1. Test 2. Write one-page single-spaced analytical essay in response to one of the following (see the guidelines). Support your assertions with specific examples and cite your sources.
1. “Totalitarian” historians argue that the Bolshevik take-over in October 1917 was a coup, carried out by a handful of political radicals. The “Revisionist” historians hold that the Bolsheviks shaped popular anger and frustration, giving direction to a social revolution. Which argument sounds more convincing to you? (doc. 1)
2. Historians disagree about the causes of the Bolshevik victory in the civil war. Some assert that the Bolsheviks won due to their discipline, unity, determination, and substantial popular support. Others maintain that the Bolshevik victory was more the result of the weaknesses and errors of their enemies. Which argument sounds more convincing to you? (doc. 2)
3. Most historians agree that the period of was formative stage of the USSR. Do you agree with such assertion? (doc. 3)
3. Historians often refer to NEP as the “Brest-Litovsk Treaty in peacetime.” In your opinion, how accurate is such description? (doc. 4)

2. History 345. Test 1
Part A (20 points). Locate 15 republics that used to make up the Soviet Union and identify their capitals (Soviet or modern).
For Parts B and C see the guidelines and samples.
Part B (30 points). Identify the following items:
October Manifesto “Black Sunday” RSDRP Serfdom
Peter the Great Stolypin Tolstoi Dostoyevsky
People’s Will Russian-Japanese War Catherine the Great
Part C (50 points). Write an analytical essay in response to the following. Support your assertions with specific examples.
1. What were the unique political, social, and economic features of the pre-revolutionary Russia that set her apart from other European powers?
2. In your opinion, on the eve of World War I the Russian Empire’s main weaknesses were precipitated by the malfunction of the entire system or by the failures of the Tsar?
3. In your opinion, did the Great War destroy the Russian empire or it merely expose its intrinsic flaws?

3. History 345. Final Test Write a comprehensive essay in response to Part A and one essay in response to Part B:
Part A. In your opinion, was the collapse of the USSR precipitated by the malfunction of the entire system or by the failures of Gorbachev? Support your assertions with specific examples and cite page numbers (Dziewanowski and Kalashnikov).
Part B Analyze the following statements:
1) In the end, Khrushchev’s reforms antagonized his friends and frightened his enemies. Support your arguments with specific examples and cite page numbers (Dziewanowski).
2) Brezhnev’s tenure in office is conventionally referred to as the “era of stagnation,” implying its regressive character. At the same time, it was the rare period of domestic tranquility for the Soviet people. How do you reconcile the two viewpoints? Support your arguments with specific examples and cite page numbers (Dziewanowski).
3) The two decades after the fall of the USSR have demonstrated that Western ideas of liberalism, constitutionalism, human rights, free market, and democracy have little resonance in Russian culture. Support your arguments with specific examples and cite page numbers (Dziewanowski).

4. History 345. Film review.
Write a comprehensive (1 single-spaced) essay in response to the following. See the sample of film review in guidelines.
Film critics have argued that the “Fate of a Man” tells us as much about the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War as about Khrushchev’s cultural “Thaw.”
In your opinion, how accurate is such assertion? Support your arguments with specific examples and cite 2 sources (including the assigned article “Thaw at Home”).
Main characters:
Andrei Sokolov
Irina – his wife
Anatoly -- his son (an artillery captain, who dies at the end of the war)
Ivan Timofeyevich – the accordion player
Vania – the orphan boy (adopted by Sokolov)
Driver – (listened to Sokolov’s story at the river-crossing)

5. History 345. Book review.
Write a single-spaced 1 page comprehensive essay in response to the following:
Some specialists in Soviet history call One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich the very microcosm of the Stalinist society – in reference to its gigantic and unwieldy economic system, and ethnically and socially diverse population.
In your opinion, how accurate is such assertion? Support your arguments with specific examples and cite 2 sources (including One Day).

6. Test 2. Write a comprehensive essay in response to the following:
1. In your opinion, was Stalin’s regime the logical culmination of Leninism, or did the Stalinist state represent a breach with Lenin’s ideals and practices? Support your assertions with specific examples (cite page numbers).
2. The film “Stalin” strongly suggests that repression and massive purges were the two dominant factors in Stalin’s rule. Some historians, however, suggest Stalin turned Russia into a powerful industrial nation and that outweighed or at least counter-balanced his rule of terror. In your opinion, which of these arguments sounds more convincing? Support your assertions with specific examples (cite page numbers).
3. In your opinion, what were the major factors that ultimately contributed to Soviet victory over Nazi Germany? Support your assertions with specific examples (cite page numbers).

7. Test 2. Write an essay in response to the following:
1. “Totalitarian” historians argue that the October 1917 revolution was a coup, carried out by a handful of political radicals. “Revisionist” historians hold that the Bolsheviks enjoyed considerable popular support and therefore it was a revolution. In your opinion, which of these arguments sounds more convincing? Support your assertions with specific examples (cite page numbers).
2. “Totalitarian” historians argue that the Bolsheviks won the Civil War by terrorizing Russia’s population into submission. “Revisionist” historians hold that terror was but one factor which contributed to the Bolshevik victory. In your opinion, which of these arguments sounds more convincing? Support your assertions with specific examples (cite page numbers).
3. Historians have often referred to NEP as the “Brest-Litovsk Treaty in peacetime.” In your opinion, how accurate is such description? Support your assertions with specific examples (cite page numbers).

