• Romanov – Czarist royal family who ruled Russia for 3 centuries

• Totalitarianism – Absolute unlimited power by a ruler and control over every phase of life

• Soviet – elected councils formed during the Revolution

• 1860s-1880s: Social Reforms but Political problems in Russia

• Czar Alexander II tries to please the people through social reforms

• Serfs become citizens

• Police & Judges were bias; now trial by jury & no secret trials & right to appeal

• New universities & schools

• Military corporal punishment abolished & 25 year service reduced

• But the czar was an authoritarian with no representation from the people & against any political changes

• Czar Alexander II was assassinated March 13, 1881

• Alexander II’s son, Nicholas II became Czar in 1894

• Married to Alexandra; had 4 daughters & 1 son

• Romanov family ruled Russia for 300 years

• Lacked leadership & weak power

• Alexia- only son of Czar Nicholas II, had Hemophilia a disorder where blood does not clot and can lead to severe blood loss when injured

INDUSTRIALIZATION

Russia was slow to industrialize Caused a wider gap between social classes 50% of families had to send a member to distant cities find work in the factories

Nicholas II wanted to expand it’s empire close to Japanese controlled land in the East. War broke out over who controlled the territories of Manchuria & Korea Russia underestimated Japan’s military and lost Caused: -humiliation -Russians had to pay for the war -Russians didn’t feel it was necessary because it was in the far east (where most people lived in the west) -More Russians disliked the czar b/c of war

• Thousands of unhappy urban workers & poor peasants from countryside

peacefully protest at the Winter Palace but were killed by guards

• Sought to petition the czar for better working conditions & suffrage

• The czar’s guards fired into the crowd- killing 200, wounding 800

• Shooting sparked widespread strikes and uprisings

October Manifesto & the Duma

Nicholas II’s October Manifesto-

a document that promises

political reforms after strikes,

protests and violence from the

Russian people

-Created limits on the czar

Gave:

-freedom of speech

freedom of the press

-freedom of assembly

-created the Duma

Duma- (Russian assembly) -a legislative body created by Nicholas II during October Manifesto (1906) and later becomes the temporary government until the Russian Revolution (1917) -Finally Russian Duma House members could have a voice and control some of the government (not much though!)

• Czar Nicholas II brings Russia into the Great War.

• War revealed the ineptitude and arrogance of the country’s

aristocratic elite

• Most peasants had

very little invested

in the War

• Poorly supplied

troops result in

massive casualties

• 1915- 1/4 Million men die a month

• Czar takes command- left country to his wife & Rasputin

• Czarina Alexandra was heavily

influenced by Rasputin

• Rasputin: peasant from Siberia. Self-

proclaimed healer; Could stop

Prince Alexia’s bleeding. Controlled

much of political decisions while

Nicholas II helped in WWI. Could not

solve Russian problems. Was

poisoned, shot and drowned.

• Scandals surrounding Rasputin

served to discredit the monarchy

• Alexandra and Rasputin throw the government into chaos

• Complete mismanagement of the wartime economy

• Alexandra and other high government officials accused of treason

• Rasputin assassinated in

December of 1916

Changes are Demanded Different groups form wanting change to Russia The 2 revolutionary groups supported Marxist ideas

Cadets Mensheviks Bolsheviks Russians that wanted reforms (not a Revolution). Mostly from middle class. -Wanted a British type government with a monarch & parliament. -Wanted the czar to be UNDER the law, not above it.

Political party

called the “Social

Revolutionary

Party” (SR’s);

Mostly

-Peasants; violent;

-liked Russian

traditions;

-more Socialistic

Political Party

called the

“Russian Social

Democrats” SD’s

Soviet supported

-Mostly working

class; violent

-Mostly Marxist, -

lead by Lenin;

• Women waited long hours in

bread lines; went on strike;

• 10,000 women marched in strike

against the government &

demanding food; troops were

ordered to shoot rioters but they

did not.

• The Duma declares itself a

Provisional Government

• Czar Nicholas abdicates the

throne (steps down)

© Students of History - http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Students-Of-History

April Theses

a series of speeches in which Lenin: -encouraged people to take control of the country “All Power to the Soviets” -overthrew provisional government (Duma) -asked for Soviet (councils of workers) support

• Cheka- Red Secret Police are

organized & used terror to stop

anti-Revolutionaries

• “Red Army”- Revolutionary army

created with Leon Trotsky in charge

• Bolshevik Party renamed

Communist Party in March of 1918

• The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

negotiated with Germany and

Russia leaves WWI

• Lenin reorganized the

country & renames it

the Soviet Union in 1922

• Implements the ideas of

Karl Marx

• Issues his New Economic

Policy in 1921 allowing

some capitalist policies

• Stalin was a Bolshevik

revolutionary

• Appointed general

secretary of the party’s

Central Committee in 1922

• Took power after Lenin’s

death in 1924

• Viciously eliminated

any opposition

• Stalin modernized the Soviet Union through “5 Year Plans” of industrialization

• His secret police allowed no opposition or freedoms

• Ordered the execution of millions (about 20 million)

• Example: 3-5 million Kukals were killed

• Kukal- a wealthy farmer who refused to give grain to the state

• 3-5 million more died in Ukraine due to lack of food due to deaths of kulaks

• Created a fully communist state