Lesson video

Hello, everybody and welcome to your history lesson at Oak National Academy, with me, Miss Porter.

Today's lesson is the second lesson of our inquiry, which looks at what the Bolsheviks were trying to achieve.

Now for today's lesson, I'd just like you to make sure that you have a pen or a pencil to write with, and some paper to write on.

And just to make sure that you've moved yourself away from any distractions so you can focus on today's lesson.

Once you've done that, you'll be ready to continue with the lesson, and you can start by writing down today's title, which is "Trotsky and the Civil War." So this is our second lesson of four on our inquiry on the Bolsheviks.

And during these four lessons, we are going to be looking at who the Bolsheviks were, and what they were trying to achieve.

In your previous lesson, we learned that the Bolsheviks were a group of revolutionaries who seized power in October, 1917.

We also established that their leader was a man named Lenin.

In today's lesson, we are going to at another leading Bolshevik, called Trotsky, and what role he played during the Civil War.

To start our lesson, we are going to look at this poster.

Now, Lenin and the Bolsheviks had seized control in 1917, and overthrown the provisional government.

However, this was only one of their goals.

They now wished to spread communism and make society more equal.

This poster here was produced in support of the Bolsheviks in 1920, and the words at the bottom are written in Russian.

I'd like you to pause the video here briefly, and write down what you can see in this image.

For example, you may want to write down what you can see in the background, or what these people look like, and who they could represent.

You can now pause the video here, and resume when you're ready.

Okay, welcome back everybody, and well done for writing down your answers.

Now, some of the things you may have highlighted are, the world in the background.

You might have identified the character dressed in black with a hat on holding a broomstick.

This man is meant to represent Lenin, and the broomstick is being used by Lenin in this poster to sweep the earth of these men.

You might also have noted that you can see four different men falling off the earth, or being pushed off by Lenin's brush.

These men represent the monarchy, with a King and an emperor, a businessman, meaning somebody who might have made profit off of private ownership of industry.

And on the bottom left hand side, we have a priest.

Now, the words on the poster roughly translate to "Comrade Lenin cleans the world of filth." Now, this poster can provide an insight into what the Bolsheviks were trying to achieve after taking power in 1917.

They were looking to establish a more equal society by removing the monarchy, such as the Tsar, by sharing wealth more equally by removing businessmen, and establishing that control by removing influences such as the church, or religion.

Excellent work if you noted down any of the things that you could see in this picture.

We are now going to move on to look at some of the Bolshevik's aims in more detail in today's lesson.

Now, this poster we've just looked at revisited some of the content you covered in the first lesson of this inquiry.

To recap some of this content, and in particular, some of the key words, I'd like you to see if you can match the words on the left to their correct definition on the right.

So you can now pause the video here, complete this task, and resume when you're ready.

Welcome back, everybody, excellent work.

I've put the answers up here so you can check through yours to see if you got them correct.

So an absolute monarch is a ruler with unlimited power.

Communism is a system with public ownership of property, where everyone is treated equally.

Revolution is a change in the way a country has governed, often using violence, and the Bolsheviks were the group led by Lenin, which took power in October, 1917.

Excellent work if you've got some, or even all of those, correct.

So we are now going to look at what happened after the Bolsheviks gained power.

One of the slogans Lenin had used to gain support for the Bolsheviks was "Peace, bread and land." This meant he had promised the Russian people that he would bring them peace by ending Russian involvement in the First World War with Germany.

He would provide bread to feed people, and he would give the workers and peasants land.

Therefore, after taking power, Lenin wanted to deliver these promises the Bolsheviks had made.

He was also unable to build a communist state without ending the war, so following the Bolshevik seizure of power, Lenin ended Russian involvement in the First World War, and accepted the terms the Germans gave.

However, he ended up signing a treaty which actually weaken Russia.

The shock of this peace treaty encouraged some Russians to turn against the Bolsheviks, and launch a civil war.

This war will be the focus of our lesson today.

