Joseph Stalin (Part 2)

1. How important were the divisions among his opponents in explaining Stalin's rise to supreme power during the 1920s?
2. How accurate is it to talk about the "Stalin Revolution" in economic and political affairs in the USSR during the period 1928 to 1941.
3. To what extent did the lives of ordinary people in the USSR improve or worsen as a result of Stalin's policies during the period 1928 to 1941?
4. Agriculture was always the basic weakness of the Soviet economy. Assess the validity to this view of the Soviet economy during the Stalin years.
5. Stalin's power during the 1930s was based almost entirely on terror. How far would you agree with this view?
6. How effective were the Five Year Plans in creating a successful economy in the USSR up to 1941?
7. How far would you agree that Stalinism was just a continuation of Leninism? 

Joseph Stalin (Part 1)

Please use the handout I distributed in class to answer the following seven questions. DO NOT plagiarize. This blog is due Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. Also, BE prepared for a map of Europe VERY soon! 

1.  Why did Martemyan Ryutin criticize Joseph Stalin?
2. Describe in detail the Nazi-Soviet Pact.
3. “It is bread that makes factory wheels go round, and the Five-Year Plan has destroyed the bread-supplier of Russia.” Interpret this quote in relation to Stalin’s Five Year Plan and the issue of famine.
4. Why did Stalin want to Purge the Red Army? Provide me examples of who he targeted and why?
5. How did Stalin become a committed Bolshevik?
6. How did Stalin use his control over the country to modernize the economy?
7. Why were members of the Communist party put on trial? Describe this event in detail. Did all party members receive the same sentence? Explain.  

Stalin

Happy New Year!

This weeks blog is research related. I need you to research Joseph Stalin and discuss the following issues:

His power struggle

Collectivization and Industrialization

Five Year Plans

Constitution under his rule

Cult of Personality

Purges

Impact on Society

Foreign Relations to 1941

Due Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. (January 4th)

Internal Assessment and Extended Essay

Compare and contrast the governments in your Internal Assessment to the government in your Extended Essay. Your IA focus included a civil war therefore there were issues within that particular country. 

Due Wednesday, December 24th by 9:00 p.m. 

Authoritarian Single Party States

To what extent were the social and economic policies of the following successful: Mao, Nasser, Stalin?

Due Tuesday at 9 pm

South Africa - Democratic States

Democratic states - challenges and responses

The 20th century witnessed the establishment, survival, destruction and re-emergence of democratic states. Democratic systems faced treats to their existence from internal and external sources. In some cases the system coped successfully, in other cases the pressures proved difficult to withstand. The performance of democratic states in relation to such pressures- economic, political and social- form the basis for this topic.

Please use South Africa as a base for the following research:

1) Nature and structure of democratic (multiparty) states

•    Constitutions (written and unwritten)

•    Electoral systems, proportional representation, coalition governments

•    Role of political parties: role of an opposition

•    Role of pressure (interest/lobby) groups

2) Economic and social policies

•    Employment

•    Gender

•    Health, education

•    Social welfare

3) Political, social and economic challenges

•    Political extremism

•    Ethnicity, religion, gender

•    Movements for that attainment of civil rights

•    Inequitable distribution of wealth/resources

Nelson Mandela Questions

Choose ANY four questions from the "Long Walk to Freedom" movie and respond to them on this site by Tuesday at 9:00 pm. DO NOT choose the questions that we already reviewed as a group in class.