Russia Mock

Alexander II’s rule

1855 - 1881

Alexander III’s rule

1881 - 1894

Nicholas II’s rule

1894 - 1917

The Provisional Government’s rule

February 1917 - October 1917

Lenin’s rule

1917 - 1924

Stalin’s rule

1924 - 1953

Khrushchev’s rule

1953 - 1964

Year of the Emancipation of the Serfs

1861

Year of the introduction of the Zemstva

1864

Zemstva

Local councils created to improve local government, but they were subordinate to central authority.

Year of the Judicial reforms

1864

Judicial reforms

Introduced independent courts, trial by jury and more equality before law (excluding peasants).

Year of the Manifesto of Unshakeable Autocracy

1881

Manifesto of Unshakeable Autocracy

A declaration rejecting constitutional government and reaffirming Tsarist authority.

Year of the Zemstva Act

1890

How the Zemstva Act effected local government

Reduced Zemstva independence and increased central control to be more autocratic.

Year of the Fundamental Laws

1906

Duma

An elected Russian parliament, created in 1905 after the October Manifesto, intended to advise on laws and government.

Year of the October Manifesto

1905

Dual Power

Shared authority between the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet.

Declaration of rights

Political reforms promised by the Provisional Government in March 1917. They included civil liberties and legal equality.

Sovnarkom

The Bolshevik government created after October 1917.

1918 Constitution

Established the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

The year the USSR was formed

1922

WWII dates

1941 - 1945

WWI dates

1914 - 1918

The power holders during Lenin’s rule

The Communist Party

The reason for the USSR’s formation

To formalise a centralised socialist state.

Stalin’s style of government

Totalitarian

Year of the Sovnarkhoz reforms

1957

The Sovnarkhoz reforms

Attempts to decentralise economic administration to regional councils.

The Emancipation of the Serfs

Freed 23 million peasants legally but left them with insufficient land and reparation payments.

The Mir

A commune which restricted peasant mobility and economic independence.

The Peasant Land Bank

A scheme which aimed to allow peasants to buy land.

Year of the Peasant Land Bank

1883

Industrial working conditions under Alexander III

Long hours, low wages and poor housing.

Peasant problems under Nicholas II

Vulnerability to famine, such as the 1891 famine.

Industrial growth under Nicholas II

Increased urbanisation and growth of the working class.

The economic situation that the Provisional Government inherited

Wartime inflation and food shortages

War Communism

State control of industry and grain requisitioning.

War Communism dates

1918 - 1921

The year the NEP was introduced

1921

The New Economic Policy (NEP)

Allowed peasants to sell their surplus produce and for small businesses to operate.

Collectivisation

Forced collection of farms and no private land ownership.

Five-Year Plans

Programmes aimed at improving heavy industry and rapid industrial growth.

The Virgin Lands Scheme

A plan to cultivate new land to increase grain production.

Change under Alexander II

Social and economic change was limited as peasant living standards improved slowly and unevenly. 

Change under Alexander III

Industrial workers faced poor living and working conditions, while most peasants remained poor despite the Peasant Land Bank. 

Change under Nicholas II

Industrial workers faced poor living and working conditions, while most peasants remained poor despite the Peasant Land Bank. 

Change under the Provisional Government

Failed to improve living standards or economy, contributing to loss of popular support. 

Change under Lenin

NEP (1921) stabilised the economy and improved living standards unevenly, benefiting peasants more than urban workers. 

Change under Stalin

Workers gained employment but faced shortages and low consumer living standards. 

Change under Khrushchev

Some improvement in urban living standards occurred, but political power remained firmly monopolised by the Communist Party.