📘 Grade 11 History – IMPAQ 2025
Term 1 Summary
Topic 1: Communism in Russia 1900–1940
Background
Russia before 1917: ruled by Tsar Nicholas II (autocracy).
Peasants and workers faced poverty, inequality, and oppression.
1917 Russian Revolutions
February Revolution: Tsar abdicated, Provisional Government formed.
October Revolution: Bolsheviks (led by Lenin) seized power with promises of
“Peace, Bread, Land.”
Civil War (1918–1921)
, Red Army (Bolsheviks) vs. White Army (anti-Bolsheviks).
Bolsheviks won and created the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) in
1922.
Policies
War Communism (state control of economy during civil war).
New Economic Policy (NEP) introduced by Lenin in 1921 to allow limited
private trade.
Stalin’s Rise to Power
Took control after Lenin’s death (1924).
Introduced Five-Year Plans (industrialization) and Collectivisation (farming
under state control).
Created a totalitarian state – secret police (NKVD), purges, censorship, cult of
personality.
Term 1 Summary
Topic 1: Communism in Russia 1900–1940
Background
Russia before 1917: ruled by Tsar Nicholas II (autocracy).
Peasants and workers faced poverty, inequality, and oppression.
1917 Russian Revolutions
February Revolution: Tsar abdicated, Provisional Government formed.
October Revolution: Bolsheviks (led by Lenin) seized power with promises of
“Peace, Bread, Land.”
Civil War (1918–1921)
, Red Army (Bolsheviks) vs. White Army (anti-Bolsheviks).
Bolsheviks won and created the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) in
1922.
Policies
War Communism (state control of economy during civil war).
New Economic Policy (NEP) introduced by Lenin in 1921 to allow limited
private trade.
Stalin’s Rise to Power
Took control after Lenin’s death (1924).
Introduced Five-Year Plans (industrialization) and Collectivisation (farming
under state control).
Created a totalitarian state – secret police (NKVD), purges, censorship, cult of
personality.
