Take the interactive quiz to check your comprehension of key themes and details from the module. The quiz will assist you in your preparation for class discussion, exams, and writing assignments. You can choose to email the results to your instructor.
Module Evaluation
Please assist the project team for the Digital History Reader by completing the short survey below. Your responses will be very helpful to further development.
Suggested Writing Assignments and Classroom Discussion
Discuss the varying perspectives on World War I presented in the Petrograd Soviet's Call to the Peoples of the World, Lenin's "April Theses," and Miliukov's Note on War Aims. How do the positions advanced in the documents reflect the ideological orientation of their authors? What kind of people would respond to the positions of these documents and why?
Consider the lyrics and melodies of the "Workers' Marseillaise," "The Warsaw Song," and the "Internationale." What common themes present themselves in the lyrics of the revolutionary songs you listened to in the Evidence section? How might these songs have served as rallying cries during 1917? What is the basis of their appeal?
Why did the Bolsheviks come to power in October 1917? Consider the significance of the following in your answer:
The nature of the autocratic system.
The impact of World War I on Russian society and the economy.
The "dual power" system.
Bolshevik tactics and ideology.
The political aspirations of workers, peasants, and soldiers.
