Extended Essay

Assessment of the causes of the Kengir uprising in the Steplag complex in the year of 1954 By Saidkhon Turaev An Extended Essay Submitted as a Candidate for the International Baccaureate Diploma Subject: History Supervisor: Mr. Alex Ross Tashkent International School IBO World School 3076 Session: May 2011 October 5, 2010 Word Count: 3,831 Saidkhon Turaev 003076 – 017 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ii INTRODUCTION 1 FIRST REASON: DEATH OF STALIN 3 SECOND REASON: REGIME OF THE CAMP 5 THIRD REASON: UKRAINIAN LEADERSHIP 7 FOURTH REASON: INTRO OF THE LARGE GROUP OF CRIMINALS 9 CONCLUSION 10 APPENDIX 1 WORK CITED 12 [i] Saidkhon Turaev 003076 – 017 Tashkent International School: IBO World School 3076 Tashkent Uzbekistan Author: Title: Supervisor: Session: Turaev, Saidkhon (003076-017) Assessment of the causes of the Kengir uprising in the Steplag complex in the year of 1954 Mr. Alex Ross May 2011 Abstract While studying the Soviet history, very few people learn about the uprisin gs that had happened in Gulags after Stalin? s death. One of the key gulag uprisings which happened in 1954 was the Kengir uprising which took place in Steplag camp located in Jezkazgan region in Kazakhstan.Unlike any other gulag uprisings the Kengir uprising marked the end of the Soviet gulags. However in the modern day world, very little is known about this uprising and about the factors which have caused it. General agreement seems to be around the several ideas like: the death of Stalin, the regime of the camp, the Ukrainian leadership and the introduction of the group of criminals into the camps. So therefore it is important for a historian to assess all these factors and determine which of them caused the Kengir uprising.It was very hard to find any sufficient primary sources to this event, due to the fact that the most Gulag archives are still classified. So therefore the research was focused on circumstantial evidence. The investigation includes works of Alexander Solzhenits yn â€Å"The Gulag Archipelago† and many secondary sources, written by the western historians. Although Solzhenitsyn wasn? t there when the uprising happened, he remains one of famous sources who dedicated entire chapter for this uprising. The investigation found that three factors: the death of Stalin, the Ukrainian leadership and the regime of the camp were the main causes for the uprising.Those three factors were interlinked within each other and only together they were responsible for causing the Kengir uprising. [Word Count 256] [ii] Saidkhon Turaev 003076 – 017 Introduction The Kengir Uprising of 1954 was one of the important events in Soviet history. It was the rebellion organized by the large group of prisoners in the Steplag camp in the city of the Jezkazgan in 16th of May till 26th of June. The uprising continued for forty days until it was brutally crushed by the Soviet tanks. Very little is known today about this uprising and about the reasons which could? e caused it. There are different historical positions on what could? ve been the reason for the uprising. The Steplag camp was one of the labor complexes of the Karaganda gulag or s imply Karlag. Karlag was founded in 1931 in the city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan, and it served the USSR for about thirty years as a labor complex. The NKVD and the MVD use to send people of different nationalities to this gulag. Many Nazi camp prisoners, who were â€Å"liberated† by the Soviet Union after World War II, were also sent to the Karlag.Among those prisoners there were some fearsome nationalistic groups like the Ukrainians, who hated and didn? t trust in the Soviet system like other USSR satellite states. It was estimated that there were about 800,000 inmates in Karaganda gulag, 20,000 of which were located in the Steplag camp during the Kengir uprising. 1 It was truly remarkable how small group of prisoners was ready to stand against the whole country without the fear of being killed. Ne vertheless their attempts to achieve any fairness were easily suppressed by the government after 40 days, which once again emphasizes that the Soviet government couldn? deal with those kinds of situations without using the force. But the key thing in the uprising was that it lasted for such a long time, whereas in Stalin? s era, there wouldn? t be any hesitations in killing every single rebel in the camp. It was clear that the new authority didn? t want to go the path which led to the terror, which in turn can be argued, was their main weakness. One might agree that the Soviet Union couldn? t exist without gulags. Therefore, by having doubts in their actions the Soviet authority took the first step towards its own annihilation.Thus one can consider that the Kengir uprising symbolizes the thaw from Stalinization to something different. It is very hard for people who research about this uprising to find adequate primary source, due to the fact that Soviet Union was a secretive totalit arian state which was very