Name: ______

Russian/Communist Revolution Documents

Documents 1A & 1B

1.Where were these industrial protestors and their families going, and who/what exactly is the focus of their anger?

2.List all the economic reforms being demanded.

3.List all the political reforms being demanded.

4.How does Father Gapon turn Tsar Nicholas’s divine right rule against him?

5.What is he asking/demanding specifically of Tsar Nicolas to do to help alleviate this? And if he refuses?

6.Describe what happened the day Father Gapon led his protest march to the Tsar’s palace.

7.Reread the last paragraph in both documents. What do you notice about both the tone and spirit about what might come and what actually happened in terms of risking their lives for change?

Document 2

  1. Describe the actions of the royal family from the time they awake up until the shooting: What were they doing when they were awakened? What did some of them bring with them? And why do you think the guards lied to them?

Document 3

1.How does Lenin tie World War 1 to capitalism? (What evidence does he cite?)

2.Explain how and why Lenin says this event has opened the eyes of oppressed people.

3.What does Lenin say is necessary to stop wars like this from happening again?

Document 4

1.Unlike Document 3, Document 4 takes place when Lenin is now in power. What does he say is going to be different about his new soviet government?

2.What does he quickly want to achieve, and what does he need to do in order to get it done? Who must help him?

3.Who does he need the proletariat to join in completely transforming Russia into a soviet/proletarian state?

Document 5 a, b, and c

  1. In 5a, what did the Cheka mean when they said “everything is permitted”?
  2. In 5b, how were people to be screened to weed out bourgeois elements? Why do you think this was more important that what people were proven to have said or done in the past?
  3. Who were the “kulaks” and why were they targeted?
  4. Why do you think Lenin wanted their names published and their grain seized?
  5. Based on all 3 documents, what similarities do you see between Russia’s Lenin and France’s Robespierre in terms of who they targeted, the reasons why, and their methods of carrying out revolutionary goals?

Document 6

  1. What does Lenin say hindered Russia from starting communism effectively?
  2. What does Lenin say lead to food shortages, and what incentive does he offer to increase food production now?
  3. What other areas of the economy does he want to try this?
  4. What is different about Lenin’s new form of capitalism compared to the bourgeois capitalists he previously criticized (and murdered)?
  5. So, has he given up on his goal of a communist state? Explain in your own words (do not simply copy statements from the document).

CONTINUED ON BACK

Document 7

  1. What was a collective farm? How did it serve to meet the needs of soviet communism?
  2. Stalin ended Lenin’s capitalist integration. What differing forms of punishment were levied for those kulaks who resisted Stalin’s return to more strict communist principles?
  3. What is amnesty? Why do you think it was to be denied to all those found guilty of disobeying rules/laws about how collective farms were to be run?

Document 8

  1. Why was the famine in Ukraine labeled as a forced famine and intentional act of genocide? Why was this done to them?
  2. What happened to the grain that was being harvested in the Ukraine?
  3. Describe some examples of what Stalin’s secret police would do to Ukrainian kulaks if they were caught with grain/food besides killing them.
  4. How did some manage to survive if they couldn’t keep food they produced on their farms? Provide several examples.

Document 9

  1. What was the Gulag and what were among the many ways one wound up there?
  2. How did Kazimierz say food was allotted? Who else could kill you besides the guards in the Gulag, and for what reason?
  3. According to Elena, what caused men to flock to the town hall? What happened when the “Kolyma tram” was over?
  4. According to Hava, who was Elanor? How was she treated by the nurses in the Gulag? What happened to Elanor and how did Hava find out?

Document 10

  1. What were a few reasons Stalin initiated his Five year Plan, and what industries specifically were targeted?
  2. How does Stalin say western countries achieved their industrial goals?
  3. Stalin rejected the way western nations did it. What did he say Russia would have to rely on then to achieve his industrial demands?
  4. Provide 8-10 “achievements” Stalin says have been made as a result of his Five Year Plan.
  5. Why can’t you compare the improved industrial output of Russia with that of free western nations in terms of the results? (How were workers motivated differently to be productive?)

Document 11

  1. In your own words, what was the purpose of this decree?
  2. Besides “anti-Soviet forces” and “kulaks”, identify 7 other categories of persons to be “repressed.”
  3. What was to be done to those forces deemed most hostile?
  4. To those less hostile?
  5. Why do both Lenin and Stalin meet the standards of a “totalitarian dictator?”