USSR:

Explain two effects of:

 Death of Lenin/Lenin’s funeral- Leadership race,

 Industrialisation- increase in economic production (in 12 years, oil doubled,
iron x5 and steel x6- by 1940- 2nd largest industrial power), advances in
military equipment- defend against Nazi invasion.
 The Five-Year Plans (1928-41)-economy grew (14% per year), quality of
goods decreased as did working and living conditions.
 The Stakhanovite movement-increased production (1/4 of workers classed
as them), caused arguments.
 Collectivisation- control of countryside (1936-90% of peasants were in
collective farms), better fed towns to help with production.
 The murder of Kirov (1st dec 1934)- greater control over party, purges
 The Show Trials- remove any opposition to him (old rivals), frighten the
wider community.
 The Great Terror(purges)- lack of production as workers were arrested (7-8
million arrested), constant fear, crippled economy- workers were not
working (7-8 million)
 The purges of the armed forces- Had no Generals to aid in defence against
Nazi invasion (50% of junior officers killed), loss of
experience(radios/tactics)
 The Cult of Personality- increased Stalin’s reputation and power, gave his
rule sense of legitimacy,
 Censorship- constant fear (didn’t know who to trust)
 Education policies- complete loyal generation (propaganda), only shown
good parts of soviet history, 55% in 1928 could read and write to 95% in
1939.
 Propaganda and the Soviet interpretation of history- Komsomol (soviet
youth organisations) 10m by 1940, children were encouraged to denounce
parents.
 Policies on living and working conditions in the town/countryside- housing
problem in towns (average apartment size in 1940 was 4m^2, some leisure
opportunities in towns like Gorky Park. Country- had more space but less
food, basic housing-wood huts, no leisure opportunities.
 Policies for women- more traditional (opposite to Lenin’s ideas (abortions
outnumbered births 3-1)), could work as well (industrialisation (1940 13
million working women)/ collectivisation),
  Policies towards national minorities- schools had to teach Russian as a
language, celebration of local languages and culture was sign of disloyalty
to USSR.
 Operation Barbarossa/German invasion- loss of troops (3 million captured),
slowing of Nazi invasion through scorched earth policy.
 Siege of Stalingrad- turning point of war (soviets beat Nazis for first time),
soviet resilience.
 Post-war economic policies- rapid industrialisations (increase of 50%),
increase in social welfare (free healthcare and policies in reducing
inequality).
 Post-war political policies- expansion of soviet influence (satellite states),
wider suppression of political decent.

Essays: You will be given a quote to assess, but it will effectively be asking you about
these topics (for example “Stalin’s position as General Secretary was the main
reason for his victory in the leadership struggle” = reasons for Stalin’s rise to
power). In preparing for these topics, you should make sure to identify 4 key
factors, and decide which you think is the most significant and why (you
could definitely be asked a question outside of this list, but if you are
prepared for these topics, you ought to be able to adjust your answer to any
other given topic).

 Reasons for Stalin’s rise to power- Trotsky not attending Lenin’s funeral,
 Causes/effects of industrialisation- Baltic-white Sea canal-300,000 gulag
workers, Magnitogorsk, movement from country to town (1929-32- 12.5
million new workers)
 Causes/effects of collectivisation- control over countryside (2/3 by 1934),
famine (1932-33-~8 million died)
 Successes/failures of industrialisation- heavy industry was a big success- oil
output had doubled, coal, iron and stell had also multiplied over 12 years.
Advances in transportation. Modern armaments industry was created,
unemployment vanished.
 Successes/failures of collectivisation- 1934- rationing of bread had ended, 19
million more workers in towns, countryside under communist control (1936-
90% of farms were collectivised). Grain harvest had decreased by 7%, meat ate
dropped by 2/3, productivity was poor.
 Reasons for/effects of the purges- Stalin had utter control (only member of
1917 central committee left in 1937), climate of fear and mistrust, stagnation
in economy.
  Changing conditions for workers- wages based on amount done (progressive
piecework), some factories had hot meals provided as well as care for kids and
laundry.
 Changing conditions for other social groups (women, national minorities)-
Women: Should return to traditional roles (housewives), they should focus on
raising children rather than working like under Lenin’s rule.

