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Period: to
Russian Revolution
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Czar Alexander III (1881-1894)
- Enacted the "Anti-Semitic" sentiments
- Supported the persecution of Jews and the Russification of minorities
- Promoted only the interests of the nobility.
- One Monarch/One Religion/One Race (Autocracy, Orthodoxy, National Homogeneity) *Start of people not trusting the czar
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Czar Nicholas II (1894-1917)
- Successor of Czar Alexander III
- He supported absolute rule and Alexander III's belief of Autocracy
- Created Russia's first parliament, the Duma, to only help his reputation
- Made the decision to involve Russia in WWI
- Eventually got assassinated along with his entire family *In power when the Russians revolt
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Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)
- Originated over a feud for territory in Northern China
- Japanese advantage --> more ground troops, better naval force, industrialized, and better geographically located
- Russia lost the war
- citizens thought their government was inefficient, which caused a strike *contributes to Czar Nicholas' bad reputation; one reason Duma was formed (constitutional monarchy)
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Bloody Sunday (1905)
- 200,000 workers marched on the Czar's Winter Palace with the intention of peacefully demanding better working and living conditions
- March turn violent when the police open fired into the crowd
- 100 protestors died, 3,000 were wounded
- Result was much strife and disorder within the country *contributed to Czar Nicholas' bad reputation; one reason why he created Dama
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Establishment of the Duma (1905)
- Russia's first parliament, established by Czar Nicholas in 1905
- Established as a result of the events of Bloody Sunday and the Russo-Japanese war
- The leaders were moderates who wanted Russia to become a constitutional monarchy
- Because Czar Nicholas was hesitant to share his power, he disbanded the Duma after 10 weeks *
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Russia's participation in WWI (1914-1918)
- Russia entered in war in aid of their ally, Serbia
- Russia became one of the original three Allied forces
- Russia fought Germany and Austria-Hungary on the Eastern Front
- Because Russia wasn't industrialized, they were easily defeated
- Signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and withdrew from the war
- The citizens blamed the Czar for all the loss that came from WWI
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Death of Rasputin (1916)
- Rasputin was believed to be a mystic, an exorcist, and a healer
- The czar's wife believed that Rasputin could heal her son, Alexi
- While the Czar was away during WWI, Rasputin took control of the Russian government and put all his peasant friends in government positions
- Eventually, the nobility felt threatened by Rasputin and assassinated him *the citizens started to lose faith in the royal family
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Bolshevik Revolution Part 2 (1917)
- To deal with the people who were against the revolution, Lenin created the Cheka, which was basically a secret police force.
- The persecution of ant-revolutions got so violent, it was dubbed the "Red Terror"
- Over 6,000 people were killed
- Lenin decided to form his own Bolshevik army called the Red Army, lead by a man named Leon Trotsky
- Their first enemy was the Germans
- A group of Cheka revolted in eastern Russia, eventually forming the White Army to combat the Red Army
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Vladimir Lenin and the Est. of Provisional Government (1917)
- Lenin brought back communist ideas from his travels in Germany
- He gained support for his Communist (Bolshevik) Party through secret newspapers he sent out all over Russia
- Eventually the people revolted and Czar Nicholas stepped down
- As a replacement, a Provisional (temporary) government was established
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Bolshevik Revolution Part 1 (1917)
- Soviets, or smaller councils made up of the local people, began to pop up around Russia
- These soviets eventually became more powerful than the provisional government
- They promoted revolution and socialism
- Lenin took advantage of the weak government and makes promises to help promote peace and socialism to the citizens
- The Bolsheviks in time were able to gather enough support and overthrow the Provisional Government *An important turning point towards the creation of the USSR
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Execution of the Romanov Family (1917)
- After stepping down from power, the Romanov family was banished to Siberia, then moved to a town in mid-Russia
- The Red Army saw the Romanovs as a living threat to their revolution, so they sent soldiers to kill them
- There surprisingly wasn't a large public response to their deaths
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Russian Civil War (1917-1922)
-Fought between the Red Army (Bolsheviks/Communists) and the White Army (Russian Conservatives)
-The Red Army wanted their communist revolution to succeed, and the White Army wanted to restore imperialist/absolute rule.
Advantages
Red Army: Located in major industrial areas (cities)
White Army: Had the help of the WWI Allies
Disadvantages
Red Army: Already weakened by war against Germany and had fewer troops than the White Army
White Army: Separated by huge distances/not unified Red Army won -
Establishment of the USSR (1922)
- The USSR, or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was founded by Lenin and the Bolsheviks on December 30th, 1922
- It consisted of self-governing republics
- Discouraged Nationalism
- The Communist Party (former Bolsheviks) held all the power - Not truly communist
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Lenin's Death (1924)
- Lenin suffered from many strokes, and knew he was nearing his deathbed
- Vladimir Lenin eventually died on January 21st, 1924
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Stalin's Rise to Power (1928)
- Stalin competed against Leon Trotsky for command after Lenin's death
- Stalin was able to manipulate his way to power, despite Lenin's concerns
- By 1928, Stalin was in total control of the Communist Party
- He claimed the role of Dictator of the USSR in 1929
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Leon Trotsky's Exile (1928)
- After Stalin came to power, he exiled Trotsky to Mexico to prevent any further interference
- On August 21st, 1940, Trotsky was assassinated by Ice Pick to the head. While it isn't confirmed who ordered the attack, it is assumed Stalin did
