TEACHER’S G UIDE
TEACHER’S GUI DE
early lives, family backgrounds and revolutionary philosophies of figures
such as Marx, Lenin, Stalin,Trotsky and Kerensky. Groups may reconvene
to share what they learned with the rest of the class and evaluate which
figure had the most influence on the Russian Revolution.
• www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/intro.html
The Library of Congress presents “Revelations from the Russian Archives,” a
wealth of information from the previously secret internal record of the
Soviet Union.
• Divide your class into teams of investigative journalists to write a series
of newspaper columns describing the personalities and events surrounding the murders of Gregory Rasputin and the Russian royal family.
Each team should generate a conclusion about the perpetrators of these
crimes and offer evidence to support its claim.
• Because the Russian population was largely illiterate, Bolshevik propaganda played a key role in selling Lenin’s communist vision and later
was extensively utilized to drive the Russian people to meet the goals
of Stalin’s Five Year Plan. Share with and ask students to study posters
and films developed during this time period and analyze the symbolism,
imagery and message of this material. Students may also speculate about
the impact and effectiveness of Marxist propaganda on the minds of the
Russian people. Films directed by Sergei Eisenstein such as Battleship
Potemkin and October are excellent resources and many Soviet era
posters may be found at this web site (a commercial site, but a good
resource for examples of period posters):
www.internationalposter.com/ru-text.cfm
• Ask students to analyze the following quote from Leon Trotsky:“People
do not make revolutions eagerly any more than they do war.There is
this difference however, that in war compulsion plays the decisive role,
in revolution there is no compulsion except that of circumstances.A
revolution takes place only when there is no other way out.”What does
Trotsky mean by “in revolution there is no compulsion except that of
circumstances”? Ask students to speculate about the circumstances that
Trotsky was referring to and write journal entries describing circumstances that would cause them to become “revolutionaries.”
• One of the results of the cataclysm of World War I was the end of
monarchies and empires and a whole way of life.Ask students to
research the family ties that connected the royal leaders of Great
Britain, Russia and Germany as their nations plunged into World War I
and to list which empires fell and what took their place.
Suggested Internet Resources
Periodically, Internet Resources are updated on our web site at
www.LibraryVideo.com
• www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1930-hrr/
The complete text of Leon Trotsky’s The History of the Russian
R evolution as translated by Max Eastman is made ava i l able here for
teach e rs and students.
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TEACHER’S G UIDE
• www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1917lenin1.html
Fordham University provides the full text of Lenin’s “Call to Power.”
• www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1931/
dec/13.htm
The complete text of Stalin’s 1931 interview with German author Emil
Ludwig provides excellent insight into the mind of the Soviet dictator.
Suggested Print Resources
• Gottfried,Ted. Road to Communism. Twenty-First Century Books,
Brookfield, CT; 2002.
• Pipes, Daniel. Concise History of the Russian Revolution. Vintage Books,
New York, NY; 1996.
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
• Solzhenitsyn,Aleksandr. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Farrar,
Straus and Giroux, New York, NY; 2005. The classic story of the horrors of
life in a Russian gulag during the Stalin era.
Grades 9–12
T
his guide is a supplement designed for teachers
to use when presenting pro grams in the series
World Revolutions for Students.
Before Vi e w i n g: G i ve students an introduction to
the topic by re l aying aspects of the pro gram
ove rview to them. Select pre-viewing discussion
questions and vocabulary to provide a focus for students when they view the program.
After Viewing: R ev i ew the pro gram and vo c abulary, and use the fo l l ow-up activities to inspire cont i nued discussion. E n c o u rage students to re s e a rch
the topic further with the Internet and print
resources provided.
TEACHER’S GUIDE
Rudolph Lea
Historian
Jeffrey W. Litzke, M.Ed.
Curriculum Specialist, Schlessinger Media
TITLES IN THIS SERIES
CASTRO AND THE CUBAN REVOLUTION
THE CHINESE REVOLUTION (1911–1989)
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
GANDHI AND INDIA’S INDEPENDENCE
REVOLUTIONARY MEXICO (1910–1940)
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
THE SOUTH AFRICAN ANTI-APARTHEID MOVEMENT
Teacher’s Guides Included
and Available Online at:
800-843-3620
Teacher’s Guide and Program Copyright 2005 by Schlessinger Media,
a division of Library Video Company
P.O. Box 580,Wynnewood, PA 19096 • 800-843-3620
Executive Producer:Andrew Schlessinger
Programs produced and directed by Issembert Productions, Inc.
All rights reserved.
D6906
V6076
Program Summary
Vocabulary
Seve ral months after centuries of oppre s s i ve czarist rule had ended, the
Bolsheviks, led by charismatic leader Vladimir Lenin, seized power in Russia in
the October 1917 Revolution. I n s p i red by the philosophy of Karl Marx, Lenin
and the Bolsheviks sought to remake Russian society and improve the lives of
Russian peasants and wo rkers.They advocated the ove rt h row of capitalism
and the establishment of a communist society.
czar — Absolute monarch and ruler of Russia.The word “czar” is derived
from Caesar.
