Russia Notes

Czar

A title used for the emperor or ruler of Russia. The term "czar" comes from the word "Caesar".

Czar Alexander III

Czar Alexander III was the ruler of Russia from 1881 to 1894. He was an average czar.

Government Censorship

Deciding what information the public has access to.

Secret Police

Not so secret people who did the dirty work for the czar. They were involved in the education system and if a teacher did something inappropriate, they would be sent to Siberia AKA exile.

What helps Russia industrialize?

France and Britain invest in them and with this money they produce enough steel to become the 4th largest producer in the world.

Trans-Siberian Railway

A railway that went from East to West across Russia. To build these, they used low wages, bad working conditions, and child labor.

Unions

Workers' organizations would go on strike to fix issues in their job, but instead, the Czar shut them down and arrested them.

Karl Marx

Said that the __have-nots__ would realize the system is treating them badly and they would revolt against the __haves__ and overthrow the Czar. (Founder of Marxism, father of Communism)

Mensheviks

Moderate people who want gradual change. They have a lot of support because they are not radical.

Bolsheviks

Radicals who wanted change fast and now. They had less support but good quality in people like their leader.

Vladimir Lenin

Leader of the Bolsheviks and eventual ruler of Russia.

Nicholas II

The last Czar of Russia, he goes through 3 critical crises:

• Russo-Japenese War (1905)

• Bloody Sunday (1905)

• WWI (1914)

Russo-Japanese War (1905)

Japan beat Russia and it made Nicholas II look bad.

Bloody Sunday (1905)

Workers protested because of bad working conditions. This was at the Czar’s Winter Palace and it was led by Georgy Gapon. The Czar’s police open fired on the crowd killing a lot of people.

October Manifesto

Workers got what they wanted (better wages, better working conditions, unions), but also they create the Duma which goes in and out of the system 4 times.

Duma

First ever legislative body in Russia, it is like Great Britain’s parliament.

WWI (1914) (Russian Crisis)

Russia did terribly in WWI and a lot of people died, and everyone hated him. So, he decides to take control of the military and while he is gone he puts his wife (Czarina Alexandra) in charge. Nicholas II really wanted to stay in the war to get stuff from winning.

Rasputin

A magical healer from Siberia. He said he could help Czarina Alexandra’s child (Alexis) who had hemophilia. He says in 3 months he will be healed, and in 3 months he is healed. To repay him, Alexandra lets him. stay in the palace and he slowly gains power until a group of nobles assonate him.

3 Reasons Why Nicholas II Resigned?

1. Political Pressure

2. Hoping if he resigns it will buy Russia time

3. He wants to stay in the war for the things they could get

After resigning, what happened to Nicholas II (and his family)?

The Bolsheviks tell him that he is in danger, and when he walks down the stairs of his hiding place, him and his family get shot and killed and burried in the woods.

February Revolution

When the Czar is out of power, and the Provisional Government is in.

Provisional Government

Temporary Government in Russia. Alexander Kerensky was the leader and he did nothing to help Russia with WWI or the issues of land.

The Soviets

Local governments who compete with the Provisional Government for the peoples loyalty (and they get it). They get so much control that Lenin feels safe to come back.

Who Escorts Lenin?

The Germans because they want Russia to back out of the war (Lenin’s saying was PEACE, land bread).

October/Bolshevik Revolution

The Provisional Government is out, the Bolsheviks are in.

“Storming” of the Winter Palace

They want it to be like the Storming of the Bastille, but it is very anticlimactic, the Provisional Government just hands the power to the Bolshevik Red Guard. Walk in, walk out.

When Lenin gets in power, what does he do?

1. Factories to workers

2. Farmland to poor

3. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Out of war)

Russian Civil War

Red vs Whites. 14 Million people died because of war, hunger, and the Spanish Flu. The war lasted 3 years, when the reds won, it showed they could hold power

Red Army

Well organized and strong. The leader was Leon Trotsky who was a military genius.

White Army

Very unorganized, only thing in common is that they hated the Bolsheviks. The U.S. and GB supported them, but it wasn’t enough.

New Economic Policy (NEP)

Farmers would have to produce a minimum amount of crops, and then give them all to the government, but every crop they make above that quota, they get to keep and do whatever they want with it. 

Also added privately owned businesses and farms.

Communism Slogan

From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs

What did Lenin rename Russia?

USSR/Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republic)

What did Lenin rename the Bolshevik party?

The Communist Party to appeal to more.

Who were the 2 main people in the power struggle following Lenin’s death?

1. Liam Trotsky

2. Joseph Stalin

Why does Stalin win?

He made anyone in power he could put in power have loyalty to him or they denied them. After he wins, he sends Trotsky to exile (Mexico) and eventually tells and assassin to kill him.