Glenn Matthews

1
Glenn Matthews

• Melbourne Grammar School

2
The Exam Section B

• Part 1 Area Of Study 1
• Extended response to a document, image or
  commentary
• Q. 4 a, b, c, d, ,
• 2 2 6 10 20
• Part 2 Area of Study 2
• Essay question
• Do the essay on Russia or you will be sent to the
  Gulag. There is no choice. Nyet.
• (69 lines or less) 20

3
Areas of Study One and Two

• AOS 1
• Ideas Leaders Movements and Events Bloody Sunday
  1905 to Bolshevik Revolution October 1917
• AOS 2
• Creating a New Society
• Russian Revolution November 1917 to 1924 (Initial
  Decrees to the death of Lenin)

4
Area of Study One

• Revolutionary Ideas, Leaders, Movement and
  Events.
• When
• The period for this area of study is
• Russian Revolution 1905 to October 1917 (Bloody
  Sunday to the Bolshevik Revolution)

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Why?

• Historians have put forward different theories
  about the causes of revolution for example,
• inadequate response to structural change,
• political divisions,
• the failure of rising expectations
• the loss of authority
• the erosion of confidence in the old order.

6
More Why

• Why did social tensions and ideological conflicts
  increase in the pre-revolutionary period?
• Why could social tensions and ideological
  conflicts not be contained within the traditional
  order?
• What events or circumstances eroded confidence in
  the government or weakened capacity of the ruling
  class to meet challenges to its authority?
• How important were ideas, leaders or movements in
  explaining why the revolution happened? Think
  about Marxism and Leninism versus Liberalism in
  the Russian Rev.
• How important was Lenin in bringing about the
  success of the revolution?
• Why do some historians focus more on
  circumstances and longer term developments as the
  main contributors to revolution and determinants
  of the course it would take?

7
Key Knowledge

• The chronology of key events and factors which
  contributed to the revolution.
• The causes of tensions and conflicts generated in
  the old regime that many historians see as
  contributing to the revolution for example
• rising and unfulfilled class expectations
• fluctuations in economic activity
• failed attempts at economic, social or political
  reform
• perceived social or economic inequality or lack
  of political voice
• the impact of war or economic crisis that
  contributed to revolution
• the social and economic impact of WWI on Tsarist
  Russia
• The ideas and ideologies utilised in
  revolutionary struggle Marxist ideas in the
  Russian Revolution
• The role of revolutionary individuals and groups
  in bringing about change, for example in Russia
  Kerensky, Trotsky, Lenin and the Socialist
  Revolutionaries, Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks.

8
The Course

• What
• A new political order and a new society was not
  created easily. Revolutions take many years to
  achieve their initial promise of social political
  change.
• Endangered and radicalised by political dissent,
  civil war, economic breakdown and wars of foreign
  intervention, resistance to revolution assumed
  different forms impeding the transformation which
  the revolutionaries had envisioned.
• In times of crisis, revolutionary governments
  often became more authoritarian, instituting more
  severe policies of social control.

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What did it mean?

• Historians debate the success of the
  revolutionary ideas, leaders, groups and
  governments in achieving their ideals by
  evaluating the nature of the new society as the
  revolution consolidated. Questions are raised
  such as
• Has a completely new order been established with
  a significantly changed ruling group and
  ideology, with new methods of governing and new
  social institutions?
• Have the subjects of the new state acquired
  greater freedom and an improved standard of
  living?
• Has the revolution been successful in
  establishing a different set of values that
  fulfilled the ideas of the revolutionaries?

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Key Knowledge

• The contribution of individuals and groups to the
  creation of the new society in Russia Trotsky
  and Lenin
• The cause of difficulties or crises faced by the
  revolutionary groups or governments as a new
  state was consolidated for example the Civil War
  and Foreign Intervention in Russia
• The Response of key revolutionary individuals,
  groups, governments or parties to the
  difficulties that they encountered as the new
  state was consolidated the Red Guard in Russia,
  Civil War and War Communism in Russia
• The compromise of revolutionary ideals for
  example the NEP in Russia and the Red Guard.
• The radicalisation of policies, for example
  during the authoritarian rule of the Civil War in
  Russia
• The changes and continuities that the revolution
  brought about in the structure of government, the
  organisation of society and its values and the
  distribution of wealth and conditions of everyday
  life.

