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Birth
Nikolai Aleksandrovich, known as Nicholas II was born in Russia. His parents where Alexander Alexandrovich and Maria Feodorovna. His grandfather Alexander II was assassinated in 1881, causing his father to ascend to the throne. Nicholas II was the first born child who had three brothers, and two sisters. Alexander had a great influence on him he helped by "shaping his religious values and his belief in autocratic government." (Nicholas II). Nicholas's birth was the start of his disastrous life. -
Creation of the Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty was a gift given by France to America. This statue represented the friendship between the two nations. The French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi created the statue out of sheets of copper. The statue provided a warm welcome to people coming into Ellis Island. The statue is a welcoming symbol of freedom and democracy for all the immigrants coming into America. The statue has become a historical figure that people around the world come to visit (Statue of Liberty). -
Civil Right Act of 1875
The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was a law created during the Civil War Reconstruction Era, by the 43rd United States Congress. It guaranteed African Americans equal access to public buildings and transportation. The act states that all people are allowed to have equal joy in public amusements like theaters and restaurants. The law also didn't allow the exclusion of other citizens from jury duty due to race or color. This act had taken the nation one step closer to social equality for all (Longley). -
Marriage and Coronation
Nicholas II inherited the throne on October 20, 1864, when his father died of kidney failure. He immediately got married to Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt, known as Alexandra. He rapidly got married and tried to have kids to gain an heir for the throne. Nicholas was unprepared for the throne, with the little experience he had. Finally, in 1864 Nicholas has officially crowned the Tsar of Russia. This would forever change his life, ending Romanov rule in Russia (Nicholas II). -
Spanish-American War (continued)
In 1901, Cuba became independent; this caused Spain to surrender over Rico, Guam, and the Philippines which then became United States territories (Beck 726). -
Spanish-American War
The Spanish-American War was a war between the United States and Spain. This war was over the control of Cuba, Cuba was one of Spain's last colonies in America. Cuba declared their independence and fought against Spain in a 10-year war. Eventually, in 1878, Cuba gave up. As the United States built a business with Cuba, Spain forced Cubans into concentration camps, America objected the cruelty and joined the Cuban War which came to be the Spanish-American War. -
The Open Door Policy
The United States traded with China for a long time. America was scared that other nations would divide China into colonies and shut out American trade. To prevent this from happening, the United States created the Open Door Policy. This policy stated that China was open to merchants from all nations. This helped protect the American's trade and China's freedom from becoming divided (Beck 718). -
The Russo-Japanese War
Nicholas II wanted to maintain "status quo" (Nicholas II). In the 1890's Russia experience economic growth, which expanded industries. In 1891 the construction of Trans-Siberian railroad had begun, which connected Russia to the Pacific coast. This caused Japan to feel threatened; then Japan attacked Russia in 1904. The Russo-Japanese War was a war between Japan and Russia. They competed for the control over Korea and Manchuria. The war started off horribly for the Russians. -
The Russo Japanese-War(continued)
The Japanese surprised Russia and defeated them at Port Arthur. Many Russians realized they were going to lose the war. News from the Japan war made the government even less unpopular. The war was getting worse and worse to where Nicholas resorted to creating a peace treaty. (Nicholas II) Japan took control of Korea and key railways in Manchuria. The war ended up decreasing Nicholas's popularity and caused many people to resent him (Strickler 70). -
Bloody Sunday(continued)
At least 150 people were injured, this event came to be the Bloody Sunday. The Bloody Sunday was a major turning point in Russia; after the Bloody Sunday many other workers started to protest and form riots. This event caused many people to turn again the tsar, and demand reforms, people disliked the tsar even more than before (Strickler 71-72). -
Bloody Sunday
In January 1905, George Gapon, a Russian Orthodox priest, delivered a peaceful petition with workers in St.Petersburg to the tsar. Many workers were angry with their working conditions, they asked for higher wages and shorter hours (Freeze 214). Not many people could tolerate their desperate living conditions. The government stationed 1000 troops around the city. The protesters and troops met on January 22, 1905; the meeting quickly became violent. The government ordered to the troops to fire. -
The Creation of Duma
