HIS 112 Unit 8

HIS 112
Unit 8: Russia

A snow-covered statue of Lenin stands in front of the former Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg. This girls institute, aka the Institute for Noble Maidens, was founded by Catherine the Great and later served as the Bolshevik Headquarters during the October Revolution of 1917--kind of ironic, huh? The actual building was constructed between 1806-1808. After the Revolution, Smolny remained the city's communist party headquarters until 1991. It is now the office of the St. Petersburg mayor. See some additional photos.

What you must do in this unit

Read chapter 31 in the textbook (pages 722-28 and 881-891 in the Egar text).
Read my remarks from HIS 242 on the Russian Revolutions. You can also read my remarks on the reign of Nicholas II.
Read the Russian Declaration of the Rights of the Russian People.
Read my additonal note on 1917.
Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the unit.
Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum.
Take the Midterm Exam.

What you can do in this unit

You may listen to some further information about the Russian Revolution from my HIS 102 course.
Check out this website on the situation of the large Jewish population in the Russian Empire, Beyond the Pale: The History of Jews in Russia.

Some videos that you can watch for this unit

See the videos dealing with the Russian Revolution in the HIS 242 course.
For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a relevant video for this unit of the course. Send the title of the video, the url and a brief explanation of why you find the video interesting and applicable to the material that is being studied in this unit.

Extra Credit Options

Take the short 5-point quiz for chapters 31. Log into Blackboard and look under "Chapter Quizzes." You have five minutes to complete each quiz (multiple-choice questions).
Write a one-page paper (maybe two pages if they are exceptional) that provides a detailed comparison of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the Russian Declaration of the Rights of the Russian People for a maximum of 50 points.
Read John Reed's Ten Days That Shook the World (free at www.bartleby.com/79/) and explain Reed's explanation of why the Bolsheviks were able to seize power successfully for a maximum of 50 points (one or two pages).
For 25 points maximum extra credit, read the Franco-Russian Alliance Military Convention (1992) and write a paragraph that answers the question: How did this Convention fit into the pre-1914 diplomatic scene?
For 25 points maximum extra credit, read a newspaper account of the Kishinev pogrom and write a paragraph explaining the impact of the pogrom on Kishinev.
For extra credit of a maximum of 10 points, you can submit the answers to the Russian Declaration of the Rights of the Russian People study questions. Please write in formal, complete sentences.
For extra credit, please suggest a relevant website for this unit of the course. Send the title of the site, the url and a brief explanation why you find the information interesting and applicable to the material being studied this unit.