Russia and the Soviet Union c.1861–c.1953 WJEC GCSE

Background: Tsardom in the late-nineteenth century

Learners should be aware of:

• the geography, government and society of Russia at the end of the nineteenth century
• the reigns of Alexander II and Alexander III.

3.5.1 The rule and overthrow of Nicholas II

• the nature of political, economic and social challenges during Nicholas’s reign, including:
  • the domestic background to the Russo–Japanese War, Bloody Sunday and the 1905 Revolution
  • the extent and limitations of political, economic and social reform
• how the First World War contributed to the destruction of the Tsarist regime, including:
  • Nicholas’s decision to take personal direction of the war and the influence of Rasputin over the Tsarina, Alexandra
  • the March [February] Revolution 1917 and the abdication of Nicholas
• the impact of the First World War on Russia, including:
  • social and economic disintegration and shortages of basic necessities
  • the rise of the Petrograd Soviet and Lenin’s return to Russia from exile.

3.5.2 The Bolshevik Revolution

• the key events of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, including:
  • the July Days and the fall of the Provisional Government.
  • the storming of the Winter Palace
• the course of the Civil War, including:
  • the weakness and divisions of the Whites and the effects of foreign intervention
  • Trotsky’s effectiveness as Commissar for War and the reasons behind the communist victory
• pogroms during the 1917 Revolution including:
  • the background to, and treatment of, minority ethnic groups
  • anti-Semitic violence.

3.5.3 The rule of Lenin

• the policy of War Communism, including:
  • repression and requisitioning
  • growing opposition to the system; the Tambov Rebellion
• the famine of 1921–1922, including:
  • drought, poor harvests and their death toll
  • the deteriorating economic and social situation and the end of War Communism
• Lenin's New Economic Policy (NEP) including:
  • its aims and methods
  • the extent of its success by 1925 and the reasons for its end.

3.5.4 Stalin

• the rise of Stalin, including:
  • Stalin’s appointment as General Secretary and his use of that role
  • Lenin’s growing concerns about Stalin and his comments on Stalin in his Will
• the removal of Trotsky and Stalin’s rivals from the Politburo, including:
  • the reduction of the Politburo’s powers
  • Stalin’s defeat of Left Opposition
• life under Stalin, including:
  • the programme of Collectivism, the Five-Year Plans, the purges
  • Stalin’s use of persuasion and coercion.

3.5.5 The Second World War and its aftermath

• the relationship between Germany and the Soviet Union including:
  • the Nazi–Soviet Pact
  • Operation Barbarossa and the invasion of the Soviet Union
• the defeat of the German army including:
  • strategic failures in the German conduct of the war on the Russian front
  • Leningrad, Stalingrad, and the retreat of the German army
• post-war reconstruction, including:
  • the refusal of Marshall Aid and the requisition of German industrial and natural resources
  • the imposition of communist regimes in eastern
    Europe, and the Warsaw Pact.