The Duma was an elected legislative body that ruled alongside the tsar from 1906 to 1917. Due to the people's protests and demands for reforms Nicholas II decided to create the Duma to help advise him. Many people hoped the Duma would bring democracy to Russia; the tsar still remained main authority. Between 1906 and 1917. Four different Dumas were created. The First Duma was made up of deputies but soon was dissolved because they complained too much. -
Creation of Duma (conituted)
The second duma from February to June of 1907, composed of most "anti government factions" (Wilde), who opposed reforms made by the Ministry, eventually caused them to get dissolved. The Third Duma wasn't much in favor of the tsar, and oppose him much, eventually causing them to be dissolved. The fourth Duma was created who were less radical but still very critical causing them to be dissolved as well. These creations later caused Nicholas to go out of power, ending tsarist rule forever (Wilde). -
Titanic Sinks (continued)
Because there was only a small supply of lifeboats 1500 people died, leaving 700 survivors who were mostly women and children. To this day the Titanic sinking is known as a tragic event where many lives were lost (Titanic Sinks). -
Titanic Sinks
On April 15th, 1912 the Titanic (a ship) sunk in the North Atlantic Ocean. The huge ship carried 2,200 passengers and crew when the ship hit an iceberg. The Titanic was considered unsinkable because few parts of the ships could be flooded without drastic damage. When the ship crashed into the iceberg 5 compartments flooded bringing the whole ship down. The Titanic broke in half then sank to the bottom of the ocean. -
World War I
During World War I the armies were poorly performing. As a result of that, he appointed himself as chief/commander so he could take direct control of the military (Nicholas II). Many of the soldiers went into the war unprepared. They lacked leadership, much training, and an ample supply of food. They lacked much ammunition and guns to help them fight. Many of the soldiers had a poor chance of living let alone winning the war. -
World War I (continued)
The first battle was between Russian and German forces in August 1914 at Tannenberg. The result of this battle ended badly; 170,000 Russians were killed, injured, and captured by the Germans. Nicholas's poor skills caused the downfall of the military and the slaughters of the soldiers causing people to resent the tsar even more (Strickler 77-78). -
Alfred Wegener Theory
Alfred Wegener was a scientist who invented the Continental Drift Theory. The theory stated that the continent used to be joined together as one. He proposed overtime they drifted apart creating the continents we have now. All the continents approximately fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. To prove his theory Wegner explained fossils of the same species were distributed in places you would not expect them to be. -
Alfred Wegener Theory (Continued)
This theory questions many other ideas causing many people to question it (Alfred Wegener's Continental Drift Theory). -
Nicholas II Abdicated
Not one tsar in the history of Russia had been apart of a war like World War I. Many Russian tsars have been unpopular but not as unpopular as Nicholas II. The Duma realized Nicholas couldn't rule anymore. A delegation met with the tsar; with little choice, he got abdicated; the 450-year era of the tsarist rule was over. (Strickler 79) In February before Nicholas abdicated the number of riots increased. The fourth Duma turned against Nicholas eventually causing him to abdicate (Nicholas II). -
Provisional Government
In March 1917 the members of Duma created the Provisional Government, led by Alexander Kerensky to replace Nicholas II after he got abdicated. The Provisional Government never properly ruled Russia. They never properly carried out Russia's reforms. They only abolished the Okhrana and press censorship, and political freedom. The Provisional government main problem was they wanted to continue the war. This allowed the Bolsheviks to attack the government. -
Provisional Government (continued)
This caused the Bolsheviks to come to power eventually causing the Tsar and his family to become assassinated, ending the Romanov empire (GCSE History - Provisional Government and Its Problems - Revision 1.). -
March Revolution (continued)
This caused more people to resent the tsar pushing the people over the limit. The March Revolution will ultimately help bring down the Tsar (Beck 771). -
March Revolution
In March 1917, many women textile workers that worked in Petrogal led a large strike. After a little time, many riots started up over the shortage of break and fuel in Petrograd. There were approximately 200,000 workers that swarmed the streets. The soldiers were ordered to fire at the workers (Beck). Instead of stopping the riot they joined with the rioters (Strickler 78). The soldiers fired at their commanders instead. This large outburst is known as the March Revolution. -
Death
Many people blamed Nicholas II for his poor military decisions. After his abdication, he and his family were taken to the Ural Mountains and were placed under house arrest. The Bolsheviks soon took over the government and murdered Nicholas including his family. This ultimately ended 3 centuries of the Romanov dynasty rule. The people didn't care about the death of Nicholas II, they actually were happy to be done with the tsar's poor government and military decisions (Nicholas II).
