The curriculum unit The Russian Revolution focuses on the political and economic conditions that led to the fall of the tsar and explores the competing political ideologies that Russian people debated in 1917.
Videos for Readings: The videos below follow the outline of the printed curriculum unit. The headings correspond to the headings in the student readings.
Videos for Lessons accompany lessons in the teacher's guide of the printed curriculum unit.
Scholars Online: Videos for Readings
The Russian Revolution
Scholars
Patricia Herlihy
Brown University
Tom Gleason
Brown University
Part I: The Beginning of the End: 1861 to 1905
Tsar Alexander I
Tsar Alexander II
What is Marxism? [Patricia Herlihy - 2:23]
Tsar Nicholas II
What was Russia like in the early 1900s? [Patricia Herlihy - 1:53]
How was Russian society divided? [Tom Gleason - 0:29]
Who were the peasants? [Patricia Herlihy - 1:50]
Who were the workers? [Patricia Herlihy - 1:02]
Who were the nobles? [Patricia Herlihy - 1:34]
How was Russia ruled under the tsars? [Tom Gleason - 0:43]
What was Tsar Nicholas II like as a ruler? [Patricia Herlihy - 1:05]
How did the ruling class see the future of Russia? [Tom Gleason - 0:51]
What group of people triggered the 1905 Revolution? [Tom Gleason - 1:54]
The 1905 Revolution
What were the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks? [Patricia Herlihy - 1:30]
What was the Socialist Revolutionary Party? [Patricia Herlihy - 1:39]
Part II: "We Can No Longer Live Like This" 1905-1917
A Country in Turmoil
The Monarchy Self-Destructs
The 1917 Revolution Begins: The February Days
Dual Authority
Epilogue: Lenin and the Bolsheviks Take Power
Summer 1917
Red October
Why was Lenin a successful politician? [Patricia Herlihy - 1:37]
Why was Lenin such an effective politician? [Tom Gleason - 1:04]
Civil War
Could democracy have succeeded in Russia in 1917? [Tom Gleason - 0:41]
Stalin and the Terror
What was the legacy of the Russian Revolution? [Tom Gleason - 2:27]