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LEVEL 2
AS 2.5 – 90469
THE IMPACT OF A FORCE OR MOVEMENT IN AN
HISTORICAL SETTING
For Assessor’s use only
Achievement Criteria
Achievement
with Merit
Achievement with
Excellence
Describe cause(s) and/or
consequence(s) of action(2) and/or
event(s) related to a force or
movement in an historical setting.
Explain cause(s) and/or consequence(s)
of action(s) and/or event(s) related to a
force or movement in an historical
setting.
Comprehensively and accurately explain
cause(s) and/or consequence(s) of
action(s) and/or event(s) related to a
force or movement in an historical setting.
Describe the influence on people’s
lives of the force or movement in the
historical setting.
Explain the influence on people’s lives of
the force or movement in the historical
setting.
Comprehensively explain the influence on
people’s lives of the force or movement in
the historical setting.
Structure and organise information
and ideas in an appropriate essay
format.
Structure and organise information and
ideas in an appropriate essay format.
Structure and organise information and
ideas in an appropriate and effective
essay format.
Achievement
Overall Level of Performance (all criteria within a column are met)
Introduction
Choose ONE historical force or movement that related to the end of a government’s
or a leader’s rule AND that influenced people’s lives in one of the topics you have
studied this year. You may select a force or movement from the list above, or
another force or movement of your own choice.
Essay Topic
Describe and explain the background and events that led to the end of a
government’s or a leader’s rule.
How did an historical force or movement related to these events have an
influence on people’s lives at this time?
Begin by planning the essay on the planning sheet provided on page 4. The ideas
below will help you, but add your own knowledge as well.
Introduction – write an opening paragraph that identifies:
 the force or movement you have chosen
 the historical setting or topic you have chosen
 the government’s or leader’s rule that ended.
Body – write structured and sequenced paragraphs that explain:
 the background and specific events that led to the end of a government’s or a
leader’s rule
 the outcomes of this event
 how one selected historical force or movement related to these events influenced
the lives of people within the circumstances of this time.
Conclusion – write a concluding paragraph that sums up the main ideas and links
them back to the focus of the essay.
You should aim to write about 600-800 words.
GRADE E
During the Russian Revolution between 1917 and 1920 the Provisional government
were able to come into power after the abdication of the Tsar. The end of the
Provisional governments short rule was brought about by the October Revolution
with the background of this event being Dual power, Lenin’s return and April Thesis,
the July days, the june offensive and Kounilov revolt. The Bolsheviks had an
influence of people’s lives at this time because they promised “Land, Peace, Bread”
and were able to gain support through the Provisional governments values.
The Provisional government came into power after the Tsars abdication in 1917. The
Tsar had lost all political authority and popular support even before he abdicated as
he was thousands of miles away trying to salvage the failing war effort and wasn’t
there when his people needed him most. On the 2nd March Tsar Nicholas II
abdicated after he realised he had lost all his most loyal supports, this brought an
end to the Romanov dynasty which had ruled over Russia for hundreds of years.
The provisional government were put formally in charge and held all political authority
but they did not hold genuine power in the eyes of the people as they were only
standing in as governing party until a constituant assembly could be held and a new
government elected. The Petrograd Soviet however competed with the Provisional
government for control and held genuine power in the view of the people as they
were a workers union supported by revolutionary groups such as the Bolsheviks and
Mensheviks. Their power was derived from their control of the army’s, railways,
communications and the workforce. Lenin and the Bolsheviks believed that the
Petrograd Soviet should be in charge as it represented ordinary Russians unlike the
Provisional government who were all wealthy members of society. The Provisional
Government even at the beginning of their rule had a weak base of support that they
were not able to overcome. This was due to the continuation of fighting in World War
One, lack of focus on economic problems, lack of support for the people and the
alienation of their upper and working class supporters. This Dual Power did not
enable the Provisional Government to express their own identity and gain support
from the people.
Lenin’s returns from exile dramatically altered the course of the Bolshevik party from
supporting the Petrograd Soviet to seeking their own exclusive power. This meant
the Provisional government was still not able to gain support as the Bolsheviks
gained popularity. With the Provisional governments policy – allow all political exiles
to return to Russia the only problem now was to return across enemy war zones.
Lenin, Zinoviev and other Bolshevik exiles approaches the Germans for help which
they readily agreed to hoping that the revolutionaries would take over and withdraw
from the war. Lenin’s impromptu speech to the Soviet crowds as he returned from
exile increased his popularity by expressing the views of the Bolsheviks with the
slogan “Land, Peace, Bread! All Power to the Soviets!” The represented the views
of the Bolsheviks to end the war, redistribute land evenly in the countryside and end
the desperate food shortage. Lenin’s return ended the cooperation between the
Provisional government the Petrograd Soviet and other revolutionary parties which
resulted in the collapsing of the country both socially and economically by the end of
June.
By this time 568 factories closed down and 104,000 workers were
unemployed. This resulted in protests and disturbances which were directly linked
back to the Bolsheviks. Lenins credibility as a revolutionary leader was damaged
after he fled to Finland on a fake passport to escape the blame of the July Days.
This seemed to be the end of the Bolshevik party and the Provisional government as
the provisional government was seen to be too incompetent to solve the peoples
problems. The Bolshevik party however was able to overcome the difficulties and
become more powerful than ever which was mainly due to Lenin resolving his
differences with Trotsky to see him become a new member of the Bolshevik party.
Trotsky was able to use the failure of the July days to establish a more successful
strategy to use in the October Revolution. The Provisional government during this
time were seen as incompetent and not strong enough to save Russia.
The June Offensive and Kornilov revolt midway through 1917 saw the Provisional
Government continue to lose support and the Bolsheviks had an increasing influence
on the Russian people. In early May Kerensky was promoted to Minister of War
despite having little military experience. He aimed to boost the morale of the soldiers
with a successful attack on the enemy. He urged the soldiers to view it as a
revolutionary advance for Russia of freedom and good future. After early sucess
German reinforcements saw the attack fail by inflicting massive casualties on the
Russian Army. This lost support for Kerensky due to his unsuccessful military
tactics. In August General Kornilov, an ex-tsarist General took the position of
Commandor in Chief of the Army. He was accused of attempting a coup when
threatened by advancing German troops and marched soldiers towards the capital to
defend Petrograd. Kerensky, afraid that General Kornilov was going to replace the
Provisional government with a military dictatorship, declared him a traitor and
ordered the Bolsheviks release from prison. He was forced to ask the Bolsheviks for
help as his own troops were away fighting the war. He gave the Bolsheviks a hero
status in the eyes of the people and made them a well armed and prepared force
ready to take over in October. This was a major error in Kerensky’s judgement
because it resulted in the Bolsheviks achieving a broad base of support.
The October Revolution in 1917 was the biggest event of 1917 and finally led to the
end of the Provisional governments short rule. Since Lenins return from exile he
persistently argued with the Bolshevik central committee for an effective and strategic
overthrow which needed to take place before the Second All Russian Congress of
Soviets and the elections for the Constituent assembly to be held in November. This
events could dramatically change the political problems and damage the chance of
the Bolsheviks to come into power. The stages of the takeover were to capture
communication and installation centres, capture key vantage points and most
importantly capture the provisional government in the winter palace. The Provisional
government could do nothing but surrender to the 40,000 strong Bolshevik army and
their short rule came to an end. The Bolsheviks seized power in an almost bloodless
coup before winning a ten-day battle to legitimise their rule.
The Bolsheviks influenced the people of Russia by giving them more equality in their
lives. Lenin fulfilled his promise of “Peace, Land, Bread” to make the country a more
equal society. Lenin began by restoring peace by beginning immediate peace
negotiations with the party leaders. After much stalling and ultimatums Lenin signed
the treaty of Brest-Litovisk which placed severe penalties on Russia but in the end
saw the people rejoice as the soldiers returned home. With peace restored Lenin set
out to end the wealth and power of the ruling class. He did this by abolishing the
right to own large house on the 6th of December which meant several families
instead of just one could occupy the same space which solved the problem of overcrowding in the cities. He also bought all banks under the property of the state as
well as any gold in private banks. With power and wealth taken away from the ruling
class he aimed to bring equality to the peasants in the countryside by redistributing
land. This was the easiest to fulfil on an administrative level as the peasants had
already formed revolutionary groups to seize land from landlords which they merely
legitimized with a land decree stating that “Land ownership shall be abolished for
ever” and “Land tenure shall be on an equality basis”. This solved food shortages
and gave peasants much needed land. The Bolsheviks also aimed to bring more
equality between men and woman by giving woman more rights and freedom. The
Bolsheviks had a huge influence on society as they made Russia more equal
between men and women and the wealthy and peasants. The Bolsheviks did this
because they felt “freedom for one is freedom for all.”
The Provisional governments rule was ended by the October Revolution in 1917.
The background to the revolution was dual power, Lenin’s return, the June offensive
and Kornilov revolt. The influence of the Bolsheviks on peoples lives were to bring
more equality to the people of Russia and stop a government that was doing nothing
to solve the countries problems which reached a critical condition after abdication of
Tsar Nicholas II.
GRADE E
In the time of 1900-1924, Russia, many events took place and many attitudes were
held that led to the end of the autocratic system of government, led by Tsar Nicholas
II, and subsequently the end of the temporary Provisional Government as well. The
force of communism was related to the background of land the ends of these
systems of government themselves, and had a strong influence on the people of
Russia at this time.
Communism is a form of Government which holds the idea in which everything is, in
theory, distributed evenly and equally amongst the people of the nation. To achieve
a communist government, a revolution is required to overthrow the current system of
government and get rid of the rich and powerful classes. This abstract idea was
thought up by a German writer, Karl Marx, in his “Marxist theory”, published in 1848.
Vladimir Lenin, a prominent figure in Russia, who strongly opposed the Tsarist
government, believed that communism could provide a solution to Russia’s pressing
problems under an autocratic system of Government. He set up a political party, the
Bolsheviks, who worked towards overthrowing the Tsar and his autocracy and
creating a socialist government in Russia. Lenin adapted the Marxist ideas of
communism to suit Russia and assembled a small group of dedicated professional
revolutionaries to plan and develop ideas that would eventually lead to a socialist
revolution to overthrow the Tsar and his government. This force, which worked to
oppose the Tsarist government and offer Russians a new way forward led to the end
of Tsar Nicholas II’s rule.
Russia was in a bad way. The tsar was a weak and indecisive man who did little to
attempt to understand his people and help them. The autocratic system of
government was also well below par, being a corrupt institution that did little but
reinforce the foolish rulings of Nicholas II. The people of Russia lived lives of quiet
desperation as a result of this. They were able to affect little change in their own
circumstances or in the society around them. The majority of the Russia people
(85%) were impoverished, uneducated and helpless peasants, for which the Tsar did
little more than nothing. They were fed up with a government that didn’t understand
their needs and having to sacrifice for a war they were losing and did not support
(World War One). For reasons such as these, the Russian people began to look
towards better alternatives in forms of government, such as communism. Because
they had nothing to lose, they were willing to fully commit to their causes, and go to
extreme measures to reach their goal (the termination of Tsar Nicholas’ autocratic
government).
Opposition towards the Tsar’s autocratic government was strong, and increasing by
the day. Many revolutionary parties, such as the Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, and
Socialist Revolutionaries sought change within the government and placed pressure
on the Tsar and his ministers to improve the situation of their nation, or face an
overthrow through revolution. This pressure did compell the autocratic government
to make some reforms, but they were not seriously committed to change, so those
reforms failed. The government continued to look out for it’s own interests. The
opposing Revolutionary parties became increasingly frustrated and determined to
change the state of their nation, and many ordinary Russians felt the same way,
joining their cause. The Bolsheviks, employing the idea of communism, gained great
amounts of success as the people of Russia saw this form of government to be a
shot at freedom and equality.
The Revolution of March 1917 was the key event that led to the end of the Tsar’s
autocratic rule. Peasants and workers revolted up the streets of Russia’s capital,
Petrograd, protesting, rioting, looting, striking – and demanding a change in
Government. This event led to the abdication of Tsar, Nicholas II and the abolishion
of his autocratic system of government. Shortly after, the Provisional Government
was set up led by Alexander Keransky. At this time, the Bolsheviks began to
seriously plan an upcoming revolution to now overthrow the Provisional Government
and set up a socialist government, led by Lenin, in Petrograd. The March 1917
Revolution had showed the Bolsheviks Russia became so fed up with their
incompetent and corrupt system of government, that they took action and rebelled
against it. They were now preparing to take it a step further and establish a
communist system of government by overthrowing the Provisional Government.
In October 1917, the Bolsheviks ended the rule of the Provisional Government in a
swift and decisive revolution. Briefly planned, Lenin and the Bolsheviks stormed key
locations in Petrograd before taking Winter Palace – the headquarters of the
Provisional Government. The next day Lenin announced he was setting up a
socialist government.
The termination of both the autocratic system of Government, under Tsar Nicholas II,
and that of the Provisional Government, and the introduction of a communist
government, had a great affect on the Russian people’s lives at this time. Due to
communism, many aspects of life in Russia changed. Short term, many reforms
were brought about by the Bolsheviks, such as the decree on peace, Russia called
on all other countries participating in World War One to reach an agreement and
cease fighting. An armistice was signed with Germany three days later. The
Bolsheviks believed peace should be achieved without annexation or idemnity. Land
reforms were also put in place, the land was taken from the rich and given to the
peasants, the same with factories – these were given to the workers. All titles and
inheritance rights were abolished – to ensure equality was achieved (an essential
part of communism). For this same reason, church policies were changed. CHEKA
was formed, a Bolshevik army used to deal with counter-revolutionaries and reinforce
Bolshevik rule. The Gregorian Calender, which at this time was used by most of the
modern world, was adopted into Russian society. This movement forward marking
the development of the Russian nation (an essential part of Communism).
Long-term civil war was begun between the Bolsheviks and their supporters (Reds)
and other opposing groups that also wished to become the government of Russia
(Whites). The former royal family, the Romanovs, were executed in 1918 at
Ekatrinberg. And finally new nations were formed as a result of the civil war (e.g.
Latvia and Lithuania). The Bolsheviks (Reds) were victorious in the civil war and
became the official government of Russia. They implemented a socialist form of
Government and worked towards Communism. The Russian people were to become
communists.
The background and events that led to the end of both the Tsarist autocracy and the
Provisional government were related to the force of communism. As a result of these
changes in government and the historical force of communism, the people of Russia
suffered, and benefited from, various significant consequences.
GRADE E
The November Revolution in Russia of 1917 was an event that marked the end of the
democratic Provisional Government’s short rule over Russia. While the revolution is
noted for ending the Provisional Government’s rule, it is not the only cause of it. This
end brought about many changes to the lives of all Russia people, the most
significant being their new communist government.
Every change in history needs motivation. For this change, in this case, for this
revolution to be a success, this motivation must come from a united belief in a cause.
In Russia, especially during early 1900s, this cause was communism. This is the
belief that the world should live as equals – no rich, no poor, no class systems. All
this would happen after a series of revolutions, according to Karl Marx’s plan in his
Communist Manifesto of 1848. When this ‘perfect’ equality is reached, a state of
‘Utopia’ is achieved.
Perhaps the most important factor leading to the end of the Provisional Government
was the formation of a Communist group in Russia. This group originated as the
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, and was founded in 1898. While the whole
group strove for eventual communism in Russia, some wanted to stick to Marx’s
plan, and others didn’t. This caused a split in the party into the Mensheviks and the
Bolsheviks. The Mensheviks wanted to stay close to Marx’s theory that the
bourgeoise revolution must occur before the proletariat revolution took place. They
also wanted widespread membership and were unwilling to use violence. On the
other hand, the Bolsheviks believed that the revolution of the bourgeois was not
necessary. They limited membership to a small, tight-knit group of full-time
revolutionaries. Lenin – the leader of the Bolsheviks – believed that communism was
not just something to work for when there’s spare time, but a cause one must
dedicate their life to. This is why the Bolsheviks were eventually the ones to carry
out the November Revolution and thus end the rule of the Provisional Government.
World War One both formed and destroyed the Provisional Government. In March
1917, a spontaneous and unorganised, but successful revolution occured that forced
Tsar Nicholas Romanov to abdicate. This provided the opportunity for the
Provisional Government to take his place as Russia’s leader – or government. While
many were delighted to have freedom of speech and to see the disbanding of the
Okhrana – liberties given to the Russian people by the Provisional Government, the
governments failure to end the war led to extreme discontentment. Continued food
shortages and war defeats drew support away from the Provisional Government.
People began looking for different leaders to follow.
Lenin was, without doubt, a successful leader. The way in which he led the
Bolsheviks to carry out the November Revolution showed many that he was an able
candidate to rule Russia. In his April Theses of 1917, he ordered the Soviets (who
were, up until that point, co-operating with the Provisional Government as a Dual
Power) to cut off all support to other political parties. Lenin’s motto “All power to the
Soviets” drove his point across well. He also strove to continue his followers that the
bourgeois revolution was unnecessary, and that it was time for the revolution of the
proletariat to occur – the November Revolution. To the public, he promised “Peace!
Bread! Land!” Many began to turn to Lenin for a leading figure and support for the
Provisional Government dropped dramatically.
Trotsky’s leadership was also extremely vital. In Stalin’s words – “the party is
primarily and principally indebted to Comrade Trotsky for the rapid going over of the
garrison to the side of the Soviets.” He planted propaganda amongst the people, he
organised military preparations such as the recruiting of troops. He played a vital
part in the success of the November Revolution – he was, in fact, the overall
organiser.
The Kornilov Coup was significant in that it highlighted the inability of the Provisional
Government. The new Commander-In-Chief of the Armed forces, General Kornilov,
decided to overthrow the Provisional Government in August of 1917.
