What happened to the Romanov family?

What happened to the Romanov family? . Sources A and B give similar accounts. Does this mean they are reliable? Source A is an extract from an American newspaper, which was written in December 1918. Since America was against Bolsheviks is it likely that source B's contents would be unreliable because it could be biased. Source B is a report to the British government written by Sir Charles Eliot, it was written in October 1918. Britain was also against the Bolsheviks. Judge Sergeyev influenced both sources. There is evidence in both of the sources to show this: source A 'Sergeyev took from his desk a large blue folder', source B 'Judge Sergeyev showed me over the house'. He was responsible for investigating what happened to the Romanov family; he was a supporter of the Provisional Government i.e. against Bolsheviks (the Reds). He was sacked in January 1919. He had reason to be biased and was obviously not trusted, so any information he gave is unreliable. To further discredit his information I read source C and compared it with A and that was written by his replacement 'Judge Sokolov' it gave a completely different account. The writers of both sources were from nations that opposed the Bolsheviks. Both sources give little facts and it is mainly opinions that have no evidence to support them up and therefore these sources are not worth a lot to us. For example 'I do not

  • Word count: 1701
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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What Happened To The Romanov Family?

What Happened To The Romanov Family? Question A Source A is a report from an American newspaper dated December 1918. It tells us an account of what Judge Sergeyev did while investigating the house and what he found. Source B is from Sir Charles Eliot's report to the British government, dated October 1918. He was sent by the British government to find out what had happened and this source is his account of his findings. When studying sources A and B, they both give similar accounts to what happened. These similarities in turn show the reliability of the sources. First and foremost, both sources are from the same source person which is Judge Sergeyev, this meaning that the source is reliable in the fact that both include Judge Sergeyev's findings. Another similarity is the number of victims there supposedly was. They both agree that there were five; the Tsar, Dr Botkin, the empress's maid and two servants. This is the only point that both sources agree on. The differences between the Sources A and B will in turn show how the sources are not reliable. Firstly, source A is written by an American newspaper. At the time the Americans were strongly against the Bolsheviks and therefore anti-red. Source B is written by Sir Charles Eliot whom is on the 'White' side as he is British. Both sources are written by different people however they are both anti-Bolshevik and so their points

  • Word count: 1753
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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What Happened To The Romanov Family

What Happened To The Romanov Family? Alessandra Leonard 0 Maple ) Source A and B are not necessarily reliable because they give similar accounts. Firstly they were both written in 1918, both reports. They also both involved Judge Sergeyev's opinions/views on the matter. Source A talks of Sergeyev's findings in the case. He was a supporter of the provisional government. He was appointed to investigate what had happened , but was mysteriously sacked, and also died shortly afterwards in mysterious circumstances. This may have been to do with that some of his findings in the investigation were supporting the Bolsheviks, rather than the Tsar. Again in source B Sergeyev is the person to give all the evidence which was then used as a report to the British Government. It also states that 'There is no real evidence as to who or how many victims there were.' Also in the report the words 'supposed' are used a lot, showing that there is no real answer. Therefore sources A and B are not definitely reliable because they give similar accounts. The reliability of sourced A and B is also bought into question by what is said in source C 'My predecessor, Sergeyev, on handing the case to me, had no doubt about the fact that the entire Romanov family had been massacred in the Ipatiev House. This shows that Sergeyev changed his mind about what had happened to the Romanov's showing that

  • Word count: 1471
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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Why were there Two Revolutions in 1917?

Why were there Two Revolutions in 1917? Russian revolution in 1917 resulted in the collapse of centuries of Tsarism and the establishment of the world's first communist state. There were said to be two revolutions in that year, the first one being in February, which was spontaneous and largely unorganised by the provisional committee. The other revolution being in October which in contrast to the February revolution, was well organised and masterly executed coup d'etat by a party who had skilfully aligned itself with the demands of the worker and peasants. With Russia going into war, may have been a factor, which helped cause the February revolution. An example of this was the economic effects, the acute food shortages. This led to people joining in the full-scale strike called Putilov Steel as they heard rumours of worsening bread shortages. Also on the 23rd February, it was International Women's Day, which brought thousands of women onto the streets protesting about food shortages and calling an end to the war. After the initial wave of patriotism, the war caused vast economic and social hardship, which the regime failed to deal with. The people began to see that Tsarism could not deal with the events and challenges it was confronted with. A factor that helped the October Revolution was when the Provisional Government took over, they carried on with the war, and had

  • Word count: 833
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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Why were there two Revolutions in Russia in 1917.

Why were there two Revolutions in Russia in 1917 In 1917 Russia changed from imperial rule under Tsar Nicholas II to democratic rule under a provisional government in March and finally ended up being led by the Bolshevik Party after the second revolution that happened in October. A range of factors, some long-term and some short-term caused the revolutions; which relate to public opinion and discontent, as well as the actions of the Tsar himself. Weaknesses in the Russian government and economy at the start of the twentieth century meant discontent gradually grew with most Russian people. Workers were paid very little and often had to work over 11 hours a day. There was also never quite enough food to go around and several major famines worsened the plight of the Russian Serfs; the peasantry who lived in terrible poverty stricken conditions under strict landlords, and made up 90% of the population. Only half of the farming land was owned by the15 million peasant families, while the other half went to just 300,000 landlords. In addition, the Russians lost the Russo-Japanese war, and this humiliating defeat was blamed on the Tsar and his government. When protestors marched to the Tsar's palace in St Petersburg in 1905 with a petition for full civil liberties and better rights, soldiers fired upon them and 1000 are thought to have been killed. 'Bloody Sunday', as it was

  • Word count: 3106
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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Why were there two revolutions in Russia in 1917?