Firstly, however, we are going to take a look at the peace treaty that was signed between Germany and Russia to end Russian involvement in the First World War, and this took place in March, 1918.

This treaty was known as the treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

Now, though this treaty ended the war in Russia, the treaty had some extremely harsh terms. For example, Russia had to pay a huge fine to compensate the Germans for the cost of the war.

You can see some of the other terms in this box.

So Russia lost some of its territory, which included 80% of coal mines, 50% of industry, 26% of Russian railways, and 26% of the population.

To show you the extent of this loss, you can see the area effected in these images.

On the left, you can see Russia prior to the First World War in green.

The area and the pink box has been zoomed in on the image on the right.

Now you can see the area in red on this image was lost to the Germans and Austria-Hungary, and this is the land that contained 80% of Russia's coal mines, 50% of Russia's industry, 26% of railways, and 26% of the Russian population.

Therefore, the treaty of Brest-Litovsk caused a huge economic loss for Russia, and even encouraged some people to turn against the Bolsheviks.

Now, to test your knowledge of the lesson so far, I have a few questions for you.

Firstly, when did the Bolsheviks seize power of Russia? Pause the video here, and choose the correct answer from options A to D, and then resume the video when you're ready.

Okay, hopefully you decided that the correct answer was option C, October, 1917.

Well done if you got that question correct.

The next question asks, which treaty ended Russia's participation in World War I? Pause the video here, and again, choose an answer from options A to D.

Welcome back everybody, the correct answer is option D, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

Again, brilliant work if you got the answer correct.

Now, as you are aware, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk encouraged many people in Russia to oppose the Bolsheviks.

I'd like you to see if you can answer the following question, which asks, "Why were many people unhappy with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?" I'd like you to pause the video, and answer this in a full sentence, giving one, or even two reasons why.

To structure your answer, I've provided a sentence starter, if needed.

You can now pause the video, and complete this question.

Okay, well done everybody for completing your sentence, I'm going to talk you through my example now.

And just remember that when I'm talking through my answers, they may look slightly different to yours, which is absolutely fine.

So I have written, "One reason why people were unhappy with with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was because of the harsh terms it imposed.

As a result of the treaty, 80% of Russia's mines, and 50% of its industry was lost." Now, you might have chosen a different example to support your answer, which again, is absolutely fine.

If you want to make any changes to your answer, or to check through your work now, you can pause the video, and do so.

In 1918, following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Bolsheviks were aware that they had taken power by force, but there was little to stop their opponents from using force to take power back.

Although the Bolsheviks wanted to make a more equal society, they also faced the following problems. So firstly, the new government was not secure.

The Bolsheviks only had control of the cities, and they had not extended their power to the countryside.

It was also difficult to keep the promises made before the revolution, such as providing bread and land to Russian peasants and workers.

Therefore there were tensions between the Bolsheviks ideals of creating a more equal communist society, and the reality that they faced in 1918.

In June, 1918, tensions reached breaking point as a civil war broke out in Russia.

Now civil war is a war between groups of people who live in the same country.

In Russia, the Civil War was fought between the following groups.

So on the left we have the Reds, who fought for the Bolsheviks.

They were called this as red was the colour of communism.

Their army was led by Leon Trotsky, the man whose name is in our title today, and he had previously been appointed as a leader of the Petrograd Soviet.

He wanted, and the Reds wanted, to remove their opposition, and to take control of Russia.

Now, the Whites were the opponents of the Bolsheviks.

They were called this as white was the colour of the Tsarist officer uniforms. Now they were made up of a number of different armies, and they had a few different aims. Some of them wanted to restore the Tsar to power, others wanted to restore the provisional government to power.

And lastly, the peasants fought alongside both armies, and both the Reds and the Whites sought their support to help them win the Civil War.

As the focus of this lesson is on the Civil War, I'd now like you to pause the video here, and complete the following sentence, defining what a civil war is.

So you can pause the video here and continue when you're ready.

Okay, welcome back everybody.

So I've written here that, "A civil war is a war between groups of people who live in the same country." So well done if you got the answer, or something similar.

