THE CHOICES PROGRAM BROWN UNIVERSITY
VIDEO COLLECTION

The Russian Revolution

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Part I: “What Is to Be Done?”—1861 to 1905

Why is it important for high school students to learn about the Russian Revolution?
What was Russia like in the early 1900s?
Who were the peasants?
Who were the workers?
Who were the intelligentsia? What was their role in Russian society?
What is Marxism?
What was life like for women in Russia in the late nineteenth century?
How did geography affect the governance of the Russian empire?
What were the causes of the 1905 Revolution?

Part II: “We Can No Longer Live Like This”—1905-1917

What did the Liberals want?
What was the Socialist Revolutionary Party?
What were the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks?
What was the significance of the 1906 changes to the Fundamental Laws of Russia?
How did World War I affect the lives of people in Russia?
What were the immediate causes and effects of the February Revolution of 1917?
What role did ordinary people play in the 1917 Revolution?

Part III: Lenin and the Bolsheviks Take Power

What were the goals of the Bolsheviks?
How essential was Lenin to the Bolsheviks’ seizure of power in October 1917?
What are the legacies of the Russian Revolution?

Lesson: The Geography and People of the Russian Empire

How did geography affect the governance of the Russian empire?

Lesson: Peasant Life in the Russian Empire

Who were the peasants?
What can art reveal about history or current events?
How do you go about analyzing a work of art?
Ilya Repin, Barge Haulers on the Volga, 1870-1873

Lesson: The October Manifesto and Russia's New Fundamental Laws

What were the causes of the 1905 Revolution?
What was the significance of the 1906 changes to the Fundamental Laws of Russia?

Lesson: Women, War, and Revolution

What is patriarchy?

Lesson: Three Representations of Lenin

How can you analyze historical images?
Analyzing a historical image: Viktor Denisov’s “Comrade Lenin Sweeps the Earth of the Unclean”
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