Why were there two revolutions in Russia in 1917? The question requires you to examine why the March Revolution happened in the first place; but further, why it failed to solve Russia's crisis. You must also be able to explain how a tiny minority radical group, the Bolsheviks, came to dominate the Russian state in the second revolution, with the support of the urban proletariat. Answer plan . Marxist ideology in the early 20th century argued that a society had to go through two revolutions - a liberal bourgeois one, followed much later, at the full development of capitalism, by a socialist revolution led and controlled by "the dictatorship of the proletariat". In Russia both revolutions happened in the same year and this fact can only be understood through an analysis of Russian society in the early twentieth century. 2. The contrasts in Russian society: her need to develop the economy in order to be a Great Power; state capitalism and industrialisation; the contribution of Sergei Witte; conversely, the problem of the land and the peasantry - capitalist-run estates were the exception; rapid, but localised, industrial development was taking place in a society where the majority of the population were largely self-sufficient peasants. The social structure meant the lack of a strong liberal middle class such as exists in the Western European states; the Tsarist autocracy had

  • Word count: 614
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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WHY DID THE SCHLIEFFEN PLAN FAIL?

WHY DID THE SCHLIEFFEN PLAN FAIL? Why did the Schlieffen plan fail? Was it because too many mistakes were made by the Germans? Or was it just the Belgium resistance and the job of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force)? In this essay I will tell you on the reasons of how it failed therefore coming to a conclusion about what the actual reason it was the Schlieffen plan failed. The Germans did make many noticeable mistakes when Alfred Von Schlieffen died he clearly said keep to the right. The right wing must be kept strong at all times. But von Molkte made some very big changes to the plan. At first in 1905 Schlieffen had said too send 90%of the army to France to attack Paris. In order to invade France, the German first and second armies were in Belgium needing to get to and conquer Fort Liege. They'd expected Belgium not to fight back and allow German control but Belgium did. This delayed Germany 10 days however they still conquered Fort Liege. If Belgium hadn't resisted German forces then the Germans would've had those extra 10 days and could've used it very well to their advantage. But the Belgium resistance held the Germans up. Schlieffen fought that the British would stay neutral but they didn't instead they declared war on Germany hen they invaded Belgium. The BEF had, unbeknownst to the Schlieffen Plan, crossed the channel and fought the German first army, under the

  • Word count: 584
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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Why was There a Revolution in Russia in 1905?

Why was There a Revolution in Russia in 1905? In Russia in 1905 there was a revolution. It occurred because of many long term, and short term causes, however was triggered by one main event that will be examined later. The main causes that will be looked at in detail are; the long-term political problems involving the tsar, the backward economy, and the rigid social system. The short-term causes to be examined include; the Russo-Japanese war, and the main cause, the 'Bloody Sunday' massacre. The long-term events leading up to the revolution in 1905, were mostly political problems, and the dislike of the autocratic rule at the time. The tsar tried to ease to continuing problems by emancipating the serfs, however they were still being taxed with redemption repayments. This lead to growing unrest as they called for further rights, and so it can be classed as long term cause of the revolution. This lead to the political organization the "Land and Freedom" formed by the 'Populists' or 'Narodniks'. "The People's Will", a terrorist group also formed to kill the Tsar in March 1881. When Alexander III came to power in 1881, he set about suppressing the peasants and all opposition to himself. His Russification policy forced Russian culture on the 50 million non-Russians in the empire. Censorship was also increased and the freedom of universities was reduced. Alexander's mistakes lay

  • Word count: 1056
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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Why was there a revolution in Russia in 1905?

Why was there a revolution in Russia in 1905? The Russian revolution in 1905 happened for a number of reasons. The four main reasons were the workers problems, the Russo-Japanese war, Bloody Sunday and the Tsars personality. On the morning of, January 22nd 1905, a peaceful procession made up of factory workers and there families, led by Father Gapon, went to the Winter Palace. The march to the palace was to raise awareness about how angry the workers were. The kinds of things they were angry about were long hours of work a day. An unfair wage system, and ending of the war and a duma so they can have a say about things they wanted. Instead of seeing their Tsar, two hundred of the peaceful demonstrators of the procession got shot and killed by nervous, panic stricken soldiers. Whilst this was happening, the Tsar wasn't even in the palace. This was called "Bloody Sunday" and it was all blamed on the Tsar, even though he didn't give the order to shoot those people. This made him look very sinister to all of Russia. Bloody Sunday wouldn't have happened if there weren't any problems with the workers. Russia was an 18th century country living in a 20th century world insinuating that they were behind in technology and people's rights. There were a lot of problems in Russia, for example, the population of Russia was rapidly increasing, therefore food supply was running short.

  • Word count: 859
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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