERN RUSSIAN HISTORY
FINAL EXAMINATION REVIEW
Review the reign of Nicholas II including his personality, ideas, views, and weaknesses. Also, read up on Count Sergei Witte and Russian Industrialization
Study the Development of Russian Social Democratic Workers Party, its split into Bolshevik and Menshevik. Know the differences between the two factions. Whe were the leaders of the factions. Also, know the other political/intellectual parties—SRs and Liberals and the views and ideologies of each.
Brush up on the Revolution of 1905. Was it successful? Look at the October Manifesto and what Nicholas conceded. What was Bloody Sunday? End of Revolution. Go over Stolypin’s reforms.
World War I was the last straw for the Tsarist monarchy. Go over Russia’s experience during the First World War. Why was it so bad for Russia? Consider the incompetence of the monarchy and the corruption of Rasputin.
The Revolutions of 1917—Two revolutions took place, March and October.
Know what led to the March Revolution, 1917 and how it happened. What led to the fall of Nicholas? Know what the Duma’s role was in the revolution and post revolution. Pay attention to the workings of the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviets & “Duel Power”.
October Revolution, 1917. How did the Bolsheviks seize power?
Once in power, the Bolsheviks sought peace. Know about the end of World War I and Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Revolution gave rise to the Russian Civil War from 1918-1921. Know who the participants were: Whites against Reds. What was War Communism? Read up on the intervention of France, Great Britain, Japan, and the United States in 1918/1919.
Study Lenin’s Russia. Know what happened at the 10th Party Congress. What was the New Economic Plan (NEP) and why Lenin implemented it? Look over Lenin’s death without an heir apparent.
Know about the power struggle of 1920s between Stalin, Trotsky, Zinoviev, and Kamenev. What was meant by “socialism in one country” and how did that play out in the power struggle?
Study Stalin’s Russia. Know what his revolution from above was about. Focus on Stalin’s agricultural policy and collective farms. What were the consequences? Also, review Stalin’s Five-Year Plans and the Party Purges of the mid to late 1930s.
Read the section about Hitlerism/Nazism vs. Stalinism /Communism/ ideology
Go over World War II and the German attack in 1941. Know the main features of the War: Survival of Moscow, Great Patriotic War, Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk. Assault on Germany.
What let to the worsening relations between the Soviet Union and The United States during the latter part of World War II and the immediate post-War era? Be familiar with the dawn of the Cold War.
Read over the section on Nikita Khrushchev and the post-Stalin era. Know what led Khrushchev to De-Salinization. What were the reforms introduced by Khrushchev: Agricultural and industrial programs? What was his Foreign Policy? Study the Cuban Missile crisis and the political fallout for Khrushchev.
From the mid-1960s to the early 1980s was the period of Leonid Brezhnev and Era of Stagnation. Consider his foreign policy: Détente, “Brezhnev doctrine”, 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.
Study the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev and era of reform during the second half of the 1980s. Know what his Glasnost and Perestroika reforms were and their impact on Russia and on Gorbachev’s political fortunes. Also, go over how relations Improved with the United States/West under Gorbachev. Fall of Gorbachev
Look over the Boris Yeltsin era and the end of the Cold War/Soviet Union.
TERMS:
Study the Development of Russian Social Democratic Workers Party, its split into Bolshevik and Menshevik. Know the differences between the two factions. Whe were the leaders of the factions. Also, know the other political/intellectual parties—SRs and Liberals and the views and ideologies of each.
Brush up on the Revolution of 1905. Was it successful? Look at the October Manifesto and what Nicholas conceded. What was Bloody Sunday? End of Revolution. Go over Stolypin’s reforms.
World War I was the last straw for the Tsarist monarchy. Go over Russia’s experience during the First World War. Why was it so bad for Russia? Consider the incompetence of the monarchy and the corruption of Rasputin.
The Revolutions of 1917—Two revolutions took place, March and October.
Know what led to the March Revolution, 1917 and how it happened. What led to the fall of Nicholas? Know what the Duma’s role was in the revolution and post revolution. Pay attention to the workings of the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviets & “Duel Power”.
October Revolution, 1917. How did the Bolsheviks seize power?
Once in power, the Bolsheviks sought peace. Know about the end of World War I and Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Revolution gave rise to the Russian Civil War from 1918-1921. Know who the participants were: Whites against Reds. What was War Communism? Read up on the intervention of France, Great Britain, Japan, and the United States in 1918/1919.
Study Lenin’s Russia. Know what happened at the 10th Party Congress. What was the New Economic Plan (NEP) and why Lenin implemented it? Look over Lenin’s death without an heir apparent.
Know about the power struggle of 1920s between Stalin, Trotsky, Zinoviev, and Kamenev. What was meant by “socialism in one country” and how did that play out in the power struggle?
Study Stalin’s Russia. Know what his revolution from above was about. Focus on Stalin’s agricultural policy and collective farms. What were the consequences? Also, review Stalin’s Five-Year Plans and the Party Purges of the mid to late 1930s.
Read the section about Hitlerism/Nazism vs. Stalinism /Communism/ ideology
Go over World War II and the German attack in 1941. Know the main features of the War: Survival of Moscow, Great Patriotic War, Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk. Assault on Germany.
What let to the worsening relations between the Soviet Union and The United States during the latter part of World War II and the immediate post-War era? Be familiar with the dawn of the Cold War.
Read over the section on Nikita Khrushchev and the post-Stalin era. Know what led Khrushchev to De-Salinization. What were the reforms introduced by Khrushchev: Agricultural and industrial programs? What was his Foreign Policy? Study the Cuban Missile crisis and the political fallout for Khrushchev.
From the mid-1960s to the early 1980s was the period of Leonid Brezhnev and Era of Stagnation. Consider his foreign policy: Détente, “Brezhnev doctrine”, 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.
Study the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev and era of reform during the second half of the 1980s. Know what his Glasnost and Perestroika reforms were and their impact on Russia and on Gorbachev’s political fortunes. Also, go over how relations Improved with the United States/West under Gorbachev. Fall of Gorbachev
Look over the Boris Yeltsin era and the end of the Cold War/Soviet Union.
TERMS:
- Count Sergei Witte, Minister of Finance
- Bolsheviks
- Mensheviks
- Iulii Martov/Pavel Axelrod
- What Is to Be Done?
- Socialist Revolutionaries
- Russo-Japanese War
- Bloody Sunday/Father Gapon
- October Manifesto
- Duma
- Octobrist Party
- The Kadets/Constitutional Democrats
- P. A. Stolypin & Reforms
- Grigorii Efimovich Rasputin
- Order no. 1
- Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
- War Communism
- New Economic Program (NEP)
- Leon Trotsky
- Five-Year Plans
- Collective farms
- Party Purges, 1930s
- Nazi–Soviet Non-aggression Pact, 1939
- Iron Curtain speech
- Nikita Khrushchev
- Hungarian Crisis, 1956
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- Leonid Brezhnev
- “Brezhnev doctrine”
- Iu. V. Andropov
- Constantine Chernenko
- Mikhail S. Gorbachev
- Glasnost and Perestroika
- Boris Yeltsin
