modern history

• Analyse sources A, B and C. Compare what they say about the situation in Russia. Do they support each other?
• What reasons do these sources give for the failures of the Russian army?
• List the ways that World War I helped to destroy the Tsar.
• Look at all the information in this lesson. Explain why the workers, the peasants and the middle class all became disillusioned with the Tsar.

1. Using a range of sources, write a biography of Rasputin (approx. 1 page).

2. That Rasputin was ever able to gain such influence shows how removed Nicholas had become from the needs of his people and from political reality. Discuss in 1-2 paragraphs.
Explain why was Rasputin an unsuitable adviser for the Tsar? Write a paragraph.

3. Design a newspaper front page announcing Rasputin’s death. Your story should contain a report of how he was killed, reaction from the Okhrana, a palace spokesman representing the Tsarina, people in the street and a secret source justifying the actions of the assassins.

1. Name the man who succeeded Witte as Prime Minister in 1906
2. List three of the reforms introduced by Peter Stolypin
3. What were the aim of his agricultural reforms?
4. What type of policies did Stolypin advise Nicholas to adopt?
5. What happened to Stolypin?

Using the information in this lesson answer the following question:
List the ways in which the Tsar broke the promises he made in the October Manifesto in 1906.

Nicholas wrote: “I have a constitution in my head, but as to my heart, I spit on it.”

Leon Trotsky wrote about the Fundamental Laws: ‘All is given and nothing is given… A constitution is given but autocracy remains’.

Look at the quotes above on the October Manifesto. Write a paragraph explaining what each man meant in these quotes

Study the list of concessions made by the Tsar in the October Manifesto. Explain how each concession would have appealed to the following groups in Russia:

• workers
• peasants
• liberals
• revolutionary Marxists

1. Use Source 1: What information can you find about workers’ living conditions from this source?
2. Do any of the other sources support your information? Say which source and how it supports Source 1.
3. Use Sources 3 & 5: Describe the main problems facing workers mentioned in these sources.
4. Analyse each source using the guidelines given earlier. How reliable would each of these sources be to historians studying how workers lived in Russia at the beginning of the 19th Century? In your answer consider the perspective of each source and say how this might affect its reliability.

Before you answer read the sources and their labels carefully.

1. Use Sources 2 and 3: List six problems facing peasants in Russia in 1905.
2. Use Sources 1 and 4: List 4 features of the living conditions of peasants and the end of the 19th Century.
3. Using your own knowledge and all of the sources write a description of peasant life in Russia in the 19th Century.

Guidelines:
Your answer should include information from the sources and:

• agricultural method throughout the century. Did they change?
• Emancipation of the serfs
• Results of the emancipation of the serfs

Character study from sources - Part A
Which of the sources could you use to support the following statements about Nicholas.

1. Nicholas did not want to be Tsar
2. Nicholas was not a suitable person to be Tsar
3. Nicholas did not like dealing with his ministers
4. Nicholas has a happy family life

Character study from sources – Part B

1. Name three sources which agree about the character of Nicholas. What does each one say and why would they be reliable? Remember to look at the perspective.
2. Form your own opinion on Nicholas. How do all of the sources above suggest that Nicholas was not a suitable person to rule over Russia?

Overall, did Nicholas possess the qualities to be a good ruler of a country on the brink of the twentieth century? Explain your answer.