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Russia and the USSR, 1860-1924

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Award-winning resources for history teachers and students aged 11-18.

ActiveHistory provides interactive simulations, self-marking quizzes, lesson plans, worksheets and multimedia activities designed by full-time history teacher Russel Tarr.

Build and deliver complete history courses with resources for classroom teaching, remote learning and independent study - from multimedia lectures to interactive games and historical simulations.

Trusted by history teachers worldwide for engaging, curriculum-focused resources.

World History teaching resources for the high school classroom: lesson plans, worksheets, quizzes and simulation games for KS3, IGCSE, IB and A-Level teachers.

Interactive exercises

TOP ACTIVITY: A Virtual Tour around Tsarist Russia!
A great way of familiarising students with the issues and personalities of Russia on the eve of World War One. Students can choose from a simpler game, and a more sophisticated one. There is also a worksheet to accompany the adventure, which is lavishly illustrated with GENUINE colour photographs!

1. Manic Miner Games
a. Russia under Alexander II
b. Russia under Alexander III
c. Russia under Nicholas II
d. The USSR under Lenin
2. Fling the Teacher Quizzes
The Reign of Alexander II
The Reign of Alexander III
The Reign of Nicholas II (to 1905)
3. "Splat!" Game
Russia 1860-1914
4. Wordshoot Quizzes
  a. Russia under Alexander II
b. Russia under Alexander III
c. Russia under Nicholas II
d. The USSR under Lenin
5. Cannonball Fun Quizzes
 

a. Russia under Alexander II
b. Russia under Alexander III
c. Russia under Nicholas II
d. The USSR under Lenin

PowerPoint Presentations

1. Nicholas II: Industrial DevelopmentsA PowerPoint presentation with an accompanying worksheet.

Worksheets

1. Introduction: Russia in 1855
2. Causes for the emancipation of the serfs
3. Crossword Test: Russia in 1855
4. Problems in carrying out Emancipation
5. The Terms of Emancipation
6. Alexander II's other Reforms
7. Overview: Reactions to the Reforms of Alexander II
8. In-Depth assessment: Reactions to the Reforms of Alexander II
9. The assassination of Alexander II
10. Crossword: The Reign of Alexander II
10. Alexander III: An overview of the man
10. Alexander III: An overview of the man
10. Alexander III: Reform and Reaction
10. Alexander III: The policy of Russification
10. Alexander III: Economic Policies
10. Alexander III: The end of the reign
10.   Nicholas II: An introduction
11. Nicholas II: Sourcework on economic developments
12. Nicholas II: Social effects of economic policies
13. How similar were AlexII, AlexIII, Nicholas II?
14. Political Opposition in the Reign of Nicholas II
15. The 1905 Revolution: Cause, Course and Consequence
16 Positive Reforms after 1905: Stolypin and Agriculture
17. Negative Developments after 1905: Treatment of the Dumas
18. The Duma Era - a time of lost opportunities?
19. Government corruption after 1906
20. Impact of WW1 upon Russia
21. The February Revolution
22. The Provisional Government
22. Lenin: Political Opposition
22. Lenin: Military Opposition
22. Lenin: The Issue of National Minorities
22. Lenin: Social and Economic Problems
22. Lenin: Opposition within the party

External Links

1.   Russia Lesson Plans  
2. Images and Sources on Russia
3. Alexander Palace Time Machine
4. Audio Lectures on Russian History
5. Alexander II
6. Assess the reign of Alexander II
7. Primary Sources for the Great Reforms
8. The Reforms of Alexander II
9. The Reforms of Alexander II
10. Political Opposition under Alexander II
10. Lenin's Russia
10. October 1917
10. Kronstadt
10. Lenin Internet Archive
10. Trotsky and the Civil War

Audio-Visual resources

Man With A Movie Camera The Fall Of The Romanoff Dynasty [1927] The Russian Revolution
Eisenstein:
10 Days that Shook the World
Battleship Potemkin
Strike
Communism - The Great Belief Of The 20th Century
Vol. 1 - 1900-1928
Vol. 2 - 1929-1939
Vol. 3 - 1940-1953
Vol . 4 - 1953-1999
Feature Films:
Nicholas And Alexandra
Rasputin the Mad Monk
Stalin
Animal Farm
Russia: The Missing Years
1. Russian Civil War
2. Russian Revolution
Stalin's Secret Life Russia In Revolt [1924] - Outstanding Box Set of contemporary films!


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