Heathen History – Russia

Albert Camus was the French winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957. He was famed for contributed to the rise of the philosophy known as  absurdiam. He wrote in his essay “The Rebel” that his whole life was devoted to opposing the philosophy of nihilism while still delving deeply into individual freedom. His best known works are “The Stranger”,”The Fall” (from where the band take their name), and The Plague. In 1957 he died in a car crash. Some recent work suggests that he was a surprising victim of the KGB. Read the Observer article below, and see what you think.

 Observer article

The link below is to a really interesting article by Simon Sebag Montefiore. He asks the question, “History portrays Stalin as an inhumane and vicious leader – but he was a man as well as a monster. Do we betray his victims by noting his human side, or will the full picture help guard us against potential tyrants in the future?”

Have a look and perhaps comment what you think.

If you like the writing style of Montefiore, then you might like to read The Court of the Red Tsar . There is a copy in the school library.

 Humanising Stalin

If the last post focuses upon the start of our period (the Crimean War), this post might initially seem too late. In February 2011 a statue was unveiled to Boris Yeltsin in, of all places, Yekaterinburg. It was one of the first statues to be built to a former ruler since the collapse of Communism, and happened at a time when statue to Lenin and Stalin were being pulled down across the rest of the former Soviet Union.

Yeltsin was of the first president of Russia (1991 – 1999), and is remembered as the leader ensured that there would be no swift return to hard line Communist policies. The extent too which he then failed to live up to this initial success is a matter of debate, however is some respects it makes more sense to conclude a comparative course on Tsarism and Communism in 1991 than 1964.  Indeed, this might be the course I am teaching your children !

You might like to think about the parallels between Yelstin and  Khrushchev as Communist reformers, or compare the fates of Tsarism and Communism.

News Report on the unveiling of the Yelstin statue

Yelstin Report

Statue of Stalin pulled down in his home town

Those of you who used the old site will know it as predominantly a vehicle to discuss Russian history. These pages are designed to support Little Heath A2 students studying for their summer examination. Our examination board is OCR, and the paper is Russia and its rulers 1855 – 1964. The paper code is Y318.

As before, we envisage that different students will use different parts of the site in different ways. Most students find the schemes of work and assessment sections above as particularly useful for reference. You should however also look at the additional materials section. This has lots in it to support and extend your studies. Look for example at the excellent quotation bank from a previous student. Below this post will be articles of news about Russian history. You will also see posts here that will be used for online discussion homeworks where we will want you to add (ideally constructive) comments.

Above all however, we want this to be your site. However you use it is fine, but please take ownership of it.

Mr Kydd

(askydd@yahoo.co.uk)

Oh and just for old times sake, here are two top historians (Mr Jarrett and me circa 2030 ?) debating the origins of the Russian Revolution – perhaps…

Please find here the department’s 5Rs document (Research, Reflect, Review, Read around, and Respond to feedback). It sets out what A Levels students should expect from us, and what we expect from you.

Finally,  this is a complete list of all the past questions from the old course. However, students are reminded that the latest Ofqual pronouncements on examinations which instructed the boards that;

• All parts of the course must be examined.
• No question should be (exactly) repeated.

You class teacher will discuss what this means for your revision with you. Perhaps more useful in essay planning is this revision work booklet.

Mr Kydd.