Hello, I'm Mr. Marchuk 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 Russia?" In today's lesson, we are gonna focus on Tsarist Russia and we'll be working towards explaining why tsarist rule in Russia came to an end in February, 1917.

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

Those are tsar, Duma, absolute power, and abdicate.

Tsar is the Russian word for emperor.

The Duma was a Russian parliament set up in 1906.

A ruler has absolute power if they can act as they wish without any restrictions, and to abdicate means to give up the throne.

Today's lesson will be split up into three parts and we'll begin by focusing on Tsarist Russia.

Tsar is the Russian word for emperor.

In 1894, Nicholas II became tsar.

A photograph of Tsar Nicola II is shown on the screen.

Historians use the name Tsarist Russia to refer to the country during its centuries under tsarist rule.

The tsars of Russia ruled with absolute power.

There were no limits on what they could and could not do.

In 1905, following an unsuccessful revolution, tsar Nicholas II promised that he would restrict his own power.

Subsequently, the tsar did introduce a new parliament called the Duma.

However, Nicholas II often ignored the Duma and dismissed it whenever he liked.

Meanwhile, the tsar used the army and a secret police force to control opposition in Russia.

The tsarist secret police could imprison people without even putting them on trial.

At the start of the 20th century, Russia's industry was growing rapidly and there were roughly 3 million industrial workers across the country.

However, discounted for just a small part of the total population of Russia.

Over 85% of Russians lived in the countryside, and most of these were peasant farmers.

Life for peasants was very difficult and many lived in poverty.

Their average life expectancy was just 40 years old.

Life for industrial workers was little better as many lived in overcrowded slums and were paid very little for their work.

By contrast, the aristocracy who made up just 1% of Tsarist Russia's population were very wealthy.

Despite their small size, the Russian aristocracy owned 25% of all the land in Russia.

Russia also had a growing middle class population, including bankers and factory owners.

Members of Russia's middle classes lived comfortably, were usually well-educated and had enough money for activities like eating at expensive restaurants or attending the theatre.

However, many middle class Russians had little political power in Tsarist Russia, so they supported calls for reform to make Russia more democratic.

So thinking about what we've heard so far, I wanna make sure this new knowledge is secure.

So, let's try a few questions.

"How did Tsar Nicholas II treat the Duma created in 1905? Was it that he often increased its powers, that he often respected its powers, or that he often ignored it?" Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

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

Tsar Nicholas II often ignored the Duma that he created in 1905, meaning that realistically, most power remained in the tsar's hands.

And let's try another question.

"Which statement is most accurate? Many peasants and industrial workers in Tsarist Russia lived in cities, many peasants and industrial workers in Tsarist Russia lived in luxury, or many peasants and industrial workers in Tsarist Russia lived in poverty.

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 C.

Many peasants and industrial workers in Tsarist Russia lived in poverty.

Even though peasants and industrial workers tended to live in different areas, peasants in the countryside and industrial workers in urban areas, they both suffered from poor living conditions and often living with very little money.

And now, we have a statement on the screen that says, "The aristocracy in Russia owned a disproportionate amount of land." When we use that word disproportionate, we mean something's too big or too small in comparison to another thing.

So.

is that statement the aristocracy in Russia owned a disproportionate amount of land, 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 answer.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that "The Russian aristocracy made up just 1% of the population, but owned 25% of all land." The second justification says that "The Russian aristocracy made up 10% of the population, but owned 25% of all land." 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 A.

The Russian aristocracy made up just 1% of the population, but owned 25% of all the land in Tsarist Russia.

So we can say that they owned a disproportionate amount of land far more in comparison to their actual size relative to the population.

The illustration shown on the screen represents the society of Tsarist Russia.

At the top, we can see the tsar, and on the illustration it says next to him, "We rule you." Beneath the tsar in the pyramid, we can see both priests and soldiers.

Next to the priest it says, "We fool you," and next to the soldiers it says, "We shoot at you." Below them, it showed a group representing the aristocracy and bourgeoisie, and they're labelled as saying, "We eat for you." And at the very bottom of the pyramid are a group who's supposed to represent the proletariat and the peasantry in Tsarist Russia.

And next to them , it's written, "We work for all" and "We feed all." So "How does the source show that there was great inequality in Tsarist Russia?" Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, so thinking about this illustration, one thing that we can tell from it is that there was great political inequality.

The tsar had absolute power, hence, why he's shown at the top of the pyramid.

And he used the church, the priest who was shown beneath him, which says, "We fool you," and the army and secret police shown in the third row of our pyramid to control opposition.

The pyramid also suggests that there was economic inequality in Tsarist Russia.

Aristocrats and a bourgeoisie enjoyed great wealth.

That's why they were able to eat for you.

Whilst most work was actually done by poor peasants and industrial workers, those shown at the very bottom of the pyramid who are having to hold it all up.

So we are now in a good position to put all of our new knowledge about Tsarist Russia into practise.

I want you to study the three statements about Tsarist Russia.