So to help you understand the Civil War and where it was fought, we are going to return to our map of Russia on the left.

The area highlighted in the pink box has been zoomed in on the right, so you can see where the majority of the fighting took place in the Civil War.

So the area shaded in red was controlled by the Red Army.

You can see from this map that the Reds had control of the main cities in Russia during this time, including Petrograd and Moscow.

This meant that the Red Army had access to supplies and industrial areas.

They also had control of the railways that connected these cities to the rest of the country.

Now the area with white stripes was the area controlled by the white armies.

In the area surrounding this, you will be able to see the labels for the British, French, and U.

S.

forces.

These countries supported the Whites during the Civil War, often because they were fearful of communism, but also because they were angry that Russia had withdrawn from the First World War.

So I would like you to pause the video here and think about the answer to the following question, "Which army controlled the main cities in the Civil War?" Okay, so the answer is the Red Army controlled the main cities in the Civil War.

And you can see this by the area coloured in red on the map.

Well done if you got this answer correct.

I'd now like you to look at this image, which was a Bolshevik poster created in 1918.

This is an example of propaganda.

This means information or ideas, which are often false, that are used to make people agree with something.

I would like you to think about what you can see in this image.

For example, he may be able to see a man in red over a snake-like monster.

I would then like you to think about the message of this cartoon.

For example, it may be that the man in red represents the Bolsheviks, and the snake represents the Tsar.

What message do you think is being made by this cartoon? You can now pause the video here, and think a little more about the answer to those questions.

Once you've decided, I would like you to see if you can complete these sentences with your answers.

Well done for finishing your sentences, everybody.

I've given you two example answers below.

So I've written, "In this cartoon, I can see a monster with many heads being attacked by a worker.

I think the message of this cartoon is that the workers would defeat the supporters of the Tsar, and the people represented by the monster." You may have got a slightly different answer, which again, is absolutely fine.

You may have written about the snake-like monster, or the people that it represents.

You may also have written about it showing the strength of the Bolsheviks, or their willingness to use violence to achieve their aims. If you need to, pause the video here to make any edits to your work before continuing with the lesson.

So in 1921, the Bolsheviks, or the Reds, won the Civil War against the Whites.

We are now going to look briefly at the reasons why.

So one reason why was geography.

The Reds controlled the industrial centres and railways, whereas the Whites did not.

Another reason was Trotsky, and his leadership of the Red Army.

He was skilled at motivating the soldiers, and use discipline to ensure their loyalty.

A third reason why the Bolsheviks won was the weaknesses of the Whites.

They did not have a unified aim or leader, so they lacked strength at times.

And the final reason why the Bolsheviks won was Lenin's leadership.

Although he did not lead the army during the war, he did lead the party.

He also used the police and propaganda to remove opposition to the Bolsheviks.

You are soon going to look at today's reading, and find out more about each of these factors.

So, as I said, in a minute or so, you'll complete these comprehension questions based on today's reading, so I will quickly talk you through them.

So the first question asks, "When did the Civil War begin?" The second asks, "Which three groups fought in the Civil War?" The third asks you to describe two methods Trotsky used to strengthen the Red Army.

The fourth question asks you to describe two methods that Lenin used to ensure the Reds won the Civil War.

And the challenge question today is, "Why did foreign countries intervene in the Civil War?" So why did we see people such as the British or the French supporting the White Army during the Civil War? Now you can pause the video, open the worksheet, and complete today's comprehension questions.

There is a glossary to provide you with some definitions of the key words, if needed, and once you're finished, you can return to this video to check through your answers.

Okay, welcome back, everybody, and very well done for completing those comprehension questions.

So, you will now go through these answers together.

Remember that my answers may look different to yours, which is okay.

You may want to pause a video after each question to check through your work, or to make any changes.

So the first question asks, "When did the Civil War begin?" An acceptable answer is June, 1918.

A good answer could put this into a full sentence, such as, "The Civil War began in June, 1918." The second question asked, "Which two groups fought in the Civil War?" So again, an acceptable answer would be, Reds and Whites.

