Revision

1. Revision Compare and Contrast

2. Question 1: Study Sources B and C. How different are these two sources? EYA. • Sources B and C are very different in their portrayal of the lives of the Russians under Stalin’s regime, as one shows extreme deprivation, and the other contentment. • Source B shows that the regime has failed to provide food for them, and that many have died and hundreds of people are so hungry that “they have even eaten the horse manure, as it sometimes has seeds and grains in it.” • Source C instead shows that the Russians were well-fed, and look happy in their interaction with one another. • Moreover, while Source B shows that the Russians have been deprived of their dignity even in death “a wagon goes round now and then to collect the corpses”; • Source C instead shows people recuperating at a health resort (sanatorium).

3. Question 1: Study Sources B and C. How different are these two sources? EYA. • Perspective: They are similar in their perspectives as they are both very one-sided. • Source B only talks about the devastation being experienced in his village, whereas Source C only shows happy peasants interacting with each other. • Purpose: They are different in their purpose. Source B’s purpose is to reveal the desperate situation that his village is in, to the communist official investigating the famine in hope that the government will finally provide much needed provisions for the people. However, as Source C is an official photograph, it is a piece of propaganda that aims to show that the lives of the people are well taken care of within the kolkhoz and thereby rally support for the policy of collectivisation.

4. Question 2: How different are Sources B and C in their opinions on Stalin? EYA. • The sources differ greatly in their opinions on Stalin, as one reviles while the other extols him. • Source B calls him outright “the murderer and peasant slayer”, whereas C attributes all goodness to him and regards him as the Sun that brings life to all (‘thou who makes the earth fruitful…who make the spring bloom”). • They also disagree about the legitimacy of his authority • Source B calls him the “Kremlin Mountaineer” referring to his rapid ascent to power by taking advantage of others; while Source C refers him as being god-like “thou who brought man to birth” and therefore seems to think of him as being a divinely appointed, natural leader.

5. Question 2: How different are Sources B and C in their opinions on Stalin? EYA. • They are however similar in their perspectives as they are both very one-sided and biased in their portrayal of Stalin. • Source B only sees the evil in Stalin “his cockroach whiskers leer” whereas Source C sees him as being the epitome of a great leader “O great Stalin”

6. Question 2: How different are Sources B and C in their opinions on Stalin? EYA. • Their purposes are different. • Source B was recited by Mandelstam probably to vent his frustrations against Stalin, but it is very likely that this poem might have been invented, and used as a pretext to persecute him, as it was never written down, but was spread by word of mouth. • Source C however is a piece of propaganda intended to stir up feelings of gratitude and love towards Stalin from the people and thereby secure their support for his rule.

7. Question: How are the feelings of the people in Sources C and D similar? EYA. • The feelings of the people in Sources C and D are very similar, as they both manifest clear adoration for Hitler. • Source C says that he saw Hitler as a saint and that he and his friends really saw him as being faultless. • Similarly, Source D felt so much adoration for Hitler that she felt convinced by his ideas and wanted to fit “Hitler’s image of the perfect German mother.”

8. Question: How are the feelings of the people in Sources C and D similar? EYA. • However, their reasons behind their adoration of Hitler is different. • Source C seems to love Hitler unconditionally and claimed that “we loved him above everything else…we loved him more than our parents.” • However, Source D seems to love Hitler because she had benefitted from his rule, that she was “treated as if (she) was special” and was given “extras” when she became a mother, unlike her mother and aunties.

9. Question: How are the feelings of the people in Sources C and D similar? EYA • Their perspectives are similar as they both have very one-sided perspectives that speak glowingly of Hitler, without reserve. • They never contradicted Hitler and appeared very much to be his dedicated followers. • This is seen in Source C “we wouldn’t hear a word against him” and in Source D “ever since I was little all I had wanted was to be a mother and have lots of babies” as this was what Hitler wanted.

10. Question: How are the feelings of the people in Sources C and D similar? EYA • Their purposes are similar. As both sounded like they were recounting an incident, their purposes would be to reflect on the past so that people in the present can understand what life was like under Hitler’s regime, the sense of devotion that they felt towards him and perhaps to absolve themselves of personal guilt for obeying him unthinkingly.