Tsarist and Communist Russia, 1855–1964

This option allows students to study in breadth issues of change, continuity, cause and consequence in this period through the following key questions:

• How was Russia governed and how did political authority change and develop?
• Why did opposition develop and how effective was it?
• How and with what results did the economy develop and change?
• What was the extent of social and cultural change?
• How important were ideas and ideology?
• How important was the role of individuals and groups and how were they affected by developments?

For a one page study overview of the period click here

Part One: Autocracy, Reform and Revolution: Russia, 1855–1917

Trying to preserve autocracy, 1855–1894

• Political authority and the state of Russia: autocracy; the political, social and economic condition of Russia in 1855 and the impact of the Crimean War
• Political authority and attempts at reform: Alexander II; emancipation of the serfs and attempts at domestic and military reform
• Government and Tsars: Alexander II and Alexander III as rulers; attitudes to and imposition of autocracy; key developments
• Political authority in action: Russification; treatment of ethnic minorities and Jews
• Opposition: ideas and ideologies; individuals; liberals and radical groups and the Tsarist reaction
• Economic and social developments: industrial developments and the land issue; social divisions; nobles, landowners and position of the peasantry; the cultural influence of the Church

The collapse of autocracy, 1894–1917

• Political authority, government and Tsar; Nicholas II as ruler: political developments to 1914; 1905 Revolution; Duma government
• Economic developments to 1914: industrial and agricultural growth and change
• Social developments to 1914: change and conditions of working and living in towns and countryside; social divisions; cultural changes
• Opposition: ideas and ideologies, liberalism, socialism; Marxism; individuals and radical groups
• Political authority, opposition and the state of Russia in wartime: the political, economic and social problems of wartime; opposition and the collapse of autocracy; the political developments of 1917
• Political authority, opposition and government: the Bolshevik takeover and the establishment of Bolshevik government by December 1917; opposition

Part Two: the Soviet Union, 1917–1964 (A-level only)

The emergence of Communist dictatorship, 1917–1941 (A-level only)

• Political authority and government: new leaders and ideologies; Lenin’s Russia, ideology and change; StalinStalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (18 December 1878 – 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician, dictator and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. Read More’s rise, ideology and change
• Political authority and government: the consolidation of Bolshevik authority and development of the Stalinist dictatorship
• Economic developments: Lenin’s decrees; the Stalinist economy; collectivisationCollectivisation Full Description: The policy of forced consolidation of individual peasant households into massive, state-controlled collective farms. It represented a declaration of war by the urban state against the rural peasantry, intended to extract grain to fund industrialization. Collectivisation was a radical restructuring of the countryside that abolished private land ownership. The state seized land, livestock, and tools, forcing independent farmers into kolkhozy. Resistance was met with brutal force, including the “liquidation” of wealthier peasants (Kulaks) as a class. Critical Perspective:This policy fundamentally altered the relationship between the people and the land. It treated the peasantry not as citizens to be supported, but as an internal colony to be exploited. By establishing a state monopoly on food production, the regime gained the ultimate lever of social control: the power to grant or withhold the means of survival, leading to man-made famines used to crush regional nationalism and resistance.
  Read more and the Five Year Plans
• Social developments: effect of Leninist/Stalinist rule on class, women, young people, religion and national minorities; propaganda and cultural change
• Opposition: faction; the Red Terror and the purges
• The political, economic and social condition of the Soviet Union by 1941

The Stalinist dictatorship and reaction, 1941–1964 (A-level only)

• Political authority, opposition and the state of Russia in wartime: the political, economic and social impact of war; effect on Stalin, government and ‘the people’
• Political authority and government to 1953: High Stalinism; the revival of terror; destruction of ‘supposed’ opposition and cult of personalityCult of Personality Full Description: The Cult of Personality manifested in the omnipresence of the leader’s image and words. The “Little Red Book” became a sacred text, expected to be carried, studied, and recited by all citizens. Loyalty dances, badges, and the attribution of all national successes to the leader’s genius defined the era. Critical Perspective: This phenomenon fundamentally undermined the collective leadership structure of the party. It created a direct, unmediated emotional bond between the leader and the masses, allowing the leader to act above the law and beyond criticism. It fostered an environment of fanaticism where political disagreement was equated with blasphemy, silencing all dissent.; the power vacuum on Stalin’s death
• Political authority and government: Khrushchev’s rise to power; policies and ideology; de-Stalinisation; political and party change
• Economic and social developments: changes in industrial organisation from Stalin to Khrushchev; agriculture and the Virgin Lands scheme; social and cultural change from Stalin to Khrushchev
• Opposition: cultural dissidents; communist divisions; hardliners and reformers; opponents of Khrushchev and his fall from power
• The political, economic and social condition of the Soviet Union by 1964.