AP EUROPEAN HISTORY

RUSSIAN REVOLUTION AND COMMUNIST RUSSIA PRACTICE ESSAY QUESTIONS 1. To what extent and in what ways did the failure of reform and abortive revolution lead to the Revolution of 1917? “How and how much” did attempts to make the government better, improve the economy, and modernize the institutions of Russia cause the open rebellion of the people against the government and society? “How and how much” did the failed Revolution of 1905 contribute? What were the attempts at reform? When did Russia modernize its economy and how did this lead tot greater discontent among the people? Why was the Duma reconvened, and how did it precipitate events? How did the Russo-Japanese War cause discontent? What was “Bloody Sunday”? What reforms were aimed at by the marchers? What was the October Manifesto? What were Stolypin’s reforms? What were the implications of his death? 2. Analyze Lenin’s Marxism and his role as leader in establishing Communism in Russia. “Determine the relationship” between Lenin’s interpretation of Marxism and the way he defined the new Soviet government. Orthodox Marxist theory insisted that a socialists revolution can take place only under certain conditions. What were those conditions? How did that apply to the governmental shift taking place in Russia in 1917? How did Lenin disagree with the orthodox view? How did he translate that once the Bolsheviks had seized power? 3. Contrast and compare the methods of governing of Lenin and Stalin. The contrast is glaring. Lenin established the basic institutions of Soviet Communism; Stalin evolved them into a grotesque parody of their original aims. Lenin ruled for about seven years; Stalin for over thirty. Lenin believed that the end justified the means; Stalin’s paranoia distorted even this precept. Lenin designed the blueprint for modernization and reform; Stalin built the edifice into one of the world’s worst totalitarian regimes. The comparison, the similarities, are in their usurpation of power to gain their ends, their use of dictatorship, their methods of suppressing dissent. This is a difficult question that requires broad statements backed by selective facts. 4. “Despite the human cost, Russia progressed under Communism.” Defend or refute this statement. The impulse, if you know the cost of Soviet totalitarianism, 30 million pus lives to start, is to refute. It is easy to overlook the modernization and industrialization of a feudal society on the facts alone without reverting to ideological biases. The first step in this question is to define “progress.” Is it economic? Social? Some indefinable movement forward? You can get lost in trying to measure the improvement of human condition from one age to another. Do the drudgery and social stagnancy of feudalism compare to the alienation and confusion of modernity? Remember, whether you defend or refute, it is the case you make that counts. 5. “The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a major force in determining a character of the 20th century.” Assess the validity of this statement. “Determine the truth” of this statement by considering not only the confrontation between ideologies known as the Cold War, but also the role of Soviet Communism in disrupting the world order before World War II and after. What part did it play in dismantling colonialism, as a model for new nations, as a counter to the status quo? In what ways was it a focal point for world affairs after World War I, before World War II, after World War II?