careful at hiding information from public 1 Astana Calling p. 3 [1] Saidkhon Turaev 003076 – 017 eyes. So the only choice is to rely on circumstantial evidence, provided by authors like Alexander Solzhenitsyn â€Å"The Gulag Archipelago,† and then make implications on what has happened.Solzhenitsyn to this day remains one of the famous sources, who dedicated entire chapter, â€Å"Forty Days of Kengir,† to the uprising in Steplag. Besides â€Å"The Gulag Archipelago† there are also a lot of secondary sources such as Anne Applebaum? s book â€Å"Gulag, a history† or Steven Barnes review of the uprising â€Å"In a Manner Befitting Soviet Citizens. † All of these explain western historian point of view on the events which happened before and after the Kengir uprising. This essay is concerned with determining what were the most important factors in causing the Kengir uprising.The possible factors that may have contribut ed to the uprising were the following: the death of Stalin, Ukrainian nationalist leadership, the regime of the camp, and the introduction of criminal prisoners. Some say that the real problems were caused by Ukrainians, because most of them belonged to the nationalist groups who opposed the Soviet political regime and wanted the separation of Ukraine from the USSR. Most of the Ukrainian nationalists were sent to the Gulags as the political enemies of the USSR. In contrast other historians claim that the criminals were the main reason for the uprising in Kengir.Criminals were the group of inmates who were always in conflict with the polit ical prisoners in Steplag. During the outbreaks of the Kengir uprising criminals were sent into the camps to calm down the politicals, but instead both groups joined efforts to fight the authorities. However others claim that the death of Stalin overweights all of the arguments above. Stalin? s death was remarkable moment in history, because it imp licated that the terror was over and that the political prisoners would finally be free. It of course raised expectations in the hearts of many gulag prisoners.Perhaps those aroused expectations were the main reason behind the uprising in Steplag. On the other hand some blame must lie with the regime of the camp, which also played a key role in creating the uprising in Steplag. During Stalin? s reign the regime was very strict. Guards were ordered to kill anyone who attempts to run or tried to organize a revolt. So it is important for one to access the reasons behind the uprising in order to see why certain things could? ve caused everything to change. [2] Saidkhon Turaev 003076 – 017 First Reason: Death of StalinOn 5th of March 1953 Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin died of the brain stroke. To many gulag prisoners, particularly to political prisoners, his death meant that the tyranny and terror was finally over. The author of the book â€Å"Letters of the Camp Doctor† and the former gulag prisoner Vadim Aleksandrovich has commented about the situation: â€Å"Majority of the prisoners understood of what the man was made of. They understood that he was tyrant, that he controlled a great country and that the fate of each prisoner was somehow related to the fate of Stalin. 2 It seems that this source is based on opinion, so therefore might contain bias. However it can be useful to a historian in terms providing some idea on what was the general feeling among the prisoners towards Stalin. Despite the fact that many prisoners awaited his death, most of them remained cautious about the situation, mainly because they? re afraid of earning a second sentence. However in Steplag, prisoners weren? t afraid of showing their happiness – they were making wild cries of celebration3as Applebaum comments, which imply that they waited for some changes to come.One of the Steplag prisoners Yuri Grunin even stated â€Å"the blessing times would soon come,† 4which once again gives a historian an idea of how the prisoners felt during that time. One can argue that the death of Stalin didn? t accomplish the hopes of the prisoners towards the reforms that they expected from the authorities. This is clearly reflected on the releases, which were issued by his right hand man and the chief of KGB Lavrenty Beria. Beria was known to be a man who created most hated policies in gulag systems5. But nevertheless by 28th of March 1953 1. million prisoners were released, 400,000 cases were closed and new Gulag projects were abandoned. 6 One can see the situation as promising for many gulag prisoners, but it only looks good on the surface. These prisoners, who were released, only included group of petty criminals and some women with children and none of the politicals. As a result of that many political prisoners were becoming increasingly angry with the situation. 2 Aleksandrovich â€Å"Letters of the Camp doctor† p. 28 Applebaum â€Å"Gulag a History† p. 477 4 Yuri Grunin as cited in Dmitri Bikov’s article â€Å"Prisoners wanted love† 5Solzhenitsyn â€Å"The Gulag Archipelago† vol. 2 p 204 6 Krutsyk â€Å"The Chronicles of Communist Inquisition† 3 [3] Saidkhon Turaev 003076 – 017 In Steplag as Applebaum comments, certain groups of prisoners formed underground organizations by the time the amnesty was proclaimed, which imply that they were planning something. 7However there is a problem with a source provided by Applebaum, which is that she wasn? t there at the time when all of that happened and therefore some of her arguments might be unreliable, due to limited supporting primary sources.Nevertheless there is still an argument that – if the hopes of the prisoners weren? t accomplished then why did the uprising happen only in 1954, a year later after Stalin? s death? Well there could be a lot of answers to this question. Perhaps the circumstances were different, or maybe t hese underground organizations just needed time to put their plan into action. From the points addressed above one can say that for the uprising to happen it needed something more, than just an event like death of Stalin. In other words not every gulag in Soviet Union had an uprising after Stalin? death. So this might imply that something was different in the Steplag. For instance as Applebaum commented there were some underground organizations in Steplag before the uprising, which imply that there were highly organized group of individuals who perhaps planned out everything before acting. But then again the uprising couldn? t be just a spontaneous upheaval without any cause, it needed a spark. Perhaps the circumstances in Steplag were somehow different in 1954 than they were in 1953 and that could? ve served as a spark for the uprising.In order to investigate any further one might look at the other factors like the regime of the camp, Ukrainian leadership and intro of the group of criminals to see whether they have something in common with the arguments presented above. 7 Applebaum p. 495 [4] Saidkhon Turaev 003076 – 017 Second Reason: Regime of the camp The camp regime in the gulags from 1930 – 1953 was really determined by the three factors: the sentence which prisoners received, the relationship of camp authorities to the prisoners and the attitude of guards towards the inmates.Political prisoners were treated most brutally compared to other prisoners. Especially after 1948 when a group of special camps were introduced that had a very strict regime based on katorga (hard labor), which was created during the war. In his famous book â€Å"Gulag Archipelago† Solzhenitsyn describes the work conditions of (inmates under katorga regime): â€Å"During the work they were surrounded by soldiers with dogs, they were hit, and were beaten by guns†¦It was easy to spot exhausted and to differentiate them from other prisoners. They’re lost and barely walked. 8 This source which Solzhenitsyn provides to the historians might be reliable do to the fact that Solzhenitsyn himself was a , and one can argue that Solzhenitsyn knew what it was like to be that type of prisoner and therefore there is a less chance of bias in this quote. Furthermore from this evidence we can say that the political prisoners had a reason to be angry at the regime and if they had a reason they? re most likely to protest against it. In Steplag there were huge numbers of political prisoners, especially c ounterrevolutionaries, 9which implied that the camp had a very strict regime.In addition authorities never really cared about health conditions of the prisoners. There were moments when inmates had to eat the spoiled food, because the camp executives didn? t really monitor the condition of the food. 10This type of attitude might? ve led to the buildup of the misery among prisoners. But if everything was that bad, why didn? t the prisoners rebel earlier, why they waited until 1954? Was it death of Stalin which gave the prisoners the idea of the terror being over and that the freedom should be given to each of them?Highly unlikely, because even when Stalin died the prisoners were in risk of being shot if they somehow threatened the Soviet system and it should? ve taken prisoners a real courage to cause this massive uprising. So it must? ve been something different, but before exploring argument further one must look at the relationship between prisoners and camp authorities before 1953. 8 Solzhenitsyn â€Å"The Gulag Archipelago† vol. 3 p. 8 â€Å"The Document of the Kengir Uprising of 1954† see the table 2 at the appendix 10 â€Å"Gulag Many Days Many Lives† Report to Temporary Chief of Karlag Administration Nikiforov 9 5] Saidkhon Turaev 003076 – 017 Prisoners of Steplag really thought that they? re being unfairly treated by the camp authorities. The extract from Soviet magazine Putevka, based o n MVD reports, explores some of the unhappy comments of a prisoner towards the fact that camp executives really didn? t care about the prisoners? complaints: â€Å"Write, for what?! We were writing – and never got a reply. Boxes were set, so we didn’t annoy them†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 11 This source analyses the response of the