National Year 12 History

1. 1A The Age of the Crusades, c1071-1204: Part one - the Crusader states and Outremer, c1071-1149 (Component 1 breadth study)

The origins of conflict and the First Crusade, c1071-c1099 · The foundation of new states and the Second Crusade, c1099-1149

• The Crusades: Holy Wars Between Europe and the Near East – The Crusades were a series of religious wars, mainly between 1095 and 1291, in which armies from Latin (Catholic) Europe tried to win and hold Jerusalem and nearby lands. After the Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantine Empire at Manzikert (1071), the Byzantine emperor asked for help, and in 1095 Pope Urban II called for an armed pilgrimage. The First Crusade took Jerusalem in 1099 and set up four crusader states, often called Outremer. Muslim rulers slowly united: Zengi took Edessa (1144), the Second Crusade failed, and Saladin won at Hattin and retook Jerusalem in 1187. The Third Crusade (1189–92) won back coastal towns but not Jerusalem, and the Fourth Crusade (1202–04) turned against Christian Constantinople. The last crusader city, Acre, fell in 1291. The crusades caused great suffering, but also increased trade and the exchange of ideas between regions.

2. 1B Spain in the Age of Discovery, 1469-1598 (A-level only): Part one - the establishment of a 'New Monarchy', 1469-1556 (Component 1 breadth study)

The forging of a new state, 1469-1516 · The drive to 'Great Power' status, 1516-1556

• Spain in the Age of Discovery, 1469–1598 – In 1469 Isabella of Castile married Ferdinand of Aragon, creating a union of crowns. The Catholic Monarchs restored royal authority, used religion as a tool of unity (Inquisition, fall of Granada, expulsion of Jews, forced conversion of Muslims) and backed Columbus. Their grandson Charles I (Emperor Charles V) inherited a vast empire and fought costly wars while conquerors took the Aztec and Inca empires. Philip II ruled the first global empire, won at Lepanto and gained Portugal, but faced the Dutch Revolt, the Armada's failure, Morisco revolt and repeated bankruptcy. American silver brought power, inflation and debt, and left a deep colonial legacy.

3. 1C The Tudors: England, 1485-1603: Part one - consolidation of the Tudor Dynasty: England, 1485-1547 (Component 1 breadth study)

Henry VIII, 1485-1509 · Henry VIII, 1509-1547

• Tudor England (1485–1603) – The Tudors ruled England for 118 years. Henry VII won the crown in battle in 1485 and made it safe: he married into the rival family, filled the treasury and controlled the nobles. Henry VIII broke with the Pope so he could end his marriage, made himself head of the Church and closed the monasteries. Under his children the country swung between religions: Edward VI made it Protestant, Mary I brought back Catholic worship, and Elizabeth I chose a Protestant 'middle way'. Across the century the population and prices rose, wages fell behind, poverty grew and governments made Poor Laws. England's ties with Scotland, France and Spain moved from war to uneasy peace, and the Armada of 1588 was turned back.

4. 1D Stuart Britain and the Crisis of Monarchy, 1603-1702: Part one - absolutism challenged: Britain, 1603-1649 (Component 1 breadth study)

Monarchs and Parliaments, 1603-1629 · Revolution, 1629-1649

• Stuart Britain and the Crisis of Monarchy (1603–1702) – In 1603 James VI of Scotland became James I of England, so one king ruled both kingdoms. The Stuarts believed kings were chosen by God, but they needed Parliament to agree taxes. Quarrels over money, religion and rights grew under Charles I, who ruled without Parliament from 1629 to 1640. Rebellion in Scotland and Ireland forced him to recall it, and in 1642 civil war began. Parliament's New Model Army won, and in 1649 Charles I was tried and executed. Britain became a republic, then Oliver Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector. In 1660 Charles II was restored, but new 'parties' (Whigs and Tories) argued over religion and power. When the Catholic James II seemed to threaten Protestant rule and Parliament, he was replaced in 1688 by William and Mary. The Bill of Rights (1689) limited the Crown: Britain became a constitutional monarchy.