Ethnic minorities: Stalin was concerned about minorities being disloyal,

annoyed by Ukrainian’s refusal to join collectivisation, Stalin reversed the tolerant
approach of the 1920s and did: celebration of local languages seen as disloyalty,
saying that being Russian is best, all school taught Russian and minority leaders(and
teachers, artists, writers) were purged

 Changing conditions town/countryside- not enough housing (Moscow went

from 2.2million in 1929 to 4.2 million in 1936), average living space was only 4
m^2 with a communal kitchen and bathroom, even worst in countryside-
wood huts,
 Effects of education policies- Stalin's policy was to raise kids for
industrialisation, as hard-working disciplined workers. Had to attend until at
least 15. Russian had to be taught, university attendance rate increased from
170,000 in 1927 to 812,000 in 1939. literacy rates grew from 55 % in 1928 to
94% in 1939.
 Effects of social and economic policies/most significant changes on ordinary
people just like a combination of the ones above.
 Reasons for opposition to Stalin’s policies
 Ways that Stalin controlled the Soviet Union (terror and propaganda)-/
 Reasons for initial success of Operation Barbarossa/early Soviet setbacks
 Reasons for surviving Operation Barbarossa/effects of German invasion
 Key features of the Second World War in the Soviet Union
 Reasons for victory in Second World War
 Causes/effects of post-war political and economic developments
 Strength of USSR at the death of Stalin

Cold War:
Explain two effects of:

 The Second World War on the relationship between the USA and the
USSR- got better when a second front was opened, didn’t tell Stalin about
atom bomb.
 Tehran Conference- tension was caused due to disagreements on a second
front, Roosevelt and Stalin got on well.
 Yalta Conference- agreement on dividing Germany, free elections in
German controlled countries.
 Potsdam conference- UN being established, disagreements between dead
Roosevelt and Truman
 The Soviet Union’s expansion into Eastern Europe- scared of USSR
expanding even more than promisedà USA policy of containment, soviets
had a ‘buffer zone’ for future wars.
 The attitudes of Stalin and Truman on the relationship between the
superpowers- both were worried by break up of war time alliance, tension
might lead to conflict, George Kennan- Stalin wanted destruction of
capitalism.
 Churchill’s “Iron curtain” speech- clear gap between USA and USSR,
 The Truman Doctrine- policy of containment- clear switch from
isolationism, set itself up as the leader against communism.
 The Marshall Plan- provided aid to USA supported countries ($13.7 billion
1948-52), Stalin setting up Cominform and Comecon
 The formation of Cominform- Stalin had direct control over satellite states,
 The formation of Comecon- to keep satellite states from taking Marshall
aid from USA and losing them, trade agreements between satellite states
(benefit)
 The division of Germany- Stalin become paranoid (formation of trizonia),
 The Berlin Crisis- looked like an aggressive act by Stalin, solidified the
division of Europe.
 The establishment of NATO- 13 members joined- major step towards USA
getting directly involved in defence of West Europe
 The creation of two Germanys-
 The Korean War- USA showed it would not let communism spread
(àdomino effect), Soviet Union built up army, 2.8 million to 5.6 million by
1955. SEATO was created.
 The formation of the Warsaw Pact- USSR increased control of satellite
states, Europe was divided economically, Politically and Militarily into two
camps.
 Khrushchev’s “peaceful co-existence”- Geneva summit meeting in July
1955 which reduced tension, 1955 agreement on how Austria should be
governed.
 The Soviet Union’s rule on Hungary- Non-communist parties were
banned- soviet control, 2949-56, 3,000 Hungarians sent to prison.
  The Soviet invasion of Hungary- thousands of Hungarians were killed as
Uprising was crushed, tensions increased as fear of war increasedà more
military spending.
 The nuclear arms race- USSR and USA spent large amounts on weapons,
change of thinking about was- nukes used as deterrents instead.
 The U2 incident- increased tensions as accusations of spying towards USA,
U2 spy planes needed better protection from missiles à importance of
intelligence gathering.
 The building of the Berlin Wall- Families and friends split up, People
escaped after it was built.
 The Bay of Pigs Invasion- humiliation of USA (looked like USA was acting
same as USSR), communism was shown to be popular in Cuba/ stronger
relation between USSR and Cuba.
 The Cuban Missile Crisis- direct communication was set up between USA
and USSR. (hotline). Nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
 The Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia- Condemning of USSR by satellite
states like Romania. E. Germany and Poland welcomed actions. US
angered. USSR shown that USA would not help directly.
 The thaw-
 The “hotline”
 The Test Ban Treaty
 The Outer Space Treaty
 The Nuclear non-proliferation treaty
 SALT1

Essays: You will be given a quote to assess, but it will effectively be asking you about
these topics (for example “The main reason for worsening relations between
the USA and the Soviet Union in the years 1945 – 47 was Soviet Expansion in
Eastern Europe”. How far do you agree? = reasons for declining relations). In
preparing for these topics, you should make sure to identify 4 key factors,
and decide which you think is the most significant and why (you could
definitely be asked a question outside of this list, but if you are prepared for
these topics you ought to be able to adjust your answer to any other given
topic).