prisoners towards the camp authorities in 1936.Although it can give a historian an idea of what was the general feeling among prisoners towards the camp authorities, it is a bit strange that this kind of information was published, especially in the Soviet Union where the authorities were really careful at hiding information. So therefore it must have some purpose, most likely the propaganda purpose, so therefore it might contain some sort of bias. By using this source one can think to himself that the carelessness of the camp authority was one of the reasons for the tension to build up.And he will be right to think so, because what was bad about the camp authorities was that they didn? t really consider the fact that prisoners were getting angrier over time and that soon they would eventually rise up. Now one might look at the situation in the Steplag after the death of Stalin and fall of Beria. Solzhenitsyn explains that after fall of Beria the guards weren? t receiving salary bonuses for their service as before. 12They had to really prove that their work is worthy of the bonuses, so as a result many of the guards started shooting innocent prisoners and then claimed that inmates tried to run away.One of the infamous killings was the shooting of the Christian in spring of 1954, which resulted massive unrest among the prisoners. The name of the Christian, according to Solzhenitsyn, was Alexander Sisoviev and after his murder many prisoners felt sorry for him because he was serving in Steplag for almost ten years and hardly broke any law to get killed. 13 Later during the uprising one of the prisoners? demands to the authority would be to â€Å"punish the guards who killed the Christian†14 which again emphasizes how strongly were the inmates affected by this murder. 11 Gulag Many Days Many Live† Except from Putevka Solzhenitsyn vol. 3 p. 262 13 Ibid p. 263 14 â€Å"The Document of the Kengir Uprising of 1954† telegram # 044 to the MVD chief Kruglov 12 [6] Saidkhon Turaev 003076 – 017 This situation with a Christian might? ve underlined that the prisoners were no longer safe in the camps and that they had to act. But then again these whole innocent killings might? ve been just a spark for all of the misery in the past. For an uprising to be successful it needed a strong leadership. In the Kengir uprising such leadership was taken by the Ukrainians.Third Reason: Ukrainian Leadership The Ukrainians started to arrive to the Steplag after World War II. Unlike the other prisoners these people were really organized and the most important thing was that they didn? t trust the Soviet Union. Ev en the camp authorities have exclaimed this point, by saying that the â€Å"bourgeois ideology† 15has made Ukrainians hostile to the Soviet system. In Steplag particularly there were large numbers of them and they were all mixed with other political prisoners, which was an obvious mistake of the camp authorities, because Ukrainians could expose their viewpoints and ideas to ther prisoners. Because of this everything began to change in the Steplag. Before the arrival of the Ukrainians the camps were filled with prisoners who sni tched on each other. Because of those snitches some of the prisoners were either killed or taken to the prison of the strict regime. Basically snitches were the eyes and ears of the camp administration. When Ukrainians arrived they chose a radical policy in dealing with snitches, by executing them. It was like a new law among prisoners â€Å"Die tonight if you don? t have a pure soul† 16Solzhenitsyn explains.The most remarkable thing about those executions is that the camp authority couldn? t stop them, because they lost all of their informants. Each prisoner knew that if they ever going to snitch again, they? re going to be slashed. But on the other hand Ukrainians didn? t take serious actions against the camp authorities, until 1954. Was it a death of Stalin then, which triggered the uprising? Well it certainly might? ve had the contribution to it, but without the Ukrainians the uprising would? ve never occurred. This change which was occurring in the Gulag camps in some weird way caused the prisoners mindset to change.The killings of the snitches were one of the first examples of freedom movement, as expressed by Solzhenitsyn. However there is another argument that the 15 16 Barnes â€Å"In a Manner Befitting Soviet citizens† p. 824 Solzhenitsyn vol. 3 p. 213 [7] Saidkhon Turaev 003076 – 017 Ukrainians were really opportunists. Whenever the situation fitted them they acted and one can aga in refer back to the killings of the snitches, when Ukrainians basically started killing the informers because they represented a threat to them.Perhaps the death of Stalin was also an opportunity for the Ukrainians in which they thought that this was the time. After the death of Stalin many political prisoners were hoping that they would be released and really it was reflected on the banners which were made during the uprising: â€Å"Long live the Soviet Constitution,† 17or the most famous exclamation made by the Russian Red Army officer and so called the leader of the uprising Kapiton Kuznetsov â€Å"Our salvation lies on loyalty, we must talk to Moscow representatives in a manner befitting Soviet citizens. 