5. 1E Russia in the Age of Absolutism and Enlightenment, 1682-1796 (A-level only): Part one - Peter the Great and Russia, 1682-1725 (Component 1 breadth study)

Establishing authority, 1682-1707 · Increasing the glory of Russia, 1707-1725

• Russia in the Age of Absolutism and Enlightenment (1682–1796) – In 1682 Russia was a huge, mostly rural land ruled by a tsar with near-total power, with an Orthodox Church, powerful old noble families (boyars) and millions of peasants tied to the land as serfs. Peter the Great took full power in 1689, toured western Europe and forced change: a new army and navy, a new capital at St Petersburg, new government bodies, the Table of Ranks, and the Church under state control. He beat Sweden and made Russia a European great power. After 1725 came the era of palace coups, when Guards regiments helped put rulers on the throne. Elizabeth brought stability and culture. Catherine the Great (1762–96) spoke the language of the Enlightenment and reformed local government, but serfdom grew harsher, nobles gained privileges, and the Pugachev revolt (1773–75) showed deep anger. Wars with the Ottomans and the partitions of Poland made Russia bigger.

6. 1F Industrialisation and the people: Britain, c1783-1885: Part one - the impact of industrialisation: Britain, c1783-1832 (Component 1 breadth study)

Pressure for change, c1783-1812 · Government and a changing society, 1812-1832

• The Industrial Revolution: Causes, Effects and Reform (1760–1914) – Between about 1760 and 1914 work moved from hand tools at home to machines in factories. A first wave (about 1760–1840) began in Britain with coal, iron, steam power and cotton mills. A second wave (about 1870–1914) brought steel, electricity, chemicals and oil, and spread to Western Europe, the United States, Japan and Russia. Towns grew fast; workers faced long hours, child labour and dirty housing. Workers organised in unions, new ideas (liberalism, socialism, conservatism) argued about what to do, and governments slowly passed factory, health and voting reforms.

7. 1G Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851-1964: Part one - Victorian and Edwardian Britain, c1851-1914 (Component 1 breadth study)

Reform and challenge, c1851-c1886 · Challenges to the status quo, c1886-1914

• Modern Britain 1851–1964: Reform, War and Welfare – Between 1851 and 1964 Britain changed from a country where few men could vote and the state did little, into a democracy where all adults voted and the state looked after people "from cradle to grave". Key drivers: Reform Acts (1867, 1884, 1918, 1928), the rise of the Labour Party and trade unions, the Liberal welfare reforms (1906–14), two total wars, the economic slump of the 1930s, the Beveridge Report and the 1945 Labour government (NHS 1948), then the affluent 1950s and the end of empire.

8. 1H Tsarist and Communist Russia, 1855-1964: Part one - Autocracy, Reform and Revolution: Russia, 1855-1917 (Component 1 breadth study)

Trying to preserve autocracy, 1855-1894 · The collapse of autocracy, 1894-1917

Coming soon

9. 1J The British Empire, c1857-1967: Part one - the High Water Mark of the British Empire, c1857-1914 (Component 1 breadth study)

The development of Imperialism, c1857-c1890 · Imperial consolidation and Liberal rule, c1890-1914

• Land-Based Empires (1450–1750): Expansion, Rule, Belief and Comparison – An empire is one centre ruling many peoples and lands. From 1450 to 1750 the Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal and Qing empires grew with gunpowder armies, ran their lands with paid officials and land taxes, and used religion and monuments to show their right to rule.

10. 1K The making of a Superpower: USA, 1865-1975: Part one - from Civil War to World War, 1865-1920 (Component 1 breadth study)

The Era of Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1890 · Populism, progressivism and imperialism, 1890-1920

• Modern US History: From 1865 to Today – After the Civil War the USA became the world's biggest industrial economy and then a superpower. The Gilded Age (1865–1900) brought railways, factories and millions of migrants, but also deep inequality. Populists and Progressives (1890–1920) pushed for reforms, and the USA expanded overseas and joined the First World War. The 1920s boom ended in the 1929 crash and the Great Depression; Roosevelt's New Deal and the Second World War rebuilt the economy. After 1945 most Americans enjoyed new wealth while the civil rights movement fought segregation, the country led one side of the Cold War, and the Vietnam War and Watergate shook public trust. From 1980, Reagan's conservatism, the end of the Cold War, the internet economy, new migration, 9/11 and the 2008 crisis shaped the present. A useful lens for the whole period: who got opportunity, and who faced inequality?

