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900
Kievan Rus (900)
First official Russian state is formed -
1533
Ivan The Terrible (1533 - 1584)
Expanded Russia to the east
Beat back the mongols at Kazan
Built legacy, land, and architecture
Killed his son and left no heir
Times of Trouble - Civil war in Russia in times to find new heir -
Peter The Great (1682 - 1725)
- Brought stability back to Russia
- tried to make Russia more like Europe (took trips in disguise to England, Denmark, Germany, Holland, and France)
- Was supposed to rule with his sister (not happy with that and through his sister in convent)
- Built St. Petersburg (window of the west)
- Died when he tried to save pheasant from downing and got pneumonia.
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Catherine the Great (1762 - 1796)
- German Princess who overthrew her husband
- Spoke of beneficial ideas, but ruled with an iron fist
- Captured crimean peninsula from the Turks
- Spoke about freeing the Serfs, however never did
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Nicholas II (1894 - 1917)
- Ruled during pre-revolutionary Russia
- Continued the tradition of absolute monarch
- Russo-Japanese war
- Defeat for Russia led to political instability
- After unrest, Russia changed to a constitutional monarchy.
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Rasputin (1908)
- Was known as the Mad Monk
- Wandered around Russia claiming he had special powers
- Built up a bad reputation in St.Petersburg (slept with dozens of women and was a alcoholic)
- Killed in 1916 with many attempts before he was actually dead
- 1st- served cake laced with cyanide (no effect stayed alive)
- 2nd- shot several times (staggering wounds and bleeding, stade alive)
- 3rd - pushed body through hole in a iced river (move around for several minutes before dying
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The March Revolution (1917)
- People organized strikes/protests demanding food and fuel
- Soldiers who were sent to stop the protests ended up joining.
- Nicholas II gave up his power (March 15, 1917)
- End of 300 year Romanov dynasty.
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The Provisional Government (March 15, 1917)
- Temporary central government in Russia after Nicholas II stepped down
- Led by Alexander Kerensky
- Saw war effort as #1 priority
- Had to deal with soldiers deserting, transportation problems, low arms production, etc.
- Provisional government does not pull Russia out of WW1.
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The Bolsheviks (October 1917)
- Radical Revolutionary group in Russia
- Wanted a socialist society
- Led by Vladamir Lenin
- Slogan = “Peace, land, and bread!”
- Radical Revolutionary group in Russia
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Russian Revolution (November 1917)
- AKA Bolshevik Revolution
- Bolsheviks staged a Coup d’etat in St. Petersburg (unlawful seizure of power from government)
- Overthrew the provisional govt.
- Bolsheviks claimed absolute power.
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Russian Civil War (1918 - 1921)
- Communists vs. Political Opponents
- Communists defeat opponents “the whites”
- Bolsheviks imposed policy called “war communism”
- Took control of all industries
- Killed imprisoned Czar + family
- Set up Cheka (secret police force)
- Placed restrictions on the Church
- Lenin and communists end with complete control
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Lenin and Russia (1921 - 1924)
- State of Russia was horrible
- Between 1921 and 1924, 27 million Russians died
- Economy in shambles
- Peasants still starving
- Allows a little capitalism to kick start economy (plans to end soon)
- Lenin dies in 1924
- State of Russia was horrible
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Soviet Union (1922)
- Formed on December 30,1928
- Was a multi ethnic empire controlled by Moscow
- Led by
- Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (1922-1928)
- Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (1924 - 1953)
- Soviet union collapsed in 1991
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Trotsky vs. Stalin (1924 - 1940)
- Trotsky closer to Lenin and more well-known
- Stalin outmaneuvered Trotsky politically
- Ability to remove and appoint govt. Officials
- Once he gained control, he exiled Trotsky to Siberia
- Trotsky eventually moved to Mexico City
- Stalin sent assassin to kill him (1940)
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Joseph Stalin (1924 - 1953)
- Ruled from 1924 - 1953
- Stalin was a dictator
- Erased people he thought where enemies of the state
- Responsible for next major exstension of communist control
- Committed genocide in Ukraine (second genocide, 10 million dead, and starved people)
- Invaded eastern Europe as buffer with west (then put communist rulers in those countries
- Stalin wanted to be surrounded by "friendly" countries
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The Cold War (1947 - 1991)
- Between U.S. and Soviet union
- Soviets feared capitalism & Americans feared communism
- USSR was determined to make all Eastern European countries communist
- Policy of containment created to stop the spread of communism
- Arms Race
- Soviets tested first ICBM capable of warhead delivery in U.S.
- U.S. tested a similar missile later and both countries realized they had amazing power at their disposal.
- Between U.S. and Soviet union
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The Thaw (1956 - 1962)
- Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, attempts to establish some free enterprise in Soviet economy.
- Signed INF Treaty with U.S. that placed restrictions on intermediate-range nuclear weapons.
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Berlin Wall (1961)
- This wall split Berlin into East and West
- This wall stayed up from 1961-1989
- Many people would die daily in the dead zone trying to cross
- The wall was torn down by citizens on November 9, 1989
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Detente and a Colder War (1969 - 1979)
- SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) froze number of ballistic missiles on both sides.
- Nixon visited communists in China
- U.S. began selling excess grain to Soviets
- End of Detente in 1979 when Soviets invaded Afghanistan
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Final Period of the Cold War (1985–1991 )
- Ronald Raegan and tensions between soviet and US increased
- Reagan call Soviets “Evil Empire” and sent troops to Afghanistan to fight off soviets
- 1980, US and the Soviets had about 12,000 missiles point at each other
- Soviets could not financially compete in the Arms Race (aka Star Wars)
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End of Soviet Union (1991)
- Gorbachev reform programs were an end to economic support for the soviet bloc countries
- Gorbachev implied that the soviet union would no longer rescue the communist governments from International conflict
- Resulted in the fall of the Berlin wall when the Soviet Union failed to intervene there
- Gorbachev reforms led to political downfall (end of cold war era)
- New Russia is formed
- All republics gain independence
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Rise of Putin (1999 -2013)
- Putin's background
- Stars as a mayor
- Becomes prime minister
- Then president for 2 terms
- Later changed the law so he can serve as president again
- Russia invades Georgia - 2008
- Two provinces invaded and declared independence from Georgia
- 2013 issue in Ukraine
- Govt. decides not to sign the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, instead choosing closer ties to Russia.
- Putin's background
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Maidan Revolution (2013 - 2014)
- Orange Revolution - name of peaceful protest
- During protest people where harmfully beat with Iron Sticks not plastic
- Who - citizens were protesting to overthrow the new president because of vote corruption
- What - Were beat by the Verkut with Iron Sticks
- Where - Protest took place at government buildings
- Why - this was all to overthrow the president and to solve vote corruption
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Russian and Ukrainian war (2014 - Present Day)
- Russia annexed Crimea after a widely disputed vote. (March 2014)
- War began when Russian-backed separatists seized Ukrainian government buildings (April 2014)
- Continual war in Eastern Ukraine, supported by Russia
- In 2022, Russia fully invades Ukraine