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Mnemonic Device - PESCIEV

• Political
• Economic
• Social
• Cultural
• Institutional
• Everyday
• Values

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Key Skills

• Gather evidence of the difficulties faced by
  revolutionary individuals, groups, governments or
  parties in the creation of a new society.
• Analyse evidence of the response of the key
  revolutionary individuals, groups, governments or
  parties to the difficulties that they encountered
  as the new state was consolidated
• Evaluate the degree to which the revolution
  brought about change from the old regime
• Consider a range of historians interpretations.

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For success you need

• Good knowledge of both areas of study of both
  revolutions
• Understanding of what the examiners are looking
  for (examination criteria)
• Clear, succinct writing style including accurate
  spelling (especially of specific terms and
  terminology of study guide) and punctuation
• Legible writing
• Lots of practice at analysis of graphics and
  texts and writing of short essays
• Lots of practice at doing sample papers and
  questions in time limit

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The Criteria

• The examination paper will address all the
  criteria. All students will be examined against
  each criterion.
• Understanding and appropriate use of historical
  terms, concepts, commentaries and interpretations
• Application of evidence to support arguments and
  conclusions
• Knowledge of the commencement, ongoing
  development and/or consolidation of the
  revolution
• Knowledge of key events, factors, individuals
  and/or groups influencing the revolution and its
  consolidation
• Analysis of the revolutionary struggle and the
  creation of a new society
• Evaluation of change in the revolution

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Historical terms

• political, social, economic, institution,
  ideology, every day values, cultural, traditional
  order, new order, rising expectations tension,
  crises, conflict, consensus, stability,
  radicalisation, foreign intervention,
  consolidation of revolution,

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Concepts

• Class, equality, freedom, poverty, change,
  continuity, autocracy, democracy, socialism,
  communism, anarcho-syndicalism, dictatorship of
  the proletariat, Dialectical Materialism
  totalitarianism, Marxist Leninism, Leadership,
  psychopath, violence, criminality, Revolution!

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Commentaries

• memoirs (memories of the events recorded at a
  later time), observations about events made at
  the time by people who did not see everything
  that they wrote about e.g.
• John Reed Ten Days that Shook the World
• Emma Goldmans writings.

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Historians interpretations.

• There is a large range of these.
• Keep it simple and concentrate on Soviet view
  versus other views.
• In this Stalinist view the Bolsheviks led the
  masses to glorious revolution, and everything
  they did was right.
• It takes the Bolshevik view to the next level of
  propaganda and does some serious editing of the
  historical record.
• Anti Soviet views cover the whole spectrum from
  Trotsky to Pipes.
• Dont get too worried about the differences
  just hammer the soviet view.

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The Stalinist, Soviet View
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Leon Trotsky, Bolshevik View

• Young Trotsky
• A four of a kind son of a bitch, but the
  greatest Jew since Jesus Christ

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E. H. Carr

• Pro Bolshevik View

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The Exam

• Examiners report and exams from 2005 onwards are
  available in full on the VCAA website.
• Just Alta Vista Victorian Curriculum Assessment
  Authority Revolutions

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Dos and Donts

• Look at the new exam paper so that you are
  familiar with it, its layout, the requirements.
  Find it at the VCAA website
• Know what you have to do in Part A and Part B
  (what do you have to do?)
• How many marks do you get if you do the same rev
  twice?
• What happens when you do two revs per section?
• Do write in black pen dont write in pencil -
  this can be difficult for assessors to read.

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Dos and Donts

• Strategy. I would start with the
  documents/graphics/commmentaries and then go on
  to the essay
• Reading comprehension, gets the intellectual
  juices flowing, gives you something concrete to
  get underway with,
• Think about what you are going to write and jot
  some points down
• Problem is not filling the page but not filling
  it too quickly with words that lack concision and
  sentences that simply dont say enough.
• You have plenty to say you really need to plan
  a response so that you answer the question
  properly

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The Exam

• The discriminating part of the paper was the
  response to the document and visual
  representation questions. You must use the
  extract or visual representation by making direct
  reference to it and also use both your own
  knowledge and knowledge of historians views.

