Imperial Russia

Who are the “Rus”

Mixture of Scandinavian and Slavic peoples

Vladimir the Great

980-1015

Introduced Christianity

Yaroslav the Wise

(1019-1054)

Legal code with fixed punishments

Divided kingdom among songs

Who sacked Kiev in 1242

The Golden Horde (Mongols)

Who are the Tartars

Descendants of the Mongols and the second largest ethnic group in Russia (after Russians). They are predominantly Muslim and were a strong political force when Russia was newly formed

Who proclaimed Muscovy to be independent in 1480

Ivan III

The Byzantine Empire saw the Russians as a ____ ____ between them and the Islamic Empires

buffer state

Fall of Constantinople

1453

Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Empire and is renamed to Istanbul

What is the tsar’s relation to religion

• Tsar rules by Divine Right

• Russian Orthodox Christianity is the dominant religion

• When Russia was being formed, they saw themselves as the next defender of Christendom

Divine Right

Monarch claims that God has given them the right to rule

Ivan the Terrible

1462-1502

The First Tsar

1. Consolidated power

• Solidified the power of the Tsar and eliminated rivals

2. Expands borders

• Expands Russia past historic Moscow borders

3. Terror as political tool

• Uses torture and murder as a way to gain power

4. Time of troubles

• Dies without strong heir, leads to chaos

Boyars

Noble class in Russia

Autocracy

Absolute rule

Oprichnina

State policy that allowed mass execution, torture and oppression of boyars and peasants

Started by Ivan the Terrible

Oprichnik

Group of “bodyguards” meant to carry out orders

Started by Ivan the Terrible

“False Dmitriys”

People pretending to be Ivan the Terrible’s son after his father killed him

Romanov Dynasty

One of the longest dynasties in European history, lasting until 1917. Boyars elected Michael Romanov to be Tsar after issues with figuring out the heir following Ivan III’s son.

Michael Romanov

Elected to be Tsar by boyars because they thought he would be easy to control (they were right). Gives boyars complete control over serfs

Serfdom

Peasants in Russia tied to land they worked on; similar to slavery

Peter the Great

1682-1725

1. Modernization

• Modernizes technology and military

2. Westernization

• Orients Russia towards Western Europe

3. Expansion

• Expands borders, captures a warm water port

4. Absolutism

• Expands power of Tsar, limits opposing factions

How did Peter the Great ascend to the throne

His father died when he was young, leaving his older half-brother to co-lead with Peter’s sister due to his age. His sister was basically in charge of everything while his brother was the face of the monarchy.

Peter overthrows his sister, his brother dies afterwards, leaving Peter to take control as leader

Streltsy

Russian infantry class

Peter the Great puts down the Streltsy rebellion in 1698

Catherine the Great

1762-1796

1. Government Reform

• Tries to move away from terror as a political tool

2. Westernization

• Creates western-style court

3. Expansion

• Significantly expands borders, including Crimean Peninsula

4. Enlightenment

• Supported art, education (specifically for women), and public health

Peter III

Catherine the Great’s husband. Was a horrible ruler and had a mutual hatred of his wife.

He had one “legitimate” son, though his paternity is questionable

Was assassinated in 1762 by a coup led by Catherine’s lover and supported by Catherine

What happened following Catherine the Great’s death

She never remarried, so she had no husband to take the throne. She hated her only “legitimate” son (Paul I) and didn’t want him to take the throne. She wanted to skip her son and give her throne to her grandson (Alexander I), but died before she could put this into action, leaving Paul I to take over and undo all of her reforms until he is assassinated.

Alexander I

1801-1825

He was the Tsar to fight Napoleon, who at the time had conquered much of Europe. Used scorched-earth policy to weaken and defeat Napoleon’s troops, which led Alexander I to be welcomed as a hero in Europe.

His defeat of Napoleon caused Russia to be invited to the Congress of Vienna in 1814 to decide the future of Europe, which was a very big deal.

Nicholas I

(1825-1855)

Expanded the military to be much larger, but did not strengthen it. Started many wars, such as the Crimean War (which Russia lost). Imposed strict, harsh rule and anti-westernization policies.