The
Government quickly released the Bolshevik’s Red Army from prison, armed them and
ordered them to protect the city. While Kornilov’s army never reached the city, the
Red Army appeared to be the heroes. In a short time, the Provisional Government
had given the Red Army everything it needed to overthrow them – weapons, a legal
army and most importantly, support from the general Russian public.
The November Revolution of 1917 was a quick and quiet uprising. In one night, the
Red Army took over strategic points in the city – like bridges, telephone exchanges,
banks and government buildings. In one night, the Communists ended the rule of the
Provisional Government.
In most significant influence on the people was Lenin’s decision to end World War
One. While this was extremely positive news to many, this was short-lived. As a
consequence of the surrender, Russia was forced to sign the Treaty of Brest –
Litovsk. This meant that Russia had to give away most of it’s most arable land and a
quarter of its coal and iron reserves. The loss of the Ukraine was most detrimental to
Russia, as its prosperous supply of food was greatly needed to feed Russia’s
starving people. One quarter of its population found themselves belonging to a
different culture, race, language.
However, those who were previously deprived and oppressed – the workers,
peasants and poor – suddenly found themselves as equals to the rich. This was part
of Lenin’s initial reforms – that everyone and everything must be equal. This equality
is the fundamental value of Communism. Women, too, were given rights such as the
right to buy land, and sign documents without their husbands consent. These
changes were the beginning to a brighter future for them.
On the other end of the scale, the rich and previously privileged, had their land,
wealth and power taken from them. Those who once ordered others to clean the
streets, now had to do it themselves. Factory owners had their factories taken away
from them. The same happened to all business owners. They suddenly lost all their
income and life’s work. The Russian Orthodox Church, which once had a status
close to that of nobility, was all but destroyed. All property and power was ceased
from them. Followers of the Church were no longer allowed to believe what they
wanted to. All religion was discouraged. The Communists only wanted people to
devote their lives to Communism.
Those in political parties also had their rights and power forcefully taken from them.
Unable to avoid the upcoming elections, the Bolsheviks found themselves defeated
by the Socialist Revolutionaries. However this did not stop the Communists from
dissolving the Constituent Assembly after just one meeting on the grounds that it was
a “cover for a bourgeois counter-revolution.” Many political party members were
outraged when Lenin declared all political parties, other than the Sovarkom – the
Communist party – as illegal.
This build-up of frustration and discontentment led to the Civil War in 1921. The Red
Army began conscription. Many men and women were once again forced to fight in
terror of both the enemy and their own army. The CHEKA was set up – a special
force that planted propaganda and also used violence to keep their ‘support’.
Thousands were executed by the CHEKA without trial.
The famine of 1921 was a direct result of war communism – which was introduced
during the Civil War. A Food Commissariat was wet up to requisition food from
peasants. The army was given the bulk of the food, while the rest of Russia starved.
It was the worst famine Russia had seen in 100 years. People ate bark, and it was
said that many resorted to eating human beings as a last resort. No one, not even
Lenin, could deny what was happening to Russia.
Lenin finally realised that ‘only agreement with the peasantry can save the Socialist
revolution in Russia.” He introduced a New Economic Policy. People were once
again allowed to own small businesses, and for profit. Freedom of speech was reintroduced, and the CHEKA disbanded. This had a positive influence on all Russia
people.
The end of the Provisional Government was the beginning to many years of
starvation, death and war. The Communists had dreamed of bringing Russia into
‘Utopia’, however, they never did achieve true communism in Russia. The influence
communism had on the people could be argued as good or bad, but the communist
movement in Russia shows us just how hard, if at all possible, it is to reach ‘Utopia’.
GRADE E
The end of British rule in India was caused by several key events. Nationalism had
an influence on people’s lives at this time.
Tension between the British and the Indians caused the end of British rule in 1947.
This tension started as soon as the East India Company started to take control of
India. They mistreated and exploited the Indians. The British tryed to westernise the
Indians and they had little respect for their culture. In 1857-58 the Indian Mutiny
showed the mistreatment of the Indians.
After the Amritsar Massacre in 1919, public opinion changed. The Indians no longer
wanted Home-Rule but total independence or Purna Swaraj. The harsh reaction of
the British when they open fired into a crowd of innocent, unarmed civilians shocked
Indians and the world.
This caused an upsurge of anti-British sentiment. Gandhi used these feelings to fuel
his campaigns against the British. The first was Non-cooperation in 1920-22. This
was effective because it clearly showed the British that they were no longer wanted
in Britain.
The Civil disobediance campaign of 1930-32 was extremely successful as it attracted
the world’s attention for the Indian cause. Gandhi’s methods of Satyagraha (peaceful
protest) and policies of ahimsa (non-violence) succeeded in harming the British
reputation when thousands of peaceful protesters were beaten outside the
Dharasana Salt Works. The huge support and participation in the Salt March to
Dandi was a embarrasment for the British.
Britain was very keen to hold on to India because of the benefits to Britains economy
and because India was thought of as the “jewel in Britain’s crown”. However these
campaigns made it obvious that it would no longer be beneficial for Britain to stay in
India. Britain was also under the arrogant impression that the Indians could not rule
them-selves. They had been slowly giving away tiny bits of independence to India
such as in 1919 when provisional governments were formed. In reality this was very
limited Home-rule because the British had the right to veto any provisional
government.
The Quit India campaign in 1942 was the final push of the Indians to achieve
independence and in 1947 India became an independent nation.
Nationalism had a very big influence on people’s lives at this time. In this situation,
nationalism is the desire of a people to be independent and to be ruled by their own
people. Nationalism has been prevalent in India since 1857. However a turning
point of Indian nationalism was the Amritsar Massacre. The people had gathered at
Jallianwala Bagh in order to support one of the key figures representing nationalism
(Gandhi). After the massacre Indians of all castes religions were united to fight for
independence from the British.
Nationalism sentiment inflenced people to join Gandhi’s campaigns. In 1921 Indians
from all over returned medals, titles and honours that had been recieved from the
British. Teachers left the urban classrooms to teach Satyagraha in rural areas.
Lawyers refused to operate under the British Court system. Indians participated in
swadeshi (the boycott of foreign items and only buying Indian made). Bonfires were
made to burn all British clothing and cloth.
Nationalism was an even stronger force by 1930 and people were influenced into
breaking the salt law. This was a law imposed by the British saying that no Indians
could manufacture their own salt and they had to pay a tax. Gandhi chose this as the
focus for his campaign because he knew it would affect and unite all Indians. Many
people marched with Gandhi to the sea or took part in manufacturing salt.
The major influence that nationalism had on the Indian people’s lives was that it
ultimately led to the gaining of independence for India in 1947. This changed many
peoples lives. The partition of India into seperate Muslim and Hindu states caused
major problems for thousands of Indians. Riots occured all over India and the
violenced affected and harmed many people. Gandhi had wanted independence he
had done everything in his power to unite Muslims and Hindus. In the end the new
rise of Muslim nationalism was too powerful to be supressed.
The background and events that lead to the end of British rule in India include the
Indian Mutiny, the Amritsar Massacre and the three national campaigns against the
British; Non-cooperation, Civil Disobediance and Quit India. Nationalism is a force
related to these events and it had a major influence on people’s lives. It caused
people’s views to change about the British and this influenced them to participate in
campaigns. It ultimately led to the freeing of their nation and their people from the
exploitation and injustice of British rule.
GRADE E
In India during the late 19th century and early to mid 20th century, an important
historical force that influenced people’s lives was that of Nationalism. Nationalism
was especially important in ending the British Government’s rule in India, helped
especially by the important figure Mohandas K Gandhi.
India had been ruled by the British Government for a long time, in the beginning
under the trading name ‘The East India Company’. The Government soon officially
took hold of India, because they could see there was a lot of economic gain to be had
(e.g. in the form of tobacco & cotton). The position of the British in India as
oppressive colonisers was finally challenged under the leadership of the Indian
politician Mohandas K. Gandhi. Gandhi’s eyes had been opened to the British
government’s oppressive nature, and so he set about to change this. The largescale movement against the British was sparked off on 13 April 1919 in Amritsar.
General Dyer of the British Army, reacted violently and harshly to a group of Indian’s
unplanned (unknown to them) disobedience of a new law against assembly. Dyer
ordered the crowd to be attacked with machine guns, killing several hundred and
wounding many. This event shocked the Indian people, and the British people’s
response (approval) was particularly striking. This event solidified Indian opposition
to British rule in India, and gave Gandhi far more support for his future campaigns.
Over the next decade Gandhi began staging non-violent demonstrations against the
British Government, known as acts of civil disobedience. These included boycotting
foreign cloth (especially British) and wearing only homespun ‘Khadi’, swadeshi –
boycotting all foreign goods, hartal – shutting shops and businesses for fasting and
prayer, and burning British cloth. All these actions demonstrated the no-longer
subservient nature of the Indian populus, and gained Gandhi further support. In 1929
the stockmarket crashed, throwing the world into depression. This especially
affected the western Empires who turned away from their previously imperial actions
to deal with their own internal problems of poverty and inflation. This worked well for
the Indians struggling for independence, as it demonstrated that it wasn’t a matter of
‘if’ but ‘when’ the British Government would leave.
Gandhi took this opportunity to stage one of the most prolific protests against Britain.
He decided to demonstrate against the Salt Tax – the British Government had a
monopoly on salt manufacture in India, a commodity considered to be vital to Indians.
Gandhi decided to oppose this particular law because of the emotional response he
was likely to have. The march which began on 12 March 1930, 385 km to the sea at
Dandi, was successful, and the salt tax was lifted enabling all Indians to manufacture
it. It was symbolic of the new power that the Indians had – Nationalism.
This Salt March was the turning point of India’s struggle, and there were a
succession of events that led to the removal of the British Government from India. In
1931 the Round Table Conferences were held in London, to discuss India’s future
and possible independence. Unfortunately, these talks had no decisive result. The
Viceroy of India realised that little could be achieved without the involvement of
Gandhi and the Indian National Congress, and so the Gandhi-Irwin Pact of March
1931 was made, which decided that Congress would halt further civil disobedience,
and that India would have a federal government but the possibility of continuing
British control remained.
The rift within India soon became apparent – the Muslim League and the India
National Congress (predominantly Hindu) were uncooperative, and this had
disastrous results for India’s future unity and independence. In March 1940 the
Muslim League signed the Lahore Resolution which summed up the Muslim
League’s desire for a separate Muslim Pakistan. This soon became a reality, and
after the 1945 British elections the labour government was in power, and the prime
minister Atlee declared that India and Pakistan would be independent by 1947. On
the 15 August 1947, India and Pakistan gained independence from Britain, with the
British Government finally retreating and renouncing their claims to India.
Throughout this time, the driving force behind the Indians’ actions had been
Nationalism. This force affected the lives of the people within India in a number of
ways. An important aspect was Gandhi’s involvement. Gandhi was able to relate to
the largely illiterate and rural population of India by dressing as they did in a simple
‘dhoti’ and taking up their simple lifestyle. When Gandhi travelled India, he came in
contact with many people, and their interaction with him made the idea of
Nationalism far more approachable and understandable. One of the key features of
nationalism was that it transcended traditional boundaries such as caste (social
order/class system in Hindu society), religion (two main religions in India were Hindu
and Muslim), gender and political affiliation, as long as purnaswardj was the aim –
total independence.
Because there were no definite boundaries on the members, the nationalist leaders
(e.g. Gandhi) were able to gain a far stronger hold within India. Many people
participated in demonstrations such as sit-ins, strikes, avoidance of taxes, protest
marches, swadeshi and hartal. Unfortunately the force of nationalism became split
between the Hindus and Muslims, as the Muslim community became more unified
and began petitioning for partition. This heightened the enmity between the two
religions and undermined the open values of nationalism. Many people suffered as a
result of the partition, especially in the Punjab where many people were moving
between the newly formed state. The force of nationalism had the power to unite
people from all creeds and ways of life and did join the beginning until the enmity of
two factions was unable to be breached.
The lives of the British in India were able affected especially in the form of economic
wealth – the mill owners and salt works owners were hard hit by the boycotts and
demonstrations.
The nationalistic Indians also split members of the Indian
community, and alienated many who were unsupportive of the Indians’ cause. The
British eventually left India, unsuccessful in the face of a powerful nationalistic
movement.
In India during the late 19th century and early 20th century, many people in India’s
lives were affected by the dominant force of Nationalism. This was hugely influential
in the end of the British Government’s rule in India, and there were a number of
events which led up to this.
GRADE E
From around 1600 to 1947, Britain ruled India under an Imperialist rule. Imperialism
had a profound effect on people lives at the time and it was the cause of much
discontent amongst Indians. Certain events in India, such as the Amritsar Massacre
and the non co-operation campaign of 1922, helped lead the end of the British Raj,
government, in India. Ironically Imperialism was the force which caused the British
Imperialists to finally leave India in 1947.
Imperialism is the control of one country over another. Britain was the Imperial ruler
over a number of colonies, and the capture of India added to it’s increasing empire.
British Imperialism was flawed from almost the beginning of their rule in India. British
were insensitive to the beliefs and values of the Indians and this insensitivity
eventually ended in the Indian Mutiny in 1857. The British army, which consisted of
Indians, were given orders to coat their gun cartridges in pig grease. This caused
great upset amongst the Indians as Hindus believed animals were sacred and
Muslims thought pigs were unclean. This act was enough to spark the mutiny in
which Indians began killing all the British they could find. The British Raj was
eventually able to regain control, however the damage had already been done.
Indians would never forget the cultural insensitivity of the British.
The British Raj was not all negative however; British education was introduced and
this led to a new class of educated Indians. As there are so many different dialects in
India, learning English enabled them to communicate easily and united the Indians
more than ever. This new class of Indians were the main ones who sparked
movements against the British, thus using their British education against them. The
Indian National Congress was formed in the early 1900’s and comprised of many of
these educated Indians; such as Nehru, Patel and most notably Gandhi.
Gandhi was a key person in the ending of the British Raj and it is because of him
many events occurred which brought about the end of the Raj. Gandhi was a deeply
religious man and believed strongly in Ahimsa, or non-violence. This strong belief in
non-violence led to the creation of a technique known as Satyagraha. Satyagraha
consisted of complete non-co-operation without the use of violence. This method
was to be used against the British many times, proving very useful. This method was
so useful as the British Raj depended on the co-operation of the Indians in order to
run smoothly, so without this the British could not rule properly and Gandhi believed
they would eventually leave. The non co-operation campaign of 1922, organised by
the Indians National Congress, was a form of Satyagraha which involved Indians
returning all medals awarded to them, refusing to pay taxes and boycotting foreign
goods. However the Non Co-operation campaign took place near World War One,
which meant Britain had other priorities and would have zero tolerance for any
disobedience. Gandhi and other leaders were imprisoned and they were unable to
continue with the campaign. It did not lead to the immediate end of the British Raj,
however it showed Indians could unite for the same cause and gave them a sense of
pride which would, over time, lead the the departure of the British Imperial rule.
Another major event which led to the end of the British Raj was the Amritsar
Massacre. Throughout World War One certain civil liberties, such as freedom of
speech, had been suspended by the Raj in order to prevent any revolts against the
British. The decision to maintain these laws after the war was a source of great
discontent amongst the Indians. The Rowlatt Bill was passed which included a law
which prevented Indians from gathering in a group of 3 or more men. In the Punjab
area, riots provoked by the passing of the Rowlatt Bills means martial law had been
declared in that area. Unfortunately, news did not reach the province of Amritsar and
when thousands of Indians gathered to peacefully protest the arrest of Gandhi they
were fired upon by the British-Indians Army under orders from General Dyer. Over
300 Indians were killed and over 1000 more wounded. The outrageous act of killing
innocent people caused an uproar in India and most Indians who had previously
been alright with the Imperial rule now began to resent it. Gandhi, who previously
was only seeking partial independence, now wanted complete independence from
them as he believed Britain had lost any moral justification for staying in India. This
act under the Imperial rule led to many Indians turning against the British and can be
seen as one of the main causes of the end of the British Raj.
Imperialism influenced many Indians throughout the course of the British rule.
Hindu’s believed strongly in the Caste System, which was a heirachry. There were
different groups of people, such as traders or the Untouchables; and social aspects
depended on which Caste you were in. Only people from the same caste were to be
married and for the most part, different caste’s did not interact with each other. This
changed when many Indians were conscripted into the Army to fight for Britain in
World War One. The heiarachry was abolished as all Indians were forced to be
equal, however this was against their beliefs. This continued insensitivity to religious
and spiritual values can be linked to the Indian Mutiny in 1857 and led to discontent
over the British rule.
Another problem of World War One was that because Indians were under Britain’s
Imperial rule they had no choice over participation in the War. Indians felt a deep
resentment for this unwillfull participation in a war they did not believe in. To add to
the resentment, upon return, Indians soldiers were left unemployed with huge taxes
due to inflation caused by the war. This inflation also influenced the lives of peasant
farmers who were already struggling to pay taxes. British landowners charged huge
amounts for rent and kept all profits of goods sold. This was unfair to the peasants,
yet the Raj still insisted on collecting tax from them. Peasants were also forced into
menial labour such as fanning their British landowners and massaging their feet.
This injustice and demeaning activities only added to the deep resentment against
the British.
Gandhi was deeply influenced by the Imperialist rule in India. The Amritsar
massacre caused him to change his views on partial independence and every year
on the anniversary of Amritsar Gandhi fasted. Gandhi rejected the Western values
imposed on Indians and lived a simple life. He maintained the importance of growing
your own food and making your own clothes. The injustice felt by all Indians led
Gandhi to develop his technique of Satyagraha, which proved very effective in uniting
Indians and leading to the end of the British Raj. Gandhi was a major influence on
the Imperialist rule just as the Imperialist rule was a major influence on him.