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The Exam

• Section B Part 1

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Examiners Report

• GENERAL COMMENTS
• In 2008 assessors found a significant reduction
  in students factual knowledge and skill in
  working with documents and visual representations
  as evidence of the period.
• Poor handwriting and control of expression was
  prevalent it would be useful for students to
  practise writing neatly in defined spaces and to
  learn to spell terms accurately.
• Teachers should also remind students that pencil
  is not to be used in examinations.
• There were still a number of answers in dot point
  format students cannot obtain full marks when
  answers are presented in this way.

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2008 Examiners report

• Quite a number of students still made errors in
  their selection of options and wrote on the same
  revolution in both parts of the paper. This
  mistake meant students lost marks for one of the
  sections.
• As in the past the discriminating part of the
  paper was the response to the document and visual
  representation questions.
• Some students seemed unaware that they needed to
  use the extract or visual representation by
  direct reference to it and also use both their
  own knowledge and knowledge of historians views.

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Analysing Graphics/Documents

• In this section there are easy questions, medium
  difficulty and difficult questions
• The two mark questions are designed to be easy.
  You can simply lift the words out of the document
  and put them down as your answer.
• Dont get too clever this is really just
  reading comprehension and anyone who can read
  English should be able to answer them without the
  ravages of studying this course.
• You must understand the content of what you are
  looking at, the context in which things happened
  and the function or purpose of the document.
• Reading comprehension or what is in a graphic is
  content.

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Context

• Question c is context you use the document and
  you use your knowledge of what was going on at
  the time. You explain the link between the
  document and events of the time.
• If you are interested in doing well then you mix
  up your grasp of facts with the ideas shown in
  the document and thus produce a response that
  lets us know what caused the document to be
  produced in the first place.
• If you are not interested in doing well then just
  tell me what is in the document, dont connect it
  to anything and make sure that you dont show any
  knowledge of the course that you have studied for
  a year.
• If you are really interested in doing badly
  write poetry or religious diatribes or select the
  next Australian cricket team

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Function

• Question d., on historiography is the tough one.
• The key to this question is the word views.
• Historians have different views on what happened
  in the past and you have to demonstrate that you
  have an awareness of this basic reality.
• Historians have contesting views. The document
  will express a view. You have to run up the
  differing views against each other for a part of
  your response.

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Function

• So for the historians you usually run up some
  version of a social view against a more liberal
  view, run up deep structural causes against
  individuals making decisions.
• The document itself has a view it was produced
  by someone
• Who produces a document affects the views
  expressed in the document. Last year the Chief
  Examiner was disappointed that students could not
  accurately identify this sort of basic
  information
• There are prompts given to you ie strengths and
  limitations in the question. You would be wise to
  use those prompts.
• Many students left out the comparison to other
  views, which formed an essential part of the
  question.

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Function

• Weak answers tried to link strengths and
  limitations to what they believed were factual
  accuracies or inaccuracies of the document and
  others either seemed to accept the view presented
  as factual, or were critical about everything it
  stated.
• It is always good to be critical but you must
  target your criticism well not just roll out
  unthinking critiques.
• To score highly students need to address the
  strengths and limitations of using the document
  to accurately illuminate the period, as well as
  compare different viewpoints and link them to the
  question.

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1905 to the Bolshevik Revolution
35
2008 Exam

• The following graphic is entitled
• The Czar of all the Russias It is a cartoon in
  Punch (an English magazine) from 1905.
• The word written on the document held by the
  person lying down says Petition.

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(No Transcript)
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Examiners view

• Generally student responses to this task showed
  some familiar weaknesses.
• Students were able to identify features from the
  graphic and read it symbolically but were not
  able to make links to their own knowledge and
  respond to historiography.

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Gettin it Rong

• Question d. was poorly done. Students seemed to
  either repeat knowledge already presented or
  compare historians.
• They did not tackle the reliability of the
  graphic as evidence. There was a lot of dumping
  of learned quotes that lacked relevance to the
  context of the graphic and question. A typical
  weak statement was, for example, this is written
  by a historian and not someone who experienced
  the event first hand and therefore it is bias.
• Students should also learn how to use the terms
  bias and biased correctly.