Had a few actual reforms, such as a new legal code, economic reform leading to industrialization, and considered ending serfdom, though he never did

What happened during the transfer of power of Alexander I and Nicholas I

Alexander I dies and his older brother refused to take the throne. This interregnum period led to the “Decembrist Revolt”

The Decembrists wanted the end of absolute total monarchy

Interregnum

Period between 2 monarchs

Alexander II

1855-1881

The Liberator

Abolished serfdom on private land, which meant that serfs were free citizens and could marry, move, and own land. This was done through the Emancipation Reform of 1861

Enacted many reforms on the judicial system, including a new penal code, trial with open court, the jury system, and lifetime tenure for judges. Also allowed local self-government, called “Zemstro”, and considered an elected assembly to advise the Tsar. He was also the Tsar to sell Alaska to the US

How did Alexander II die

He survived 5 assassination attempts from 1866-1880, before being killed in 1881 by a group called “The People’s Will”

Alexander III

1881-1894

He was a counter reformer who disagreed with many policy decisions enacted by his father (Alexander II). During his reign, he undid many of his father’s reforms, including stopping the creation of an advisory board to the Tsar and limiting the power of Zemstro.

Alexander III hunted down members of “The People’s Will” and killed them, one of those members being Vladimir Lenin’s brother.

He enacted Russification policies which required people who were not ethnically Russian to speak the Russian language and go to Russian schools. He also enacted a series of progroms targeting Jewish people.

Russification

Assimilation to Russian culture

Progroms

Violent riots aimed at expelling a particular ethnic group, usually Jews.

Alexander III’s progroms caused many Russian Jews to flee to America

Nicholas II

1894-1917

The Last Tsar

He was not well prepared to the throne due to his father (Alexander III) dying younger than expected. He strongly believed in fatalism and divine right.

Fatalism

The belief that whatever happens was meant to be and put in action by God

Russo-Japanese War

1901-1905

The first time a European power was beaten by an Asian power in modern history. This was extremely embarassing for the Tsar.

Revolution of 1905

Caused by agrarian, nationality, labor, and educated class problems. Began with Bloody Sunday, where an unarmed group came to present petition to Nicholas II, and the imperial guard fired on them and killed many.

This revolution lead to the creation of the Duma, a new constitution, and the october Manifesto

Duma

Russian parliament, initially created to advise the Tsar and create laws (with Tsar veto)

Describe Nicholas II’s family

His wife, Alexandra, was hated by Russians. He had 5 children, one of which being a boy and the only chance for an heir. His one son, Alexei, had hemophilia, or a hereditary blood disease

Rasputin

Self proclaimed healer and mystic who befriended Nicholas II and his wife on the basis that he could heal Alexei. His political influence increased because of this, and at one point he was commanding World War I troops. He was assassinated by noblemen who opposed his influence

March Revolution

Mass protests and revolt against the Tsar, which leads to Nicholas II’s abdication and the creation of a new provisional government

October Revolution

Communists overthrow the provisional government, which starts a civil war

How did Nicholas II die?

Nicholas II and his family were executed by the comunist regime. Their bodies were hidden and not discovered until 1998

Laissez faire

No government regulation in economics

Bourgeoisie

The middle class (now it means upper class); the people who own production

Proletariat

The workers/the working class

What are the steps to the Communist Revolution

1. Unifying the working class and violently overthrowing the bourgeoisie

   • Has to be violent because the bourgeouisie would never want to give up

   • Only possible because the proletariat is much larger than the bourgeoisie

2. Socialist Phase

   • Still has a government, just not run by bourgeoisie

   • Government ends private property by taking over the economy

3. Communist Phase

   • No more government

   • No more classes

   • Communal ownership

   • No country has ever reached this stage

What are some flaws in Communist Theory

• The provisional government never wants to give up power

• Having no government is difficult to uphold

• Lack of classes means there’s no social order and people typically don’t want to share

“For each according to his ability, to each according to his means”

Not saying everyone is equal, but saying everyone gets what they need to survive.

ex. A mother of 4 gets more than someone who lives alone, since a mother needs more for her kids than a lonely person

Where have communist revolutions typically happened?

Unindustrialized countries

Reasons why a communist revolution has never happened in an industrial country

• The people were given the right to vote

• Social Security

• Right of workers to join unions

• Laws abolishing child labor

Leninism

Marxism, except the proletariat is replaced by the Party Vanguard (the educated leaders of the revolution)

Lenin knew he didn’t have a big proletariat and instead tweaked Marxism to fit his situation

Maoism

Marxism, but the proletariat are peasants instead of the working class

Alexander Kerensky

President of the provisional government, as well as War Minister during World War I