Life in Tokugawa Japan

This site offers a glimpse into the social structure of Tokugawa society.

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/TOKJAPAN/SHOGUN.HTM

Questions for further explorations:

What was one element that characterized all or part of each of these strata or levels? Are the eta similar to any outcast group in Asia in terms of their occupation?

The Meiji Restoration

This site offers a brief summary of the impact of the Meiji Restoration in Japan

http://www.Meiji.com/index.html

Questions for further exploration:

In what could it be said that the Meiji Restoration was the single most significant event in modern Japanese history? Why was its social impact so significant?

Peter's the Great’s Russia

This site offers an analysis of the impact of the career of Czar Peter the Great.

http://mars.acnet.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc2/lectures/petersrussia.html

Questions for further exploration:

Evaluate Czar Peter the Great’s effort to “modernize” Russia. What were his key accomplishments in this regard? What changes occurred within Russian society as a result of this work? Why is it “difficult” to evaluate the impact of the Czar’s work?

Abolition of Slavery and Serfdom

This site compares the abolition of serfdom in Russia with the contemporaneous assault on slavery in the United States.

http://russianculture.about.com/culture/russianculture/library/weekly/aa092898.htm

Questions for further exploration:

Compare the abolition of serfdom with the Emancipation Proclamation. Why does the author suggest that, in the long term, the revolution in Russia, though ultimately falling victim to totalitarianism, was more successful in attacking the class system that all forms of exploitative labor markets promote? Why does he see rough times ahead for both African Americans and Russians? Do you agree with this assessment?

Dead Souls; Russian Serfs and Nikolai Gogol

This site relates the life of Russian writer Nicolai Gogol with his masterwork, Dead Souls.

http://russianculture.about.com/culture/russianculture/library/weekly/aa081098.htm

Questions for further exploration:

How did Gogol’s background both stimulate him to write on the subject of serfs and make it difficult for him to remain in Russia after making critical statements about the existing social order? What was the underlying issue Gogol was addressing in his story?

John Muir in Russia, 1903

This site surveys the reflections made by American naturalist John Muir during a visit to Russia in 1903. Muir, like most travelers, sees what he wants to see, or expects to see. Or does he?

http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/john_muir_newsletter/john_muir_in_russia_by_bill_brennan.html

Questions for further exploration:

In 1903, Russia was on the brink of implosion. How did it seem to Muir? What kind of insight can you derive from Muir’s views of the Russian countryside? Was Russia one vast Potemkin Village? Was it difficult for a mere traveler to perceive dark undercurrents, or was much of Russia simply better off than the those who opposed the Czarist regime argued? Perhaps it was a mixture of all these factors. Refer to specific references in this essay as you offer an answer to these questions.

The Revolution of 1905

http://web.mit.edu/napoli/www/guided.html

Questions for further exploration:

Why can the 1905 revolution in Russia be said to encompass all of Russian history? When composing your answer, reflect on how this essay treats the person of the Czar, the emancipation of the serfs and its impact on the Russian nobility, the role of the Social Democrats, and the Russo-Japanese War.

The Mensheviks

This site provides the text of a Menshivik manifesto. During the Revolution of 1905, what were to be become the two wings of Russian socialism, the Menshiviks and the Bolsheviks, first emerged.

http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dml0www/mensprog.html

Questions for further exploration:

The Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks were both deeply concerned not with whether or not political change would come to Russia, but rather that these changes might not benefit the Russian masses. How does this proclamation suggest these concerns? What does the Social Democratic Party as a whole believe is the only course to insure that the revolutionary thrust of these political changes is maintained?

The Abdication of Czar Nicolas II

Explores the Czar’s abdication.

http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dml0www/abdicatn.html

Questions for exploration:

What reasons does the Czar give for his abdication? To whom does he abdicate this throne? How do the words of Grand Duke Michael suggest the possible end of Czarist Russia?

Emma Goldman

This site offers a glimpse into the life of Emma Goldman, a Russian socialist who challenged Lenin’s vision of the course of socialism in Russia.

http://russianculture.about.com/culture/russianculture/library/weekly/aa110998.htm

Questions for further exploration:

In what ways did Goldman typify the life of the traveling revolutionary before the Great War? On what grounds did she criticize the politics of another famous one-time exile form Russia, Lenin?