SECTION 1: WHY DID THE TSARIST REGIME COLLAPSE IN 1917?
What were the challenges facing the tsarist regime at the end of the nineteenth century?
1905
Could Tsarism have survived? 1906–1917
SECTION 2: WHY WERE THE BOLSHEVIKS SUCCESSFUL IN OCTOBER 1917?
Was the Provisional Government doomed from the beginning?
Was the Bolshevik seizure of power in October 1917 inevitable?
SECTION 3: THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE BOLSHEVIK STATE 1917–24
How did the Bolsheviks survive the first few months in power?
How did the Bolsheviks win the Civil War?
How was the Bolshevik state consolidated between 1921 and 1924?
SECTION 4: FROM LENIN TO STALIN
How significant is Lenin’s contribution to history?
How did Stalin emerge as the sole leader of Russia?
SECTION 5: HOW DID STALIN TRANSFORM THE ECONOMY OF THE USSR IN THE 1930S?
Why did Stalin make the Great Turn?
Was collectivisation a success?
How well planned were the Five-Year Plans?
SECTION 6: HOW DID STALIN CONTROL THE USSR?
How far was Stalin responsible for the Great Terror?
The cult of the personality
SECTION 7: SOVIET SOCIETY IN THE 1920S AND 1930S
Were Soviet culture and society transformed by the October Revolution?
Culture and society in a decade of turmoil
SECTION 8: FROM PARIAH TO SAVIOUR: THE SOVIET UNION AND EUROPE 1921–1945
Alone in a hostile world: how did Soviet foreign policy develop between 1921 and 1941?
How was the Soviet Union able to turn disaster into victory in the Great Patriotic War?
SECTION 9: STALIN'S FINAL YEARS AND CONCLUSION
Stalin’s final years 1945–53
Conclusion
Terry Fiehn is a former advisory teacher in London, and the author of the GCSE title Russia & the USSR is SHP's Discovering the Past series.
Chris Corin is Head of History at Worthing Sixth Form College and a Moderator for Edexcel's A level specification.
Comprehensive coverage of the key content, the key concepts and the key exam skills to improve students grades
Carefully constructed tasks encourage analysis and understanding of key issues
'Focus route' pathway designed specifically for independent learning to help students to make their own notes
Clear diagrams summarise important or difficult concepts in a memorable way
A wealth of stimulating source material - visual and written - both enhances the text but also develops skills of research and source interrogation
Accessible analysis of recent historical debates which students can refer to in their examination essays
'Learning Trouble Spots' guide readers through some of the most common mistakes made by students as they study this period.