Revolutionary fervor sparked some anti-government clashes in 1905, and later
peaked as a result of Russia’s devastating defeats in World War I. In March
1917, as protestors swarmed the capital, Czar Nicholas II abdicated and a moderate provisional gove rnment was fo rmed. By late October, the radical and
i n c re a s i n g ly popular Bolsheviks had seized powe r.As counterrevo l u t i o n a ry
fo rces sought to oust the Bolsheviks, Russia erupted into civil wa r, w h i ch
resulted in the execution of the royal family and Lenin’s establishment of the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
socialist movements — Political movements to establish a system
whereby the community or society as a whole owns and operates the major
means of production.
Focus Questions
revolutionary — A person favoring a radical change or revolution in a government or social system.
2.What were conditions for workers in Russian factories in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries?
capitalism — An economic system in which the means of production and
distribution are owned and operated for profit by private individuals.
3.What was Vladimir Lenin’s background and which philosopher inspired
his ideas about revolutionary change?
proletariat — The lowest class in a society, referring mostly to industrial
workers.
4.What was the Provisional Gove rnment? Was it successful? Why? W hy not?
bourgeoisie — The middle class in a society, referring mostly to those who
own businesses or who do not have to work with their hands.
6.What happened in St. Petersburg on Sunday, January 9, 1905?
The hopes contained in the Bolshevik revolutionary slogans of “Peace, Land
and Bre a d ” and “All Power to the Sov i e t s ” would not take hold. After Lenin’s
death, Joseph Stalin embarked on a rapid industrialization plan that resulted in
ex p l o s i ve industrial growth but devastated peasant fa rmers. In the 1930s,
Stalin’s oppressive totalitarian policies caused a catastrophic famine that killed
millions, and his purges of perceived enemies killed many more.
Bolsheviks — The Communist majority faction of the Russian Social
Democratic Workers Party.
Communism’s promise to poor Russians was never fulfilled as the humane
and democratic vision ex p ressed in the 1917 revolution was replaced by
oppression, terror and intimidation. The revolution took a back wa rd Russia
and tra n s fo rmed it into a world powe r, but in the end, the Russian gove rnment’s failure to provide a better life through communism was too mu ch for
the people to endure.
utopia — An ideal society that is socially, morally and politically perfect.
Time Line
Great Terror or Great Purge — Stalin’s purging of all perceived enemies
starting in the 1930s.
1881 — Czar Alexander II is assassinated.
1905 — Bloody Sunday results in the deaths of many protestors.
1917 — The Russian people overthrow the monarchy; Czar Nicholas II
abdicates.
1917 — The Bolsheviks take control of Russia’s capital and the Revolution.
1918-1921 — The Russian Civil War.
soviet — An elected people’s council formed during the Russian Revolution.
communist — A person who opposes capitalism and private ownership
and who believes in a system in which all means of production and distribution are owned by the community in common.
Red Terror — The campaign of the Soviet Red Army to imprison or kill all
opponents of the Bolsheviks.
gulag — A system of labor camps in Siberia where Stalin’s enemies were
sent. Many were worked or starved to death.
Social Democratic parties — Moderate parties in the West that advocated
for government to improve the lives of workers.
totalitarianism — Absolute unlimited power by a ruler and control over
every phase of life.
• Russia’s revolutionary leaders hoped to create a utopia, or perfect society.
Ask students to describe why the idea of utopia attracts people, to list
characteristics of their own versions of a utopian society and to discuss
the likelihood of their utopias’ success.
2
8.Why did civil war break out after the Bolshevik takeover?
10.What was the “Red Terror”?
Pre-viewing Discussion
1953 — Stalin dies.
7.Why did Russia’s participation in World War I intensify the country’s
march toward revolution?
9.What happened to Russia’s royal family?
1929 — Joseph Stalin expels Leon Trotsky from the Soviet Union and
assumes total control.
1940 — Trotsky is assassinated in Mexico City.
5.What was the role of democracy in Czarist Russia?
terrorism — The use of threats or direct violence in an attempt to intimidate and coerce others.
1924 — Vladimir Lenin dies.
1930s — Stalin’s policies result in the Great Terror.
1.Who was the Russian monarch in 1900?
Romanov — The Czarist royal family who ruled Russia for three centuries.
1922 — The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is formed.
1929 — Stalin launches his rapid industrialization plan.
• Encourage students to brainstorm a definition of the term “revolutionary.” Does “revolutionary” have a positive or negative connotation? What
are some generalizations one could make about revolutionaries?
• Ask students to evaluate the use of direct action to reform repressive governments and to suggest other ways people could initiate change.
(Continued)
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11. How did Stalin’s rapid industrialization drive affect Russia?
12.Why did Stalin launch the Great Terror, and what were the results?
Follow-up Discussion
• Offer some reasons why Marxist ideas took firmer root, unexpectedly, in
backward Russia, rather than in the more advanced West. Suggest and
discuss possible reasons why communist parties in the West never
succeeded in winning power.
• In 1917, between the end of the absolute monarchy of the czars in
February and the beginning of the dictatorship of the communists in
October, Russia had a moderate Provisional Government. Discuss the
reasons why it failed and suggest ways it might have succeeded.
• The February Revolution unleashed popular demands such as land distribution, an end to World War I and the right to vote; however, an individual,Vladimir Lenin, is credited as being the driving force behind the
Communist Revolution in October.Ask students to discuss if conditions
would have caused a revolution to occur in Russia, or if this momentous
change required Lenin’s leadership.
Follow-up Activities
• Break students into small groups and assign each group to research and
develop a biographical profile of a different political figure associated
with Russian history. Students should try to find information on the
(Continued)
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