Viceroy Windsford, who was the last Viceroy of India took note of the injustices
caused to the Indians and all the events which occurred due to the Imperialist rule in
India. Due to these events, it was Viceroy Windsford’s decision that Britain leave
India, as enough harm had been done. In 1947, India achieved it’s goal of complete
independence.
Imperialism caused many events which led to the end of the British Raj in India.
Imperialism influenced the lives of many people at that point in time and the
discontent felt by the Indians also helped lead to the end of the British Raj. In the
end, Imperialism turned against itself and was a major factor in the ending of the
British Raj.
GRADE E
The democratic system in government in the early 1920s began it’s downfall as
events occured such as the blame forced on parliament because of the outcome of
World War One, the economic turmoil, the fact that there was no tradition of
democracy in Germany and fights between people in the streets due to political
beliefs. The rise of the historical force of fascism (or Nazism as it was called at the
time) spurred hope in many Germans as it’s leader Adolf Hitler promised answers to
their economic problems and attempted at nationalistic pride. The movement in
government ended up influencing many peoples lives with the loss of freedom and
trust in society as the government trained youth for war and persecuted those they
did not like.
The treaty of Versailles, formed in 1919 demanded many reparations from Germany,
including demilitarising certain zones (such as the Rhineland), cutting down on their
weaponary and armies/airforce and asking for 6.6 billion pounds sterling. On top of
this was the damaging accusation that Germany was to take the blame for World
War One. Many Germans, including Hitler who started up the Nazi party, were upset
by this and aimed the blame at the new socialist, democratic government who didn’t
seem to be holding itself together.
This was taken from the impression that many fights were occuring in the streets
between communists and nazi party followers in particular. As this occured more
often, the government became unstable, directing the reason to the fact that there
was no democracy tradition in Germany and opposing partys fought that Germany
worked better under authoritarian ruling. There was a loss of faith for the democratic
government in the unconvincing way they handled the post world war one crisis.
The inflation during the 1920s left everyone in Germany short of money and
combining this with the Great Depression in the early 1930s, 5 million Germans were
left unemployed, that was one in three men. As Hitler and the Nazi Party
campaigned, they offered a decrease in the unemployment rate and many citizens
throughout Germany who were in need of quick answers and a hope, took to this
promise and stopped their support in the existing government and followed the
Nazism movement.
However, Nazism influenced many lives throughout Germany one it was in power,
but not all for the better. Once Hitler had full power with the title of Feuhrer in 1934,
the people of Germany’s lives began to change. There was a loss of freedom in
speech as no anti-nazism talk was accepted and there was also a loss of freedom in
assembly as private groups and meetings were not allowed, which the Gestapo
controlled, in order to keep an eye on what was happening and a control over
society.
People also lost their freedom of religion as anti-semitism was at the core of Nazism
and once they had complete power, the prosecution of the jews started. The Nazism
movement meant that concentration and extermination camps were set up for those
who opposed Nazism or Hitler and were also for those whom Hitler disliked,
including; jews, communists, intellectuals, gypsies and the disabled.
There was a loss of trust in society as spying was encouraged to increase and
ensure complete loyalty to the Fuehrer. Hitler expressed how he, and therefore the
nazi party, regarded loyalty over morality. “Hitler Youth” was started up for the
German youth primarily to train the males for war, but also to increased support and
loyalty and have them help patrol their own societies. The thought was to train them
right from young to support and idolise Hitler and Nazism as a movement, teaching
and bringing them up on the beliefs of the government.
Women were affected by the change and movement in government as the Nazis
discouraged women to work and rather saw that they stayed home, did the
household and most importantly, reproduced. Hitler sincerely believed in natural
selection, the “survival of the fittest” and preached that the ‘Aryan’ (pure race) were
superior, that the Germans were the Herrenvolk or ‘master race’. He therefore saw
that it was important to expand their race so encouraged and rewarded mothers for
having babies. He did this by providing the families with money, a car and rewarded
them with a medal depending on how many children they had.
The Nazism movement also pushed Hitler’s idea of more lebensraum (living space).
They showed this by expanding their army, against the demands of the Treaty of
Versailles and reoccupying the Rhineland in 1936 and invading Czechoslovakia in
1938, Poland in 1939 and Russia in 1941. This majorly influenced the lives of the
Germans as it created a war, a second one which Germany yet again did not do too
well in.
Events such as the post World War One crisis with the treaty of Versailles
reparations and humiliation, the economic turmoil and blame towards the new
government contributed to the fail of democracy within Germany. The historical
movement of Fascism (at that time called Nazism) took over government with
authoritarian rule, appointing Hitler as Feuhrer in 1934. This movement influenced
many lives as it brought a loss of freedom in speech, assembly, religion, trust and
employment for women. It was the beginning of persecution and inspired prejudice,
especially towards jews and it was Nazism which led Germany towards war, an
experience which would have influenced the people of Germany for the rest of their
lives.
GRADE M
Satyagraha was a powerful, non-violent movement that flourished within India in the
1920’s. Following the leadership of Mohandas Gandhi, Satyagraha assisted in
bringing about the end of the British ruling.
British traders were first attracted to India in the 17th century due to the availability of
cheap cotton textiles. It wasn’t until the mid 18th century that India became subject
to harsh British ruling. The Indian Government was run by the British, all senior
policemen were British and they also controlled all of the tax laws. India felt
disrespected that they were being ruled by foreigners in their own land, but felt there
was little they could do. Due to lack of active opposition by Indian politicians, the
British continued to rule.
In 1919 committee leader Mr Justice Rowlatt recommended that the British enforce a
new law stating that policemen were authorised to take ‘strong action’ against any
‘subversive events.’ The law was legalised and there seemed nothing that India
could do. Uprising leader, Mohandas Gandhi disagreed with the new Rowlatt Bills.
However, with no political party supporting him, both the British and Indians were yet
to witness his capabilities. The British ignored the man, while India, desperate for
hope, took faith in him.
A hartal was organised for the 6 April 1919. As planned, shops and businesses
throughout many towns closed in protest of the Bills. The British were shocked that
action was being taken against them and instantly arrested Gandhi. Infuriated, his
followers called a meeting in Jallianwali Bagh, an enclosed courtyard, to protest his
arrest. The police identified this as an ‘subversive event’ and General Official Dyer
surrounded the courtyard with hundreds of policemen. Open fire was ordered upon
the gatherers. 379 were killed and 1300 injured. The Amritsar massacre of innocent
civilians, - men, women and children, created a permanent scar on the British-Indian
relations. This event intensified the Indian nation’s determination to have the British
leave India so they could be a free country.
Due to both the legalising of the Rowlatt Bills and the Amritsar massacre, Gandhi
decided to make a set of 11 demands. These were eleven demands that Gandhi felt
that India needed to achieve to become an independent nation. First, he made the
decision of focussing on one set demand – the abolishment of the salt tax. The
British had monopoly over India on this tax, and because all Indians saw salt as an
essential part of their daily diet, they were all subjected to this harsh tax. It bore
down the hardest on the poor population. Gandhi saw that by abolishing the salt tax,
it would unite the people of India, as they would come together to rid them of this
common unfairness they all shared.
In 1930 the Salt March to the beach of Amedabad took place. Gandhi led 78
satyagrahis to the sea-shore but thousands of satyargrahis, men, women and
children followed. Gandhi was the first to make salt – illegally, in protest of the harsh
tax. Again he was arrested, along with 100,000 others. The police used extreme
violence against the peaceful protestors who only displayed permissive behaviour.
This resulted in huge media coverage of the event. A few weeks later another nonviolent March of Satyagrahis was held, to the Dharasana Salt Factory. The police
were waiting, armed with batons and used harsh violence against the marchers.
Media showed the nation of India both incidents, and India was becoming aware of
the change that was finally beginning to spread.
A year after the Salt March the first Round Table Conference was held. However
Gandhi was absent, all Congress leaders were in jail, and no useful tactics came out
of it. The British Viceroy, Lord Irwin realised this and released Gandhi from jail.
They immediately started private ‘talks’, and from this emerged the Gandhi-Irwin Pact
1931. This was a huge achievement for both Gandhi and India. It stated that all civil
disobedience would be stopped, and in return, Indians were free to produce their own
salt. All of the followers would be released from jail. This was a major stepping
stone for India to become a free country! It empowered India for the first time in
many years, and was a significant event that would lead to the end of the British rule.
Satyagraha influenced many people’s lives at the time of the various events.
Satyagraha taught non-violence civil disobedience and self sufficiency. They
influenced millions to spin their own cloth, encouraging swadeshi – the boycott and
burning of all foreign goods. Doing this enabled India to be self-sufficient without
British and foreign assistance. By teaching the ways of non-violence, Satyagrahi
were enabled to achieve their goals through their peaceful marches and protests.
Seeing non-violence achieving rights for India inspired and influenced millions.
With the leadership of Mohandas Gandhi, Satyagraha was able to influence many
people’s lives and with the efforts of this movement, India was able to finally gain
their independance in 1947, the end of the British rule.
GRADE M
During the struggle for Indian independence (1900-1947) an event which led to the of
a governments rule was the salt march to Dandi, also known as the Salt Satyagraha.
The background of the event, and the event itself led to the end of the British rule in
India, and the nationalism which the event invoked had a major influence on ordinary
Indians lives at that time.
The background to the salt Satyagraha began in the mid 1700’s. Britain had lost
control of the Spice Islands to the Dutch and were forced to seek resources
elsewhere. It saw India and hastily established trading posts there. The East India
Company opened up a trading post in Calcutta in 1753 and began trading resources
with the Indian locals. But after the EIC trading post was attacked in Calcutta by the
Bengals in 1760, the British government took over from the EIC, and gradually took
control of the Indian subcontinent. By the turn of the 19th century Britain had
established complete control over India, and then they sought to develop an
administration strictly to exploit India’s vast economic potential. This deprived the
Indians of their nationalistic feelings, but there was not any organised resistance
against the British occupation so their rule continued unopposed. All throughout their
time in control of India, the British showed a vast disrespect for the Indian people and
their culture, which helped to stir up feelings of discontent, therefore making it easier
for Gandhi to get support for his Satyagraha campaigns. This disrespect was shown
in the Punjab town of Amritsar, in modern day Pakistan. In 1919, martial law had
been declared after a week of anti-British violence which saw 3 Europeans and 1
Christian missionary killed. This martial law included a ban on all public meetings
and gatherings and had been enforced by the commander of the Amritsar district,
General Reginald Dyer. On June 4th a large crowd of people had gathered in the
Jallianwalla Bagh in the centre of the city to protest against Gandhi’s arrest. Dyer
ordered his troops in to the Bagh (gardens/square). Some 1500 troops stormed the
Bagh to break up the protest and Dyer ordered them to fire on the crowd. No
warning shots were fired, the firing lasted for 15 minutes, and by the end, 1516 Indian
civillians had been killed or wounded, a figure which is still debated to this day. This
event helped stir hate against the British rule and it involved strong feelings of
nationalism which would later be used in the salt Satyagraha in 11 years later.
Another example of British disrespect was the Khilafatt bills, also in 1917. During
WWI, the British had placed harsh laws on the Indian people, to prevent terrorist acts
by the enemies of British interests. These laws included censorship of the press, the
ability to place martial law without higher consents, and a limiting of basic freedoms.
When the war finished in 1917, the chief Justice Rowlatt introduced the Khilafatt bills,
which retained the wartime restrictions on the Indian people. Despite multiple
protests by Indian politicians, the bills stayed which further showed British disrespect
of the Indian culture and people.
Another part of the background to this event was the Lahore Congress in January
1929. 1 year before the Salt march. The Indian national congress was eager for
immediate independence from the British and demanded a bill to secede from the
British commonwealth. Gandhi insisted that 1 year must be given to the British to
leave India, and if, by the end of this year, India was not independent, then
immediate action would have to be taken. By January 1930, despite talks with the
British, India was still under colonial rule. So on January 12th the Indian flag was
unfurled on the top of the congress building in Calcutta and that day declared
independence day. Gandhi instructed India to prepare for a mass Satyagraha
campaign which he decided to focus on the salt tax. The British had a monopoly on
salt, and put harsh taxes on it, which meant that the poorest Indians had to pay large
amounts of money for something which they could easily get themselves. Salt was a
necessity for most Indians as it provided the metabolism necessary for a day working
in the fields. So it was something which did not affect wealthy Indians. Before
Gandhi embarked on his march, he wrote a letter to the Viceroy, the supreme ruler in
India, urging him to repeal the salt tax or immediate action would be taken against
British interests in India. After receiving no reply from the Viceroy, on April 4 th,
Gandhi and his 78 ashremites, well trained in the art of Satyagraha left Gandhi’s
ashram at Sabermati. They were headed for the shores of the Indian Ocean, 240
miles away at a beach called Dandi. On Gandhi’s walk he went through hundreds of
villages, his ashramites spreading the word to ordinary Indians about living simply
and about the Independence movement. Gandhi and his followers, which by then
had swelled to more than 2000 people reached the seashore at Dandi 23 days after
leaving Sabermati, a stunning feat for Gandhi, who at the time was over 60 years old.
On the night of the 28th April, Gandhi and his followers did not sleep, but prayed. On
the morning of the 29th of April, Gandhi did what no other Indian had done in
decades, he picked up a lump of salt and mud, placed it in boiling water and
produced salt, and in doing so, shaking the foundations of the British Empire.
This event had a large influence of the Indian nationalism movement. The movement
itself was slow to develop in India, firstly, the illiteracy rate in India at the time was
very high, and secondly Hindu and Muslim religions would not work together very
well. In the past, Hindu and Muslims had been very suspicious of one another, the
Muslims did not like the way in which congress was influenced by Hindus, and
Hindus did not like the Muslims quest for power in India, given they were a minority.
This conflict would eventually result in partition in 1947 but during the time of the salt
Satyagraha the Indians were united under both religions. Indian Nationalism had an
effect on peoples lives in many ways. Firstly, the Indians battle for independence
gave people a feeling of David v Goliath. They the people with little resources were
dismembering the mighty British Empire who at the time were the greatest
superpower in the world. The Indian nationalist movement also gave ordinary people
a chance to fight for Indian Independence. After the Salt march, ordinary Indians
were producing salt all along Indias vast coastline, and people were selling salt
illegally in the streets. Indian Nationalism gave people courage and hope that India
would be self ruled, and thus had a vast effect on all ordinary Indians at the time.
In conclusion, the British, in their blatant disrespect of the culture and native people
of India, failed to see the Indians’ strong feeling of nationalism, that eventually led to
the end of their colonial rule in India, which was shown at the salt Satyagraha in
1930.
GRADE M
There were many factors that lead to the end of the British Raj in India and the
imperialist force that the Raj imposed. Events such as the Amritsar Massacre and
the non-cooperation Campaign led by Gandhi all helped to develop a growing
nationalist movement in India which eventually won complete independence for India.
However, there were many impacts that the British force of imperialism. A countries
deliberate territorial expansion by building a colonial empire often in detriment of or in
competition with another country imposed on the lives of ordinary Indians during the
Raj’s rule.
The force of Imperialism and its characteristics led directly to the Amritsar Massacre
on the 13th of April 1919. This in turn led to specific actions such as the noncooperation Satyagraha campaign to be taken against the British Raj, the British
rulers of India. In the nineteenth centurary the British took official control of India.
Most of the colony was ruled by a viceroy and a series of provincial governors.
Indian princely states were indirectly ruled. British administration and control were
maintained through the Indian Civil Service and the Indian Army. Any positions of
significance were held by the British while Indians were only involved in the lower
ranks of the British Raj. Unrest grew in relation to this and the Amritsar massacre in
April 1929 was a direct result.
The British Raj tended to take their colony for granted. When Britain declared war on
Germany in 1914, India was automatically drawn in and Indians troops were sent to
fight in British campaigns. Only 80000 British troops were sent overseas compared
to the 210000 Indian troops that Britain sent. All of the Indians princes resources
were at the kings disposal and Indian factories were making boots, clothing, tents
and saddlery as well as tens of thousands of rifles and cannon and small gun
ammunition. On top of this Indian communities donated large sums to the Red
Cross. India was the reservoir for the man power behing Britains victory and unrest
amongst the people started to develop when they realised Britain was taking their
country for granted. This and the addition of some further factors after World War
One led to the Amritsar massacre.
It wasn’t until after the war that further unrest developed on a large scale. During the
war the government had been granted special powers to control civil liberties under
the defence of India Act. These powers were to protect the country against terrorist
possibilities. However, after the war a lawyer, Mr Justice Rowlatt drew up specific
bills recommending that any area notified as subverse should remain subject to this
martial law. These became known as the Rowlatt laws 1918. These laws were
restricting and humiliating so therefore caused resentment towards the British on
behalf of the Indians. As unrest grew the idea of complete indepence for India grew
larger and larger.
Gandhi believed that the Rowlatt laws were breaking the peoples right of free
expression and therefore breaking the law of god. He offered Satyagraha as a
solution to take place on the 6th of April 1919. This was to take the form of Hartal –
closure of all shops and businesses. This was widely unsuccessfull and resulted in
Gandhi’s arrest. This had exactly the effect the British had not hoped for. Violence
broke out at the arrest and in the city of Ahmedabad a British official was killed and
government buildings set on fire. In the Punjab City of Amritsar local leaders were
arrested which sparked violent clashes and riots. 5 British residents were killed.
However what happened next was a very important turning point in Indian history.
Amritsar was a Sikh holy city in the Punjab. It was in Army control and under martial
law. Meetings and protests of any kind were forbidden. A crowd had gathered at
Jalliawana Bagh to protest Gandhi’s arrest. The crowd included women and children
complete with picnic blankets along for the day out. A member of the Army, General
Dyer took 50 troops to Jalliawana Bagh and stationed them in rising ground. He
ordered them to shoot into the crowd to disperse them untill all ammunition was
exhausted. On the 13th of April 1919 the Amritsar Massacre occurred.