39
Getting it Right

• High-scoring responses used outside factual
  knowledge to illuminate ideas presented in the
  graphic. Medium and weak responses either did not
  move beyond information contained in the graphic
  and simply expressed their own knowledge.
• Most students made a generalised attempt to
  analyse the view contained in the graphic, but
  they must identify specific elements in the
  graphic that provide clues to the position held
  by the artist. The best approach is one where a
  historians viewpoint is explained and the
  response shows how it differs from, or confirms,
  the ideas expressed in the graphic.

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The Questions

• a. Identify two symbols of the Russian monarchy
  shown in the representation.
• b. Identify two features (not listed in part a.
  above) of the representation that suggest
  disapproval of Tsarist actions.
• c. Using your own knowledge and the
  representation, explain the events which
  influenced this view ofTsar Nicholas II in
  February 1905.
• d. Explain to what extent this representation
  presents a reliable view of the causes of the
  1905 Revolution. In your response, refer to
  different views of the period.

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The good and the not so good

• The graphic was generally well handled and
  students showed familiarity with this image.
• Students extracted information for the short
  questions very well and were able to relate the
  image to Bloody Sunday.
• However, the question asked about events that
  influenced this view of the Tsar and students
  mainly wrote about Bloody Sunday rather than a
  series of events culminating with Bloody Sunday.
  All students covering the Russian Revolution
  should have known about the contents of the
  petition pictured, which were long-term
  grievances of the lower classes.
• Unfortunately some good answers did not achieve
  the highest marks because they did not refer
  specifically to the graphic in Question 4c.
  Question 4d. was not as well done as expected.
  Information was repeated from Question 4c.
  Students should use a wide range of information
  in testing reliability of an image.

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A High Level Response d

• The representation presents Nicholas11 as naive
  to events around him and impervious to reform.
  The Soviet official orthodoxy would highly praise
  the message of the cartoon, as they state the
  1905 revolution was only not successful as a
  Marxist revolution is due to the fact that they
  lacked a centralised cause and a courageous
  leader such as Lenin. However, the Western
  liberal view of the Russian revolution,
  exemplified by historian Richard Pipes, would
  argue the Tsar not only ignored pressure from
  below,manifested in the worker in the cartoon he
  often avoided the advice of his ministers, such
  as Sergei Witte who ardently argued for some sort
  of liberal concessions. However, he would agree
  with Nicholas 11s depiction as a skeleton, as he
  suggests liberal reform could have occurred if
  the Tsar was not so outdated in political views,
  citing the national zemtvo meetings held in late
  1904. Similarly Revisionists such as Figes and
  Fitzpatrick would agree with the cartoons
  message, Figes stating the Tsar was truly out of
  touch with his people, and by pointing out the
  Tsars avoidance of the political necessity of
  reform after Bloody Sunday, January 4th1905.
  Overall historians are unanimous in their
  condemnation of Tsarist government prior to
  February 1905. Therefore this cartoon is reliable.

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Medium level response d

• The graphic is reliable in that it presents a
  view of both Tsarist weakness and a failure by
  the workers to coordinate their efforts. Liberal
  historian Richard Pipes contends that Bloody
  Sunday was an overwhelming display of Tsarist
  incompetence, depicted in the cartoon by the
  dead Tsar, suggesting obsolete leadership and
  reflective of Father Gapons cry There is no
  Tsar! Orlando Figes, however, emphasises the
  masses inability to coordinate and collaborate
  their movements, shown in the graphic by a
  seemingly weak man, contrasted to Soviet cartoons
  which generally depict a strong man or woman of
  fortitude.

44
Strategy of Analysis

• Content
• Context
• Function

45
Content

• We need to be able to understand what is going on
  in a graphic, which is an artefact of history and
  part of the way we make sense of the world, so it
  is important to carefully analyse a graphic in a
  structured way.

46
Content

• The first step is to note what the content is.
  Most students focus on the middle of the picture
  and miss significant details which are around the
  edges. So, we start at the edges and work our way
  in, simply describing as accurately and as simply
  as possible what it is we can see.