They say that "Russian tsars no longer had absolute power after 1905, Nicholas II accepted restrictions on his power.

Russia was mainly an agricultural society, most of the population were peasants and inequality was not a major issue, land was shared out quite equally between groups." I want you to do two tasks.

Firstly, you need to identify which statements are true and which statements are false, you could indicate this with ticks and crosses.

And then I want you to rewrite any false statements so that they are true.

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

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

Quite a few things I was asking you to do there.

So firstly, I asked you to identify which of our statements were true and which were false.

Our first statement was false, the second statement was true, and the third statement was false.

So we then needed to think about how we could rewrite some of these statements so that they would be accurate.

So we need to rewrite the first and the third statement.

Your answers may have included, "Russian tsars still had absolute power after 1905.

Although Nicholas II promised to restrict his power, he ignored the Russian Duma and maintained a secret police" To correct the third statement, you may have written, "Inequality was a major issue.

Land was shared out unequally as the aristocracy who made up just 1% of the population owned 25% of all land." So really well done if you got the first part of this question all correct.

And also if your improvements to the first and third statements look something similar to those models which we've just seen.

So now we're ready to move on to the second part of our lesson where we are going to focus on Russia at war.

Russia fought In World War I from 1914 to 1917.

Russia fought alongside Britain and France against Germany and its allies.

The war created many problems for Tsarist Russia.

The Russian Empire entered World War I in July, 1914.

In August, 1915, Tsar Nicolas II took over personal command of the Russian army, which was the largest in the world.

However, the military suffered from many problems and suffered a series of defeats against Germany and Austria between 1914 and 1917.

Between 900,000 and 2.

5 million soldiers from the Russian Empire were killed, and by the end of 1916, Russia's enemies occupied 13% of its land.

Many of these problems were blamed on Tsar Nicholas II himself.

So thinking about what we've just heard, "Why was Tsar Nicholas II personally blamed for many of the military's problems? Was it because Nicholas had not got enough soldiers to join the army, because Nicholas had refused to provide money for the army, or because Nicholas had taken personal command over the army?" 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 C.

Tsar Nicolas II was personally blamed for many of the problems faced by the Russian military because in 1915 he'd taken personal command over the army.

The long war created many problems for ordinary people living in Russia, not just for soldiers in the military.

Keeping Russia's large army's supply led to shortages of items like food and clothing in cities.

As a result, the calorie intake for industrial workers fell by 25%.

Many people turned to crime out of desperation.

So crime rates in Russia tripled between 1914 and 1916.

The tsar's government was unable to resolve these problems and was committed to keeping Russia fighting in World War I despite the issues this was causing for many ordinary Russians.

So considering what we've just heard, "Which reason best explains the increase in crime rates in Russia during World War I? Was it that police and soldiers were sent off the fight in the war, that prisoners were no longer kept in jails, that people suffered from food and clothing shortages, or that soldiers were not punished for any crimes that they committed? 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 C.

Crime rates tripled in Russia between 1914 and 1916.

And for the most part, these were crimes of desperation.

People resorted to crimes like theft because they were suffering from food and clothing shortages.

And let's try another question to make sure that our understanding is secure.

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

"The calorie intake for Russian industrial workers fell by blank % during World War I." 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 correct answer was 25.

The calorie intake for Russian industrial workers fell by 25% during World War I.

This statistic makes it clear just how widespread some of the social issues created by World War I were, and how significant they were in their effect on ordinary Russians.

So we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge about Russia at war from 1914 to 17 into practise.

So I want you to answer the following question.

"Why did Tsar Nicholas II become less popular in Russia during World War I?" I want you to write one paragraph to explain your answer.

You may focus on military problems or problems faced by ordinary people.

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

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

So I asked you why did Tsar Nicholas II become less popular in Russia during World War I? Your answer may have included "Tsar Nicholas II became less popular during World War I because of military problems. For example, by the end of 1916, 13% of Russian land had been lost to Germany and its allies.

This hurt Tsar Nicholas' popularity because he had taken personal command over the Russian army so people blamed its poor performance on him." Alternatively, your answer may have included, "Tsar Nicola II became less popular during World War I because of problems for ordinary people.

For example, Russian cities suffered from food shortages during the war so industrial workers calorie intakes fell by 25%.

This made Tsar Nicholas II less popular because people felt he wasn't doing enough to protect people's wellbeing.

So, really well done.

If your own answer look something like either of those two models which we've just seen, and that means we are now ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today, where we are going to analyse the February Revolution.

In late February, 1917, a revolution began in Tsarist Russia.

By early March, Tsar Nicola II had abdicated his throne.

The February Revolution began in Petrograd, Russia's capital city.

On the 22nd of February, 1917, workers at the Putilov factory went on strike.

The next day, the strikers were joined by large numbers of women.

Together, there were over 100,000 protestors and many chanted simple slogans such as down with hunger and bread for the workers.

Within days, the number of protestors on the streets of Petrograd had increased to 300,000, and the protestors had begun to call for Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate and put an end to the war.

The Tsar ordered the police and the army to break up the protests using force if necessary.