A good answer could be, "The two groups which fought during the Civil War were the Reds and the Whites, the Reds represented the Bolsheviks, and the Whites represented the supporters of the Tsar." So you can see that I've given a little bit more detail there about who each of these armies were.

The third question asked you to describe two methods Trotsky used to strengthen the Red Army.

So, you could have conscription and discipline.

A good answer will, again, put this into full sentences, such as, "One method Trotsky used to strengthen the Red Army was introducing conscription for men between 18 and 40, which increased the size of the army.

Trotsky also used harsh discipline to ensure the officers he recruited from the Tsar's army were loyal to him." So you can see there's a little bit more description in that answer, and that's why we consider that a good answer.

The fourth question asks you to describe the methods Lenin used to ensure the Reds won the Civil War.

So, an acceptable answer could be the Cheka, and propaganda.

A good answer could be, "One method Lenin used to ensure the Reds won the Civil War was the use of the Cheka to remove opposition to Lenin and the party.

Lenin also used propaganda to gain the support of the peasants by promising the peasants land, Lenin ensured they would fight with Red Army during the Civil War." So again, providing a little bit of extra description to explain how the Cheka and propaganda were used to win the Civil War.

Your challenge question today was, "Why did foreign countries intervene in the Civil War?" So there's a couple of acceptable answers here, you could have had that they were afraid of communism, or you might have written that they were annoyed that Russia had withdrawn from the war.

A good answer may develop both of these.

So, "Foreign countries intervened in the Civil War on the side of the Whites for two reasons.

Firstly, they were annoyed that the Russians had withdrawn from the First World War.

Secondly, they feared that the Russian Revolution would inspire communist revolutions abroad." So you may want to spend a few minutes now adding some extra detail to your answers.

If so, you can pause the video here, and again, very well done for completing those questions.

So, what did the Civil War reveal about what the Bolsheviks were trying to achieve? Well, firstly, it demonstrated that the Bolsheviks were dedicated to spreading communism, and to making a more equal society.

However, it raised the fact that they did face opposition.

Therefore, it highlighted that holding onto power was extremely important for the Bolsheviks, as without this, they could not realise their aim of spreading communism.

Therefore holding onto power, using violence, and propaganda became the priority during the Civil War.

Once the Bolsheviks established their control over Russia at the end of the war, they were capable of returning to their aim of making a more equal society.

So, we are now going to return to our inquiry with our final activity of this lesson.

You have now gained even more information about the Bolsheviks and what they were trying to achieve during the Civil War.

We are therefore going to use this information to answer the following question.

What did the Civil War reveal about what the Bolsheviks were trying to achieve? I would like you to write a paragraph in response to this question, explaining what the Bolsheviks were trying to achieve during the Civil War, and what methods they were willing to use to achieve these aims. To support you with your paragraph, I've provided you with some sentence starters below to help you structure your answer.

If you're confident starting without these, that's excellent, but you may want to look at them to help you sequence your writing.

On the right hand column, I've added some key words that you may want to include in your paragraphs too.

You can now pause the video and complete your paragraph.

Great work everybody, and welcome back.

So to conclude today's lesson, we're going to quickly recap what you've covered so far in this inquiry.

In the first lesson, you were introduced to the Bolsheviks and began to think about their initial aims of taking power, and overthrowing the Tsar, and the provisional government.

We refer to this period as the Russian Revolution.

Now in this lesson, you have seen how the Bolsheviks paused the process of spreading communism to ensure they established their control over Russia, and removed their opposition during the Civil War.

In the third lesson, you will move on to look at some of the economic policies introduced by the Bolsheviks, and you will discover what they were trying to achieve with each of these policies.

So, you have now completed today's lesson.

Thank you so much for your hard work ,and really well done for completing your questions, and writing your paragraphs.

Please now complete the end of the lesson quiz to check your understanding, and I look forward to teaching you in the third lesson of this inquiry soon.