Unit Guide
Overall Purpose:
Identify and explain
the main weaknesses that led to the collapse of the Romonov dynasty in
1917. Analyze the factors that allowed
the Bolsheviks to seize power in the October Revolution.
Main Ideas:
A) Explain the three main factors that affected Marx’s development of the theory of communism.
B) Describe the cornerstone aspects of communism.
C) Why did Marx believe that capitalism was an essential stage on the path to communism? Why did he believe that communism would inevitably replace capitalism?
D) Where did Marx predict that communist revolutions would first
occur? Why was
E) Describe the two geographic factors that have affected Russian history.
F) In what ways did Russian civilization develop differently from that of
G) What factors led to the Great Reforms of Alexander II? Why were these reforms considered incomplete?
H) Explain the conflict Westernizers and Slavophiles in Russian
history. At what key points did
I) Describe the reforms of 1890-1914. How did these reforms add to social tensions?
J) Identify the five major elements of Russian society in 1900, and explain the conflicts between these groups.
K) Describe the ruling philosophy of Nicholas II. How did Rasputin gain influence over the Tsar’s family?
L) Describe how Lenin altered Marx’s philosophy.
M) What factors led to the 1905 Revolution? What effects did the revolution have?
N) Explain the causes of the March Revolution in 1917.
O) Describe the factors that led to the fall of the Provisional Government. Explain how the Bolsheviks seized power in October 1917.
P) What factors allowed the Bolsheviks to defend their seizure of power and emerge victorious in the Civil War?
Q) Describe how the Bolshevik Party changed during the Civil War.
R) Describe the governmental structure of the
S) Be able to compare the Russian Revolution with the first four chapters of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. (Pig Sheet)
Key Terms:
1. Marx’s Dialectic
2. bourgeoisie
3. proletariat
4. dictatorship of the proletariat
5. Communist Manifesto and Das Capital
6. Kievan Rus’
7. Tatars
8. Ivan the Great
9. Kremlin
10. Ivan the Terrible
11. Michael Romanov
12. serfdom
13. Cossacks
14.
15. peasant commune
16. Pugachev Rebellion (1773)
17. Decemberist Uprising (1825)
18. Populist Movement
19. Sergei Witte
20. Nicholas II
21. Lenin
22. Bolsheviks
23. Bloody Sunday
24. Soviet
25. Duma
26. Provisional Government
27. Alexander Kerensky
28. Leon Trotsky
29. April Thesis
30. Cheka
31. “loot the looters”
32. War Communism
33. Party Congress
34. Central Committee
35. Politburo
36. nomenklatura