Russian Revolution Questions

[Harry_Perkins]

Just beginning to study this and would be interested in useful sources/opinions on it.

The questions I have are:

Explain the failings of Tsarism and Tsar Nicholas II

Evaluate the impact of the First World War on Russia

Analyse the causes, events, and results of the February revolution

Analyse the failings of the Provisional Government

Explain the roles of Lenin and Trotsky in the Bolsheviks’ rise to power

Analyse the causes, events and results of the October Revolution

[The Grey Blur]

I do the exact same things in school :D

My advice is just write what the examiners want, don't worry about the politics of it :lol:

[chimx]

I like the historians Rabinowitch and Ferro's monographs on the Russian Revolution. Harrison Salisbury is kinda old school, but has a fun book contrasting Nicholas and Lenin. It is certainly worth your time to check out some work by more conservative historians as well. I actually really like Sheila Fitzpatrick, but Richard Pipes has his moments also. Trotsky also has a fantastic multi-volume work on it, but just like Pipes' books, be careful with your reading.

[chimx]

quickly:


Explain the failings of Tsarism and Tsar Nicholas II

Tsarism was an antiquated system. Attempts had been made to make some reforms, including emancipation of serfs in the 1860s by Alexander II, but not enough had been done. This led to the revolution of 1905, along with the Tsarism's failure of defeating Japan in 1904, which brought about some initial reforms, such as the Duma, and later the Stolypin Reforms. Eventually the Nicholas II would disband the Duma until he got one he was satisfied with. Essentially, Tsarism was incapable of evolving as was necessary.


Evaluate the impact of the First World War on Russia

A great deal. Russians were patriotic. The failure of Russia in the War was a failure of the Tsar. This assisted the cause of the February Revolution.


Analyse the causes, events, and results of the February revolution

Read the books mentioned above. This would take a while to answer.


Analyse the failings of the Provisional Government

Quite simply, the February Provisional Government didn't do much of anything. At the time, there was a corresponding peasant revolution occuring in the country side. The Provisional Government, instead of backing this movement, sat on its hands, and refused to do much of anything until a Constituent Assembly had been called. This led to people gettin' fed up with the Provisional Government.

The failure of handing the Kornilov coup properly also had a significant impact.


Explain the roles of Lenin and Trotsky in the Bolsheviks’ rise to power

I highly recommend you read Alexander Rabinowitch's books for an answer to this. He argues against the notion that Bolshevism was exclusively a party of, by, and for Lenin, and that there was some power play going on behind the scenes, especially with Kamenev and Zinoviev. However Lenin still was the dominant figure.

Trotsky also played a big role. According to Trotsky, in his history of the Russian Revolution, it was he would had the idea to claim power in the name of the soviets, whereas Lenin intended to claim power in the name of the Bolshevik Party.


Analyse the causes, events and results of the October Revolution

See response to same question regarding February.

[Harry_Perkins]

Originally posted by Permanent [email protected] 06, 2007 10:07 pm
I do the exact same things in school :D

My advice is just write what the examiners want, don't worry about the politics of it :lol:
Yeah but I would like to know more than just the textbook history.

[Harry_Perkins]

Originally posted by [email protected] 06, 2007 10:57 pm
I like the historians Rabinowitch and Ferro's monographs on the Russian Revolution. Harrison Salisbury is kinda old school, but has a fun book contrasting Nicholas and Lenin. It is certainly worth your time to check out some work by more conservative historians as well. I actually really like Sheila Fitzpatrick, but Richard Pipes has his moments also. Trotsky also has a fantastic multi-volume work on it, but just like Pipes' books, be careful with your reading.
Thanks for that and your own comments.

[The Grey Blur]

Originally posted by Harry_Perkins+January 07, 2007 07:14 pm--> (Harry_Perkins @ January 07, 2007 07:14 pm)
Permanent [email protected] 06, 2007 10:07 pm
I do the exact same things in school :D

My advice is just write what the examiners want, don't worry about the politics of it :lol:
Yeah but I would like to more than just the textbook history. [/b]
Oh well then read Trotsky's history, that's what I'm doing. But in the tests go with what we are given in the textbooks. Better safe than sorry :lol:

[chimx]

Trotsky's history is good at handling minor political actors that are often overlooked by contemporary historians, but his analysis is quite obviously biased.

[redxroses]

Originally posted by Permanent [email protected] 07, 2007 07:28 pm

Oh well then read Trotsky's history, that's what I'm doing. But in the tests go with what we are given in the textbooks. Better safe than sorry :lol:
Its true, but they do like some original thinking as long as you back it up with the sources or hard evidence (if you're doing the GCSE)

[The Grey Blur]

Originally posted by [email protected] 07, 2007 07:32 pm
Trotsky's history is good at handling minor political actors that are often overlooked by contemporary historians, but his analysis is quite obviously biased.
Everyone has a bias. Especially on such an important event as the Russian Revolution. I know you've already read it but Trotsky's preface is really good for understanding how he mitigates his bias and gives as honest a picture as he can.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/wo...30-hrr/ch00.htm (http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1930-hrr/ch00.htm)

[chimx]

heh. actually i don't think i ever read the preface.

[Floyce White]

Harry Perkins. I liked that Masterpiece Theatre series.

[the_sociallist]

Originally posted by [email protected] 06, 2007 09:12 pm


Explain the failings of Tsarism and Tsar Nicholas II


I think that the collapse of the Romanov Empire and the rise of Communism came at a time when the Tsar was most vulnerable.

At the start of WW1, when Germany was attacking, the Tsar tired after a series of failures both politically and economically, was weary of whom he could trust. Instead of following the advice of his generals, he choose to take command of the Russian Army and lead them to thier deaths. This in turn caused the people to loose faith in thier leader and the revolution was born. This is one of many bad choices that the Tsar over the course of his rein that lead to the revolution.