a dictatorship is a country where the leaders have absolute power

a purge involves getting rid of people who do not agree with you

a gulag was part of a system of work prisons set up in the USSR

the process of developing a country's manufacturing industries is known as industrialisation

collectivisation was a policy which reorganised Soviet agriculture to work as a system of large, modernised farms

Soviet Russia in the 1920s and 1930s

History

Karl Marx and communism

Tsarist Russia

The Bolsheviks

The Russian Civil War, 1918-21

The extent to which communism changed Russia

In this unit, pupils examine the profound societal changes brought about by communism following the Russian Revolution. This sets the stage for the next unit, ‘Post-war Britain: for whom did the United Kingdom become a ‘New Jerusalem’?’, where they will contrast the effects of communism with the democratic socialism that influenced British society in the post-war era.

In ‘The French Revolution: How did Europe respond to the French Revolution?’, pupils studied how France's eighteenth century revolution influenced people's lives. Building on that, this unit explores how the radical ideas of the Russian Revolution transformed Russian society under communism, demonstrating the power of revolutionary ideologies.

In this unit, pupils learn about Karl Marx's theories regarding communism and the conduct and impact of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. They examine the Russian Civil War and Russian society in the 1920s and 30s, allowing them to judge the extent to which communism changed Russia.

The Russian Revolution: did communism completely transform Russian society? 

Depiction or discussion of famine, disease, natural disasters.

Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Depiction or discussion of violence or fighting, including threats of violence or the aftermath of violence.

getting rid of people you disagree with, often using force

a country where the ruler has absolute power

when people are sent or kept away from their country

situation where a leader can act as they wish without limits

Match up each of the keywords with the correct definitions.

Write the missing word. After Lenin's death, the USSR was led by Joseph ...

number of tractors rose from 7000 to 14 000

number of tractors rose from 7000 to 120 000

number of tractors fell from 120 000 to 7000

number of tractors fell from 14 000 to 7000

What happened to the number of tractors in the USSR as a result of Stalin's economic policies?

Who was responsible for carrying out the purges in the 1930s?

The USSR had a larger industrial economy than the USA by 1939

The USSR had a larger industrial economy than Germany but not Britain by 1939

The USSR had a larger industrial economy than Britain but not Germany by 1939

The USSR had a larger industrial economy than both Germany and Britain by 1939

A famine kills 10 000 000 people in the Soviet Union

Soviet agricultural production reached the same levels as reached in 1914

Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.

Write the missing word. A {{}} war is a conflict between people from the same country.

Which of the following actions was taken by the Provisional Government?

Write the missing word. The Red Terror was led by the ...

to prevent the spread of communism in the Russian Empire

to gain independence from the Russian Empire

What did the Greens fight for during the Russian Civil War?

Russia lost control over areas like Estonia

War Communism led to grain requisitioning

Which example best shows that ordinary Russians were negatively affected by the Russian Civil War?

Exit Quiz

Match up each of the keywords with the correct definitions.