Hello, I'm Mr. (indistinct), and thank you for joining me for today's history lesson.

I'll be guiding you through all of our resources today, and my top priority is to make sure that by the end of our lesson, you are able to successfully meet our learning objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on the Russian Revolution, where we are asking ourselves, did communism completely transform life in Russia? In today's lesson, we are gonna be working towards explaining how the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia and explaining the immediate impact of their rise to power.

There are four key words which are gonna help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are exile, provisional, seized and secret police.

Exile involves being sent or kept away from your own country, usually for political reasons.

Something is provisional if it is only temporary.

Something is seized if it is taken suddenly and by force.

And a secret police force is used to make opposition to a government weaker, often using illegal and violent methods.

Today's lesson is going to be split into three parts, and we'll begin by focusing on who the Bolsheviks were.

At the beginning of 1917, Russia was led by Tsar Nicholas II.

During the course of 1917, Russia experienced two revolutions.

By the end of 1917, Russia was led by Vladimir Lenin, shown in the portrait on the screen, who was the leader of the Bolshevik Party.

The Bolsheviks were a Marxist party led by Vladimir Lenin.

This meant that the Bolsheviks believed that the industrial workers of Russia, the proletariat, would one day stage a revolution in Russia and take power away from the Tsar, aristocracy and bourgeoisie.

Although there were other parties who supported the idea of a proletarian revolution in Russia, the Bolsheviks were more extreme.

Lenin argued that a revolution should be organised as soon as possible.

To ensure that this happened, Lenin argued that the Bolsheviks should not rely on cooperating with other political parties.

Lenin also argued against the idea of gradually preparing the Russian proletariat for a revolution.

Instead, the Bolsheviks focused on preparing a smaller number of committed revolutionaries who could take power for themselves and then rule on behalf of the proletariat to create a socialist state.

The extreme views of the Bolsheviks meant they were closely monitored by the Tsar's secret police.

When World War I broke out, which the Bolsheviks refused to support, leading members at the party were forced into exile.

This meant that when the February Revolution broke out in 1917, many leading Bolsheviks were not in Russia and had little influence on events.

So let's check our understanding of what we've heard so far about the Bolsheviks.

I want you to write the missing word in the following sentence.

Vladimir blank was the leader of the Bolshevik Party.

So pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to see what the missing word is.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing word was Lenin.

Vladimir Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik Party.

And let's try another question.

Which statement about Lenin and the Bolsheviks is most accurate? They believed they needed to work with other parties to achieve a proletarian revolution.

They believed Russia could only be prepared for revolution gradually.

Or they believed they should seize power themselves and rule on behalf of the proletariat.

So pause the video here, select your answer, and press play when you're ready to see whether you got it right.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

Lenin and the Bolsheviks believed that they should seize power themselves and rule on behalf of the proletariat.

This meant that their views were quite extreme, even when compared to other Marxist political parties in Tsarist Russia.

And let's try one more question.

Why did the Bolsheviks play very little part in the 1917 February Revolution? Was it because they were in exile abroad, they were fighting in the war against Germany, or they had given up hope of a revolution happening in Russia? Pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was A, the Bolsheviks played very little part in the 1917 February Revolution because many of their key leaders, including Vladimir Lenin, had been sent into exile abroad.

So now that we've made sure that our understanding is secure, we're ready to attempt the practise task.

I want you to complete the following passage by adding in the missing words.

The words to use are listed underneath the paragraph.

So you have five gaps that you need to fill, but pay careful attention because there are more than five key words.

So you need to think really carefully about which ones are appropriate for each gap.

Pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to see the right answers.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So I asked you to complete the passage by adding in the missing words.

Your answer should have looked like this.

The Bolsheviks were led by Vladimir Lenin.

Like other Marxist parties, the Bolsheviks wanted to bring about a proletarian revolution in Russia.

The Bolsheviks were unwilling to cooperate with other Marxist groups to prepare for a revolution.

At the time of the February Revolution, most leading members of the Bolshevik Party were in exile.

This meant they had little influence in the overthrow of the Tsarist government.

So really well done, especially if you got all of those gaps filled correctly.

So now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson, where we are gonna focus on seizing power.

After the overthrow of the Tsar during the February Revolution, the Provisional Government came to power.

By October, 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power by overthrowing the Provisional Government.

After Tsar Nicholas II abdicated during the February Revolution, Russia was led by a Provisional Government.

In other words, a government that was only meant to be temporary.

The Provisional Government promised to hold elections, which were eventually scheduled for November, 1917, in order to create a new permanent government for Russia.

In the meantime, the Provisional Government continued to support Russia's participation in World War I, whilst introducing some reforms to try and correct some of the problems of Tsarist rule.

These reforms included granting freedom of speech and abolishing the Tsarist secret police, which made it easier for people to oppose the government.

The Provisional Government also introduced a shorter eight hour working day to help industrial workers in Russia.

So let's make sure our understanding of what we've just heard about the Provisional Government is really secure.

We have a statement that says the Provisional Government did nothing to improve ordinary people's lives.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that the Provisional Government ended Russia's participation in World War I.

And the second says that the Provisional Government introduced a shorter working day for industrial workers.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct justification was B.

The Provisional Government introduced a shorter working day for industrial workers.

They limited the working day to eight hours, which meant there was less exploitation of industrial workers.

Unlike many others who wanted to see a proletarian revolution happen in future, Vladimir Lenin refused to support the Provisional Government when he returned to Russia in April, 1917.

Lenin disagreed with the Provisional Government's decision to continue fighting the war against Germany, and he promised peace, something many protestors had demanded during the February Revolution.

Lenin also argued that the Provisional Government wasn't going far enough to help peasants and the proletariat.

Elections were scheduled for November, 1917 to help form a new government for Russia.

However, Lenin was concerned that other parties would be more successful than his.

Instead, Lenin and the Bolsheviks planned for another revolution which would bring themselves to power by force.

In October, 1917, less than a month before elections were scheduled to take place, the Bolsheviks began their revolution.

The Bolsheviks were able to arm their supporters, including groups of soldiers and sailors, and created a detailed military plan to overthrow the Provisional Government.

During the night of the 24th of October, the Bolsheviks took over key locations in Russia's capital, Petrograd.

There was little involvement of ordinary Russians in these events.

The Bolsheviks did not involve large crowds in their revolution, and crowds did not form to protect the Provisional Government either.

The Bolsheviks therefore seized control, and Lenin became the new leader of Russia.

So let's think about the painting we can see on the screen, which shows Bolshevik supporters during the October Revolution.

What can you see in this painting that suggests the October Revolution was well organised? Pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that some of the things we can see in the painting that suggest the October Revolution was well organised are that all people are moving in the same direction.

This might seem simple, but it does give us a bit of an indication that there's a plan which people were aware of and they were working towards.

We can see that almost all the people in the image are equipped with rifles.

Again, this suggests that there was good organisation, that people were prepared.

We could also see a truck equipped with supplies for supporters.

To be even more specific, we can see that there are weapons being handed out from this truck, and that there also seems to be first aid available.

Again, this makes the supporters of the Bolsheviks appear well organised as they acted during the October Revolution, as they were prepared to fight and to deal with any who got injured if there was fighting as well.

So let's think a little bit further about what we've heard about the Bolshevik seizure of power.

Who helped the Bolsheviks to overthrow the Provisional Government? Was it all of the other Marxist political parties? Was it groups of Russian soldiers and sailors? Or large crowds of ordinary Russians? Pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

Groups of Russian soldiers and sailors helped the Bolsheviks to overthrow the Provisional Government.

There was very little involvement of ordinary Russians, unlike during the February Revolution of 1917.

And now we have a statement on the screen that says the Bolsheviks were confident that most ordinary Russians would vote for them in the November, 1917 elections.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that the Bolshevik seized power just before elections were scheduled to be held.

And the second says the Bolsheviks had no policies which were supported by ordinary Russians.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer is A, the Bolsheviks seized power just before elections were scheduled to be held in November, 1917, Lenin instructed the Bolsheviks to do this because he was worried that the Bolsheviks would not win in those elections, which was supposed to happen in November.

So now that we've made sure our knowledge is secure, we are ready to move on to a practise task.

I want you to complete the following sentence.

Many historians say that the Bolsheviks seized power in October, 1917 because, and then you also have another sentence that says for example, which you also need to complete.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your answers.

Okay, really well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked you to complete the following sentences.

Many historians say that the Bolsheviks seized power in October, 1917 because, and for example.

So your answer may have included many historians say that the Bolsheviks seized power in October, 1917 because they overthrew the Provisional Government by using carefully planned military force.

For example, the Bolsheviks relied on carefully made plans and groups of sailors and soldiers to capture key locations around Petrograd during the revolution.

So if your answer looks something like that, really well done.

And now we're ready to move on to the third part of our lesson for today, where we are gonna think about the Bolsheviks in power.

The Bolsheviks use their power quickly to begin making major changes in Russia.

Two key areas that Bolsheviks focused on were managing opposition and the war with Germany.

As soon as the Bolsheviks came to power, they began limiting the ability of others to oppose them.

New laws were passed banning all non-Bolshevik newspapers and also banning some other political parties.

Furthermore, the Bolsheviks set up their own secret police force, the Cheka.

In July, 1918, the Cheka executed the former Tsar Nicholas II and his family.

By this time, a civil war had already begun in Russia as opponents of the Bolsheviks began to fight against them.