In all, 397 people died and a further 1137 were injured. The British government sent
the Hunter Commission to make an inquiry about police brutality during the Martial
Law period – namely the Amritsar Massacre. The released a report in May 1920
stating only that General Dyer had been wrong to use such force to disperse the
crowd. The report was not sufficient enough to satisfy the Indian peoples anger at
the event and many had lost all faith in the British authority to rule. The Amritsar
Massacre was a huge turning point for Indian society. Instead of more only wanting
more participation in the ruling of their country most wanted complete independence
for India and the end of British rule.
By the end of 1920 the Indian Nationalist Movement was completely under way and
Gandhi was working on a new form of Satyagraha to win Indian independence –
Non-cooperation. He believed that non-cooperation was less likely to lead to
violence than direct civil disobedience. The idea was accepted by Congress 144
votes to 132 and independence for India began. The campaign included certain
rules. All medals and titles conferred on Indians from British must be given up, no
participation was to be taken in the Montagu Chelmsford reforms. The British
attempt to satisfy the Indians without giving up rule over India – and most importantly
the introduction of Swadeshi, a complete boycott of foreign goods. Khadhi (home
spun cloth) and the Gandhi cap made from Khadhi became the symbols of Swadeshi
and the spinning wheel became an item of immense importance. These aspects of
the non-cooperation campaign reinforced the basic Indian ways and connected well
with peasants who made up a large majority of the population. With added support
of most of the Indian population behind him Gandhi conducted Satyagraha’s under
the non-cooperation campaign over the next few years breaking British laws one by
one like for example the Dandhi salt tax law in which the making of salt was illegal.
With the slow destruction of these laws, widespread support and general noncooperation the British Raj soon had nothing left to rule India on. This was the end of
the British governments rule on India.
However over the many years the British were ruling India there were many
consequences and impacts on the lives of Indians. These included social impacts,
economic impacts and political impacts.
Imperialism had dire social impacts on the lives of Indians. Imposition of British ideas
and belief in the superiority of British society and values created a social gulf.
Indians were left feeling inferior to the British and this was only reinforced by the
creation of British only clubs such as the Calcutta Golf Club. However imperialism
also led to a well educated Indian middle class who formed the first Indians National
Congress in 1885 to help gain more political power. They also formed 2 home rule
parties in 1915 one led by Tiler and one by Englishwoman Annie Bessart.
Economic impacts included the negative impact on the imperial decision to take part
in World War One on the economic livelihood of Indians. Increased taxes on
peasants, like in Kaira left them angry and resentfull of British rulers. There was also
a negative impact on the economic priorities of Indians – plant owners were
encouraged to grow commercial crops leaving little room for food crops leading to
famine. However there was a positive impact with the introduction of British
technology and agricultural techniques. By 1990 the British had built 70000 miles of
road and 40000 miles of railway in India. They also introduced an irrigation system
to the country to help prevent drought and famine.
Some political effects of Imperialism include the centralised hieracial rule of the
British left some Indians feeling powerless and resentfull unable to participate in their
own government. Examples include the exclusivity of the INC when it was first
established. It was established by an Englishman A.O. Hume and only included
widely educated middle class men with an English education. However imperialism
did have the positive effect of causing Indians from all walks of life to take part in
Indias political future.
Overall the events like these of Amritsar and the non-cooperation campaign were
essential in that of causing the end of British Raj’s rule in India. However, during the
British governments time in India there was specific effects on the lives of people
both socially, economically and politically.
GRADE M
From 1857-1947, India was subject to British Imperialism. This was the process by
which Britain sought to increase its power and status by taking over overseas
territories and creating a colonial empire. The characteristics of British Imperialism,
along with the actions of Gandhi contributed to the Amritsar massacre in 1919, which
consequently led to the end of Imperialism. India was controlled by a Viceroy and a
series of provincial Governors, princely states were indirectly controlled. Indians held
no positions of significance in the administration of the government which led to
resentment of the Imperialists. British imperialism had many economic, social and
political effects on the lives of Indians at the time.
The effects of World War One on Indians as a result of British decision making
contributed to the end of the Imperialist rule. Indians were not consulted about their
participation in the war, the British declared India at war without any consultation.
Indians men were sent to fight British campaigns and according to British politician
Stanely Reed, “India was the reservoir for the manpower that made final victory
possible.” India’s unwilling involvement in the war also caused economic dislocation
in India. Before the war, Germany had been India’s second biggest market. After
their involvement, Germany was no longer a market. This resulted in an increase in
hunger and poverty. There was a shortage of wheat in the Punjab and what wheat
did exist was exported to Britain. These factors caused severe discontent towards
the Raj, contributing to the end of their rule, as they were factors leading to the
Amritsar Massacre.
The situation in India at the end of World War One also led to the Amritsar Massacre,
an event that led to the end of the imperialist rule in India. Turkey was on the loosing
side of WWI, and the British took part in the construct of the Treaty of Sevres, shortly
after the war. This treaty stripped the Sultan of his empire and greatly decreased the
size of Turkey. To all followers of Islam this was an affront to their religion. Muslims
in India erupted, this caused severe discontent towards the Raj. During the war, the
British had implemented the Defence of India Act, which stripped Indians of many
civil liberties such as freedom of the press. After the war, a British committee
imposed the Rowlatt Bills – an attempt to prolong wartime powers. Any area notified
by the government as subversive could be put under martial law, the British could
conduct trials without a jury and had the power to imprison any suspect. These two
unjust actions of the Imperialists led directly to the Amritsar massacre, which
consequently ended their rule.
The actions of Gandhi and the British reactions to them led directly to the event of
Amritsar, the cause of imperialisms downfall. After the injustices imposed on Indians
by the Raj, Gandhi decided to conduct a hartal – the closing of all shops and
businesses. The dates were mixed up in Bombay, but there was a satisfactory
response in some cities such as Gujaral. The imperialists reacted by arresting
Gandhi on April 8 1919, a decision they would live to regret. There were outbreaks
of violence and arson in protest of Gandhi’s arrest. In Amritsar, a Punjab Sikh holy
city, a peaceful protest led to Amritsar being put under martial law. British imperialist
decisions to arrest Gandhi after the hartal and to place Amritsar under martial law led
to the events that would end their rule.
On April 13, 1919 an event took place in Amritsar, as a result of Imperial decision
making which would lead to the end of the Imperialist rule. A meeting was held in
Jallianwala Bagh to protest Gandhi’s arrest. British General Dyer put Amritsar under
martial law which forbid large meetings, but Indians later claimed they knew nothing
of this. Dyer entered the Bagh with fifty troops and instructed them to fire into the
crowd until their ammunition was exhausted. This took ten minutes. This imperialist
action was the cause of the end of the Imperialist rule, as from this moment on the
people of India wanted nothing to do with such a government and were determined to
make them leave.
The British imperialist had huge economic effects on the lives of Indians. A primary
aim of the Raj was to exploit India economically in a way that would assist them back
in Britain. India provided the raw materials for British factories, and British factories
provided a market for cheap goods. This had a negative effect on the lives of Indians
artisans as they could not compete with cheap British imports. The imperialists
developed primary industry so that they could produce commercial crops. They were
especially interested in cotton as a raw material. As a result of these commercial
crops, cotton merchants, mill owners and farmers suffered from a lack of demand for
their products. They received less income which had negative effects on their lives.
The imperialist decision to involve India in WWI had negative effects on the economic
livelihood of Indians. As well as the one million soldiers that faced unemployment
upon return which created unrest, India had contributed vast amounts of raw
materials and money through taxation to the war effort. The poor peasants could not
afford this which was a negative influence of Imperialism on their lives. There were
some positive effects of Imperialism on the lives of Indians, the British developed
technology and agricultural techniques which produced the railway system.
However, these economic benefits often led to social impacts as Indians were often
ejected from train carriages by the British. There were several negative influences of
imperialism on the lives of Indians which often led to social effects.
There were several social effects on the lives of Indians as a result of British
imperialism. The British imposed their values and beliefs on Indian society and this
led to Indians feeling inferior and resentful towards the Raj. Indians were not treated
equally, at the Calcutta Golf Club Indians were not allowed to attend or socialise,
however many Indians worked there for the British. British officers were always
tended to by Indian slaves who would fan them on hot days. These influences led to
Indians feeling very bitter towards the Raj as they were constantly looked down on.
One of the main aims of the administration in India was education, and the Englishstyle of education in India created a new middle class that could speak English, do
clerical skills and therefore staff branches of administration in sub-ordinate positions.
This influenced the lives of these Indians as the new middle class wanted a say in
their government and consequently led the growing nationalist movement.
There were many political influences on the lives of Indians as a result of the
presence of the imperialists. Indians were not fairly represented in government, for
example in 1900, five percent of the Indian Civil Service were Indian and none in
important positions. This led to the creation of Indian National Congress, but this
party was created from the educated Indian middle class and did not fairly represent
Indians either. This unfair representation in government led to an increase in protest
action from people from all walks of life, like in Champaran and Kaira, and several
individual leaders emerged, such as Gandhi. The presence of British imperialism
influenced these people’s lives as they would become protestors for life.
As a result of the presence of the British imperialists in India, several background
factors contributed to the Amritsar Massacre of 1919. The effects of World War One
on Indians and the situation after the war, along with the actions of Gandhi, and
British reactions to these led to the massacre. This was the event that led to the end
of the imperialist rule as Indians lost all respect and trust for them. As a result of the
imperialists, there were several influences on the lives of Indians economically,
socially and politically.
GRADE M
Bloody Sunday was a turning point in the Cold War that eventually led to the end of
Tsar Nicholas Romanov’s rule over Russia. Bloody Sunday was an event directly
related to the force of Autocracy and this force had a major influence of the lives of
the people in Russia at this time.
Between the years 1894 and 1917, Russia was ruled by Tsar Nicholas Romanov
who was an Autocrat. This meant that he held supreme authority over everything
including the Army and Navy. Though Nicholas had the leaders of his government
departments to advise him, he generally made all the important decisions himself.
There was no parliament under the ruling of Autocracy which meant the people had
no way of letting their voices be heard. There was also the censorship of all
newspapers and magazines, making it even harder for people to have an opinion. If
the Tsar and his government did hear of any opposition it was quickly put down by
the Tsar’s secret police, the Okhrana. Absolutely no opposition to the Tsar and his
government was tolerated.
There were many causes of Bloody Sunday. The first being the complete
“Russification” of all non-Russian citizens, or conquered peoples, such as Latvians,
Georgians and many more. These people were forced to speak Russian, wear
Russian clothing and even follow Russian customs. This unfairness caused many
uprisings amongst non-Russians and they were quickly joined by many Russian
citizens who were either sympathetic or looking for some rights of their own. These
uprisings caused a build up in tension which finally led to opposition groups to the
Tsar forming.
The first opposition group was the Liberals. They were supported mainly by the
middle and educated classes. They were campaigning for a democratic parliament
and for the Tsar to become a constitutional monarch. They also wanted civil rights
such as freedom of speech to be installed for everyone. They held peaceful
meetings and discussions and published articles, calling for change.
Another opposition group was the Socialist Revolutionaries. They were mainly
supported by the peasants in the rural areas. They wanted to abolish Autocracy
completely and for the Tsar to be killed. They also wanted all the land to be given to
the peasants to be farmed collectively in communes. This group published
propaganda and encouraged a revolution amongst the peasants. They also
committed acts of terrorism and political assasinations, to try and destabilize the
government.
The last opposition group to the Tsar was the Social Democrats. They were
supported by the workers and students in the cities and towns and, like the Liberals
they were mainly peaceful. They campaigned for Russia to become a socialist state.
Another event that undermined the Tsar and ultimately led to Bloody Sunday was the
Russo-Japanese war of 1904 to 1905. This war was over the ownership of Korea
and Manchuria. Russia suffered many defeats at the hands of the Japanese and
though the Tsar and his government were hoping for a small and victorious war to
raise moral amongst the Russian people, it instead lowered it.
The Bloody Sunday march of the 22nd of November 1905 was a terrible event that
eventually led to the demise of Tsar Nicholas as the leader of Russia. Around
200,000 workers and their families filled the streets of St Petersburg and marched up
to the winter palace to present a petition to the Tsar. They were campaigning for
better civil rights and also more rights in the workplace. The Tsar was out of town on
the day of the march however and when his guards saw the oncoming crowd they
began to fire at them. Hundreds were killed and thousands wounded. This event
also sparked the beginning of the 1905 revolution.
The force of Autocracy had a major influence on the lives of the people of Russia at
the time. The first group of people affected were the workers in the rural
communities. Up until 1861, these workers were considered serfs which meant that
they were legally owned by their landlords. In 1861 they were freed and were now
able to make some decisions for themselves such as who and when they wanted to
marry and whether or not they wanted to leave the estates that they worked on.
When they were freed they had expected to be given some land by their landlords
because many of them had spent their lives working and living on this land and they
thought they deserved a fair share. However, this was not the case. They were
offered only small amounts of land which they had to pay for, despite many outbursts
and demonstration throughout Russia. The government offered to loan them money
to buy the land, however this just put them into debt.
Another group of people greatly affected by the force of Autocracy were the workers
in the towns and cities. They often lived and worked in the cities slum areas, around
the major polluting factories. They were paid such low wages that they couldn’t
afford to pay for any proper accommodation. Instead, they were forced to sleep in
overcrowded barracks with many other people, where diseases were quickly spread.
Workers in smaller factories sometimes even had to sleep alongside their
workbenches. There were no safety regulations in the workplace and there was no
accident compensation so common accidents were often fatal. They had almost no
rights and forming trade unions was illegal at this time.
The middle and rich classes lived the good life under Autocracy. They had large
estates in the countryside and often palaces or mansions in the cities. They threw
grand parties and banquets and wore extravagant clothes and jewels. There was
slight unrest amongst this class under the rule of Autocracy however. They felt that
they at least deserved a say in how the country was run.
The non-Russians, or conquered peoples of Russia also lived a hard life under
Autocracy. They were part of the Russification regime which meant that they had to
speak Russian, wear Russian clothing and follow Russian customs. They were also
banned from practicing their own religions and their children were not allowed to
learn their native language.
There were many causes, including Bloody Sunday, that led to the end of Tsar
Nicholas’s rule over Russia. The influence and effect that Autocracy had on peoples
lives at this time was massive and also contributed to the demise of this leader.
GRADE M
The Russian Revolution of 1917 led to the end of an autocracy in Russia. Russia
had been ruled by the Romanov family for over 300 years, but a build up of events
such as the Russo-Japanese war in 1904, Bloody Sunday in 1905 and the four
Dumas that failed to give the Russians the right to have a voice in the way they were
ruled led to a higher level of intolerance for the Tsar and the 300 years of rule by the
Romanov family concluded with Tsar Nicholas abdicating his throne in 1917.
In 1904 Russians were living in horrendous conditions in their work and home. This
was heightened by the unnecessary Russo-Japanese war. Tsar was confident that
he would easily beat the Japanese, and under estimated his enemy. Fighting over a
port in China, the Russians were defeated by the Japanese in just 45 minutes in the
battle of Tsustima. Russians at home were shocked and angry at the Tsar for
sending their sons, husbands and fathers to die for such a minor cause. As living
conditions in Russia worsened, the people attempted a direct approach to the Tsar
for help.
Father Capon led approximately 20,000 peasants to the Winter Palace in 1905 where
they would ask for trade unions, better working conditions, an end to the Russo
Japanese war and a right to vote in Parliament. The response they received was
one that shocked the entire nation. As the Tsar was not present, the Generals
ordered the soldiers to shoot at the crowd, through it was a peaceful protest. Around
500 were killed, mainly consisting of women and children. The Russian people
reacted with anger – and the Tsar was forced to respond to his people. They no
longer asked him for changes in their everyday life, they demanded it.
The Tsar answered the outcrys of his people by issuing the October Manifesto, in
which he promised them a Duma. The pro-revolutionists settled down, and the Tsar
took this as an opportunity to crush any chance of uprising against his rule. Peter
Stolypin, the first Prime Minister was in charge and over 2,000 were killed by
Stolypin’s Necktie as the Russians dubbed the noose by which so many had been
killed. The Duma also failed to give the people the right to have a say in the manner
in which they were ruled and adhered strictly to the Tsar’s wishes only. If they went
against the Tsar’s demands, they were dismissed – which resulted in the creation
and dismissal of four Dumas – the last of which was in 1917.
For a brief period of time, the Tsar was united with his people in an upsurge of
patriotism as they entered WWI in 1914. However, this did not last long as the
Russians soon realized the cost of war and directed their blame and anger on the
Tsar. Food was taken from the people who were just barely surviving at home and
put on trains to supply the soldiers with food – however as the Russian winter rose to
its climax, the frozen tanks lay on incomplete railways and rotted. By 1917 1.7
million had been killed, 8 million wounded and 7.5 million taken prisoner. Conditions
became right for revolution.
People were sick of the Tsar and his blind eye towards the sufferings of his people.
However, the masses of death and injuries that were inflicted upon the Russian army
and the increasingly impoverished people at home was more than the Russians were
willing to tolerate. The Tsar was forced to abdicate on the train on 15 March 1917,
hence ending 300 years of Romanov rule in Russia.
The people of Russia were greatly influenced by the fall of autocratic rule and the use
of communism in that they had demanded change – and this time, they successfully
achieved their goal. Lenin’s communist ideas, ‘April Thesis’ had a great influence on
the people in that it outlined all that the people wanted – ‘land, peace, bread.’ He
stripped the landowners, church and nobels of 540 million acres of land and shared it
out between the people. He improved their working conditions by introducing the
eight hour working day as well as a new social security system. Though the people
reaped these benefits, Lenin’s single handed control over Russia by the power of the
Red Guard came at a cost for the people.