11. 1L The quest for political stability: Germany, 1871-1991: Part one - Empire to democracy, 1871-1929 (Component 1 breadth study)

The Kaiserreich, 1871-1914 · Empire to democracy, 1914-1929

Coming soon

12. 2A Royal Authority and the Angevin Kings, 1154-1216: Part one - The Reign of Henry II, 1154-1189 (Component 2 depth study)

The Restoration of Royal Authority, 1154-1166 · The crisis of Royal Authority, 1166-1174 · The struggle for Royal Authority, 1174-1189

• Medieval England, 1066–1307: How Kings, Barons and the Law Changed – After the Norman Conquest of 1066, England was run through the feudal system: land for loyalty and service. Henry II (1154–1189) restored royal power after a civil war, built a common law with royal courts and juries, and clashed with Archbishop Thomas Becket. Richard I spent his reign mostly abroad. King John lost lands in France, taxed hard, and in 1215 had to accept Magna Carta, which put the king under the law. Edward I (1272–1307) used Parliament to raise taxes and pass statutes, conquered Wales and fought long wars in Scotland. Most people lived in villages as peasants, under the lord of the manor and the Church.

13. 2B The Wars of the Roses, 1450-1499: Part one - the Fall of the House of Lancaster, 1450-1471 (Component 2 depth study)

The origins of conflict, 1450-1459 · The War of the Barons, 1459-1461 · The triumph of the Yorkists, 1461-1471

• The Wars of the Roses (1450–1499): How the Crown Changed Hands – The Wars of the Roses were a long series of fights for the English crown between two branches of the royal family: Lancaster (the red rose) and York (the white rose). They grew out of problems in the 1450s: a weak and sometimes ill king, Henry VI; defeat in France; an empty treasury; and powerful nobles with private armies who feuded with each other. Richard, Duke of York, first wanted a say in government, then claimed the throne. Fighting began at St Albans in 1455. York's son won at Towton in 1461 and became Edward IV. Warwick 'the Kingmaker' turned against Edward and put Henry VI back in 1470, but Edward won again in 1471. Edward then ruled well until 1483. His brother took the crown as Richard III, and the two young princes disappeared. Many Yorkists turned against Richard, and Henry Tudor defeated him at Bosworth in 1485. Henry VII married Elizabeth of York, joined the two roses, and beat off pretenders until 1499.

14. 2C The Reformation in Europe, c1500-1564 (A-level only): Part one - the origins of the Reformation, c1500-1531 (Component 2 depth study)

The condition of the Church, c1500-1517 · The challenge of Luther, 1517-1521 · The Protestant challenge, 1521-1531

• The Reformation and Catholic Reform: Causes and Effects – In the 1500s the single Western Christian church split. People were angry about the sale of indulgences and corruption, printing spread new ideas fast, and rulers wanted more power. Luther (1517), Calvin and the English crown created Protestant churches. The Catholic Church answered with its own reform (Council of Trent, Jesuits). Wars followed, then treaties that let rulers choose their state's religion.

15. 2D Religious conflict and the Church in England, c1529-c1570: Part one - the break from Rome, c1529-1547 (Component 2 depth study)

The Church in c1529 · The break from Rome, c1529-1536 · Change and reaction, 1536-1547

Coming soon

16. 2E The English Revolution, 1625-1660: Part one - the origins of the English Civil War, 1625-1642 (Component 2 depth study)

The emergence of conflict and the end of consensus, 1625-1629 · An experiment in Absolutism, 1629-1640 · The crisis of Parliament and the outbreak of the First Civil War, 1640-1642

Coming soon

17. 2F The Sun King: Louis XIV, France and Europe, 1643-1715 (A-level only): Part one - The Sun King, 1643-1685 (Component 2 depth study)

The Regency, 1643-1661 · The establishment of Absolutism at home, 1661-1685 · Louis XIV and Europe, 1661-1685

• Louis XIV, the Sun King: Absolutism in France (1643–1715) – Louis XIV became king of France in 1643 at the age of four and reigned for 72 years. During the Regency his mother Anne of Austria and the minister Cardinal Mazarin ruled. High taxes for war led to the Fronde revolts (1648–53), when law courts and great nobles challenged the crown; the crown survived. In 1661 Mazarin died and Louis ruled by himself, with no chief minister. He used small councils, loyal ministers like Colbert and royal officials called intendants. He kept nobles busy at his palace of Versailles and used art and ceremony to show himself as the Sun King. Colbert tried to make France rich through mercantilism. Louis fought many wars and gained land up to 1678, but later wars against large alliances, the end of Protestant rights in 1685 and famines left France in deep debt by 1715. His grandson kept the Spanish throne, but France was exhausted.

