Modern History – Russia 1905-1920: The February Revolution (1917)

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 also includes space for them to copy the notes that have been underlined in the PPT presentation.

The PPT begins with a viewing activity from YouTube (Simple History’s summary of the Russian Revolution.) This is followed by information about the short- and long-term causes of the Russian Revolution. (Linking back to what students have learned about WW1). Students are reminded of the term ideology and are given information about ‘revolutionary ideologies’ and strategies used by revolutionary leaders. There is information about obstacles to the revolution which students need to copy some of onto their worksheets. There are some warnings that the Tsar received about the revolutionary situation which students must read and summarise the key ideas (implicit/explicit meanings) on their worksheet. Following this a summary of each day of the February revolution is provided. Students have to write catchy headlines to summarise each day. Finally there is a visual source for students to practice analysing for homework.

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.’