However, many police officers and soldiers refused their orders, and began joining the protestors instead.

By the 27th of February, some politicians had begun to call for Nicholas II to abdicate.

On the 2nd of March, Nicholas decided to return from the frontline to Petrograd.

However, the tsar's leading generals told the tsar that his presence would only make things worse in Petrograd.

Instead, they advised him to abdicate.

Without the support of the public or his military, Nicholas abdicated.

This ended tsarist rule in Russia.

Little more than a week after major protests had begun in Petrograd.

In place the tsar, the February Revolution led to a provisional government taking power, which began to prepare for democratic elections.

So thinking about what we've heard regarding the events of the February Revolution, let's make sure our knowledge is secure.

"What did protestors initially demand during the February Revolution? Was it the abdication of the tsar, for an end to food shortages or for peace with Germany?" 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.

Initially, protestors in Petrograd demanded an end to food shortages.

Many had banners with simple slogans like bread for the workers or down with hunger.

It did not begin as a political protest.

And let's think about the statement that we have on the screen now.

It says that "All members of the police and military remain loyal to the tsar throughout the February Revolution." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, so 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 "Many soldiers joined Germany to fight against tsarist rule in Russia." And the second says that "Many soldiers join protestors to demand an end to tsarist rule in Russia." 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.

Many soldiers joined protesters to demand an end to tsarist rule in Russia.

This made it even harder for Tsar Nicholas II to try and put the protest to an end.

And let's think about one more question.

We have a statement that reads, "Tsar Nicholas II was executed during the February Revolution." Is that statement true or false? Pause a 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 again, we need to justify our response.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that "Nicholas was forced to accept significant new restrictions on his power as tsar," and the second says that "Nicholas was forced to abdicate bringing an end to tsarist rule in Russia." 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.

Nicholas II was forced to abdicate under pressure not only from members of the public who were protesting, but also from his own military generals.

And this brought an end to tsarist rule in Russia.

So now it's time to put our knowledge of the February Revolution into practise.

We are gonna split task C into three parts.

For the first part, I want you to start with the earliest and sort the events shown in our table into chronological order.

You'll indicate your answers using the numbers one to five, and the events you need to think about are as follows.

"Some policemen and soldiers join the protestors.

Tsarist rule in Russia comes to an end.

Over 100,000 women and workers in Petrograd protest over food shortages.

Generals advise the tsar to abdicate, and politicians call for Tsar Nicholas to abdicate." So use the numbers one to five to indicate the correct chronological order of those events in the February Revolution.

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

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

So I asked you to sort our events from the February Revolution into chronological order.

You should have written them as follows.

As number one, you should have had over 100,000 women and workers in Petrograd protest over food shortages.

That's how the February Revolution began.

As number two, you should have had some policemen and soldiers join the protestors.

As number three, you should have had politicians call for Tsar Nicholas to abdicate.

As number four, you should have had generals advise the tsar to abdicate.

And then as number five, you should have had tsarist rule in Russia comes to an end, which occurred when Tsar Nicholas II finally did abdicate in March, 1917.

So really well done if you've got all of those events arranged correctly.

So now we can move onto the second part of task C.

I want you to select one or more objectives from the list below, which appropriately describes the February Revolution in 1917.

The adjectives on our list are organised, popular, sudden, and violent.

And when you've done that, we'll then move on to a third part of task C where I want you to write one paragraph to justify your choice of adjective.

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

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

So I asked you to select one or more of the adjectives from the list, which appropriately describe the February Revolution.

You may have picked, popular or sudden.

I then asked you to write one paragraph to justify your choice of adjective.

So your answer may have included, "The February Revolution in 1917 could be described as popular.

For example, protests began on the 23rd of February in 1917 with 100,000 women and workers.

These protests grew in size and later included other groups such as policemen and soldiers.

This shows that a large number and wide range of people were involved in the revolution against tsarist rule in February, 1917.

So it can be described as popular.

Alternatively, you may written an answer that looked like, "The February Revolution in 1917 could be described as sudden.

For example, protests began on the 23rd of February, 1917, and by the 2nd of March, 1917, Tsar Nicholas second had made the decision to abdicate.

This shows that the February Revolution was quite sudden as it took less than two weeks from the beginning of the revolution for tsarist rule in Russia, which had lasted for centuries to come to an end.

So really well done if your own response look something like one of those two model paragraphs, which we've just seen.

So that means we've reached the end of our lesson.

So we're in a good position to summarise our learning.

We've seen that "Russian tsars had absolute power.

Most Russians were poor peasants.

There was great inequality between the lives of the poor majority, and those of the wealthy middle classes and aristocracy.

Russia fought in World War I from 1914 to 1917, but suffered from many military defeats and shortages for ordinary Russians and large protests began in Petrograd in February, 1917.

These ultimately led Nicholas II to abdicate and ended tsarist rule." So really well done for all of your effort today.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you for our lesson on Tsarist Russia, and I look forward to seeing you again in future as we continue to explore the Russian Revolution.