 Reasons for declining relationship 1945 – 1949

 Causes/effects/most significant feature of conferences of the failure of the
post-war conferences
 Most significant development/reason for tension in the 1950s
  Reason for changing relationship in the 1950s/60s.
 Most significant development/reason for tension in the 1960s
 Most significant cause/effect of building of the Berlin Wall
 Most significant cause/effect of Cuban Missile Crisis
 Most significant cause/effect of invasion of Czechoslovakia
 Most significant development 1963 – 1972
 Most important cause of the thaw
 Reasons for Détente/key features of Détente
 Extent of Détente in 1972

USA 1918-1941:

Features: Describe two features of:

 The Roaring Twenties- mass production (one every 10 seconds),

 The economic boom
 Mass production- prices dropped ($950 to $290 1925) (12 hours to 10
seconds)
 Problems in farming- mechanisation-less jobs, demand dropped (Europe got
back together- 2.50 per bushel of wheat to under $1)
 Changes in the leisure industries in the 1920s- (cinema-1924 over 40 million),
dancing and sport=more popular,
 Social changes in the 1920s- attitudes towards immigration (Sacco and
vincetti), lynching.
 The changing position of women- (1928-145 women in state government),
(1920s 2 million joined workforce)- employed in male dominated jobs.
 Attitudes towards immigration-emergency quote act (1921- 350,000 limited
(3% of a countries population), 1924 national origins act-164,000-2% of
population
 The Red Scare- mail bombs to politicians (8 cities experiences bombings)à
palmer raids. Strikes (100,000 workers in Seattle strikeà overthrow of
government)
 The Sacco and Vanzetti case- bias trial (immigrants-Italian and anarchists),
false evidence
 Attitudes towards Black Americans- lynching (1919- 76 black people) lynched,
the great migration (1.5 million migrated north).
 The Ku Klux Klan- really popular with WASPS (5 million by 1923), controlled
education, boycotted businesses.
  The Scopes Monkey Trial- fundamentalists v modernists, Butler act (stop
teaching of evolution), helped the debate between groups get international
attention.
 Prohibition- people had more money-spent less on alcohol, deaths from
alcohol deaths decreased by 80% in 1921, gangsters’ murders and profits
increased (200 gang related murders by 1924 in Chicago.
 The Wall Street Crash
 Hoover’s reaction to the Wall Street Crash
 The Great Depression
 Hoovervilles/Bonus Marchers
 The First New Deal
 The Hundred Days
 The Tennessee Valley Authority
 The Alphabet Agencies
 The Second New Deal
 The Works Progress Administration
 The Social Security Act
 The Wagner Act
 The Banking Act
 Rural Electrification
 Supreme Court Opposition- overalled the NRA and AAA,
 Right Wing Opposition/The Liberty League
 Left Wing Opposition/Huey Long’s ‘Share our Wealth’ programme’; Father
Coughlin’s ‘Social Justice’ Campaign

Source comparison question: you can’t revise for these in advance, other than to be
familiar with the technique and what you have to do (similarities, differences and
conclusion)

Source based essays:

 Main reason for economic boom in the 1920s

 Main reason for problems in farming in the 1920s
 Most significant social change
 Most significant change for women
 Main challenge facing immigrants.
 Most significant effect of Prohibition
 Main reason for the failure of Prohibition
 Extent of threat posed by the Bonus Marchers
  Causes/effects of the Wall Street Crash
 Success/failure of Hoover’s response to the Depression
 Success/failure of the first/second/whole New Deal
 Main reason for opposition to the New Deal

Middle East:
 McMahon-Hussein letters- between Britain and Arabs, Arab independence in
return for support against ottomans.
 Sykes-picot plan- France and Britain (secret), share out ottoman empire land
once defeated (Palestine under international control).
 Balfour declaration- Britain and Jews (Balfour and Zionists), Establish Palestine
as a new home for Jews but not state recognised rights of inhabitants.
 Jewish immigration in 1920s and 30s- Zionism grew (^desire to return to
homeland), Hitler comes to power in 1933 (promoted antisemitism), Balfour
declaration), 1922-84,000 1931-175,000, 1933-35-+135,000 more.
