The Rise of Totalitarianism: Russia/USSR
CA Content Standards
10.7 Students analyze the rise of totalitarian governments after World War I.
10.7 Students analyze the rise of totalitarian governments after World War I.
- Understand the causes and consequences of the Russian Revolution, including Lenin's use of totalitarian means to seize and maintain control (e.g., the Gulag).
- Trace Stalin's rise to power in the Soviet Union and the connection between economic policies, political policies, the absence of a free press, and systematic violations of human rights (e.g., the Terror Famine in Ukraine).
- Analyze the rise, aggression, and human costs of totalitarian regimes (Fascist and Communist) in Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union, noting especially their common and dissimilar traits.
Common Core Literacy Standards
Reading
CCSS.Literacy.RH.11-12. 1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole
CCSS.Literacy.RH.11-12. 3. Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
Writing
CCSS.Literacy.WHST.11-12. 4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.Literacy.WHST.11-12. 7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a selfgenerated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
CCSS.Literacy.WHST.11-12. 9. Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Reading
CCSS.Literacy.RH.11-12. 1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole
CCSS.Literacy.RH.11-12. 3. Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
Writing
CCSS.Literacy.WHST.11-12. 4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.Literacy.WHST.11-12. 7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a selfgenerated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
CCSS.Literacy.WHST.11-12. 9. Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Essential Historical Questions
1. How did The Russo-Japanese War, The Revolution of 1905, World War I, and the March Revolution contributed to the demise of Russia’s monarchy?
2. Why did Germany allow Vladimir Lenin to escape from exile and return to Russia, and how did Lenin gain control of Russia?
3. How did the peace treaty with Germany in 1928 lead to a civil war in Russia?
4. How did Lenin and the Bolsheviks regain control of Russia?
5. What allowed Joseph Stalin to became a totalitarian?
1. How did The Russo-Japanese War, The Revolution of 1905, World War I, and the March Revolution contributed to the demise of Russia’s monarchy?
2. Why did Germany allow Vladimir Lenin to escape from exile and return to Russia, and how did Lenin gain control of Russia?
3. How did the peace treaty with Germany in 1928 lead to a civil war in Russia?
4. How did Lenin and the Bolsheviks regain control of Russia?
5. What allowed Joseph Stalin to became a totalitarian?
Big Ideas
1. Wars and Revolutions paved the way for the overthrow and murder of czar Nicolas II and his family.
2. The disintegration of Russia’s government led to a bloody civil war in which Vladimir Lenin and Communist Party came out victorious.
3. Lenin used his absolute control to repair the Russian’s economy and renamed the country the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics (USSR), in honor of the soviet councils consisting of workers, soldiers and peasants that sparked the Bolshevik Revolution.
4. After Lenin’s death Joseph Stalin rises through ranks and with ruthlessness becomes the totalitarian dictator of the USSR.
5. Stalin uses his dictatorship to brutally keep his absolute power over the USSR at the expense of the Soviet Union’s citizens.
1. Wars and Revolutions paved the way for the overthrow and murder of czar Nicolas II and his family.
2. The disintegration of Russia’s government led to a bloody civil war in which Vladimir Lenin and Communist Party came out victorious.
3. Lenin used his absolute control to repair the Russian’s economy and renamed the country the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics (USSR), in honor of the soviet councils consisting of workers, soldiers and peasants that sparked the Bolshevik Revolution.
4. After Lenin’s death Joseph Stalin rises through ranks and with ruthlessness becomes the totalitarian dictator of the USSR.
5. Stalin uses his dictatorship to brutally keep his absolute power over the USSR at the expense of the Soviet Union’s citizens.
Unit Assessments
1. Students will take a quiz on how The Russo-Japanese War, The Revolution of 1905, World War I, and the March Revolution led to overthrow and eventual execution of Nicolas II and his family.
2. Students will complete a compare and contrast diagram on how Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin came to power in Russia/the USSR.
3. Students will be assigned into groups and make a cardboard poster and present on of all the brutal methods Joseph Stalin used to become and stay a Totalitarian dictator of the USSR.
4. Students will write an essay about the similarities and differences in ideology, rise of power, and totalitarian practices between Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler.
1. Students will take a quiz on how The Russo-Japanese War, The Revolution of 1905, World War I, and the March Revolution led to overthrow and eventual execution of Nicolas II and his family.
2. Students will complete a compare and contrast diagram on how Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin came to power in Russia/the USSR.
3. Students will be assigned into groups and make a cardboard poster and present on of all the brutal methods Joseph Stalin used to become and stay a Totalitarian dictator of the USSR.
4. Students will write an essay about the similarities and differences in ideology, rise of power, and totalitarian practices between Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler.