Heathen History – Russia

…Fight club.

The plan is for an online History debate between Little Heath and Sir Henry Floyd. It will be done through posting comments to this post.

The aim is to get you really thinking about how to construct analytical and powerful arguments in as few words as possible.

The rules.

Obviously the first rule of Fight Club is that you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule is also that you do not talk about fight club. However the third rule is that each school will get two posts of no more than 200 words. Credit will be given for the power of your arguments and evidence deployed (you should aim to interact with it where it is appropriate). 

The timeline will be as follows.

30th September – The title is released (Little Heath will argue for the motion and Sir Henry Floyd against it).

The week starting the 1st October – Little Heath have a week to make their first post in favour of the motion.

The week starting the 15th October – Sir Henry Floyd have a week to put their first post against the motion.

The week starting the 22nd October – both schools have a week to post a rebuttal of the other school’s argument.

Over half term – Judging to take place.

Enjoy…

Mr Kydd

DEBATE TITLE

To what extent is it correct to suggest that Alexander II deserves his reputation as the Tsar Liberator ?

You might already have the idea that this course is about comparing and contrasting themes and ideas across the period 1855 to 1964. This is what we mean when we say we need to think synoptically. As such, we have just looked at serfdom. By the time we finish agriculture you need to be able to decide if you agree that Collectivisation under Stalin was “a second serfdom” (S Smith) or not.

This article from The Guardian reflects this.  The present ruler of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has called for industrial growth akin to Stalin’s in the 1930s. The quality and cost of this industrialisation is debated. However, it in turn is compared with Sergi Witte’s “Great Spurt” of the 1890s. Both focused on heavy industry (what Stalin would later call the “sinews of war”) , and both had great state projects (Witte ordered the building of the Trans-Siberian Railway whilst Stalin ordered the construction of the White Sea Canal and the Dnieper Dam. Both also averaged growth rates of about 8% per year, both centralised power and exploited the peasants.

You might think such similarities are overwhelming then. However, when we scratch below the surface, there are important differences as well. Witte’s industrialisation was a capitalist one (he placed Russia on the Gold Standard) whilst Stalin was a Marxist who aimed for “Socialism in One Country” (and autarky). We might also want to refelct that Stalin was able to industrialise the USSR to an extent that it could (just) defend itself against German invasion in 1941. Witte’s industrialisation did not leave Romanov Russia in a position where it could fight effectively in 1914. We might also like to reflect upon the accuracy of Stalin’s figures (no-one could afford to miss their targets) and the levels of suffering that the two periods of rapid industrialisation caused the workers.

In other words, things that look the same in this course can sometimes mask significant differences.

Mr Kydd.

One action that marks the successful step up to an A2 historian is the ability to undertake effective independent reading. This website is designed to help you with this. The teacher schemes of work have advised reading for students from Oxley before you come to the lesson. Equally the further reading section of the site has a coded library guide and supporting fiction.

We understand however that this is not something that you have been required to do all that much to date. As such, we thought it might be a good idea if we posted what we are going to read over the summer to support our Russia teaching.

Mr Kydd ~

I like to read something academic and something from Russian literature. I have nocticed that recent themed question have increasingly asked students to compare Tsarist and Communist society. As such I will be reading Edward Acton’s chapter entitled “State and Society under Lenin and Stalin” in Themes In Modern European History. Acton is one of my favourite historians to read as he combines pace and orginality without being too fussy. I picked a general reader because I understand the topic but want to deepen the evidence I have to deploy when I teach. I also intend to read Notes from Underground by Dostoevsky because it gives a personal insight into living on the fringes of an autocratic society (and because I have never managed to finish Crime and Punishment)

This is a really interesting article on BBC news. It is about an unfinished railway built during Stalin’s rule.  You all know how important industrialisation and railway building was throughout the course and this is a good example of the human cost of this.  The article includes stories of some of the thousands of people sentenced to hard labour working on the railway. We can also link this to press and propaganda under Stalin as this railway has not been talked about for decades.

Just before we go a couple of things.

1. Please be aware of the Half Term revision – you can download the revison flyer here.

2. If you need anything remember you can still email us or come in whilst you are on study leave.

Finally – good luck. You have been great to work with. Now go and get the grades that you deserve.

Mr Kydd.