Russian Revolution

Tsar Alexander I

Russia’s conservative leader

\-hated France because of revolutions

\-death sparked debate on who should succeed him

Tsar Alexander II

succeeding tsar

\-freed serfs during Crimean war

\-formed city counsels, zemstros, dumas

\-created National Duma who will advise him as king

\-assassinated and successor stops duma creation

\-last Tsar

Nicholas II

rule begins with many bad omens

\-hundreds dead at his wedding

\-only had daughters until finally 1 son but had hemophilia

\-found Rasputin to cure him and soon became Rasputin’s “puppet“

Peter the Great

\-visited Europe and believed Russia was backward, must modernize!!

\-captured swamp area to build fleet; names St. Petersberg

strong man rule

Always prepared for war

\-experience from being constantly invaded by East

Eurasion Highway

flat land across Russia connecting Europe and Asia

\-faced many invasion attempts because of this

Decembrist Revolution

After the death of Tsar Alexander I, many soldiers and generals desired liberalism and protested the crowning of Nicholas I and wanted his liberal brother, Constantine

\-”Constantine and Constitution!”

\-these “Decembrists“ were later executed by the new ruler Nicholas I

Russo-Japanese war

Conflict between Russia and Japan that lead to a historic defeat of a European country by an Asian country

Bloody Sunday (1905)

Peaceful protesters were marching toward Nicholas II’s palace when fired on by palace guards

\-hundreds died and Nicholas was completely unaware as he was off fighting

October Manifesto

An attempt to quiet strikes and revolts by promising freedom of speech and assembly and for a Duma

\- not truly fulfilled

Fundamental Laws

\-Tsar retains great powers with an absolute veto

\-Members of the duma would be elected by tsar and his ministers

\-Many saw this as a step backwards

1905 Revolution

\-Strikes throughout demanding better working conditions

\-Navy also begins to ignore orders

Georgi Gapon

lead Bloody Sunday protests

\-demanded 8 hr work days and freedom to union and impoved working conditions

\-secret sufrage in elections

\-freedom of speech/press/religion

\-end war with Japan

March (februrary) 1917

\-strikes led by women factory workers

\-joined by men adding up to 100,000 workers protesting

\-also joined by cossacks; Russia’s brutal fighting unit

\-Tsar ordered the army to shoot but demonstrations continued

\-Eventually Tsar Nicholas II gives up throne and Duma takes over

Cause of Revolution

\-Resentment toward Tsar’s absolute power and the influence of Rasputin they were under

\-Heavy taxes

\-Social inequality and war took away from civilians

\-Failure to comply with reforms promised after Revolution of 1905

Kerensky

Head of Provisional Government after Nicholas II

\-then overthrown Bolsheviks

Provisional Government

Temporary government created by the Duma after the abdication of the tsar

Lenin

“Peace, Land Bread“

\-Founded the communist party in Russia and set up the world's first communist dictatorship

\-He led the October Revolution of 1917 which led Russia into a communist gov.

Stalin

Russian leader who took over after Lenin died

\
\-created a totalitarian gov and purged those who he suspected

\-#2 killer in the world

Alexandra

wife of Alexander II

\-German and disliked by Russians

\-”emperor (Alexander II) is weak, I am not”

Rasputin

\-Self-proclaimed holy man who claimed to heal the sick and have prophecy

\-After healing Alexi, he had so much influence over Alexandra that she went to him for political advice

\-Pupetter of the tsar

Kornilov Affair

Lead by General Kornilov: Kerenksy’s commander in cheif

\-believed that the provisional gov was corrupt and must be overthrown

\-gathered the Bolsheviks

\-attempted to attack but was quickly defeated

July Days

Protests and riots over Kerensky’s poor military choices

\-demanded an end to the war

\-protester called upon the Bolsheviks for support

\-troops surpressed crowd and Lenin fleed to escape arrest

War communism

\-government controlling of banks and most industries

\-forceful seizing of weapons and food for soldiers if they made extra

\-farm

\-destroyed economy

Gulags

Forced labor camps

purges

Execution of millions of people by the suspicion of Stalin

\-7 million arrested, 1 million executed, 2 million died in gulags

Bucharin

befriended by Stalin as he controlled propoganda in Russia

\-eventually suspected and killed by him by show trial

kulaks

rich peasants

\-Stalin: They are the enemy!

Totalitarism

\-propoganda

\-control of media

\-no institutions aside from government

\-control of economy

\-fear

\-”butter” (things are gettin better!)

5 Year Plan

unrealistic plans introduced to industrialize the Russia rapidly

\-demanded production of steel, electricity, machinery, and most other products and were enforced by the police

Russian civil war

Bolshviks v eveyone else (Red v Whites)

\-Whites were supported by US, France and Britian but lost

\-Red attacked and killed the tsar family so that the white’s had no figure to look up to

Bolsheviks

far right, Marxist group

\-led by Lenin and seized power in 1917 after civil war

\-later led by Stalin

Mensheviks

scientific socialist group

\-believed they must wait for sci. socialism to come

zemstvos

elected rural governments to allow some democracy without weakening the central government

cheka

Secret police set up by Lenin-arrested "enemies of the revolution"

Alexander III

\-returned Russia to a repressed nation; censorship and purged critics

\-repealed reforms of Alexander II

Pogroms

massacre of a particular ethnic group-Jews in particular

Holodomor

man made famine affecting Ukrainians

\-genocide?

Show Trials

Fake trials set up by Stalin

\-surrounded by press

\-falsely accuses defendant and forces them to agree at the expense of their family’s lives