47
Context

• The context of a picture is all the things going
  on around the time the picture was created. You
  should note when the picture was created as your
  starting point and note how long after the actual
  events depicted it was finished. There are a
  small range of contexts rather than just one.
• The first is the immediate context, which is
  where you should discuss what was going on at the
  moment that is depicted in the graphic.
• The second is the broader context that should
  consider the wider range of events that have led
  to what is happening.
• The third context is the overall one, that might
  include anything from history that might be
  relevant to understanding what is going on.

48
Function

• The final element to graphic analysis is the
  question of function. What was the artist trying
  to convey in the picture? What was the message?
  Who was the audience? How do you think it would
  have been received by various groups? There are
  two important elements here. One is the intended
  function, but the other is the actual function.
  The graphic may have had a completely different
  effect than the one intended. You have to think
  very carefully to try and speculate about
  function.

49
Historians
50
Pipes and Bush

• Pipes is a right-wing liberal historian.
• Bush is history.

51
Orlando Figes

• Orlando Figes liberal, revisionist but dont
  worry about that stuff too much. It is what he
  says rather than the label that matters.

52
Sheila Fitzpatrick

• Sheila Fitzpatrick Social Historian, but dont
  worry too much about that. Concentrate on what
  she says rather than concerning yourself too much
  with the finer points of historiographical
  perspective.

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• This is also Sheila Fitzpatrick

54
Another Sheila F.

• Do not trust the views of this particular Sheila
  Fitzpatrick.

55
Historiography one more time

• It is much better to know what a historian said
  about an event, incident, person, period of
  history and the evidence they use to support your
  view.
• Therefore students need to practise measuring
  views expressed in graphics, documents and
  commentaries against historians or
  contemporaries views of particular events.

56

• The Essay

57

• The New Society

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2008 Topics

• Question 5
• Choose one of the following and write an extended
  response in the space provided. Write on the same
  Revolution you used to answer Question 4.
• a. Discuss the extent to which the new society
  was able to resolve the grievances of the people.
• OR
• b. Discuss the extent to which the new society
  was successful in fulfilling the ideals of the
  Revolution.
• OR
• c. Discuss the extent to which the nature of
  political authority was changed by the
  Revolution.
• 20 marks

59
Examiners response

• There were still too many students who explored
  aspects of the regime before the revolution.
  Students should be taught to focus their response
  on the new society rather than construct a
  comparison between the old regime and the new
  society.
• The best responses referred closely to the terms
  in the question and used a range of evidence to
  support their interpretation. Too often
  historians views were used in place of evidence
  rather than an opinion to support their evidence.
  It is preferred that students supply their own
  factual evidence and confirm it with a viewpoint
  rather than only use the viewpoint.

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• The highest scoring essays used specific factual
  evidence such as statistics, quotes, dates,
  names, policies or events to support all of their
  points and maintained question focus throughout.
  The best essays clearly and accurately named
  different groups of people rather than using the
  generalised labels of the people, the rich,
  the poor, or classifying all those who were not
  nobility as peasants. Weak responses tended to
  narrate, describing anything about the
  revolution, often without clear relevance. Most
  students used the three pages of the exam booklet
  efficiently and some made use of the extra space
  at the end of the script booklet. Successful
  answers were confined to this space.

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The World Has Changed

• The question on the sample exam was like this
• Russia November 19171924 death of Lenin
• A Soviet view of the Revolution would argue that
  it successfully transferred power from the
  privileged classes to the oppressed proletariat.
• Do you agree with this view? Use evidence to
  support your answer.
• 20 marks

62
Opportunities and traps

• A Soviet view of the Revolution would argue that
  it successfully transferred power from the
  privileged classes to the oppressed proletariat.
  Do you agree with this view? Use evidence to
  support your answer.
• This quote allows you to agree with the
  proposition power was transferred. So that is
  the opportunity. You can talk about the
  revolution from a political point of view and
  argue that the Bolsheviks did take power though
  you would be remembering that February saw the
  downfall of the Tsar and that it was the
  Provisional Government that was overthrown.