18 Ukrainians on the other side never bought into this idea, because during the uprising many of them were in charge of commissions which were responsible for the arming and defending the camp, which in turn implies that they were getting ready for the open conflict. And again after the uprising was crushed by Soviets the Ukrainians were the ones who suffered the most as Barnes explains, even though officially the rebellion was led by the Russian Red Army veterans. 9One of the Ukrainian prisoners who left the camp during the uprising spoke to his fellow Ukrainian prisoners: â€Å"Dear countrymen, they see us westerners as the main authors of the strike? s continuation. † 20So according to the prisoner the Ukrainians were treated badly by the Russians because there was a presence of dominance of one nation over the other, however the other reason could be that the Russians realized that the Ukrainians represented a threat to the political regime of the Soviet Union and in order to calm them down they put pressure on them. 17 Barnes p. 24 Ibid p. 823 19 Ibid p. 837 20 Ibid p. 827 18 [8] Saidkhon Turaev 003076 – 017 Fourth Reason: Intro of a Large Group of Criminals Criminals were most fearsome group of people in the gulag system, because they were aggr essive, many of them have killed and harassed other people before they? re caught and mostly because they? re unpredictable. Lev Razgon the gulag prisoner describes criminal prisoners: â€Å"They were, in a word, racketeers, gangsters, and members of small mafia†¦ they brazenly cleaned out the new transports, taking all of the best clothes from newcomers. 21There were a lot of tensions between political prisoners and criminals in Steplag. Political prisoners detested criminals for their unlawful actions and in any case tried to avoid them. Criminals most often didn? t do any work at all. If they needed money they stole them from political prisoners by threatening them. Applebaum explains that political prisoners were afraid of criminals because most of them were armed with knives and other sharp objects. 22But everything changed when two groups were separated in the late 1940„s due to constant tensions between them.During the outbreaks of the uprising in the Steplag camp , the criminals were shipped by the camp authorities to calm down the political prisoners, because the authorities thought that politicals were still afraid of the criminals. One can again link this to the idea that the camp authorities really had horrible ways in dealing with conflict situations. Solzhenitsyn supports this idea by stating: â€Å"Here it is the unpredictable nature of the human emotions and social movements.Injecting in Kengir lagpunkt No 3 the mammoth dose of tested ptomaine, bosses obtained not a pacified camp, but the biggest mutiny in the history of the Gulag Archipelago! †23 This source could be reliable to a historian, because although Solzhenitsyn wasn? t there at that time when the event happened, he analyses the situation as a historian and provides the reader with his reasoning. The criminals and the politicals for the first time ever joined their efforts to accomplish mutual aims, which again suggest that the atmosphere in Steplag has changed due t o the fact that Stalin died.Conversely one can agree that the criminals didn? t really impacted the uprising much. Yes, they? ve joined efforts with the politicals 21 Lev Razgon as cited in Applebaum’s â€Å"Gulag a history† p. 281 Applebaum p. 282 23 Solzhenitsyn vol. 3 p. 266 22 [9] Saidkhon Turaev 003076 – 017 and certainly increase their numbers, but one can again argue that the uprising would? ve been caused anyways even without the criminals? presence. Conclusion The introduction of the criminals to the camps didn? t really make any difference, because the uprising was already in progress when they arrived.So in the end, the Kengir uprising was the combination of three factors which included: the death of Stalin, the regime of the camp and the leadership of the Ukrainians. All three factors were interlinked and followed consecutive order. At first the uprising needed a cause of some sort, which was brought by the idea that Stalin died and the expected hope s weren? t accomplished. When Stalin died majority of the prisoner population in Steplag hoped for some changes to come, this could be reflected on how they openly celebrated his death in March 1953. But then with Beria? amnesties their expectations and hopes failed and when that happened, based on investigation, they lost all of their patience. Secondly it needed the angry group of people who would agitate their views to the prisoner population about their long term misery and then during the uprising these people would target the prisoners to act. The Ukrainians were those sorts of people. It is only