In November of 1917, the first ever free election was held in Russia. The people had
their say and the Socialist Revolutionaries were voted in. However, Lenin had
control over all of Russia and was not willing to let it go so easily. He provided for the
people, but he was also determined to have his way with Russia. He prevented the
first meeting with the Bolsheviks by using the Red Guard. Resentment grew towards
Lenin as he signed a humiliating peace treaty, the treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March
1918 with Germany and Austria-Hungary, in exchange for leaving the war. Russia
was forced to pay 300 million gold roubles in reparation to Germany and lost land
including Estonia, Finland, Ukraine, Lithuania and Georgia. By mid 1918 there were
many people who were disatisfied with Lenin.
Though communism dictated that all people should co-operate and live peacefully
together, Lenin was determined that no-one should revolt against the rise of
communism and in order to protect his revolution he banned freedom of the press,
outlawed all political parties except for the communist party and put in place the
Cheka, his secret police, used to crush any enemies of communism and of Lenin. As
opposition against Lenin grew, an army was formed, made of people who hated
Lenin. It consisted of 2 main groups – the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries,
who were upset that Lenin was not sharing his power, and the land owners, nobles
and the church who resented Lenin for stripping them of their land and power.
However, due to the fact that they had varying aims and disliked one another, they
were quickly crushed by the Cheka and Red Guard in the Red Terror of 1919. Lenin
showed little compassion for his people as he was concerned with hiw new found
power as unquestioned ruler of Russia – and in keeping his dominance over Russia.
He dominated by the power of the Red Guard, and took food from the people in order
to sustain his army. This led to food shortages in 1920 and 7 million Russians died
from famine. The people of Russia demanded a change in rule from the Tsar – and
they had been granted this, yet the change came at a heavy cost.
In conclusion it is shown that the impoverished people of Russia had little tolerance
for their ignorant, oppressive Tsar and build up of events that heightened their anger
and resentment towards him eventually led to his forced abdication in 1917.
However, Lenin, their communist leader who had promised them everything the Tsar
had failed to grant his people had been able to improve their lives in some aspects –
yet he could not fulfill all their demands, and the changes that they wanted came at a
heavy cost. The people of Russia were not satisfied by either the Tsar or Lenin, and
whatever change that was granted in their everyday lives came at a heavy cost for
many.
GRADE M
Communism was an important force that instigated the November 1917 Revolution.
Through the ideas of Lenin and Karl Marx, the force of communism changed people’s
lives, and inspired the November 1917 Revolution. This revolution meant an end to
the Provisional Government and the suffering of it’s people. After the revolution,
Lenins new reforms, the Treaty of Brest Litovsk, Civil War, and War Communism
were all results of the influence of the force of communism.
Communism originated from the ideas of the German philosopher Karl Marx. Karl
Marx believed the bourgeoise and nobility were exploiting it’s workers by gaining a
substantial profit. A revolution was Karl Marx’s answer to this problem. He knew an
equal society would be created if the workers rose up and revolted against the upper
nobility. All of the profits made by industrialisation would be shared equally among
everyone, instead of going primarily to the capitalists. A workers revolution would
create ‘Utopia’, the perfect society.
The ideas of communism, were most strongly portrayed through the leader Lenin,
who used this force to end the Provisional Government’s rule. Lenin adopted Marx’s
ideas to suit Russia’s circumstances and in 1902, he published a pamphlet called,
‘what is to be done?’ This pamphlet, although influenced by Marxism, portrayed new
communist ideas that came to be known as Leninism. Lenin believed that in order to
overthrow the Provisional Government, he needed a party of full-time proffessional
revolutionaries and strict discipline rule. Older Marxists were impressed with Lenin’s
ideas and in 1895, Paul Axelrod wrote, “I felt that I had before me, a man that would
be the leader of the Russian Revolution, not only was he a cultured Marxistbut he
knew what he wanted to do and how to do it.”
The Provisional Government’s failure to improve Russia’s growing economic and
social position, contributed to the November 1917 Revolution. The Provisional
Government was created to run Russia after the Tsar’s abdication. The Provisional
Government failed to supply food to the towns, control the industry for the workers
and provide peace and hope for the soldiers. This failure to recognise the suffering
of the Russian people, inspired Lenin to seize control and plan a revolution. Lenin
recognised he needed more support in order to stage a revolution, so from AprilNovember, the Bolsheviks campaigned for more popularity. Demonstrations were
held by Lenin in Petrograd, promising ‘Peace, Bread, Land’, to the people. Lenin
used propaganda such as the Soldiers Truth and Trench to persuade soldiers to
support communism and revolution. Popularity in the Bolshevik Party increased from
only 20,000 members to 200,000 members. Lenin felt the time was right to instigate
the revolution and call on his followers to rally behind him.
On the night of 24-25 November, the Bolsheviks’ seized control of Petrograd. They
took over the main points in the city such as the state banks, the government
buildings and the railway stations. The Winter Palace was seized shortly after. The
Bolsheviks’ announced, “The Provisional Government has been overthrown.” This
was the last underlying factor made by the Bolsheviks, as after this revolution the
force of communism was in control.
A direct result of the November Revolution and overthrow of the Provisional
Government was this new and exciting communist state. Lenin’s new reforms
declared all Russian people equal regardless of age, gender or race. This relates to
the communist ideas of equality and freedom. The Russian army was disbanded and
soldiers were allowed to go home, causing support for the communist party to
increase. All of the wealthy were punished by having their property confiscated and
transferred to working class families. All private ownership of estates was abolished
as under the values of communism everyone was equal. The wealthy were forced to
pay large sums of ‘loans’ to the government which left many of them poor. Peasants
were granted the right to own land and the crops they harvested. This was
considered anti-communist by Karl Marx’s theories because all land was supposed to
be distributed equally. Lenin recognised this but needed the peasants support of his
new government was going to be successful. Overall these reforms were influenced
by Communism and improved the lives of the lower classes such as the peasants.
A direct consequence of this new Communist government was the Treaty of Brest
Litovsk. Lenin ended the war with Germany, because it didn’t coincide with his
Communist beliefs. This war was considered anti-communist because it dealt with
capitalist issues. This brought harsh consequences for Russia. Trosky was the head
negotiator at the peace talks in the town of Brest-Litovsk, but was unable to talk
Russia out of the harsh demands. Lenin had to give in to the demands as the
Russian Army could no longer defend it’s territory. Overall Russia lost 62 million of
her population, one-quarter of her territory, one-third of her agricultural land, more
than half of her industry and had to pay a hefty sum of 300 gold roubles in war
damages. This was the worst treaty Russia had encountered in 300 years. Faith in
the communist party was falling dramatically.
The new government had made many enemies since the revolution of 1917. Many
Russians were angry at the humiliating treaty with Germany and the power of the
Bolsheviks, because of this Civil War occurred. Enemies of the communists were
called the ‘whites’ and included the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries.
Countries such as America and Britain supported the ‘whites’ by sending over arms.
The ‘reds’ were supporters of the communist government. During the war, which
lasted four years, the Communists re-introduced conscription and peasants were
forced to fight. This had a negitive impact on their lives as they lived under harsh
disipline and feared that if they deserted, their families would be detained or killed.
The Civil War, shed negitive light on the new government, as Lenin went back on
many of his promises he made before the revolution.
This negative influence on the people by the force of communism, was further
strengthened when Lenin introduced war communism. Under this, peasants were no
longer allowed to own or sell their own grain. In order to eat, they had to exchange
their grain to the state for food. The peasants were beginning to be seen as the
enemy which didn’t coincide with Karl Marx’s ideas of equality. Peasants reacted to
this by selling their grain on the black market. By 1971 the agricultural production
had fallen and famine struck Russia. Initially, the force of communism inspired
Russians to revolt against the Provisional Government. Actions made by Lenin and
the Bolsheviks caused the November 1917 Revolution, which overthrew the existing
government. After this event, peoples lives changed dramatically. In the beginning,
peasants and workers lives improved but as the Communists gained more power,
they were put in the same position as they were in the beginning of the century.
GRADE M
Communism was a significant force in Russia, and was supported by the Bolshevik
party. It was primarily responsible for the October 1917 Revolution, as those
involved with the revolution aspired to turn Russia into a communist state. The
Revolution ended the rule of the Provisional Government, many factors contributed to
this, including national discontent with the rule of the Provisional Government, and
the idea of communism. The revolution had many consequences, such as a new
communist government, the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, dictatorship of the Communist
party, civil war, and a New Economic Policy. Communism had a great influence on
the lives of the people of Russia during this time.
Communism, based on the theories of Karl Marx, was a philosophy that predicted a
series of revolutions that would eventually end with communism – a classless society
that advocated equality. This idea began to become popular with a group called the
Social Democrats in Russia during the time of the rule of the Tsar. At that time, the
lower class of Russia made up of peasants and workers, were oppressed and
neglected by the autocratic Tsar, which angered them, as they made up 85-90% of
the population, yet had no say in government. Thus, the idea of equality which the
movement of communism presented to them was appealing. However, a split in the
Social Democrats led to the formation of the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks in 1903,
which was an important background event that led to the end of the rule of the
Provisional Government later on. The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, were the minority,
but modifying Marxist theory slightly, foresaw that Russia would only have a
proleterian revolution, where the workers would overthrow the bourgeoisie that
controlled the wealth, than share it among the people until Russia would gradually
achieve communism. The Bolsheviks believed the Revolution should be carried by
the Bolsheviks alone, a small party, on behalf of the proletariat. This was unlike the
Mensheviks, who wanted to gain as many members as possible. The Bolsheviks
began to work to spread their views and lay the foundation for communism, as they
believed it would deliver equality to Russia.
It was this desire for equality that led to the Bolsheviks’ battle for power with the
Provisional Government, and finally, the end of the PG’s rule. After the February
1917 Revolution (Julian Calendar), two governments were set up – the Provisional
Government and the Petrograd Soviet. The Provisional Government, following the
abdication of the Tsar, did introduce new reforms to Russia, but failed to address the
key issues – the end to the war, the peasants’ cry for land, and food for the people.
But the revolutionary Soviet maintained support of the largely unchanging PG, as it
feared counter-revolution. Lenin, in Switzerland at the time, was upset by this, so
returned to Petrograd in April 1917. He began to speak to soldiers and workers
about his ‘April Thesis’, a list of his policies, and captured the essence of these
policies with the slogan, “Peace! Bread! Land!” The people of Russia began to
listen to the Bolsheviks as their policies were relevant to their desires, and the PG
began to lose control of Russia. This was an important event that led to the end of
PG rule, as the Bolsheviks knew that with power, they would be able to come into
rule more easily.
The rule of the Provisional Government finally ended with the event of the October
1917 Revolution. After gaining power for the Soviet, the Bolsheviks decided to do
their anticipated revolution. Lenin and his partner, Leon Trotsky, spent time
gathering support from workers and soldiers in Petrograd and Moscow. Once troops
were organized, the Bolsheviks used their army, the Red Guards, to take over
important parts of the city, such as the central telephone exchange, government
structures, and the headquarters of the PG, the Winter Palace. There was not much
resistance to the takeover; the Bolsheviks had achieved the first successful
Communist Revolution in the world, and ended the rule of the Provisional
Government. Following this, the Bolsheviks immediately formed the new communist
government, the Soviet of Peoples Commissars, and put their policies into practice.
Establishing social and economic reforms. There were many effects of this, the most
prominent being the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a significant consequence of the communist
revolution. Russia had backed out of the war in accordance with its policies. The
Bolsheviks had believed that Germany would stage its own communist revolution
through the German Prisoners of War that would take the Communist ideas back
home, and that Germany would then become Russia’s partner and help them
financially. But Germany continued to fight in the war, so Lenin felt he had no choice
but to make peace with Germany for backing out, and this was done through the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, signed in March 1918. It had a significant influence on the
lives of Russians, as Russia lost 25% land, 30% people, and 50% industry. But
Lenin felt it was necessary in order to protect the communist movement.
The dictatorship of the Communist party was another outcome of communism. Lenin
still wanted to create an equal nation out of Russia. But he also wanted to protect his
power, which contradicted many of his initial ideals. He could not stop elections for a
new government, the constituent Assembly, taking place, and the Communists did
not win, as many still favoured the Social Revolutionaries, which showed the differing
opinions in Russia due to what seemed to be a negative influence that the
communist influence was having on the people of Russia. So Lenin used the Red
Guards to break up the Assembly, took control of the Soviet, abolished all other
political parties, and created the Cheka, a violent police force. Lenin had come
across a problem – Marxist theory had stated that the proleteriat would temporarily
rule over a nation. But in Russia, Lenin realised that the uneducated proleteriat did
not understand this as well as he hoped, and felt that he had to modify Marxist theory
and rule over Russia in order to establish communism in the nation. But more
problems were coming, as seen with the Civil War.
Despite intentions to improve Russia, many were unhappy with communist rule, and
a civil war struck in 1918, which clearly affected and had an influence on the lives of
many at that time. Lenin set up the Red Army with conscription, to promote
communism, and forced the Cheka to kill any opposition to the Government. This
was the brutal Red Terror, from 1918-1922. During this time, he also introduced War
Communism to keep the economy going. People were forced to work to provide the
Army with food, clothing, and weapons. Businesses and factories were seized,
inflation escalated, and food shortages were occurring. The Army celebrated a
victory after 3 years of fighting. This showed the negative influence that Lenin’s idea
of communism was having on the people of Russia, as Russia was brought to its
knees, and Lenin had turned into a dictator. Lenin tried to remedy this with a new
policy.
Lenin’s New Economic Policy was another outcome of communism. Following the
war, Lenin could see that his nation was in trouble; even some communists were
unhappy with communist rule. So he introduced the NEP in 1924, which, like the
start of communist rule, introduced many social and economic reforms. Some
Communists felt that the NEP would allow some peasants and private businessment
to become too powerful, and that this was capitalism. But Lenin countered this,
saying, “We are now retreatingin order to get a better run for our longer leap
forward.” And indeed, it seemed to be a positive influence in the lives of Russians,
as it resulted in a drastic improvement in many aspects of Russia.
Throughout all these outcomes of the communist movement, the force of
Communism had the greatest influence in the lives of peasants. Before the
Revolution, peasants lived in abject poverty; slums and cold, no say in their lives.
But after the revolution, Lenin gave the peasants the right to own farming land –
Lenin realized that this went against the communist ideology, but knew that as
peasants were the majority of the population, he needed their support to achieve full
communism later on. This made peasants happy, and they saw communism in a
more favourable light. But with War Communism, Lenin needed to provide the Army
with food, so seized most of the peasants’ grain in 1918. By 1921, the angry
peasants refused to grow crops, and a food shortage occured from 1921-1922. But
with the NEP, they were once again allowed to own land, which provoked in
peasants a greater acceptance of communism.
The lives of workers were also similarly influenced by the communist force. Before
the Revolution, they, too, lived lives of poverty; but after the revolution, work
conditions were improved, and they ran the factories themselves. But with war
communism, these conditions became worse, and by 1921, the city workers were
angry about all the unfulfilled promises the Communists had made. But with the
NEP, this changed opinions again, as hours were made less, trade unions were more
accepted, and they were able to choose where to work. Workers, too, became more
accepting of Communism.
Nobility, landowners, and factory owners were also influenced by the communist
movement. Nobility lost their titles as a result of the equality ideal, landowners lost
their land to the peasants which they had been denying to them for years, and factory
owners lost their factories when they were put under control of elected workers’
committees. Communism meant that these groups no longer had a high standing in
society.
The Tsar and his wife were also influenced by communism. With the February
Revolution, the Tsar, once at the head of an entire nation, had lost his title. After the
October Revolution, during the civil war, the Tsar and his family were executed,
Communism had ultimately lost the Tsar his rule and his life.
Communism was a driving force in Russia, and was the main reason for the end of
the rule of the Provisional Government. Several factors and events contributed to
this end, including Marxism; national discontent, and the failure of the Provisional
Government. The end of PG rule had many outcomes, including a new communist
government, civil war, and a new economic policy. Throughout these outcomes, the
underlying force of communism was influencing the lives of many, particularly the
peasants, workers, nobility, land/factory owners, and was overall met with mixed
feelings from the people of Russia.
GRADE M
In Russia 1917 there were many background and specific events that led to the
ending of the Tsarist rule that had controlled Russia for centuries. Communism as a
force triggered some of these events to cause a revolution that over threw the Tsar to
put communism in its place.
One of the first background events leading to the end of the autocratic ruling in
Russia, was the impact WWI was having. The Russian army was failing dramatically
due to lack of equipment and weapons. On top of this, were bad decisions being
made by the Tsar Nicholas. After many losses, the tsar chose to leave his place at
the winter palace and lead the Russian army himself. This weakened the autocratic
rule because he left all of the decision making to the Tsarita and Rasputin. All of
these decisions made by the Tsar, caused discontent and unrest through out Russia,
creating desire for change which led to the first Revolution in March 1917 which
resulted in the Tsar being forced to abdicate.
The new government created, Dual power, was another background event leading
towards the change of government to Communism. This was because of how much
of a failure it was in Russia. The real problem was how Dual Power (which was led
and set up by Alexander Kerensky) didn’t deal with urgent problems. There were
things like food shortages, fuel shortages, working conditions, getting land for
peasants and most importantly ending the war. Their ignorance to the more
important issues in Russia, was what caused real discontent throughout the people in
Russia. It created more desire for a change of government that will deal with
Russians equally.