63
The Trap

• Where was power transferred to? Most students
  will probably simply agree with the quote and
  argue that the workers came to be in charge as
  suggested by the quote thus falling into the
  trap.
• The Bolshevik transferred power to themselves and
  the former proletariat members who became
  privileged members of the new regime, but in no
  way was this the promised time of the
  Dictatorship of the Proletariat nor was it a
  time of All Power to the Soviets rather more
  accurately power was directed from above through
  the soviets

64

• You could usefully use a range of evidence to
  show the parlous state of the proletariat by 1921
  to demonstrate that power had not flowed towards
  them.
• The workers strikes prior to Kronstadt are also
  good discussion points about where power lay.
• The smashing of opposition everywhere by the
  Bolsheviks, against a backdrop of concessions,
  shows that this is a complex topic and you should
  draw out that complexity.

65

• Strictly speaking you dont have to run a Soviet
  versus other historians argument and you could
  just tackle the proposition with knowledge, facts
  and evidence. However the best students will no
  doubt assail a notion like this with a range of
  contrasting views across the spectrum from Pipes
  to Fitzpatrick to Volkogonov and beyond.

66
Remembrance of things past

• The new topics are more like the old topics from
  2004
• Question 4
• Isolation from their people could seriously
  weaken the authority and effectiveness of old
  regime rulers, a lesson that the new
  revolutionary regimes did not always learn.
• Discuss this view, providing evidence to support
  your answer.
• OR
• Question 5
• Revolutionaries have optimistic expectations
  however, a new society is not created easily.
• Discuss this view, providing evidence to support
  your answer.
• OR
• Question 6
• The new government often had difficulty
  consolidating its power because it failed to deal
  effectively with the crises that had confronted
  the old regime. Discuss this view, providing
  evidence to support your answer.

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Examiners Report

• Part of a response to Question 5 that was
  assessed as representative of a 16 follows. The
  response missed easily in the question and fell
  short because it seemed to lapse into a change
  and continuity style essay in parts. A redeeming
  feature is the students strong knowledge and use
  of historians.

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The intro the most imp. para.

• In 1917 Russia underwent two revolutions, the
  first in March where 303 years of Romonov Tsarism
  was ended with the abdication of the Tsar, and a
  Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet
  took over governing Russia as Dual power and the
  second when Lenin and his Bolshevik party
  overthrew the Provisional government in November
  to begin a one party dictatorship. The aim of
  these revolutions had been to create a utopian
  Marxist society, where each worked to their
  ability and each to their needs, in a classless,
  industrially advanced state. Although communism
  was seen as failed by 1991, Soviet historians
  would maintain that it had been worth pursuing
  the utopian dream. Other historians like American
  Richard Pipes, will say that the revolution had
  failed to create any sort of a new society.
  However, historians like Adcock say that some of
  the expectations of the revolution had been
  achieved, if not politically, then socially and
  economically.
• The student misses easily in the question.

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• Have a look at the earlier exams and reports but
  remember they are not identical to what we are
  doing now.
• We dont write about the old regime unless it is
  in the context of a point about the New Society.
• We dont go into the Stalinist era.

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Tips from 2004 For 2009

• Dont produce pre-planned essays
• Use of evidence remains a defining skill between
  the mid-range and high scoring essays. Many
  students simply use knowledge as evidence, while
  the best answers use detailed facts and/or
  historians viewpoints.
• Some descriptions of student work to bear in mind
  that help define levels of achievement in essays
  are
• Ten may be narrative in style, little real
  evidence is given
• Twelve not all of the question is addressed
• Fourteen provides a clear and relevant
  argument
• Sixteen confident, but falls short the
  subtleties of the question are not fully
  addressed
• Eighteen - Twenty sophisticated with subtle
  inferences.

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Stop and Think

• Give careful consideration to the words in the
  essay topic. They are chosen very carefully so
  make use of the opportunity that they provide,
  detect the trap and then make that into an even
  greater opportunity.

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• Finally be excited, interested and engaged when
  you write the exam. You really have to strut your
  stuff, show us your depth of knowledge and
  understanding and be confident that when you give
  us a chance to reward you then we will take the
  opportunity.
• Good luck.