when they arrived the radical changes begun in Steplag, for instance the slashing of the snitches. And one must remember that during the uprising the Ukrainians were the only nes who were preparing for the open conflict which imply that they never really trusted the USSR. And finally it needed some sort of a spark, which was caused by the incompetence of the guards. In 1954 when guard s started shooting at the prisoners just to receive salary bonuses, they made a mistake of shooting the Christian Alexander Sisoviev who was favored among the prisoners. That of course underlined that the prisoners were no longer safe from the authorities, so therefore the only choice for them was to act.Kengir uprising of 1954 marked itself as a remarkable moment in history, not only because it lasted considerable amount of time, but because it marked the end of the Soviet gulags. This in turn can be argued to be the end of the Soviet Union, because this uprising proved that the system couldn? t exist without violence. Only by using violence the government could maintain control. [10] Saidkhon Turaev 003076 – 017 A ppendix Table 1: The Nationality of Prisoners (Translated) : According to Nationality 1. (Russians) 2. (Ukrainians) 3. (Byelorussians) 4. (Azerbaijanis) 5. (Georgians) 6. (Armenians) 7. (Turkmens) 8. (Uzbeks) 9. (Tajiks) 10. (Kazakhs) 11. (Kyrgyz) 12. (Lithuanians) 13. (Latvians) 14. (Estonians) 15. (Tatars) 16. (Bashkir) 17. (Udmurt) 2661 9596 878 108 132 154 76 204 54 291 50 2690 1074 873 127 9 20 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. (Chechens) (Ingush) (Jews) (Moldavians) ? (Finnish) (Germans) (Poles) (Romanians) (Iranians) (Afghanis) (Mongols) (Chinese) (Japanese) (Koreans) (Greeks) (Turkish) (Others) 124 56 174 208 16 359 379 24 18 8 2 55 30 52 21 8 167 Table 2: Sentence of the prisoners (Translated) Sentence 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Traitors to Motherland Spying Terrorists Trozkyist Wrecking Counterrevolutionary saboteurs Sabotage Anti-Soviet Conspirators Anti-Soviet agitation 14785 1202 772 57 79 57 192 1140 755 10. Rebels 11. Combined Criminal charges 1, 3, 5 12. Combined Criminal charges 1 & 3 13. War Crime 14. Gambling 5. Mugging 16. Job and economic crimes 1421 130 36 10 8 24 19 A r eport of special department of MVD in Steplag camp about the prisoners ’ n ationality and sentence – b y the c hief of the department and the colonel Savchenko a s cited in h ttp://g – to – g. com/index. php? version=rus&module=56&page=16 . [11] Saidkhon Turaev 003076 – 017 W orks Cited P rimary Sources A leksandrovich, Vadim. L etters of the Camp Doctor . Moscow: , 1996. S olzhenit syn, Alexander. G ulag Archipelago . vol. 2 . Moscow: , 1991. Print. S olzhenitsyn, Alexander. G ulag Archipelago . vol. 3 .Moscow: , 1991. Print. G ulag Many Days, Many Lives † E xcerpt from Putevka. † 1 933. Web. 7 Aug 2010. < http://gulaghistory. org /items/show/776>. G ulag Many Days, Many Lives † R eport to Temporary Chief of Karlag Administration N ikiforov. † 1 939. Web. 7 Aug 2010. < http://gulaghistory. org/items/show/766>. S econdary Sources A pplebaum, Anne. G ulag a history . 1st ed. United States of A merica: Anchor Books, a d ivision o f Random House, Inc. 2 003. Print. † Astana Calling. † Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 12 January 2 010. Web. 7 Aug 2010.B arnes, Steven. † In a Manner Befitting Soviet Citizens†: An Uprising i n the Post – Stalin Gulag . 4. U nited States of America: The American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, 2 005. 823 – 850. P rint . Bikov, Dmitri. † The Prisoners Wanted Love. † Web. 23 Aug 2010. . â€Å"Documents of Kengir Uprising of 1954. † G-to-G Geologist to Geologist. G-toG. Web. 10 Sep 2010. . K rutsyk, Roman, Yurii S hapovall, and Oleh K ravchenko. â€Å"Chronicles of the Com munistic I nquisition. â€Å". W eb. 7 Aug 2010. < http://memorial. kiev. ua/expo/eng/1953. html >. [12] Saidkhon Turaev 003076 – 017 Extended Essay For other articles on the Extended Essay on Intense Cogitation, please see our helpful articles on  The Extended Essay Outline  and  Sample sources for an Extended Essay – The American Civil War. Please also check out my  extended essay exemplar  about the American Civil War. As I’m sure you all know, the Extended Essay is a 4000 word essay that is a requirement for the International Baccalaureate Diploma. You can write it in a wide variety of topics and subjects, as long as you have an Extended Essay supervisor (usually a teacher) guiding you along.Most schools encourage students to complete an outline, at the very least, for the Extended Essay at the end of IB1 to prevent students from procrastinating too much in IB2. For some people, the outline can be quite challenging; what if you just want to start writing the essay? What do I include in it? I had similar questions whilst I was writing mine, so I shall divulge some things I discovered for you to think ab out. Generally, it is a good idea to do extensive research  prior  to writing the outline.Presumably