History Hl - Paper 3

Fall of the Romanovs (1905–17)
Paper 3 – Why did the Romanovs fall in February 1917?

Russo-Japanese War (1904–05) → humiliating defeat, loss of Port Arthur.

Bloody Sunday (Jan 1905) → 200,000 marched, 100s killed, faith in Tsar broken.

1905 Revolution → concessions (Duma) but limited reform, resentment lingered.

WWI (1914–17) → 1.7m dead, 1m desertions, inflation ×4.

Tsar took command of army (1915) → blamed personally for defeats.

Rasputin (1915–16) → scandal, corruption, damaged monarchy.

Feb 1917 → bread riots, 200,000 on strike, soldiers mutinied.

Abdication (2 Mar 1917) → dynasty ended.

October Revolution (1917)
Paper 3 – Why did the Bolsheviks succeed in October 1917?

• April Theses (Apr 1917) → “Peace, Land, Bread,” clear message.

  PG failure → continued WWI, land not given.

  July Days (Jul 1917) → Bolsheviks weakened but survived.

  Kornilov Affair (Aug 1917) → PG discredited, Bolsheviks armed.

  Bolsheviks gained majority in Soviets by Sept.

  Trotsky led MRC (Military Revolutionary Committee).

  Oct 25–26: Red Guards seized Winter Palace.

  Collapse of PG → virtually no resistance.

Civil War & War Communism (1918–21)
Paper 3 – Why did the Bolsheviks win the Civil War?

Red Army → Trotsky’s leadership, 5m soldiers by 1920.

Whites divided → royalists, liberals, nationalists, foreigners.

Geography → Reds held Moscow, Petrograd + railway hubs.

Cheka (1917) → terror, crushed opposition.

War Communism → food + resources to Red Army.

Foreign intervention limited, unpopular in Russia.

Propaganda → Reds defended “Motherland.”

Leadership unity → Lenin + Trotsky effective.

Civil War & War Communism (1918–21)
Paper 3 – What was the impact of War Communism?

Grain requisitioning → famine, 5m deaths (1921).

Workers rationed, strikes in Petrograd.

Red Terror (1918) → 100,000+ executed.

Peasant uprisings → Tambov revolt (1920–21).

Industrial collapse → output <20% of 1913.

Population of Petrograd halved (1917–21).

Kronstadt sailors’ revolt (1921).

Led directly to NEP (1921).

Lenin & NEP (1921–24)
Paper 3 – Why was the NEP introduced?

Famine (1921) → 5m dead.

Kronstadt Rebellion (Mar 1921) → “Soviets without Bolsheviks.”

Tambov peasant revolt (1920–21).

War Communism = economic collapse.

Worker strikes in cities.

Army + industry near breakdown.

Lenin: NEP = “strategic retreat.”

Party unity maintained by ban on factions (1921).

Lenin & NEP (1921–24)
Paper 3 – What were the consequences of NEP?

Economy recovered → grain harvest doubled by 1924.

Peasants happier with free trade.

“Nepmen” traders emerged, seen as capitalist.

Industry revived → electrification plan.

Class tensions resurfaced (rich peasants vs poor).

Party divided → Left called NEP a betrayal.

State still controlled “commanding heights” (banks, heavy industry).

Lenin used ban on factions to silence critics.

Stalin & Struggle for Power (1924–29)
Paper 3 – Why did Stalin defeat his rivals by 1929?

General Secretary (1922) → controlled promotions, built patronage.

Lenin’s Testament (1924) critical, but suppressed.

Funeral (1924) → Trotsky absent, Stalin led mourning.

Triumvirate (Stalin, Kamenev, Zinoviev) defeated Trotsky.

Defeated Left Opposition (1927) → Trotsky expelled.

Allied with Bukharin against Left, then turned on him.

Defeated Bukharin (1928–29) over NEP vs collectivization.

Stalin = opportunist, shifted policies to isolate rivals.

Stalin’s USSR (1929–41)
Paper 3 – How successful were Stalin’s Five-Year Plans?

First Plan (1928–32) → coal +200%, steel +400%.

Second Plan (1933–37) → USSR self-sufficient in steel, transport expanded.

Third Plan (1938–41) → rearmament focus.

9,000 new enterprises built.

Consumer goods neglected → shortages.

Targets often falsified.

Stakhanovite propaganda boosted productivity.

USSR = major industrial power by 1941.

Stalin’s USSR (1929–41)
Paper 3 – What were the results of collectivization?

Began 1929 → forced kolkhozes.

Kulaks “liquidated as a class.”

Resistance → burning crops, slaughtering livestock.

Famine (1932–33) → 5–6m dead, esp. Ukraine (Holodomor).

Grain exports ↑ despite famine.

State secured control of agriculture.

Mechanization (tractors) slowly introduced.

Social devastation in countryside.

Stalin’s USSR (1929–41)
Paper 3 – How did Stalin use terror to maintain power?

NKVD (1934) → secret police.

Great Terror (1936–38) → 1m executed, millions in Gulags.

Show Trials (1936–38) → Old Bolsheviks forced to “confess.”

Purged Red Army (40% officers shot).

Mass arrests created climate of fear.

Gulags used for forced labour.

Denunciations encouraged → neighbours feared each other.

Terror ensured no organised opposition.

Stalin’s USSR (1929–41)
Paper 3 – How did Stalin use propaganda to maintain control?

Cult of Personality → Stalin as “Vozhd.”

Socialist Realism → art + literature glorified regime.

History rewritten (Short Course 1938).

Education controlled, textbooks revised.

Youth groups (Komsomol, Young Pioneers).

Media censorship → only state-approved.

Stakhanovites → model workers promoted.

Propaganda portrayed USSR as modern + united.

Stalin’s USSR (1929–41)
Paper 3 – What was the role of women in Stalin’s USSR?

1936 Family Code → abortion banned, family glorified.

Motherhood medals rewarded large families.

Women = 43% workforce by 1940.

Education expanded for girls.

Women entered professions (medicine, teaching).

Double burden: work + home.

Collectivization → women worked in fields + factories.

Propaganda → women as “builders of socialism.”

Stalin’s USSR (1929–41)
Paper 3 – How were minorities treated under Stalin?

1930s Russification → Russian language enforced.

Nationalist movements suppressed.

Churches + mosques closed.

Deportations (e.g. Crimean Tatars, 1944).

Local cultures repressed.

Soviet identity > ethnic identity.

Education promoted Russian history.

Limited tolerance only when politically useful.

Stalin’s USSR (1929–41)
Paper 3 – To what extent did Stalin achieve totalitarian control?

Great Terror eliminated rivals.

Cult of Personality dominated public life.

NKVD + Gulags spread fear.

Propaganda indoctrinated youth.

Control over economy (FYPs, collectivization).

Religion + minorities suppressed.

Some resistance persisted (black market, passive dissent).

Overall → near-total control by late 1930s