18. 2G The Birth of the USA, 1760-1801: Part one - the origins of the American Revolution, 1760-1776 (Component 2 depth study)

Britain and the American Colonies, 1760-1763 · Enforcing the Colonial Relationship, 1763-1774 · Ending the Colonial Relationship, 1774-1776

• The American Revolution (1763–1791) – Thirteen British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America broke away from Britain and formed the United States. After the Seven Years' War (1756–63), Britain was deeply in debt and tried to tighten control: the Proclamation of 1763 limited westward settlement, and new taxes (Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, Tea Act) were passed by a Parliament in which the colonists had no members. Colonists protested with the slogan "no taxation without representation", boycotts, the Sons of Liberty and the Boston Tea Party. Britain replied with the Coercive ("Intolerable") Acts, and fighting began at Lexington and Concord in 1775. Enlightenment ideas of natural rights and government by consent, spread by Thomas Paine's Common Sense, led to the Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776. With help from France, Spain and the Dutch Republic, the Continental Army under George Washington won at Saratoga and Yorktown, and the Treaty of Paris (1783) recognised independence. The weak Articles of Confederation were replaced by the Constitution of 1787, with separation of powers, checks and balances and federalism, plus the Bill of Rights (1791). The new republic under Washington and Adams saw the first political parties. The Revolution inspired others, but rights were limited: slavery continued, Native nations lost land and women could not vote.

19. 2H France in Revolution, 1774-1815 (A-level only): Part one - the end of Absolutism and the French Revolution, 1774- (Component 2 depth study)

The origins of the French Revolution, 1774-1789 · The experiment in constitutional monarchy, 1789-1792 · The emergence and spread of the Terror, September 1792-1795

Coming soon

20. 2J America: A Nation Divided, c1845-1877: Part one - the origins of the American Civil War, c1845-1861 (Component 2 depth study)

North and South in c1845 · Attempts to maintain the Union, c1845-1854 · The outbreak of Civil War, 1854-1861

• The American Civil War and Reconstruction (1845–1877) – Between 1845 and 1877 the United States grew west, split over slavery, fought a civil war and then tried to rebuild. The North had factories and free labour; the South grew cotton with about 4 million enslaved people. New western land raised one question again and again: would new states allow slavery? Compromises (1820, 1850) failed, and after Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 election, 11 Southern states left the Union. The war (1861–65) killed about 620,000 soldiers. The North won with more people, factories and railways, and slavery was ended by the 13th Amendment. Reconstruction (1865–77) gave citizenship and the vote to Black men, but when federal troops left in 1877, many of these rights were taken away for almost a century.

21. 2K International Relations and Global Conflict, c1890-1941 (A-level only): Part one - Great Power rivalries and entry into war, c1890-1917 (Component 2 depth study)

Great Powers: Britain, Germany, France, Russia and Austria-Hungary, c1890-1900 · The Great Powers and Crises, 1900-1911 · The coming of war, 1911-1917

• The Interwar Period (1918–1939) – Between the end of the First World War (1918) and the start of the Second (1939), four empires collapsed and many new states appeared in Central and Eastern Europe. The Versailles–Washington peace system and the League of Nations tried to keep order. After unrest in the early 1920s came a short period of stability, but the 1929 crash started the Great Depression. Mass unemployment weakened democracies; most new states turned authoritarian, while fascist Italy, Nazi Germany and the Stalinist USSR became totalitarian. Governments began to manage the economy, the League failed to stop aggression, and the Spanish Civil War and appeasement led towards war in 1939.

