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Primary
Sam Houston State University

Shsu: Correspondence of Roosevelt and Truman With Stalin

For Students 9th - 10th
Contains letters of correspondence of Roosevelt and Truman with Stalin on Lend Lease and other aid to the Soviet Union.
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Website
Other

German Embassy: Berlin Airlift

For Students 9th - 10th
This site, sponsored by the German Embassy, looks at the Berlin Airlift. The piece is brief but gives a unique, German perspective. Conveys a great introduction to the topic.
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Website
Mount Holyoke College

Mount Holyoke College: Links to Stalin

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the Mount Holyoke College provides a list of numerous links to sources covering a broad range of topics on Stalin.
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Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Berlin Airlift and Nato

For Students 5th - 8th
President Harry Truman was determined to contain the Soviet sphere of influence in Europe. See how the United States and Great Britain stood up to Stalin's attempt to take over West Berlin by blockading access to the city. Understand why...
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Website
US Department of State

U.s. Department of State: The Yalta Conference, 1945

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides a concise summary of the decisions made by Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference in 1945.
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Website
US Department of State

Milestones: 1937 1945: Wartime Conferences, 1941 1945

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief description of each major conference held by members of the Allies in World War II discussing how the course of the war would be fought and ideas of what would happen when the war ended.
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Handout
Other

Russian Fighting Russian

For Students 9th - 10th
Thousands of Russians volunteered their services to the Germans in their war against the Soviet Union. This article discusses the various volunteer units organized.
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Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: America's Story: Joseph Stalin Wrote a Memo

For Students 3rd - 8th
During W.W.II, Russia and Germany had an agreement not to attack each other. Germany did not honor that agreement. The Premier of Russia, Joseph Stalin, asked for help from the U.S. and Great Britain. Use this site to see how that was...
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Article
Other

On This Day: Ethnic Problems in the Soviet Union

For Students 9th - 10th
A good article on how the ethnic problems in the Soviet Union developed, and the individual republics' demand for independence.
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Website
A&E Television

History.com: Joseph Stalin

For Students 9th - 10th
The History Channel provides a biographical look at the Russian dictator Joseph Stalin, beginning with his early career, rise to power, time as a Soviet leader, and the partial dismantling of his police state in the years after his death.
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Website
The Guardian

Guardian: Stalin and the Soviet State

For Students 9th - 10th
This article discusses the growing tensions between Russia and the United States, focusing on Stalin's desire to strengthen his country's military security. (August 2, 1950)
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Primary
Steven Kreis, PhD

The History Guide: Khrushchev's Secret Speech, 1956

For Students 9th - 10th
Excerpt of Nikita Khrushchev's "Secret Speech," delivered before a closed session of the Twentieth Party Congress in 1956. In this speech, Khrushchev admits the many crimes and atrocities of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Stalin: A Brutal Legacy Uncovered

For Students 11th - 12th
A learning module that begins with A Brutal Legacy Uncovered" by Mike Kubic, accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. The text can be printed as a PDF or assigned online through free...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Wnet: Thirteen: Democracy and Struggles: Truman Versus Dewey [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A lesson plan from the producers of the 16-episode PBS series "Freedom: A History of US" that examines the Truman-Dewey election of 1948. Students learn how Truman and Dewey campaigned, how they got their messages across to the American...
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Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Containing Communism

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes how the Soviets under Stalin managed to infiltrate Eastern European countries and establish Communist governments, dividing the continent into East and West with a symbolic Iron Curtain separating the two. America scrambled to...
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Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Stepanova, the Results of the First Five Year Plan

For Students 9th - 10th
Have you ever wondered what came before Photoshop? After the First World War, artists in Germany and the Soviet Union began to experiment with photomontage, the process of making a composite image by juxtaposing or mounting two or more...
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Primary
Library of Congress

Loc: Churchill and the Great Republic: Memo. Of Conservation, Yalta

For Students 9th - 10th
From a larger Library of Congress exhibit on Winston Churchill, this document is a memorandum of a conversation Churchill had during a dinner at the Yalta Conference. Zooming in allows the document to be read.
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Website
ibiblio

Ibiblio: Internal Workings of the Soviet System

For Students 9th - 10th
This site briefly discusses the workings of the Soviet system and its leaders. Among those discussed are Stalin and his brutal use of police terror as well as Gorbachev and his perestroika plan.
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Handout
Middlebury College

Middlebury College: Master & Margarita Terror

For Students 9th - 10th
This article briefly describes the purges through which Stalin gained his total control over almost every aspect of Soviet life.
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Handout
Middlebury College

Middlebury College: Master & Margarita Housing Shortage

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides insight into the shortage of housing that occurred in the Soviet Union during Stalin's reign.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Deportations

For Students 9th - 10th
This site, which is provided for by the Library of Congress, gives an account of the forcible resettlement of over 1.5 million people by Stalin during and after WWII. Considered to be one of the most drastic genocidal acts by human...
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Website
HyperHistory Online

Hyper History Online: Joseph Stalin (1879 1953)

For Students 9th - 10th
This site provides a brief biography of Joseph Stalin from his brief studies at Tiflis Orthodox Theological Seminary to his brutal, dictatorial reign over the Soviet Union from 1924 - 1953.
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Primary
The History Place

The History Place: The Nazi Soviet Pact

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from The History Place provides a photo and caption of the signing of the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact. Includes a text copy of the agreement, with links to additional information.
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Website
PBS

Pbs: American Experience: Joseph Stalin, (1879 1953)

For Students 9th - 10th
Biographical sketch of Joseph Stalin and his tyrannical, brutal reign of the Soviet Union during WWII until his death in 1953.