Learning History from a Leader Lenin

1. Learning History from a Leader Lenin This project aims to bring out the importance of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870- 1924 )in shaping the history of both Russia and modern world. Moreover, it hopes to arouse students’ interest and motivation in self-learning through the effective use of sources in this History project. First of all, Let’s have some GAMES first! Wendy Chan F.6U (2004-05)

2. Game 1

3. Game Time! Who was Lenin?

4. The Child on the left was Lenin The baby girl was Lenin’s sister Olga Answer!

5. Game 2

6. Who was Lenin? Answer: He was the first one from the right!

7. Game 3 How old was Lenin?

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9. Learning from the PastThe Man Who Changed HistoryLenin

10. Content • Introduction: • Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto • Lenin: The communist believer and revolutionary leader Second Part: - Background of Russia under the Romanov Dynasty - The February Revolution 1917 and the Provisional Government - The October Revolution 1917 and the rise of Bolsheviks - Reasons for the success of the Bolsheviks - How Lenin changed history and his legacy Third Part: - How can students today learn from Lenin - Incorporation of ”Habits of Mind’’ into this project Acknowledgement

11. Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx I believe in “ The history of all society is a history of class struggle.” Therefore, the poor and exploited working class (proletariat) should: Rise up against the capitalists End all private ownerships of land and industry Karl Marx Proletariat should rule by dictatorship All these were acted out by Lenin after the 1917 October Revolution

12. Lenin: The Communist Believer and Revolutionary ---- who acted out Lenin was born into a middle class family. He received a good education and took a bachelor of law. During his years of St. Petersburg University, he became a Marxist and decided to work out the doctrine. He was determined that a proletarian revolution was indeed essential to erase the class inequalities. Therefore he started to take part in revolutionary activities in the following years. Lenin became the leader of the Bolsheviks in 1903, and the Bolsheviks joined in the 1905 Revolution. Although the revolution turned out to be a failure, he continued directing Bolshevik activities abroad and published his ideas in Pravda. Finally, the Bolsheviks succeeded in seizing control of the country after the 1917 October Revolution. Thus Lenin adopted the main principles of communism in this first communist state --- the USSR: A state without private ownership while people were put under central guidance; force and terror were used to silence opposition.

13. No real democracy Brutal repression of riots and unrest No freedom, Russians were checked by the Secret Police Widespread poverty Defeats or humiliation in wars or international conference “Land Hunger” Exploitation of the working class Russia under the Czar (king of Russia) until 1917 Corrupt, inefficient, autocratic, reactionary Czarist government. Failures in reforms.

14. Witness the Russian Wars…. Poverty, hunger Brutal repression hardship…..

15. Because the Russian anger had risen to the peak…… All these hardships resulted in……. 1917February Revolution Aim: To overthrow the Czar and the Romanov Dynasty Image from East and West (Macmillan)

16. The Czarist government was overthrown successfully, and a new Provisional Government was established in March 1917. Czar Nicholas II

17. The Provisional Government of Russia – A Non-Communist One Since the Russians succeeded with the revolution, a newly established provisional government, ruled by the previous members of the Duma (The Legislature) was established. Nonetheless, this ‘temporary’ government represented mainly the views of the middle class and aristocracy (the nobility).Most importantly, the government made several fatal mistakes: The government continued Russian warfare in World War I. They didn’t improve people’s livelihood; poverty and starvation were serious. The views and interests of the workers and peasants were ignored. The release of political prisoners (the Bolsheviks)by the Kerensky Government in Sept. 1917. These mistakes were favourable factors for the rise of Lenin and the Bolsheviks!

18. Gaining Popular Support for The October Revolution 1917 Since Lenin clearly saw the political mistakes made by the Provisional Government, he made promise to the Russian people “Peace, Land, Bread” in his famous April Theses in April 1917. He had attracted more people to support the Bolsheviks. However, because the July Days riots 1917, the Provisional Government arrested a lot of Bolshevik figures and Lenin had to flee to Finland for safety. Nevertheless, an opportunity came for Lenin after the amnesty of political prisoners (the Bolsheviks were imprisoned after July 1917) proclaimed by the Provisional Government headed by Kerensky in Sept 1917. The Bolsheviks gradually gained mass support. Finally, Lenin started the October Revolution with the well-trained and disciplined red army headed by Trotsky. Lenin speaking of April Theses Lenin speaking to the red troops, with Trotsky’s presence.