22. 2L Italy and Fascism, c1900-1945: Part one - the crisis of Liberal Italy and the Rise of Mussolini, c1900- The Crisis of Liberal Italy, c1900-1915 (Component 2 depth study)

The collapse of Liberal Italy and Mussolini's Rise to Power, 1915-1922 · Mussolini and the establishment of Fascist Italy, 1922-1926

• Fascist Italy (1915–1945): How Mussolini Rose, Ruled and Fell – Italy joined the First World War in 1915 and won, but gained less land than promised, so nationalists called it a 'mutilated victory'. After 1919 prices rose, soldiers had no jobs, workers went on strike and occupied factories, and weak coalition governments kept falling. Benito Mussolini's Fascist movement used armed squads (Blackshirts) against socialists and won support from landowners, industrialists and the middle class. After the March on Rome in October 1922 the king made Mussolini prime minister. With the Acerbo Law (1923), a violent 1924 election, the murder of Matteotti and laws in 1925–26, Italy became a one-party dictatorship. Fascism used the cult of 'Il Duce', propaganda, a secret police (OVRA), youth groups, the corporate state, the Battle for Grain and the Lateran Pacts with the Church (1929). Abroad Mussolini wanted a new Roman empire: he invaded Abyssinia (1935), joined Hitler in the Axis (1936) and entered the Second World War in 1940. Defeats led to his removal in 1943; he was killed in 1945.

23. 2M Wars and Welfare: Britain in Transition, 1906-1957: Part one - Society in Crisis, 1906-1929 (Component 2 depth study)

The Liberal crisis, 1906-1914 · The impact of war, 1914-1922 · The search for stability, 1922-1929

• Modern Britain 1851–1964: Reform, War and Welfare – Between 1851 and 1964 Britain changed from a country where few men could vote and the state did little, into a democracy where all adults voted and the state looked after people "from cradle to grave". Key drivers: Reform Acts (1867, 1884, 1918, 1928), the rise of the Labour Party and trade unions, the Liberal welfare reforms (1906–14), two total wars, the economic slump of the 1930s, the Beveridge Report and the 1945 Labour government (NHS 1948), then the affluent 1950s and the end of empire.

24. 2N Revolution and dictatorship: Russia, 1917-1953: Part one - The Russian Revolution and the Rise of Stalin, 1917-1929 (Component 2 depth study)

Dissent and Revolution, 1917 · Bolshevik consolidation, 1918-1924 · Stalin's rise to power, 1924-1929

• Revolution and Dictatorship: Russia and Stalin's Soviet Union (1917–1953) – In 1917 war defeats, hunger and anger at Tsar Nicholas II led to the February Revolution; the Tsar abdicated and a weak Provisional Government took over. In October Lenin's Bolsheviks seized power. They closed the elected Constituent Assembly, made peace with Germany, won a civil war against the Whites (1918–21) and built a one-party state with a secret police (Cheka). War Communism caused hunger and revolt, so Lenin switched to the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1921. After Lenin died in 1924, Stalin used his post as General Secretary to defeat Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev and Bukharin by 1929. He then forced fast industrialisation through Five-Year Plans and collectivised farming, which brought big gains in heavy industry but a terrible famine in 1932–33. Through purges, show trials and the Great Terror (1936–38), the Gulag and a personality cult, Stalin ruled by fear. The USSR survived the German invasion of 1941 and won the Great Patriotic War at a huge cost, becoming a superpower. Stalin's harsh rule continued until his death in 1953.

25. 2O Democracy and Nazism: Germany, 1918-1945: Part one - the Weimar Republic, 1918-1933 (Component 2 depth study)

The Establishment and early years of Weimar, 1918-1924 · The 'Golden Age' of the Weimar Republic, 1924-1928 · The Collapse of Democracy, 1928-1933

Coming soon

26. 2P The Transformation of China, 1936-1997: Part one - the emergence of the People's Republic of China, 1936- The Origins of the Civil War, 1936-1946 (Component 2 depth study)

Communist victory and the consolidation of Mao's rule, 1946-1952 · The transition to Socialism, 1952-1962

• Modern China 1946–1997: From Mao to Deng – Between 1946 and 1997 China changed more than almost any country. The Communist Party (CCP) under Mao Zedong won a civil war against the Nationalists (GMD) and founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Mao used land reform and mass campaigns to take firm control. He then tried to build socialism fast: the First Five-Year Plan, collective farms and the Great Leap Forward, which caused a terrible famine. After a short recovery, Mao launched the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), a decade of turmoil. After Mao died in 1976, Deng Xiaoping opened the economy to markets and foreign trade while keeping one-party rule, crushing the 1989 Tiananmen protests. By 1997 China was a rising global power.