Another event that led up to the change of government from Tsarist rule and Dual
power to communism was the Karnilov coup in late August 1917. This event was
what made the Provisional government (which is part of Dual power) look weak and
the Bolsheviks look like heroes. The Bolsheviks were a revolutionary group who had
been fighting for a communist revolution since their formation in 1903. General
Karnilov, the commander-in-chief of armed forces in Russia, planned a counterrevolution where he was going to march into Petragrad and set up a military
dictatorship strong enough crush major powers in Russia but it disintergrated before
reaching Petragrad. Even so, the Bolshevik members were released from prison
because of this after being put in there during the July days. As well as this the were
armed, creating an army, they paraded the streets in defence of Petragrad. After this
event the Bolshevik membership grew rapidly from 20,000 in February to around
200,000 in August. The Karnilov coup was a fright to Petragrad but beneficial to the
Bolsheviks who then led Russia through the Nov Revolution with a lot of support to
get to the stage of communism.
The November Revolution was on the night of the 7th, the Bolsheviks took control of
the main powers of Petrograd, the telephone exchange, the state banks and the
railway lines. It was a peacefull but forcefull revolution with no violence or riots. And
finally communism was in its place with the Bolsheviks leading them through.
Communism as Russia’s new government, influenced many lives at the time. The
peasants in Russia were a vast majority, and they were affected greatly. At first they
were impressed and happy with the new government led by Lenin. One of the first
reforms was for the peasants to be able to have their own land. This was something
they had been fighting for their whole lives. But in 1918, a civil war broke out between
the communists and anti-communists. Because of this Lenin introduced the “War
Communism” policy, which is where the peasants were forced to give all of their
produce to the government to supply the communist army with food (the red Army).
They could keep only a small amount for themselves. As well as this, the CHEKA
which is the Red Armys secret police, would target and kill any peasants suspected
of keeping to much for themselves. This policy was enforcing the communist way of
the government owning everything and affected the peasants negatively.
Another group of people influenced by the force of communism. Like the peasants,
they were satisfied with the new government also. This was because as soon as the
communists were in power, one of the first reforms made was signing a peace treaty
with Germany. Even though it was a humiliating loss of ¼ of Russia’s territary, it was
needed to be done to save the Russian army. But then in 1918, the civil war broke
out and soldiers were forced to reconscript into the red Army, the communists. The
red army numbered up to 3 million and was led by Leon Trotsky who enforced harsh
dicipline and respect of higher ranks. This communist war affected many soldiers
who had died in it and many who had to go through it all with the horific bloody
violence.
In conclusion, there were many events which led up to the two changes of
government in 1917, from Autocracy to Dual power, and from Dual power
communism. The communist rulling influence different people in different ways some
positively and others very negatively.
GRADE M
Vietnam entered the 20th Century as a slave to imperialism, chained and unable to
escape the oppressive force of France. France exploited Vietnam’s people and
resources for its own economic gain and such exploitation was the major factor in the
development of the force of nationalism. Growing unity amongst the Vietnamese
people and the charismatic leadership of Ho Chi Minh would eventually lead to the
general uprising known as the August Revolution. This event was the first attempt at
removing the French government from power but it failed. However prolonged
hostilities and the First Indochina War would eventually lead to the end of the French
government’s rule. These prolonged hostilities strengthened Vietnamese resolve
and ensured that nationalism would remain as firm resistance to future imperialist
occupation.
France initially became involved in the region of Indochina in 1802 when a
Vietnamese Prince Nguyen Anh asked for help in regaining his throne. The French
willingly agreed and gained a military presence in Vietnam. Within 90 years all of
Indochina would be under French rule. The French maintained strict political and
social control through the use of military force and also exploited Vietnam
economically.
The French imposed absolute control over the Vietnamese political system. To
maintain political control the French used the method of ‘divide and rule’ over the
traditional village and provincial leaders. Tonkin and Cochinching were made
colonies of the French empire while Annam had local officials but was ultimately also
controlled by France. The use of local officials was a clever ploy to create a sense of
freedom amongst the Vietnamese but if political stability was threatened the French
military would react with brutal force.
The excessive force used by the French military strengthened France’s imperialist
rule and oppressed the indigenous people of Vietnam. An example of the excessive
force used by the French occurred in the 1930’s in Tonkin when a local resistance
group the Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dong had organised a series of violent protests,
assassinations and eventually a general uprising. The leaders were all quickly
caught and executed and similar punishments awaited other resistance leaders.
Alternatively political prisoners were held in La Maison Centrale in Hanoi. It was a
horrific example of French brutality, glass shards and barbed wire lined the walls and
numerous sadistic torture devices were hidden inside. Such brutality quickly created
a sense of hatred towards the French occupation.
Military force was also used to enforce strict social control. With the intent of
completely pacifying Vietnam the French began the ‘Civilising Mission’ making the
French language compulsory and introducing Catholicism. This only intensified
Vietnamese hatred of the French, particularly because Christianity directly
undermined their traditional Confucian beliefs. Further negative impacts included the
introduction of opium, which although profitable further destroyed the moral fabric of
Vietnamese society, leading to an increase in prostitution and gambling. The
physical nature of Vietnam was also altered as French architecture was used in
major public buildings such as the Opera House in Hanoi.
However France was ultimately in Vietnam for its own economic gain. In order to
take advantage of Vietnam’s vast reserves of rubber, rice and tin vast improvements
had to be made to basic infrastructure so local peasants were conscripted to provide
the labour to build the neccessary roads, bridges and docks. Almost all conscripts
were treated poorly. In one example 12,000 workers at the Michelin rubber factory
died from mistreatment. Thousands of Vietnamese were also forced off their land as
the French sought to create new commercial opportunities, further disrupting the
traditional family and village structures and leaving many Vietnamese suffering in
poverty. Such ruthless exploitation quickly created a sense of unity amongst the
Vietnamese people and it was this development that would eventually lead to the
August Revolution and later the First Indochina War.
The catalyst for the August Revolution occured during the Japanese occupation of
Vietnam during World War Two. Faced with the mounting costs of waging war Japan
turned to Vietnam to make up the shortfall in funds and resources. Consequently a
food shortage developed and floods worsened the situation. The resulting famine
claimed over two million Vietnamese lives and provided a further boost to the
nationalist cause. With phrases such as “break open the rice stores to avert the
famine” used to ensure the support of peasants. The Viet Minh (led by the
charismatic Ho Chi Minh) led the August Revolution in August of 1945. Hanoi was
the first city to fall on August 16 and the other major centres followed in quick
succession. The culmination of the general uprising occured on September 2 when
Ho Chi Minh read the declaration of independence to a crowd of cheering supporters
in Hanoi. For the time being Vietnam was free from the oppression of France.
However the newly formed Democratic Republic of Vietnam was not internationally
recognised and with the help of China and Britain control was soon returned to the
French. The failure of this first form of Vietnamese independence only strengthened
the Vietnamese peoples resolve and hostilities continued, eventually escalating into
the First Indochina War. Although Viet Minh were far greater in the ensuing eight
years of conflict the French were the first to recognise that defeat of the Viet Mih –
who had the support of the population – was near impossible. This view was further
reinforced by the massacre that occured at Dien Bien Phu where a large French
camp endured 55 days of bombardment from the Viet Minh. When the French finally
surrendered over half the camp was dead or seriously wounded. The decisive battle
of the First Indochina War had ended in humiliation for the French and back home
support was rapidly waning for France to remain in Vietnam. After the defeat at Dien
Bien Phu the French government effectively lost control of the nation of Vietnam and
this was confirmed by the events of the Geneva Accords.
Ho Chi Minh was finally awarded control of an internationally recognised state when
he travelled to the Geneva Accords. The DRV would occupy the land north of the
17th parallel while the French puppet emperor Bro Dai would retain control of the
south. The Vietnamese people were free to choose to live in the north or south, the
first time in over a century that they were able to experience freedom of choice.
The force of nationalism clearly had a major influence upon the lives of the people of
Vietnam. It ended the imperialist rule of the French government, ensuring that the
Vietnamese could experience life free of strict political control, suffocating social
control which destroyed the culture and moral fabric of Vietnam and the ruthless
exploitation that left many Vietnamese suffering in poverty. Nationalism effectively
liberated Vietnam from the shackles of French imperialism.
The force of nationalism clearly had its roots in decades of imperialist oppression.
The people were exploited and lacked freedom. This united them in a common
struggle for independence which would result in the end of the French government’s
control of Vietnam after the First Indochina War. The constant struggle of the
Vietnamese for independence meant that support for the force of nationalism
continued to grow. Ensuring that nationalism would remain as a strong counter to
future imperialist occupation. It was a counter that would be tested on numerous
occasions in the years to come.
GRADE M
(UPGRADED FROM A)
In early 1933 Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of a coalition government in the
German Reichstag. It was from this position that he began his assault on
Democracy. Through his actions the Democratic government of Germany was
replaced by a Nazi party and Hitler dictatorship. Hitler then set out to reshape and
reform the German state in accordance with the Nazi party beliefs and ideals that
were essentially his own set out in Mein Kampf.
Hitlers aim to gain power through the ballet box and end Democracys rule in
Germany came after his failed Munich Putsch of 1923. This failed Putsch showed
him that military take over of the government was less effective and more difficult
than through the Reichstag (Parliament). Hitler soon rose to the top of the Nazi party
and set about measures to establish it as a well organised, effective, political
machine. Hitler organised massive political rallies, re-shaped the party into a more
effective structure and used his impressive oratory skills to motivate and impower his
audience. As a result of his leadership the Nazi party had one third of all Reichstag
seats by 1933, the highest percentage of any party. Because of this the Nazi party
was named in a coalition government with Hitler as Chancellor. Hitler was now
confident enough to organise another election where he thought he would gain an
outright majority. In the lead up to this election however the Reichstag was burnt to
the ground. The “attack on German security” was quickly blamed on German
communists. Hitler was quickly able to use manipulation and propaganda to exploit
the German peoples fears of Communism. His methods succeded as he had the
“Decree for the protection of the People” passed which allowed him to imprision any
“threat” to Germany. Consequently Hitler exploited this power, locking up many
communists and outspoken political opposition. With all opposition now either
imprisioned or too intimidated to oppose him, Hitler passed the “Enabling Act.” This
Act gave Hitler dictorial powers for the next four years. This “Act” marked the end of
Democracy rule and the start of the new dictatorship that was to be established by
Hitler and the Nazi party.
Hitlers new goal was to now “Nazify” the German state in accordance with Nazi party
beliefs and ideals. The Nazi party believed in a unified German Aryian state with
“traditional” values united under Hitler as their Fuhrer. Hitler’s first step was to unify
German people. Germanys foreign policy consequently became more agressive and
the German army was rebuilt in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles. Germany
attempted Annchluss with Austria in 1934 but failed due to opposition by Italy,
however it succeded in 1938. As a result of their agressive foreign policy Germany
was able to seize the Czechoslovakia area named the Sudentenland with no military
opposition. The Germany people were now told to return to their “rightfull” place in
society. Adult males were told to work the fields in order to provide for their family.
Adult females were encouraged through the form of tax cuts, to bear and raise
children. The children of Germany were educated in a system intrenched in Antisematic views and also system that focussed on physical strength and attributes.
Jews within Germany were to become scapegoats for Germany’s past failure.
Germans were told to boycott Jewish shops and businesses. Public beatings of
Jews became common practice. The Nuremburg Laws were passed in 1935 which
forbid Jews to marry Aryian Germans and denied Jews German citizenship. All
these steps were leading to the “final solution” in the eyes of Hitler which was the
genocide of the Jewish people. The third step was to bring all of Germany in
accordance with Nazi beliefs through the political system. Trade Unions were
banned as they opposed the Nazi government. Religion was also banned as it
required loyalty other than the loyalty towards Hitler and Germany. All judges had to
be Nazi party members and rule in accordance with Nazi views and interests. The
German army also swore a personal oath to Hitler instead of to the state of Germany.
The Nazi party also aimed to gain knowledge on anyone who may be anti-Germany
or anti-Hitler. This was achieved through the block warden who collected gossip on
every person in their area. This method resulted in a nation who obeyed the Fuhrer
over even their family, it turned Germany into a ‘nation of snitches’. This however
was Hitlers goal, to have extreme loyalty from his people. The government portrayed
Hitler as a “superhero” who was the only man who could help Germany in its time of
need.
Through the decisive actions of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party the rule of Democracy
came to an end. The state of Germany then was turned into one obediant to Hitlers
beliefs and ideals. The German people were willing to relieve their ambitions and
moral responsibility in return for national greatness promised to them by their Fuhrer
Hitler.
GRADE M
After the abdication of the long-time autocrat of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm II, a
democratic government was hastily formed, led by Fredreich Ebert. The Weimar
Government, as it was known, signed the treaty of Versailles causing widespread
unpopularity. They were dubbed the ‘November Criminals’ and most Germans felt
betrayed by the Weimar Government. Among them, a soldier, Adolf Hitler.
Hitler joined the Nazi party in 1920 and by 1921 he had risen to become its leader. It
was Hitler who instilled his ideals which became known as Nazism on the Nazi Party.
Hitler formed the S.A. (stormtroopers) in 1922 who were, theoretically guards. In
1923 Hitler led his SA and Nazi party members to Munich where they attempted a
coup. The coup was quickly dealt with – Germany was not ready for a new leader
just yet. Hitler was arrested and sent to prison. The Munich Putsch, while ultimately
a failure, gained the Nazi party and Hitler himself a lot of publicity. This was realised
when they won seats in parliament at the next election.
While in prison, Hitler wrote the book ‘Mein Kampf’ (‘My Struggle’) which, due to his
now well-known name, became a bestseller. In this book Hitler outlined his ideals
which, cumulated, formed the single ideal of Nazism; expansionism, social
Darwinism, power of state, racism, anti-capitalism, anti-marxism, and nationalism.
The Nazi Party stood united under Nazism. Also, while imprisoned, Hitler decided
that for the Nazis to gain power, they had to do it legally by campaigning and winning
seats in parliament. He had learnt from his failed Munich Pursch.
Hitler’s unique speaking power became eminent to the public not long after he was
released from prison. Hitler’s speeches preached Nazism to all those who would
listen, while his SA men stood guard, intimidating those who would dare disagree
with their leader. Word spread throughout the German public and many turned to
Nazism as an answer to their problems. And Weimar Germany had many problems.
Unemployment was high, the depression and hyper-inflation combined with
reparations payments had crippled the economy. The Treaty of Versailles was a
great source of bitterness and so Hitler’s nationalistic ideals were a great pulling
power for ordinary Germans to believe in Nazism.
The Nazis continued to gain support and Nazi propaganda convinced many to vote
for them during elections. The force of Nazism had gripped many Germans and the
Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler were gaining power. Not unaware of this, the government
was curious about Herr Hitler. The chancellor of the time, Von Papen, was very
unpopular and President Hindenburg offered the position of chancellor to Hitler after
Von Papen resigned. On 30th January 1933, Hitler became Chancellor. Nazism was
beginning to take over.
The true force of Nazism was realised when Hindenburg passed the enabling act and
the emergancy decree. These acts officially made Hitler a legal dictator, and gave
him the power to arrest and hold people indefinately without evidence or trial and
pass laws without parliaments consent. Weimar Germany was essentially over.
Nazism reigned. Hitler immediately eliminated his political opponents and set the
ideals of Nazism into action. It was now that people began to feel the effects (both
good and bad) of Nazism.
Jews were the worst affected group, followed by social undesirables (disabled,
alcoholics, gypsies etc) and communists. These groups suffered the brutal hand of
Nazism. Jews were declared aliens in Germany, they couldn’t marry ‘Germans’, they
couldn’t hold certain jobs (e.g. education, civil service jobs) and they were subject to
public humiliations. The mentally disabled were ‘euthanised’ and many were
steralised. Gypsies were forced to register and settle. And finally, over six million
were sent to ‘death camps’.
On the other side, Aryan Germans were treated as superior, Germans were told that
they were special, unemployment was at an all-time low and almost everyone loved
their Fuhrer, Hitler. Children were moulded into perfect German citizens; school
textbooks were re-written to adhere with Nazism and young people joined the Hitler
youth movement. They learnt that Jews were evil people, that Communists had
caused the problems that Germany had faced in the 1920’s and they learnt about
Nazism.
Nazism overthrew the Weimar government through the Nazi leader, Hitler. He
instilled Nazism into Germany and the effect on the people was great. Some
suffered, some prospered but in the end, Nazism failed. Many still believe in Nazism
today, and one wonders what could happen if Nazism becomes a leading force in
today’s world. Could we potenially relive the horrors of Nazi Germany?
GRADE M
During the 1920’s, 1930’s and `1940’s, the Nazis were an important force. Their
influence and power was seen through the Weimar Republic and into their own Nazi
State. However, the Nazi’s did not come into complete power until the 1930’s, when
the Weimar government collapsed. From the time of the beginning of the Weimar
through to their end, they faced many situations that shook the support they had.
Meanwhile, towards the end of the Weimar reign, the Nazi party began to influence
people’s lives, gaining support and votes, so that when time was up for the Weimar,
the Nazi’s were there to take their place.
The Weimar Republic was founded after the end of World War 1. Immediately they
faced problems – people didn’t want them, people didn’t want democracy and, the
Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was probably their first big mistake,
although the mistake could not be avoided with international pressure, the Weimar
signed the Treaty, and in doing so lost great support. Over the next four years, the
Weimar faced problem after problem – Hyper-inflation, occupation of the Ruhr,
Munich Putsch and countless uprisings. Life for the Weimar had not got off to a great
start.
However, the late 1920’s were years of good and prosperity for Germany, and the
Weimar. Things were looking up until 1929, when the Great Depression hit, and the
Weimar began their downward spiral. Economic and social life went down, while on
the political side, a new party, the Nazi’s, began to also prove problomatic. With the
Weimar unable to climb out of its hole, the Nazis began to rise in power. By 1933,
the Nazi’s and their leader, Adolf Hitler, had become the leading political figure.
