Modern History – Russia 1905-1920: Bloody Sunday

Two resources: A PowerPoint and Worksheet

The worksheet is designed to step students through the lesson. It includes copies of the sources on the PPT slide and questions for them to answer. It is 6 pages.

The PowerPoint is designed for use in a 70 minute history lesson. It begins with a summary of Bloody Sunday before giving a more in depth explanation of the event on the subsequent slides. There are underlined notes for students to copy. There is a photograph of the march and some information about the social and political problems which led the workers to write a petition to Tsar Nicholas II. A translated version of the petition is included along with some checking for understanding questions. The next source for exploration is Father Gapon’s description of what happened as the workers approached the winter palace. Then a visual source (a painting entitled ‘Death in the Snow’ is presented (along with 4 questions). Another political cartoon from a French weekly satirical magazine is also shown. Following this information about other events which impacted Nicholas’s popularity are shown including the war with Japan. Information about political opposition to the Tsar is included. There is an explanation of the various political parties and their aims. The October Manifesto (1905) is also explained. There is additional information about the actions taken to avoid a revolution. For homework students have to create a timeline covering 1905-1916. There are instructions on the slide for this task.

Designed to meet the requirements of the senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019), this unit falls under the category of ‘Ideas in the Modern World.’