Lenin and his party were worried that the royal family could inspire their opponents in the Civil War.

It was for this reason that they approved the secret murder of the entire royal family.

The Bolsheviks also used their power to bring an end to Russia's war with Germany.

In March, 1918, the two countries signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

Lenin had continually promised that the Bolsheviks would deliver peace to Russia after three years of war under both the Tsar and Provisional Government.

However, peace came at a high price.

As part of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Russia had to pay Germany 3 billion rubles and transfer large amounts of land to Germany, including more than a 1/4 of the farmland the Russian Empire had controlled.

If you look at the map on the screen, you can see just how devastating the losses for the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk were, with all of the areas lost by Russia as part of the treaty highlighted in blue.

So let's think about what we've just heard and make sure that our understanding of how the Bolsheviks acted once they were in power is secure.

So what did the Bolsheviks do with Tsar Nicholas II and his family? Did they force them into exile, murder them, or was it that they restored them to power? Pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B.

The Bolsheviks murdered Tsar Nicholas II and his family.

As a civil war began in Russia, by the summer of 1918, the Bolsheviks were worried that the Royal family and the Tsar could inspire opposition to their own government.

And which statement is most accurate? The Bolsheviks granted more freedom to oppose the government than the Tsar and Provisional Government did.

The Provisional Government granted more freedom to oppose the government than the Tsar and Bolsheviks did.

Or that the Tsar granted more freedom to oppose the government than the Provisional Government and Bolsheviks did.

Pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was B, the Provisional Government granted more freedom to oppose the government than the Tsar and the Bolsheviks did.

We can tell this because whereas the Tsarist government and the Bolsheviks both set up their own secret police forces, the Provisional Government had actually abolished the secret police, making it easier for people to oppose the government.

And now we have a statement on the screen.

It says that the Bolsheviks approach to managing the war was different from previous governments in Russia.

Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was true, but we need to be able to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that unlike the Tsar and Provisional Government, the Bolsheviks were unwilling to keep on fighting the war.

The second says that unlike the Tsar and Provisional Government, the Bolsheviks increased military spending to try win the war.

So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here, and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct response was A, unlike the Tsar and Provisional Government, the Bolsheviks were unwilling to keep on fighting the war.

In fact, in 1918, the Bolsheviks signed a treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany and its allies to bring the war against them to an end.

Okay, and let's try one more question just to make sure our understanding is really, really secure.

I want you to write the missing number in the following sentence.

After signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Russia had to pay Germany blank rubles.

So what's the missing number? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing number was 3 billion.

After signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Russia had to pay Germany 3 billion rubles.

Russia also lost large amounts of land to Germany and its allies, including more than a 1/4 of the farmland that the Russian Empire controlled, showing just how costly the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was.

So now we are ready to put our knowledge into practise.

We have a statement from Lucas on the screen.

Lucas says, once in power, the Bolsheviks acted similarly to Tsar Nicholas II.

I want you to do two things in response to this statement.

Firstly, I want you to write one paragraph to explain why Lucas's statement could be considered accurate.

And then I want you to write one paragraph to explain why Lucas's statement could be considered inaccurate.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your answers to both parts of this task.

Okay, really well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So we had our statement from Lucas, where he said, once in power, the Bolsheviks acted similarly to Tsar Nicholas II.

For the first part of task C, I asked you to write one paragraph to explain why the statement could be considered accurate.

So you may have written the statement could be considered accurate because of how the Bolsheviks managed opposition.

For example, the Bolsheviks introduced a secret police called the Cheka.

This was similar to how Russian Tsars had kept their own secret police force to manage and remove opponents to their rule.

So really well done if your response to question one looks something similar to that answer we've just seen.

And for the second part of task C, I asked you to write one paragraph to explain why the statement could be considered inaccurate.

So your answer may have included, the statement could be considered inaccurate because of how the Bolsheviks managed the war with Germany.

For example, the Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918, which made peace with Germany.

This was directly opposite to Tsar Nicolas II's commitment to fighting the war, which had helped lead to his loss of power.

So really well done if your answer to the second part of our task looks something similar to that answer.

So now we've reached the end of today's lesson, which means we're in a good position to summarise our learning.

We've seen that the Bolsheviks were led by Vladimir Lenin and were committed to revolution in Russia.

In October, 1917, the Bolsheviks overthrew the Provisional Government and took power themselves.

The Bolsheviks signed a Treaty of Brest-Litovsk to end Russian participation in World War I.

The Bolsheviks severely restricted opposition in Russia and used their secret police force, the Cheka, to murder Tsar Nicolas II and his family.

So really well done for all of your effort in today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you through it, and I look forward to seeing you again in future as we think further about the Russian Revolution and the impact of communism on Russian society.