Map quiz

1. Map quiz • Locate 15 republics that constituted the Soviet Union • Identify their capitals • Identify the religious denomination practiced by the majority in a given republic. Be specific identifying a particular branch of Christianity or Islam (for example, “Orthodox,” “Catholics,” etc.). The terms “Christians” or “Muslims” will not be counted as sufficient.

2. History 345. Response Paper 1Write an analytical response paper on one of the following questions: • A) In your opinion, was the collapse of the Russian Empire precipitated by the malfunction of the entire system or by the failure of the Tsar? Support your assertions with specific examples. • B) In your opinion, did the Great War destroy the Russian empire or merely expose its intrinsic weaknesses? Support your assertions with specific examples.

3. Response Paper 2.Write an analytical essay (1 typed, single-spaced page) on one of the following statements: • 1. In regards to the “totalitarian” vs. “revisionist” interpretations of the Bolshevik revolution, which of these seems more plausible to you? Support your assertions with specific examples. • 2. It was almost a miracle that the Bolsheviks won the civil wars. Support your assertions with specific examples. • 3. By 1922 ‘War Communism’ had so drastically altered Russia’s political and socio-economic landscape that it became unrecognizable. Support your assertions with specific examples. • 4. The NEP was a replica of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty in peacetime. Support your assertions with specific examples.

4. History 345 Analyze the novel in the following context: • Some specialists in Soviet history refer to One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich as the microcosm of the entire Soviet society under Stalin. In your opinion, how accurate is such assertion? Support your arguments with specific examples. • 3 double-spaced pages • 3 sources (including the novel and the textbook) • Bibliography list • Quote your sources according to the format (I-36)

5. History 345. Film response paper (1 single-spaced page).Analyze the film Fate of a Man in the context of the following statement:“Fate of a Man is as much a story about the Great Patriotic War as it is about Khrushchev’s ‘Thaw.’” Support your assertions with specific examples.

6. Film response paper sample Battle of Neretva is a 1969 a Yugoslav partisan film. The film was directed by Veljko Bulajić and depicts a massive Axis offensive against the Yugoslav Partisans in 1943. The offensive was also known as the “Fourth Enemy Offensive” and occurred in the area of the Neretva-River in Bosnia-Herzegovina. While the film is based on the true events of World War II and the battle scenes are superb, the producer leaves out several important issues. Thus, the film conveys the impression that all the partisans as well as their enemies were ideologically motivated. However, as in many civil wars and revolutions, the majority of the population in wartime Yugoslavia held no rigid political loyalties. Instead, they were forced to survive as best they could and their allegiances shifted according to the situation. For example, the Chetniks, who are portrayed as the inveterate enemies of the Partisans, were not a single unified force, but initially fought alongside the Partisans against the Germans and then joined the Germans against the Partisans (I-132-34). Bosnia-Herzegovina especially represented a contentious mix of political ideologies, ethnicities and religious beliefs – including nationalism and communism, Serb and Croat, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Muslim – and consequently, the war there was particularly cruel. The film crafts a fascinating narrative of rival radical ideologies, particularly between the multinational vision of the Communist Partisans versus the xenophobic nationalism of the Serbian Chetniks and the Croatian Ustaše. Although the film emphasizes the battle against the Partisans and the Axis powers (Germany and Italy), for Bulajić its local dimension – the conflict between the citizens of the former Yugoslavia is just as, if not more, important (II- 235-36). As Commissar Stole says “hatred between the same people is the most vicious.’”

7. The film correctly shows that the Partisans fought for much more than mere survival – from the beginning Tito envisioned the war against the Axis powers mutating into a revolutionary struggle and turning Yugoslavia into a communist state (II- 276). Although most Serbs initially joined the Partisans to survive the Ustaše genocide, the Partisan leadership from the beginning emphasized the importance of social revolution that would change the country’s political and socio-economic landscape. In other words, the unique conditions of Axis occupation and the bitter ethnic and ideological conflicts engendered the revolutionary movement united in its primary objectives (I-57-61). Regrettably, the film does not stress the background of the Partisan leadership and in my opinion, this issue is very important. The KPJ’s long experience as an underground political movement meant years of recruitment through cultural groups, sports clubs, schools, and unions (I-87-9). This fact alone helps explain why the Partisans were much better organized not only to fight large-scale battles, but also create the so-called “free zones” – the Neretva basin was but one – in which they set up the small replicas of the future socialist society, later superimposed upon the entire Yugoslavia (II – 256-59). The Partisans never viewed the armed struggle against the Axis powers from a purely military prospective, but were determined to transform this struggle into a political battle aimed at building a “genuinely multinational socialist society.” Overall, however, the film does offer a realistic portrayal of the brutality of warfare in Yugoslavia.

8. Bibliography: I. Tomasevich, Jozo. War and Revolution in Yugoslavia,1941-1945: Occupation and Collaboration. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2001.II. Pavlović, Stevan K. Hitler’s New Disorder: The Second World War in Yugoslavia. London: Hurst & Company, 2008.

9. Final Test. Write 2 comprehensive essays in response to the following: • 1. “Khrushchev’s main problem was that he initiated only a partial dismantling of the Great Tyrant’s inhumane system and occasionally relapsed into the old heavy-handed methods. Such policies eventually antagonized his friends and frightened his enemies.” Support your arguments with specific examples. • 2. The Brezhnev era is conventionally referred to as the “era of stagnation,” implying its ossified nature. At the same time, it was the rare period of domestic tranquility for the Soviet people. How do you reconcile the two viewpoints? Support your arguments with specific examples. • 3. In your opinion, should Gorbachev be blamed for the collapse of the USSR, or he just pushed the proverbial “house of cards”? Support your arguments with specific examples. • 4. The Gorbachev rule is sometimes compared to the Provisional Government of 1917 as the time of “unfulfilled promises and failed illusions.” In your opinion, is such comparison justified? Support your assertions with specific examples. • 5. In your opinion, was Boris Yeltsin’s “shock therapy” a partial success or a complete failure? Who or what should be credited or blamed for its outcome? Support your assertions with specific examples. • 6. A foreign journalist described the situation in modern Russia as “no political power, no individual rights.” In your opinion, is such judgment justified? Support your assertions with specific examples.