9. Response Paper 2. Write an analytical essay (1 typed, single-spaced page) on one of the following:
1. In regards to the “totalitarian” vs. “revisionist” interpretations of the Bolshevik revolution, which of these seems more plausible to you? Support your assertions with specific examples.
2. It was almost a miracle that the Bolsheviks won the civil wars. Support your assertions with specific examples.
3. By 1922 ‘War Communism’ had so drastically altered Russia’s political and socio-economic landscape that it became unrecognizable. Support your assertions with specific examples.
4. The NEP was a replica of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty in peacetime. Support your assertions with specific examples.

10. History 345 Analyze the novel in the following context:
Some specialists in Soviet history refer to One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich as the microcosm of the entire Soviet society under Stalin. In your opinion, how accurate is such assertion? Support your arguments with specific examples.
1 single-spaced page
3 sources (including the novel and the textbook)
Bibliography list
Quote your sources according to the format (I-36)

11. History 345. Film response paper (1 single-spaced page)
History 345. Film response paper (1 single-spaced page). Analyze the film Fate of a Man in the context of the following statement:   “Fate of a Man is as much a story about the Great Patriotic War as it is about Khrushchev’s ‘Thaw.’” Support your assertions with specific examples.

12. Film response paper sample
Battle of Neretva is a 1969 a Yugoslav partisan film. The film was directed by Veljko Bulajić and depicts a massive Axis offensive against the Yugoslav Partisans in The offensive was also known as the “Fourth Enemy Offensive” and occurred in the area of the Neretva-River in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
While the film is based on the true events of World War II and the battle scenes are superb, the producer leaves out several important issues. Thus, the film conveys the impression that all the partisans as well as their enemies were ideologically motivated. However, as in many civil wars and revolutions, the majority of the population in wartime Yugoslavia held no rigid political loyalties. Instead, they were forced to survive as best they could and their allegiances shifted according to the situation. For example, the Chetniks, who are portrayed as the inveterate enemies of the Partisans, were not a single unified force, but initially fought alongside the Partisans against the Germans and then joined the Germans against the Partisans (I ).
Bosnia-Herzegovina especially represented a contentious mix of political ideologies, ethnicities and religious beliefs – including nationalism and communism, Serb and Croat, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Muslim – and consequently, the war there was particularly cruel. The film crafts a fascinating narrative of rival radical ideologies, particularly between the multinational vision of the Communist Partisans versus the xenophobic nationalism of the Serbian Chetniks and the Croatian Ustaše. Although the film emphasizes the battle against the Partisans and the Axis powers (Germany and Italy), for Bulajić its local dimension – the conflict between the citizens of the former Yugoslavia is just as, if not more, important (II ). As Commissar Stole says “hatred between the same people is the most vicious.’”

13. The film correctly shows that the Partisans fought for much more than mere survival – from the beginning Tito envisioned the war against the Axis powers mutating into a revolutionary struggle and turning Yugoslavia into a communist state (II- 276). Although most Serbs initially joined the Partisans to survive the Ustaše genocide, the Partisan leadership from the beginning emphasized the importance of social revolution that would change the country’s political and socio-economic landscape. In other words, the unique conditions of Axis occupation and the bitter ethnic and ideological conflicts engendered the revolutionary movement united in its primary objectives (I-57-61).
Regrettably, the film does not stress the background of the Partisan leadership and in my opinion, this issue is very important. The KPJ’s long experience as an underground political movement meant years of recruitment through cultural groups, sports clubs, schools, and unions (I-87-9). This fact alone helps explain why the Partisans were much better organized not only to fight large-scale battles, but also create the so-called “free zones” – the Neretva basin was but one – in which they set up the small replicas of the future socialist society, later superimposed upon the entire Yugoslavia (II – ). The Partisans never viewed the armed struggle against the Axis powers from a purely military prospective, but were determined to transform this struggle into a political battle aimed at building a “genuinely multinational socialist society.” Overall, however, the film does offer a realistic portrayal of the brutality of warfare in Yugoslavia.

14. Bibliography: I. Tomasevich, Jozo
Bibliography: I. Tomasevich, Jozo. War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, : Occupation and Collaboration. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, II. Pavlović, Stevan K. Hitler’s New Disorder: The Second World War in Yugoslavia. London: Hurst & Company, 2008.

15. Final Test. Write 2 comprehensive essays in response to the following:
1. “Khrushchev’s main problem was that he initiated only a partial dismantling of the Great Tyrant’s inhumane system and occasionally relapsed into the old heavy-handed methods. Such policies eventually antagonized his friends and frightened his enemies.” Support your arguments with specific examples.
2. The Brezhnev era is conventionally referred to as the “era of stagnation,” implying its ossified nature. At the same time, it was the rare period of domestic tranquility for the Soviet people. How do you reconcile the two viewpoints? Support your arguments with specific examples.
3. In your opinion, should Gorbachev be blamed for the collapse of the USSR, or he just pushed the proverbial “house of cards”? Support your arguments with specific examples.
4. The Gorbachev rule is sometimes compared to the Provisional Government of 1917 as the time of “unfulfilled promises and failed illusions.” In your opinion, is such comparison justified? Support your assertions with specific examples.
5. In your opinion, was Boris Yeltsin’s “shock therapy” a partial success or a complete failure? Who or what should be credited or blamed for its outcome? Support your assertions with specific examples.
6. In your opinion, is Vladimir Putin’s Russia a replica of the Soviet Union? Support your assertions with specific examples.