Russia HWS Test

From Harrison's Quizlet, but with alterations to align with the 23-24 study guide :) DOESN'T INCLUDE CLIMATES; SEE OTHER SET

Alexandra

Empress of Russia and the spouse of Nicholas II and ruler whilst he was in battle. Her rule brought the fall of the Imperial Russian Government. 

Alexei

He was the youngest child and only son of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. He was killed during the Russian Civil War.

Alexander Kerensky

Russian lawyer, politician and statesman. He was one of the key political figures between March and October 1917, when he was a minister and later Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government.

Autocracy

a system of government by one person with absolute power.

bolsheviks

A group of revolutionary Russian Marxists who took control of Russia's government in November 1917

Boris Yeltsin

President of the Russian Republic in 1991. Helped end the USSR and force Gorbachev to resign.

bourgeoisie

The class of owners; middle class; people who supposedly took advantage of the working class and would cause them to rebel and create communism according to marxist beliefs

Boyars/ nobles

higher class people; wealthy land owners; wanted to continue serfdom

Catherine the Great

Empress of Russia from 1762 until 1796, the country's longest-ruling female leader.

Communists

people who favor the equal distribution of wealth and the end of all forms of private property

Cyrillic Alphabet

Slavic script based on Greek, developed in Russia in the Middle Ages

Czar

A Russian emperor

Czarists; Reds

People who believed the Czars should rule Russia; Communists

Duma

The elected parliament in the Soviet Union. Though establishing this is seemed like the Czar was giving his people power, in reality he could easily get rid of this if they made any laws or such that he didn't like.

Grand Prince Vladimir

 Vladimir the Great was a prince of Novgorod, grand prince of Kiev, and ruler of Kievan Rus' from 980 to 1015. He converted to Orthodox Christianity in 988 which led to the country adopting Christianity.

Ivan the Great

Was grand duke of Moscow from 1462 to 1505. He completed the unification of Russian lands, and his reign marks the beginning of Muscovite Russia. His reign also marks the beginning of the Gathering of Russian Lands. 

Ivan the Terrible

He exercised absolute control over Russia's hereditary nobility and developed a bureaucracy to administer the new territories.  He transformed Russia from a medieval state into an empire, though at immense cost to its people, and its broader, long-term economy.

Intelligentsia

intellectuals; members of the educated elite; where revolutionaries drew their membership from

Josef Stalin

Bolshevik revolutionary, head of the Soviet Communist Party after 1924, and dictator of the Soviet Union from 1928-1953. He led the Soviet Union with an iron fist, using Five-Year Plans to increase industrial production and terror to crush all opposition.

Kiev

Current capital of Ukraine, first capital of the Russian state, which was Kiev Russ at the time.

Monarchists/Whites

counterrevolutionaries; people who supported the monarchy

mutual defense treaty

Alliance that stated that if one country gets attacked, the other countries are contractually obliged to attack on the first country's behalf

NEP/New Economic Plan

The economic policy of the government of the Soviet Union from 1921 to 1928, representing a temporary retreat from its previous policy of extreme centralization and doctrinaire socialism by Lenin; replaced war communism.

Nicholas II

Son of Alex III; the Last czar of Russia, he went to the frontlines in WWI to try to rally the troops but was forced to abdicate for his brother who refused the throne.

Peter the Great

Peter the Great was a Russian czar in the late 17th century, who is best known for his extensive reforms in an attempt to establish Russia as a great nation. 

proletariat

working class

Provisional government

A temporary government created by the Duma after the abdication of the czar; it made the decision to remain in World War One, costing it the support of the soviets and the people.

The Great Purge

A campaign of terror directed at eliminating anyone who threatened Stalin's power

Rasputin

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Tsar Nicholas II, the last monarch of Russia, and gained considerable influence in late imperial Russia. He exerted a huge influence over Nicholas II and his wife during their rule. 

serfs

A person who lived on and farmed a lords land in feudal times; liberated by Alexander II

Socialists

Group that believed nation's resources and industries should be owned and operated by the government on behalf of the people

Soviets

local councils consisting of workers, peasants, and soldiers

Vladimir Lenin

Russian founder of the Bolsheviks and leader of the Russian Revolution and first head of the USSR (1870-1924).

War communism

in World War I Russia, government control of most industries and told them what to produce and peasants had to feed the army. Workers and peasants revolted.

Kadets

Advocates of a Russian constitutional democracy. This was attained in 1905. They made up most of the first Duma but were eventually declared illegal when the Bolsheviks took power.

Marxism

Emerged as the most famous socialist belief system during the 19th century made by Karl Marx. The belief that the working class would revolt against the owner class and achieve communism.

Leninism

revision of Marxism that held that Russia need not experience a bourgeois revolution before it could move toward socialism

Revolution of 1905

After Russia lost war against Japan. Result of discontent from Russian factory workers and peasants. The gvt. opened fired on the march, called bloody sunday, and the entire empire rebelled.

Revolution of 1917

A political revolution in Russia beginning in 1917. The Bolsheviks, now known as Communists, overthrew Czar Nicholas II and created a socialist government based upon the writings of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. Lenin came to power.

Russian civil war

1918-1920: conflict in which the Red Army successfully defended the newly formed Bolshevik government against various Russian and interventionist anti-Bolshevik armies. Red vs. White Army. Country renamed to the USSR.

Mensheviks

The party which opposed to the Bolsheviks. Started in 1903; wanted a democratic party with mass membership.

Dual Power

The all-russian soviet and provisional government competing for power