27. 2Q The American Dream: reality and illusion, 1945-1980: Part one - prosperity, inequality and Superpower status, 1945-1963 (Component 2 depth study)

Truman and Post-war America, 1945-1952 · Eisenhower: tranquility and crisis, 1952-1960 · John F Kennedy and the 'New Frontier', 1960-1963

• Modern US History: From 1865 to Today – After the Civil War the USA became the world's biggest industrial economy and then a superpower. The Gilded Age (1865–1900) brought railways, factories and millions of migrants, but also deep inequality. Populists and Progressives (1890–1920) pushed for reforms, and the USA expanded overseas and joined the First World War. The 1920s boom ended in the 1929 crash and the Great Depression; Roosevelt's New Deal and the Second World War rebuilt the economy. After 1945 most Americans enjoyed new wealth while the civil rights movement fought segregation, the country led one side of the Cold War, and the Vietnam War and Watergate shook public trust. From 1980, Reagan's conservatism, the end of the Cold War, the internet economy, new migration, 9/11 and the 2008 crisis shaped the present. A useful lens for the whole period: who got opportunity, and who faced inequality?

28. 2R The Cold War, c1945-1991: Part one - to the brink of Nuclear War: international relations, c1945- The Origins of the Cold War, c1945-1949 (Component 2 depth study)

The Widening of the Cold War, 1949-1955 · The Global War, 1955-1963

• The Cold War (1945–1991) – The Cold War was a long contest (1945–1991) between two superpowers: the USA with its Western allies (capitalism, multi-party elections) and the USSR with its Eastern allies (communism, one-party rule). They never fought each other directly. Instead they formed rival alliances (NATO, Warsaw Pact), raced to build nuclear weapons and reach space, backed opposite sides in proxy wars (Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan) and came close to nuclear war in Cuba in 1962. Many new nations, led by India and others, stayed non-aligned. Détente eased tension in the 1970s. Reforms in the USSR, the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) and the break-up of the USSR (1991) ended it.

29. 2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951-2007: Part one - building a new Britain, 1951-1979 (Component 2 depth study)

The Affluent Society, 1951-1964 · The Sixties, 1964-1970 · The end of Post-War Consensus, 1970-1979

• Post-War Britain 1951–2007: From Consensus to New Labour – From 1951 to 2007 Britain moved from a 'post-war consensus' (both main parties accepting the welfare state, the NHS, strong unions and a mixed economy) to a new consensus built on free markets. The 1950s brought rising living standards under the Conservatives. The 1960s under Wilson brought liberal social reforms and youth culture, but economic weakness. In the 1970s inflation, strikes and the oil shock broke the old consensus, and Britain joined the EEC. Margaret Thatcher (1979–90) cut union power and privatised industries, at the cost of high unemployment. After Major, Tony Blair's New Labour (1997–2007) accepted markets but spent more on public services, devolved power and joined the Iraq War.

30. 2T The Crisis of Communism: The USSR and the Soviet Empire, 1953-2000 (A-level only): Part one - Crisis in the Soviet Union, 1953-2000 (Component 2 depth study)

De-Stalinisation, 1953-1964 · Years of Stagnation, 1964-1985 · The Gorbachev Revolution, 1985-2000

• The Collapse of the Soviet Union and Its Empire (1953–2000) – After Stalin died in 1953, the USSR tried to reform without losing control. Khrushchev denounced Stalin and eased terror, but crushed Hungary in 1956. Under Brezhnev (1964–82) growth slowed and leaders grew old: the 'years of stagnation'. The satellite states of Eastern Europe were kept in line by force (Prague 1968) and by a promise of a quiet life paid for with Western loans. Protest grew, above all Poland's Solidarity union (1980). Gorbachev (1985–91) tried glasnost and perestroika and stopped using force abroad. In 1989 the satellites threw off communism, and in 1991 the USSR split into 15 states. Yeltsin's Russia then went through painful 'shock therapy' until Putin took over in 2000.