19. The October Revolution And Lenin Succeeded

20. Capable Leadership of Lenin Weaknesses of the Provisional Government Reasons for the Success of October Revolution 1917 His “Peace, Land, Bread” program attracted the Russian mass. It failed to deal with the social and economic problems. The revolution was well-planned and carefully organized by him and Trotsky. It released political prisoners. It did not have a strong army. Lenin understood the mass psychology of the discontented Russians and was able to take advantage. It lost support from peasants and workers.

21. How Lenin Changed History, and his Legacy He established the first Communist state, and renamed Russia as “Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) He set up the Comintern (Communist International) in 1919 to spread communism throughout the world The communist regime established by Lenin, erased all past politics, history, different ideologies and oppositions. Example: The founding of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921 His successors, Stalin and Khrushchev, had turned many East European countries into communist states after World War II which brought about the Cold War: The Communist Bloc v.s. The Capitalist Bloc He even set up the first example of a concentration camp for political prisoners, and even, a totalitarian state: all Russians could survive only by obeying the communist orders.

22. 1 2 The first communist state – USSR was established 1.China became a communist state after the establishment of PRC on 1st Oct 1949. A group of Chinese youths looked optimistically toward the future under communist leadership. 2. Soviet Union and communist China maintained the alliance until 1960. Mao Zedong (representing PRC) and Khrushchev (representing USSR) at a meeting in 1958. Communist Bloc ( Dominating Power : USSR ) Capitalist Bloc ( Dominating Power: USA ) VS The Cold War started after World War II The Warsaw Pact 1955 VS North Atlantic Treaty Organization 1949 The communist Red Army won the Civil War 1918-21.

23. How can students today learn from Lenin The success of Lenin in building up the first communist state in the world were partly due to the favourable circumstances and his personal qualities. His comrades described him: “He never imposed his views on his co-workers. He tried to convince; he patiently explained his opinions to others” Khrushchev, Stalin’s successor. “The theories of Lenin are only for the preparation of his proletarian revolution.” Trotsky, the commander of the Red Army. “He remained a peculiarly modest figure who wore a shabby waistcoat, worked 16-hour days and read extensively ”

24. Be humble to learn Be optimistic and strong ( Lenin had been arrested and exiled many times!) Don’t stick to the texts. Work out the theories!

25. Incorporation of “Habits of Mind’’ in this project Striving for accuracy --- the course of events, the biography of Lenin, the historical information were all checked and proved. • Creating --- creative animation • can add fun to this • learning activity! Persisting --- don’t give up in doing a big project! Thinking flexibly --- what to have and what ought not to have in the presentation

26. Evaluation In doing this project, I think the most difficult part was the selection of materials and how to bring out Lenin’s importance in influencing history. Nonetheless, it was interesting to read through different sources which would never appear in textbooks. Moreover, it can refresh my mind of all the lost history knowledge after the Cert Exam! Wendy Chan F.6U (2004-2005)

27. Reference Book List • Russia and the USSR Nelson • The Russian Revolution Thomson Learning • Russia and the USSR Heinemann • East and West Macmillan • Lenin for Beginners Writers and Readers

28. Acknowledgement All material used here is intended for educational purposes. There is no intention to reproduce material by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without permission of the publishers. The images used in this presentation are taken from either the internet or reference books. For internet sources, the pictures are mainly extracted from: www.cqzg.cn www.mina.ru http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/photo/index.htm Information about Lenin and images are drawn from reference books: Russia and the USSR Nelson The Russian Revolution Thomson Learning Russia and the USSR Heinemann East and West Macmillan Some information about Lenin is drawn from the following websites: http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/ http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/lenin.html

29. ~ Thank You ~