Hitler was, after much time, appointed Chancellor, and even managed to obtain the
Enabling Act, which granted him emergency presidentual powers. All this was
trouble for the Weimar, and was their beginning of the end.
It took one more major event for the Weimar to crumble – the death of Hindenburg.
Although the Nazis had a majority of power, they did not have complete power. In
1934, this changed. President Hindenburg died, and Hitler announced he was the
new president. Along with his power of Chancellor, Hitler gave himself the new title
of Fuhrer. He was now supreme ruler. With President Hindenburg the last Weimar
authorative, his death was the end of the Weimar and the end of an era.
Throughout this time, the Nazi’s had been influencing people’s lives. The Nazi’s
influenced people’s lives by playing on their emotions of current and past events.
Through the use of events such as the Treaty of Versailles, in which the Nazi’s
blamed the Weimar for, the Nazi’s promised to go against the Treaty, which played
on people’s anger towards it. By firing them up and then promising people what they
wanted to hear, the Nazi’s influenced people’s lives by playing on their emotions.
The Nazi’s also influenced people’s lives through the use of propoganda. The Nazi’s
campaigned through poster’s, radio, books, cinema, rallies and functions to get their
message across. This then ensured that all people heard them, and gave them their
support. So, propoganda was a way the Nazi’s influenced people’s lives.
One of the main influences the Nazi’s had on people’s lives though was that they
were changing the system of their lives. The Weimar had been a democracy, yet the
Nazi’s were aiming for total control – a dictatorship. This had an influence on
people’s lives as before the Weimar had been the dictatorship of the Kaiser. Many
people liked the Kaiser’s dictatorship and had not wanted him to abdicate. With the
Nazi’s showing signs of returning to a dictatorship, they influenced people’s lives by
giving a sense of hope that things would be in a Nazi dictatorship as good as they
had been in the Kaiser’s dictatorship.
The Weimar government faced many events and struggles that would eventually
result in its downfall. Even before its collapse, the Nazi’s began their progression
towards power, creating events that helped in the Weimar’s departure. Throughout
this time, they also influenced people’s lives, gaining support so that when the
Weimar disappeared, they were ready to begin their terrifying reign.
GRADE M
In 1933, Germany, the Weimar Republic came to an end. The rule was taken over
by the Nazi Party as Hitler was appointed as Chancellor and later the Furer of
Germany.
After the German Kaiser was thrown over after World War 1, a democratic
government was set up in Germany, known as the Weimar Republic. However, it
didn’t last. Representational Democracy allowed extremist minority groups such as
Nazis or Spartacists to have seats in the parliament and Weimar Republic’s failure to
solve Germany’s economic problems arising from the Treaty of Versailles and
Germany’s assumed war-guilt reparation fee, and an even bigger economic blow
caused by the USA stock-market collapse in 1929 resulting in the big depression,
ended with a dictatorship by Hitler and the Nazi Party.
In 1933 Hitler became chancellor of Germany as he promised to solve its economic
problems. President Hindenburg allowed this to happen as he thought that he would
be able to control Hitler due to his lack of experience. However, after the Reitstag
Fire in July 1933 Hitler was able to take advantage of article 48, giving all power into
the hands of one leader in case of emergency. The incident was blamed on the
communists and calling emergency Hitler installed the Enabling Act. Thus Weimar
Republic has ended as President Hindenburg was already dead.
After the Enabling Act Hitler banned all opposition. The Nazi Party became the only
party in the State. Opposition such as communists were crushed, Trade Unions
were banned, people lost many of their freedoms such as freedom of press. People
were indoctrinated with Nazi propoganda, youth groups such as Hitler Youth were
formed to educate children in a Nazi way, books not according to Nazi policy were
burned, teachers that did not teach according to Nazi methods were arrested or shot.
Another outcome of the event was the oppression and eventually the killing of the
Jews. Also amongst those to be killed were handicaps and homosexuals.
Concentration camps were set up by an ellite Nazi group – the SS. The SS could
also arrest and execute people without trial. Eventually Hitler’s rule led to taking over
of the Rhine, 1936, the invasion of Czechoslovakia and later Poland in 1938, that led
to outbreak of World War II.
In conclusion, Weimar Republic ended with Hitler’s dictatorship in 1933. This was a
result of its incompetence in solving Germany’s economic problem and in
development of extremist parties. The outcomes of the event were devastating loss
of rights and lifes for people in Germany, and those beyond it as a result of World
War II.
GRADE A
Britain took control of India in the nineteenth century. In the early 1900s they were
opposed by Indian nationalists. The campaigns led by the Indians led to the end of
Britain’s rule in India. Imperialism effected the lives of people in India politically,
socially and economically. Imperialism is when a country takes control of colonys to
make an empire, detrimentally or in competition with other empires. In the 1600s, the
British set up the East India Trading Company. This trading company allowed the
British to get into India. The Indians did not suspect the British of anything and
welcomed them to India. Britain began to slowly take control of India and by the
nineteenth century had full control and India became an colony of the British empire.
The British set up the Indian Civil Service in the early 1900s, the discrimination
against Indian membership was a leading event towards Indian Nationalism and the
end of the British rule. For an Indian to recieve membership into the Civil Service
they had to be educated in the British schools in India. Most Indians could not afford
to pay the fees for the British schools and there weren’t enough schools for the
population. Therefore, there were never many British educated Indians. Sometimes
they had to sit the tests in English and these tests were in English, this also brought
down the number of Indians in the service. In fact only five percent of the Indian Civil
Service were Indian. The Indians that did get into the Service were never given a
high ranking and would be treated badly.
Another event that led to the end of British law in India was the introduction of the
Rowlatt laws. These laws indirectly stated that the British had control over India and
could call in the Indian Army at anytime to control restless areas. These laws were
also discriminative against Indians as they stopped the Indian people from having
any political control. Indians were not allowed to vote. Gandhi began a hartal to
protest against the Rowlatt laws, and was imprisoned. A hartal is when all Indian
shops and businesses close for a day. In Amritsar, a part of the Punjab state, a
protest was organised to oppose Gandhi’s arrest. The Lieutenant Governor of the
Punjab, O’Dwyer, believed that the Punjab was a particularly restless state so he had
called in the Indian army.
The Rowlatt laws were the background factor which led to the Amritsar Massacre in
April 1919. The massacre was a turning point in the Indian people’s views towards
the British in India. The Indian army called in by O’Dwyer, was led by General Dyer.
Dyer had been told to read an order stating that “no group of more than four men
must gatherthe army will use whatever measures to gain control”, however, he did
not read the order in the Jallianwalla Bagh, in Amritsar, even though he believed
protest was going to occur there. On April the fourteenth, thousands of Indians
gathered in the Bagh. Most were celebrating the Sikh holy day and were sicialising.
A very small number were talking about the British. No-one was armed and there
were men, women and children in the Begh. Dyer and the Indian army blocked all
the exits and Dyer ordered his men to shoot for ten minutes. Three hundred and
seventy nine people were killed and Indian nationalism rose. The nationalists
continued to protest against the British rule until the British left India in 1947.
Imperialism politically influenced the lives of the Indians as they were given no
political freedom. Indians who were able to recieve the strict membership into the
Indian Civil Service were not allowed to gain any of the high ranks. This was the
same with the Indian Army and the Indian police forces. Due to the Rowlatt laws
Indians were refused the chance to vote and could not recieve any high position in
the Indian government. All the high positions in India and those who controlled India,
in England, were all British, like the Secretary of State, the Viceroy and his governors
and the Lieutenant-Governors of each state. All the judges and lawyers were British.
The British indirectly controlled the princely states. The people had no political
freedom due to imperialistic actions of the British.
The British imperialists economically influenced the Indian people’s lives. During
World War One, when the need for indigo decreased, the British land owners
increased the rents on the land that Indian peasants worked on in Chemipevan.
After the war, when indigo was needed, the landowners kept the high rent in place
and kept all the profit they gained to themselves. The British made it illegal to
manufacture salt, they also produced a salt tax on the salt that was bought. Salt was
a necessity to the Indian diet, so the Indians believed that the tax was unfair. During
World War One, the British exported all the wheat made over to Britain, leaving the
peasants who needed the wheat to survive, were left starving.
Imperialism produced a social gulf between the Indians and the British. Most Indians
were used to living in areas were they were classified as equals, “my parents never
lived in a place where they were unequal to everyone else.” However, the British
believed that the Indians were uncivilised and inferior to them. The British had all
white golf clubs, like the Calcutta Golf Club, where Indians were only allowed to work
as waitors or cleaners.
Indians became servants to the British and were
photographed fanning a British judge or working a large fan in a British lounge.
The British employed Imperialism to gain control of India in the nineteenth century,
however due to many nationalistic events and protests the British rule ended in 1947.
Imperialism politically, economically and socially influenced the lives of Indian people.
GRADE A
During the Russian Revolution a powerful force that helped Tsar Nicholas II’s
downfall was Autocracy.
The Tsar ruled Russia by decree meaning that he alone had the power and right to
make laws and the people of Russia had no say in the matter.
A number of events helped cause the Tsars fall from power. One was the RussoJapanese war of 1904-05. Japan attacked Russia both at sea and on land and
defeated the Russians heavily. In the end Russia lost and had to make peace with
the Japanese, this caused unpopularity of the Tsar with the people.
During the war there was a revolution against the Tsar and many civilians were shot
outside the Tsars winter Palace in St. Petersburg. This caused more dislike for the
Tsar.
When World War 1 broke out in 1914 Russia declared war on Germany and AustriaHungary becoming one of the allies. When this happened the Tsar was more
popular than ever but as the war went on and so did the defeats the Tsar became
more unpopular, especially after he took command of the military personally so he
was blamed for the defeats.
The final straw was the 1917 Revolution where the Bolshevik party over threw the
Russian government and the Tsar’s days of ruling Russia were over.
During the Tsars rule Russia was the only Absolute Monarchy left in Europe and the
ordinary people in Russia were sick of it. Their neighbouring countries had at least
some form of elected government but Russia lagged behind. Despite the creation of
the Duma they still wanted more freedoms than under the Autocracy.
People in the countryside also wanted land which they had been given by the Tsars
father Alexander III but at a price. Now they wanted to get rid of the Autocratic
Government and start a new with a better government that was not so oppressive.
In conclusion Autocracy was an important factor in the downfall of Nicholas II and
also heavily influenced ordinary peoples lives in Russia at the time.
GRADE A
The November revolution 1917 is arguably one of the most important events in world
history. It resulted in the forming of a new socailist state in Russia. There were
many background events which led to the end revolution in Russia and the
overthrowing of the Provisional Government. The resulting Bolshevik government
had enormous affect on the people of Russia in their economic and millitery policies.
In 1917, the legal government in Russia was the Provisional Government which
came into power after the Tsar abdication. Russia was however being literally
governed by two parties, was under Dual Power. These two parties were the
Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soveit. The Petrograd Soveit had
important control over the army so the Provisional Government could not get
anything done without the Soviet. At first these two parties agreed on most issued
but gradually a rift developed based around an important issue, World War One.
In 1917 World War One was not going all too well for the Russian army. They had
suffered many embarassing losses against the German army. Public opinion began
to go against the war. The Petrograd Soviet agreed with this and they wanted all
Russian involvement in the war to stop. The Provisional Government however
wanted to continue involvement. With the two governments argueing with each other
it was only a matter of time before there was conflict.
Kerensky, head of Provisional Government appointed General Kornilov as minister of
war. Kornilov however had different ideas to how the country should be run and
planned to march on the Winter Palace. Kerensky paniced and turned to Lenins
Bolsheviks to help him. The Bolsheviks were a growing party gaining increasing
support at the time. Kerensky armed the Red Gard, (millitery wing of Bolsheviks).
Kornilovs troops however failed to reach the palace as railway workers refused to
transport the troops. The damage however had been done as now the Bolsheviks
were now seen as the protecters of the Russian people. Their popularity soared.
The Red Gaurd also ‘failed’ to return the rifles given to them. The Bolsheviks were
now armed and ready for revolution.
Lenin returned from hiding and Finland and urged the Bolshevik leaders that the time
was right to seize control. They agreed and in November 1917 the Bolsheviks took
strategic points in Petrograd. They eventually stormed the Winter Place and found
almost no resistance. Many of the palace allowed the Bolsheviks to go through. In
an almost bloodless affair the Provisional government was overthrown and a new
Socailist State was formed.
Bolshevik beliefs originated from the beliefs of Karl Marx. Marx believed that every
country was on the road to communism and that once the proletariat was overthrown
there would be little need for governments.
The Bolsheviks believed that for them to be in total control over Russia there must be
no opposition. They used the Cheka, their secret police to eradicate any open
opposition to the Bolsheviks. Opposition was either exiled or even murdered. The
Bolsheviks used terror to force the people into believing in their cause. This meant
that people had a lack of civil liberties.
Bolsheviks also believed that for communism to work they must have complete
control over the enemy. The government took over industry and told farmers what to
make. If people refused to give their food to the state then the Cheka was used to
seize all holdings. Farmers therefore refused to grow as much food which resulted in
a famine which killed millions of Russian people.
The Bolsheviks 1917 revolution was an extremely important event. It caused an
overthrow of the Weimer Republic and a communist state being formed. Bolshevik
policy also had a great effect on the lives of the Russian people for many years after.
GRADE A
The background and events of the Reichstag Fire led to the end of President
Hindenburg’s rule in Germany during the time of Nazi Germany. At this time, the
historical force of Fascism was related to these events and had an influence on
people’s lives at the time.
The force of Fascism is said to have started in Mussolini’s Italy, and had also moved
on to Spain. Adolf Hitler also used fascism, adding some of his own characteristics.
Some of the key features of fascism included having a dictatorial leader, being right
wing and putting the country before the individual.
President Hindenburg was the president of Germany at the time when Hitler was
trying to get into power. Though Hitler’s Nazi Party was gaining popularity at this
point, it still did not have enough. Hitler had once been offered the role of viceChancellor but declined, saying he wanted to be a Chancellor. He got his chance
when one of Hindenburg’s friends, General von Schleicher tried to get the president
to sack Franz von Papen and make him a Chancellor. Franz von Papen heard about
this, and persuaded President Hindenburg to make Hitler Chancellor. Hitler was
sworn in as a Chancellor of Germany on January the 30th 1933.
On the 27th of February 1933, a week before the general elections, the Reichstag
building was set on fire. Found at the scene was a young Dutch communist, who
claimed he started the fire. Hitler used this to his advantage, and claimed that this
was the start of a communist revolution in order to gain more support.
Although Hitler did gain more support from the Reichstag Fire in the elections he only
got 44% of the vote which was not the two-thirds majority needed in order to come to
power. However, on March 23rd Hitler made the Enabling Act. This gave him
dictatorial powers for four years but could also be renewed. All but one of the parties
voted to pass the Enabling Act. When President Hindenburg died, Hitler was also
given his presidential powers. This meant it was the end of Hindenburg’s rule, and
the end of Weimar Germany.
At this time, Fascism had an influence on people’s lives. In order to try to gain
support from the people, propaganda was produced. This propaganda glorified
Germans and the Aryan race and was used to make Germans feel superior.
Another way Fascism influenced people’s lives was after the Reichstag Fire. The
Nazi Party used the Communist revolution threat to their advantage in order to arrest
any communists. Police had permission to tap phones and search through letters in
order to find communists. This had an influence on people’s lives as if they knew any
communists, then they may have been suspected.
In conclusion, the background and events of the Reichstag Fire led to the end of
President Hindenburg’s rule in Germany, and the force of Fascism had an influence
on people’s lives by using propaganda, and arresting people who were or had
connections with communists.
GRADE A
Ngo Ding Diem was the leader of the government of South Vietnam for only four
years. After the establishment of his government in 1954 following the Geneva
Conference. Diem worked tirelessly to secure his position, and still failed, even with
America’s support due to a number of factors + specific events. The force of
Nationalism demanded that South Vietnam be united with the North and the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam was a formidible foe. The Viet Cong, or the
“National Liberation Front” had a strong presence in Sth Vietnam + used subversion
to undermine Diem’s regime. Diem’s government did not have the support it needed
to survive against the force of Nationalist Communism.
The history of Vietnam leading up to Diem’s rule had a significant impact. The
Vietnamese were a patriotic people who had fought long + hard against the
imperialist French to reunite Vietnam as a free, independent nation. This goal had
nearly been achieved in the August revolution in 1945, but due to foreign powers
intervention it was not so. After more fighting – the 1st Indochina War and then Dien
Bien Phu, the French + the Vietnamese were forced to reach a peace settlement at
the Geneva Conference, 1954. Here, French Colonialism ended and the nation of
Vietnam was divided into Nth Vietnam and Sth Vietnam at the 17th Parallel, with Ho
Chi Mihn given government of the North, and Ngo Dinh Diem given control of the
South. In the place of French soldiers, Ameria pledged herself to establishing +
supporting Diem’s regime in the Sth as strong anti-communist dominance. The
influence this had on people’s lives was profound, with the changing of borders and
power, and also the introduction of American culture, such as Coca Cola which is still
today popular in Vietnam.
Diem attempted to secure his position through the elimination of his rivals. His
political competition was strong, with two parties of 2 million people and 1.5 million
people plus armies. Diem used American funding to bribe his opponents, and
executed a series of military offensives in the streets of Saigon which subdued all
opposition. The Emperor of Vietnam, Vao Dai was eliminated through Diem staging
a referendum and Diem appointed himself the new Prime Minister, President and
Minister of Defense. He also dealt harshly with the criminal syndicate ‘Binh Xuyen’
who controlled the police, using American funds again in battling threats to his power.
