"Final Exam Study Guide"

As promised, to follow is the study guide for the final exam. The final will be available from 9:00am on Tuesday, March 28th until 9:00pm, Wednesday, March 29th. You must submit the exam before 9:00pm on the 29th. The final will be available through the testing office on this web site: you will log in there, take the exam, and then hit the submit key. From the time you log into the site, you will have 5 hours to complete the exam and submit it; if you take longer than that, you will not be allowed to submit the exam.

A few crucial things you should know:

1. You may use your book and your lectures and notes; however, this means that I expect that the exam will be well done, so names, dates, places, etc, should be accurate. DO NOT copy my lectures directly into your exam. I can tell: I wrote the lectures! When you cite material from the text, be certain that you quote or paraphrase it, and give credit to the author.

2. You must answer two of the essays and four of the short answers. The essays are each worth 30%; each of the short answers is worth 10%. My grading scale runs 100-90 = A, 89-80 = B, and so on. Any grade below a 60 is an F.

3. This exam is worth 30% of your total grade. Be certain you complete it and submit it. Late exams will not be accepted.

4. Make a copy of the exam as you are taking it, so that in case something happens you have a copy. If you claim that the testing center cut you off midway through, or that you submitted it and I did not receive it, you must have a copy of what you had done. It is crucial that you copy your answers into a file so that you can send them to me via email if necessary. DO NOT send me a copy via email unless I specifically request you to do so.

5. Please print this out and read over it carefully before you email me any questions: receiving emails regarding questions that have already been covered becomes very annoying, especially since I have multiple classes taking exams in the next week. Thank you in advance.

6. Last, but definitely not least, DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO DO THIS EXAM!!!! There are 45 people currently enrolled in this class, and if you all wait until the last minute, no one will be able to access the exam. However, make sure that when you do log on, you are ready to take the exam: once you enter the testing site, you will only have the option of submitting your exam.

Part I: Short Answers
You will be given seven (7) of the following questions, and will be asked to answer four (4) of them.

1. What were the major ideological differences between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks?
2. Who was Sergei Witte, and what was his significance for the economic development of Russia?
3. What was the revolt at Kronstadt, and how did it impact the Communist Party?
4. What was Khrushchev's "Secret Speech", and why was it important?
5. What is NEP? Why was it important?
6. How did Rasputin contribute to the downfall of the Russian tsar?
7. What is perestroika, and why is it important?
8. Why did the August 1991 coup fail?
9. Why did glasnost attract so much attention from the West?
10. What was the Prague Spring, and what was its ultimate result?
11. What was Lenin’s “Testament”, and why was it suppressed by the Bolsheviks?
12.What were the contributions of Yuri Andropov to the fall of the USSR?

Part II: Essays
You will be given four (4) of the following questions and asked to answer two (2) of them. All quotations must be properly cited, and any outside sources should be listed in a bibliography.

1. The regime of Joseph Stalin (1926-1953) is one of the most brutal in history, and yet few outside of the field of Russian history recognize it as such. How did Stalin come to power and remain in command, and what were the major consequences of his reign?

2. There has rarely been a leader more ill suited to lead a country as Nicholas II was to lead Russia. What were the major mistakes of his reign, and why was he a failure as a ruler?

3. The Russian Revolutions of 1917 have been called the most important event of the 20th century. Do you agree or disagree? Discuss how the revolutions impacted Russia and the rest of the world, and conclude with your answer.

4. Following the Great Patriotic War (World War II), the United States and the Soviet Union became embroiled in the Cold War, which lasted until the fall of the USSR in 1991. What were the major areas (geographical and philosophical) of debate and conflict during the war? How was the United States able to win?

5. Why is Khrushchev's tenure referred to as "The Thaw"? What made his regime so important?

6. Leonid Brezhnev’s tenure in power is often referred to as “The Freeze”, to contrast his rule with that of Khrushchev. What were the major elements of Brezhnev’s rule, and why was his reign so stagnant?

7. What were the major contributions of Boris Yeltsin to the ruling of the former Soviet Union?

Good Luck! I will post your graded exams (along with your final grades) by Thursday, April 6th.