by this point you will have already found a subject, topic and a supervisor; if not, ensure that you have all three before continuing. Make notes whilst you are writing so you can pick out common themes and ideas, which will help you immensely when you start writing the thesis. Don’t forget to write the sources down! For example, I started reading about the American Civil War because I saw a documentary on naval warfare. After doing some research, I found something that really interested me — the Battle of Hampton Roads.With this in mind, I proceeded to narrow this down to: VALUE OF THE CONFEDERATE IRONCLAD  Virginia  IN THE BATTLE OF HAMPTON ROADS, MARCH 8-9, 1862 Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect! Just get your ideas down first–let   editing take care of the problems. Once you have that, try to think of a question that concerns most of the material you have read and digested so far. Is there a problem or question that keeps on coming up in your mind when you are studying this topic? What are some common academic arguments about this topic? Try to shape that into a research question.After that, formulate a thesis which attempts to answer this question. It’s hard to understand, so I’ll show you an example from my outline here: Research Question:  To this day, the question of who won is still debated. One method for analysis would be to study the battle through one ship to determine the extent of the ship’s usefulness to its home country; if the ship was costly and ineffective in battle, it would likely not be the victor. In this battle, a study of the  Virginia  in this battle would be most beneficial since she was present for both days of the battle.Thus, the following research question emerges: how useful was the ironcladVirginia  to the Confederacy in the Battle of Hampton Roads? Thesis statement:  To examine the question, this essay will use both primary and secondary sources to explore the Virginia’s impact on industry and economics, and strategic and tactical ramifications of the battle for the Confederacy, including the Virginia’s vulnerabilities and her psychological effect on civilians and combatants. Although the Virginia was a remarkable ship, this essay will prove that the Virginia was of limited use to the Confederate war effort.This wasn’t my final research question or thesis statement, but it gave me enough of a focus to write a first draft. In essence, your task here is to find a central question to your essay, and choose a view point that you think the evidence supports. After that, you are probably ready to write a rough outline of the structure of your Extended Essay — how will you structure the knowledge you’ve learned through research into a persuasive argument? How will you make this relevant to your thesis? W hat evidence will you use?At this stage, it’s probably easiest to just write jot notes of your major arguments and some minor supporting points as it is just an outline, not a draft. It doesn’t have to be very detailed, as illustrated by mine: * Introduce Confederate naval situation and reason for ironclad construction * Introduce Battle of Hampton Roads * Research question * Thesis statement * Plan of attack (see thesis statement paragraph) * Confederate industrial situation * Confederate iron ore shortages * Issues with processing iron ore into iron plating Problems with transporting the finished product to Norfolk * Therefore, transforming the USS  Merrimack  into the ironclad CSS  Virginiawas extremely costly in terms of resources and stressed Confederate industry, which was limited at best * Battle of Hampton Roads * Military events on March 8 * Military events on March 9 * Sum up the battle * Explore weaknesses * Explore other ramifications of the battle (i e. Delay of McClellan’s Peninsular Campaign) * Psychological effect on civilians and government officials * In essence, the military value of the  Virginia  was marginal at best.She was extremely flawed, and marginally seaworthy. The Battle of Hampton Roads was a draw since she did not make a significant breakthrough, and thus all the effort and resources that the Confederacy spent on her was all for naught. She was more useful as a psychological weapon, but even that could not prevent superior Union industry and resources from overrunning the Confederacy both on land and sea. * Conclusion * The  Virginia  was the Confederacy’s V-1 and V-2.Although she was technologically advanced for her time, she did not win the important Battle of Hampton Roads, nor did she have any significant long-term effect on the war. * In essence, she was of little use to the Confederacy. Once you have these major components in your essay outline, you’re probably ready to submit it to your supervisor. Keep a copy for yourself so you can still use it as a road map when you start writing your essay draft! As mentioned above, it might also be a good idea to include the sources you’ve used so far so you don’t forget about it in your final copy! Any questions? Leave a comment!