The result of this was that people living in South Vietnam had none of the political
power they desired and the government of the DRV looked for more attractive in
comparison.
Diem’s Regime placed huge restrictions on the way that his subjects could live.
Public meetings were barred and newspapers + books censered. The punishment
for being a communist was death and for association with communists you faced a
life sentence with hard labour. Thousands were executed. Diem promoted his family
members into key positions in the government and relied on his brother Ngo Dinh
Nhu’s support heavily. Nhu founded the only political party in Diems regime, the Can
Lao. The party had spies everywhere + was a means of control for Diem. Nhu’s wife
promoted herself to ‘first lady’ and worked to outlaw things which opposed her
catholic beliefs. Gambling, prostitution, cock wrestling and other common practices
amongst the Vietnamese people were outlawed.
Because of the way Diem was using American funds, the USA began to disapprove
of Diem’s Regime and withdrew some of their support.
At the Viet Cong became stronger, with more support amongst the people, Diem
began to withdraw from his position. Nhu took over the government as Diem went
into hiding upon the occurance of the Viet Cong Rebellion. Diem’s Regime ended
and his government failed to last the distance as the North Vietnamese and the Viet
Cong began to rise up against it. War broek out between North + South Vietnam in
the 1960s and lasted for decades before reunification was finally achieved. The
support from America diminished with Diem’s popularity and also with the mounting
number of American casualties in the war. The South Vietnamese Army wouldn’t
fight the North Vietnamese Army deserting instead, and South Vietnam was reunited
with Nth Vietnam in 1975. The influence on people’s lives was once again the
disruption of lives through war, changing balance of power and the gaining of political
power for the Sth Vietnamese after reunification occured.
The Nationalist Movement in Vietnam, which was influenced greatly by communism,
gave Vietnamese people something to fight for. It promoted a unified Vietnam with
independence from foreign powers + the ability to govern its own affairs, along with
the very appealing ideal of communism for the peasant majority of Vietnam. Those
who didn’t wish to be included in the new united communist Vietnam left the country
and those who supported it stayed. The Viet Cong’s oppression under Diem’s
regime, and the opression of all his subjects led to widespread dissatisfaction with
Diem’s regime which resulted in its failure to withstand the force of Nationalist
Communism. The desire of people to have political influence in equality was too
great. The Viet Cong Rebellion was the last straw + when war broke out between
Nth Vietnam + Sth, Diem’s regime crumbled.
GRADE N
From the very beginning, when the Weimar government of social democrats was
formed there was resistant opposition. Germans did not know what democracy was,
so political opposition they felt betrayed by government who had signed harsh treaty
of Versailles. Also even though there was a period of support and peace in Weimar
Republic, it was abruptly ended by devastating Great Depression and death of
Stressemann. This saw the beginning of the end of the Weimar Republic and a wave
of Nationalist power began to take over.
Firstly Germans were, for obvious reasons, angered by their defeat in WW1. They
were even more angered that a new socialist democratic government was forced
upon them. They became known as Weimar government. They did not have a good
beginning to start with as Germany had not previously been ruled by a democratic
government so opposed anything new. Also, even though the Socialist democrats
leader had to sign Treaty of Versailles or have another war, signing the Treaty was
seen as an absolute betrayl by the German people.
Political opposition, therefore became very widespread and common. The first
uprising was the Spataerst uprising, which were the communists. It was well known
that many feared great of communism so when Ebert (first Weimar Republic
president) appointed to the Feukops (right wing party) to take action, they obliged,
but not in support of the social democrats but because in that case they had the
same cause, so far, of communism. However when the Feukops themselves
decided to rebel against the government and take over, Ebert was then freed to
appeal to the public. Luedity then decided to co-operate and a workers strike ended
his Kapp Putsch in 1920. So even though the uprisings were dealt with, never-theless the fact that there was such strong opposition was not a good sign for the new
government.
As if uprisings and ‘Putschs’ were not enough, there were also political
assassinations due to hatred of the November criminals. The members of parliament
who had signed the treaty of Versailles were known as November criminals as treaty
signed in November. So the social democrats were off to a bad start but when the
reperations were introduced in 1921 at 6.6 billion pounds this only caused more
unrest and weakened the German economy that was already severly struggling.
Hyper inflation resulted when Ruhr was invaded by French and Belgian troops as the
Germans would not pay reparations. Matters only seemed to be getting worse.
Extremists were easily gaining support and Social Democratic Weimar Government
was slowly declining.
Luckily, in 1923 a new chancellor Stressemann made matters better. He got rid of
French and Belgian troops, signed treaties like Locano Treaties and was able to
reduce expenditure by a ¼. So in the 1920’s while Strettemann was chancellor there
was little support for extremists, therefore the Nazi Party’s Munich Putsch was
unsuccessful. The years Stressemann was chancellor were known as the Golden
20’s which speaks for itself.
When the Great Depression and Stressemann’s death both hit the Weimar Republic
in 1929, this opened the path for the Weimar to finally take action. They campaigned
about the policies of reducing unemployment, rebuilding Germany’s economy, army
and making it a major world power yet again. This gained them a lot of support. By
1932 they were the largest single party. This was alarming to Hindenburg, the
President who could see that there was widespread support for Nazis, and Hitler.
Thinking that he could control Hitler if he kept him closer, Hindenburg had Hitler
Chancellor in 1933.
When Hitler became Chancellor this was a major sign of the end of the Weimar
government and the social democrats – Nationalism began to dominate the country
and the Nazis use of propaganda including Nuremberg etc, only seemed to make the
Nazis more popular. One of the most important things that showed Hindenburg’s
initial idea of being able to control Hitler was rong, was when Hitler used the Enabling
Act. This gave Hitler the power to invoke laws without consent from the President or
the Reichstag. One of the laws passed was a ban on introduction of new political ??.
This showed Nazis domination was not about to end anytime soon.
The death of Hindenburg in August 1934, was the last event that officially ended the
Weimar Republic and began the rule of Nationalistic dictatorship of Nazi state. The
Nazis had been able to get rid of communist opposition by using Emergency ?? when
Kerchstag Fire was blamed on communists and also sending them to concentration
camps. The Weimar’s Republic had finished, Hitler and the Nazis took over instantly.
In conclusion there are a number of factors including opposition of government,
economic problems like hyperinflation and great depression, and the terms of the
treaty of Versailles which led to the end of the Weimar Government. The wave of
Nationalism from the Nazis and Hitler were the factors that influenced or forced the
end of the Weimar Government. The people of Weimar Government were only
happy while Stresseman was Chancellor but otherwise they disliked the Weimar.
There was widespread support for Nazis so when they came to power this was good
news for normal Germans but for minority groups and Jews, Nazis coming to power
led to their deaths or persecution. It really depends what point of view you look at it
from but mainly for normal Germans, Nazis coming to power brought about revival of
German pride and patriotism.
GRADE N
Nationalism is the desire and actions of people with common bonds to be united and
independent. It is made up of a common history, religion and language. The people
of Serbia were one such example of a Nationalistic group who felt a sense of loyalty
to their Nation state. Their main rival to their existence was Austria-Hungary who
wanted their destruction to stop their empire from crumbling. This rivalry would
eventually result in the end of leader’s rule Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The outcome
of this event would cause World War ! in Europe. This essay will discuss the
background and events that led to the end of this leaders rule over the Balkan States.
I will also discuss how the historical force of nationalism had an influence on people’s
lives at this time?
The formation of Serbian Nationalism over hundreds of years was a key backgrond
influence that led to the end of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Serbia was finally
recognised as ain independent state by the congress of Berlin in 1878. However it
had taken hundreds of years for Serbian Nationalism to be formed. As early as the
6th Century BC the Serbs had existed in the Balkan Peninsula and had already
accepted Christianity as a common religion by the 9th Century. By 1346 the Serbian
Empire was the most powerful in all the Balkan Peninsula. However through the
1459 Turkish invasions Serbia was severally weakened and was completely
controlled by the Byzantine Empire. It took until the congress of Berlin until Serbia
was recognised as an independent state. Serbia could once again begin to grow
within their own nation. The struggles and successes faced by the Serbian people
led to a growth in the desire for national security. This largely shaped the way the
country was won as the Serbs knew the influence a colonising force could have on
their nation. This would have large implications for Austria-Hungary who wanted the
destruction of Serbia.
The weakening of Austria-Hungary and the growing conflict between Austria-Hungary
and Serbian Nationalism was a background influence that caused the assassination
of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The already weak empire had less than half its
population 50 million people belonging to two racial groups. This meant that over
half the population in Austria-Hungary was made up of a collection of smaller racial
groups. Austria-Hungary feared that if the Serbs within their empire were able to
break free this would encourage other ethnic groups to demand “nationalism”. This
threat of nationalism towards Austria-Hungary caused peoples lives to be influenced.
This was especially evident in the smaller ethnic groups in Austria-Hungary. Many of
these groups lost power and status and were to become increasingly controlled by
Austria-Hungary. Therefore the fact that the southern Slavs were the most relentless
caused Austria-Hungary to take action, leading to the Bosnian Crisis which was a
background event that caused the end of an individual leader.
The Bosnian Crisis was the first background even that caused Serbian Nationalism to
be heightened to an extreme level. The crisis began by the upcoming of a
“Nationalistic” group in Turkey called the ‘Young Turks’. Their main objective was to
recreate the old Turkish Empire to its former glory. What made Austria-Hungary
nervous was that they would try to recover the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina
which had been administered by Austria-Hungary since 1878 congress of Berlin.
Austria-Hungary believed that these were needed to halt Nationalism and began to
strive for annexation. Serbia also felt a common connection with these two states.
They both shared the same Orthodox religion so Serbia also looked for annexation.
Austria-Hungary seeing a need to act quickly met with the Russian Foreign Minister
Isvolsky. He returned to grant annexation in return for free access to the straits at
Constantinople. However before the deal could be supported by Britain and France,
Austria had already annexed the states. Russia feeling cheated called for a
conference. However Austria-Hungary refused siding with their Germanic ally. The
end of the crisis saw Russia, now disconted, knowing that she would never again
side against her Serbian friends.
Another key backgrond factor that resulted from the Bosnian Crisis was Serbian
Nationalistic organisations being set up to play an increased impact on people’s lives.
In particular was the Narodna Odbrana group who influenced the Serbian people to
feel national self awareness and through propaganda caused the Serbs to take great
nationalistic pride in their nation. The nationalistic organisation Narodna Odbrana
also worked to get the Balkan Peninsula ready for war. This would help in the next
background factor the Balkan League.
The formation of the Balkan League in March 1912 gave the Serbs increased
strength. The resulting first Balkan war would give the Serbs with more land and be
yet another background factor that caused the end of an individual rule. By 1912 the
countries of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro decided to forget their
differences, and join together in an alliance called the Balkan League. There league
was put to the test in October 1912 when Turkey was almost completely driven out of
Europe in 7 weeks. Austria-Hungary looking on felt nervous and was even more
alarmed at how Serbia had grown into the strongest of the Balkan states. At the
London Peace Conference on 20th of December 1912 Austria-Hungary pushed for
the creation of Albania to stop Serbia having access to a coastline port. Thwarted in
nationalistic goals this event caused even more tension between these two states.
This conflict would cause the people in Serbia to resent Austria-Hungary and look for
ways to get her back. The force of Nationalism began to influence people’s lives in
areas of the Balkan Peninsula. In particular was the old Turkish province of Thrace
who would now become subjected to Serbian Nationalism and its form of control.
Although accepted by most some Balkan states began to get disconted with this
arrangement for example Bulgaria.
The Second Balkan War was a key background even that led to the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The war saw Serbia once again grow in size and stature
as the transfer of power increasingly moved towards the Serbian goal of one south
Slave kingdom. After the peace conference of 1912 Bulgaria began to get disconted
with the amount of Bulgarians living in other countries. Therefore in June 1912 the
implications of this event was World War 1 which broke out in August 1914. On the
23rd of July an ultimatum was sent by Austria-Hungary to Serbia and on the 28th war
was delared on Serbia. The rest of the powers were then drawn in to help their
Serbian friends or Austria. It influenced people’s lives as it was the biggest war the
world had scene and caused much loss of live.
Overall, Serbian Nationalism caused the end of Archduke Franz Ferdinand who was
an leader. This assassination did not arise from one event but took many
background factors to highten Serbian Nationalism until even murder was committed
for the good of a greater Serbia. Nationalism also had a great impact on peoples
lives throughout Europe at this time.
GRADE N
In the early 20th century after the defeat of Germany in World War I the Wiemar
republic was formed. It was supposed to make Germany a better place but instead it
made Germans angry and disatisfied. After many failures, the Wiemar republic was
overthrown by the Nazi’s.
The Wiemar republic was formed in the city of Wiemar. It was the new government
and according to it’s leaders it would make life for Germans much easier during the
depression. However the Wiemar Republics attempts to solve the depression were
not seen as good and they added to the depression’s problem. The Wiemar
Republic thought that the solution to the Depression was to limit peoples money and
work. They wanted unemployment benefits to be lowered more money to be printed
and taxes to be raised. This wasn’t seen as good because instead of solving the
problem it would have made the matter worse. When the Nazi Party heard of the
Wiemar Republics actions they were outraged as they knew what their actions would
do to the country as well.
In order for these actions not to take place the Wiemar Republic needed to be thrown
out of Government. The Nazi’s succeeded this in 1933 by winning the national
elections. The Mazis gained more votes by stating that the Wiemar republic was bad
and they had many ways to cure Germany of the Depression, which were successful.
The influences that the Wiemar Republic had on German lives were not good.
Because the Wiemar Republic wanted tax raises, unemployment benefit cuts and
more money printed it would make life for Germans much harder. Because Germany
had so many unemployed it made sense to lower the unemployment benefit to save
more money however people who were unemployed would become poorer because
less money would be given to them and they can’t find a job. Raising taxes was also
a bad idea but the Government needed money desperately to repay loans. Raising
taxes meant less money for Germans and more poor and homeless everywhere. If
people had less money they would find it difficult to maintain a home and get to work
which would add to the already massive unemployment problem Germany already
had. The Wiemar Republics other idea was to print more money. Last time extra
money was printed in Germany it lead to inflation. Prices were so high that people
could barely afford to by one egg. Money became so useless during inflation that it
was often burnt to start ovens. People were bringing a barrow-load of German
Mark’s to buy a single pair of shoes. The influence these actions had on Germans
was not good because it just made the problem harder for them.
In conclusion the Wiemar publics rule on Germany was not good and the actions
they had proposed just added to the already bad problem during the Depression.
They wanted to raise taxes, cut unemployment benefits and print more money. This
wasn’t the answer to solve the depression and the Nazis’ had better views for the
people of Germany which is why the Wiemer republic was thrown out of German
government.
GRADE N
The October Revolution in Russia in 1917 was successful. It was the result of both
short and long problems in Russia. The revolution won by the Bolsheviks believed in
communism as it was their driving force. This victory led Lenin under Russia’s
leadership.
Russia had a combined development and a ruler who were not supported by
everyone. Karl Marx, a German philosopher had theories known as ‘communism’.
He believed that a revolution was inevitable in every country. Everyone who believed
and supported him were called ‘communists’. All communists wanted an equal
country, where all wealth are shared and there’s no privately owned property. Karl
believed that workers should become rebels. After Lenin was exiled he started to
plan a revolution.
The social classes were the peasants, workers, bourgeoisie and intelligentsia. 85
percent of Russia’s people were peasants. They wanted a better living condition and
a decrease on their taxes as the government didn’t give them a lot of money for
working. The urban workers wanted a better working condition and an increase on
their pay. The bourgeoisie had only few rights but the intelligentsia wanted the right
to vote. All classes started little protests or joined revolutionary groups. The urban
workers were the people who got involved in ‘Bloody Sunday’, when they raided
bread shops and harassed the shop owners.
Russia was a very big country which was covered by ‘taiza’. The Arctic Circle was
pretty much frozen. This country is too cold that it’s not good for farming. Only 5
percent of people lived in the area where it was not too cold therefore it was good for
farming. However, for the rest of the country due to its climate effects, bad harvest
led to starvation. Discontent people started revolutionary groups.
The opposition included the Socialist Revolutionaries, Social Democratic Party and
the Constitutional Democrats. They believed in communism, everything has to be
shared. All their aims had something to do with the Tsar. They wanted him to
redistribute the land or persuade him to share some of his wealth and power. The
Tsar didn’t pay attention to their request. The opposition members wanted a
revolution or to overthrow the Tsar.
In March 1917 the intelligentsia wanted a constituent assembly. They wanted to set
a new form that would put them in charge of governing Russia. They held a Duma
meeting led by Rodzianko, disobeying the Tsar. Duma formed ‘Provisional
Committee’ and the revolutionaries formed ‘Petrograd Soviet’. These groups wanted
to overthrow the Tsar. Discontentment was also increasing. Bolsheviks gained
many supports while Kerensky and Provisional Committee lose authority. Lenin,
after being exiled planned a revolution that would be led by the Bolsheviks. In
November 7, the winter palace was stormed by the Bolsheviks, urban workers and
the Red Terrors. The Tsar with his family were harassed. The Tsar surrendered.
The Bolsheviks seized power. Lenin gained leadership as soon as he was control,
he started planning on new and improved strategies on how to make Russia a better
and safe place. He started “Sovietakom”. This was his new order of decrees on
land, peace, workers, unemployment, marriage, etc.
Lenin, without any doubt, was a better leader than the Tsar. He did not want to
become the ruler of the country just because he wanted money and power. Lenin
believed in communism, everything to be shared equally. Today, Russia is still a
strong communist country.
The background of the October Revolution in Russia in 1917 was successful in terms
of changing Russia for the better. The Bolsheviks and Lenin strongly believed in
communism that they did everything they could to make Russia a communist
country. Up until today communism remains in Russia.