-
Period: to
Events Leading up to the Russian Revolution
-
The Great Northern War
This war was a conflict in which alliances led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the control of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Central Europe, and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of Denmark–Norway and Augustus II the Strong of Saxony-Poland-Lithuania. Frederik IV and August II. -
The Decembrist Revolt
A group of military officials in St. Petersburg, Russia staged a revolt against Car Nicholas I. These rebels were liberals who felt threatened by the new ruler's laws. They were, however, defeated by the Czar's forces. This revolt, made Nicholas I implement a variety of new restrictions to prevent the spread of the lieral movement in Russia. -
Czar Alexander II Emancipates the Serfs
The major reason the serfs were emancipated was not due to the cruel lives they were forced to live, but rather because of the Crimean War. For example, Russia's military was frail because it almost entirely consisted of serfs, who were forced to serve in it. "At the root of all the weaknesses and abuses was the supreme evil of serfdom." said Alexander II. -
The Assassination of Alexander II
Alexander II is killed in the streets of St. Petersburg by a bomb thrown by a member of a revolutionary group. As he was known to do every Sunday for many years, the emperor went to the Mikhailovsky Manège for the military roll call. He travelled both to and from the Manège in a closed carriage. -
The Russo-Japanesse War
The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, which began with the Japanese naval attack on Port Arthur, The war developed out of the rivalry between Russia and Japan for dominance in Korea and Manchuria. In 1898 Russia had pressured China into granting it a lease for the strategically important port of Port Arthur. Russian failure to withdraw from Manchuria and Russian penetration into N Korea were countered by Japanese attempts to negotiate a division of the area into spheres of influence. -
Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday was a massacre in St. Petersburg, Russia, where unarmed, peaceful protestors marching to present a petition to the Tsar Nicholas II were gunned down by police. Czar Nicholas the II was from then on known for the disregard for ordinary people. -
The Revolution of 1905
The 1905 Revolution was an uprising of the people of Russia calling for a change in their government. It was caused from the massacure formally known as "Bloody Sunday". The 1905 Revolution caused significant reform in Russia. -
World War I (Russian Involvment)
Military failures at the Masurian Lakes and Tannenburg weakened the Russian Army in the begining of the war. The growing involvement of Gregory Rasputin over the Romanov’s did a great deal to damage the royal family and by the end of the spring of 1917, the Romanovs, who had ruled Russia for just over 300 years, were no longer in charge of a Russia that had been taken over by Kerensky and the Provisional Government. By the end of 1917, the Bolsheviks led by Lenin had taken power in -
Czar Nicholas II abdicated the Russian throne
In March 1917, the army garrison at Petrograd joined striking workers in demanding socialist reforms, and Czar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate the Russian Throne. The Febuary Revolt caused this abdiction. he issued this statement, "In the days of the great struggle against the foreign enemies, who for nearly three years have tried to enslave our fatherland, the Lord God has been pleased to send down on Russia a new heavy trial." -
The March Revolution
The March revolution forced the Czar to abdicate, established freedom of the press, and granted a freedom to political prisoners in Siberia. After the Czar's abdication, power passed to a Provisional Government appointed by a temporary committee of the Duma, which proposed to share power to some extent with councils of workers and soldiers known as "soviets".