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Czar Nicholas II
Czar Nicolas II inherited the throne in 1894 after his father, Alexander III, died. At first, he didn't want the throne, but after he married Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt, he took the throne in 1896. He promised reform and change after the Russian Revolution of 1905. -
Grigory Rasputin
Grigory Rasputin was considered an insane man, but found his way into the royal family. Czar Nicholas and his wife Alix had a son name Alexis who suffered from hemophilia. The royal family was eager to find help for their son so they called on Rasputin. Rasputin could apprently heal the sick, so they called upon him to relieve the boy's suffering. Oddly enough, Rasputin relieved his pain and soon became a family friend and common sight at the royal palace. -
Russian Crisis
During Nicholas' rule, he led Russia into a war with Japan. Nicholas wanted to maintain the status quo with Europe, but with a growing economy, Russia began to expand into the far East. In 1904, Japan felt threatened by the Trans-Siberian railroad that Russia was building. In 1904, Japan attacked Russia and Russia was forced to surrender port Arthur. Later the next year, Bloody Sunday struck. The Russian people marched against Czar Nicholas, but innocents were shot and killed in the streets. -
The Russian Revolution of 1905
The Russian Revolution began after troops fired on innocent civilians in the event known as Bloody Sunday. The people were marching to petition against Czar Nicholas II. The following days were filled with more killing and destruction. The failure of the czarist regime forced the government to call for a Duma establishment. The Russian peoples' demands led Czar Nicholas to grant civil liberties and elect a Duma. -
The New Path for Russia
In the early 1900s, Vladimir Lenin led the Marxist Bolsheviks group in Russia to change Russian society. The Bolsheviks wanted to overthrow the czar and gain power for the people to turn Russia into a socialist country. In the beginning, they had little influence, but as Russia's problems grew deeper, their influence grew. -
Russia Enters World War I
Conditions in Russia were so bad that Czar Nicholas was actually happy that WWI had begun. He had hoped the war would cause the Russian people to unite and stand behind his leadership. In the start of the war, Russia had a large army of nearly 6 million soldiers siding with Serbia in the Triple Alliance. However, Russia was not able to produce ammunition and military supplies quickly enough to supply the army. With this, millions of Russian soldiers were killed and Russia's conditions got worse. -
Fall of Czar Nicholas II
By 1917, Russia had faced several crushing defeats in WWI under the new command of Czar Nicholas. Back at home, poverty struck Russian cities and unhappy citizens took to the streets to protest. All the chaos had left the opportunity for a communist revolution. In March of 1917, the Petrograd Soviet (now St. Petersburg) issued revolutionary protests against Czar Nicholas. With no control over his country, Czar Nicholas II was forced to step down from the throne on March 15th. -
Marxism-Leninism
After the fall of Czar Nicholas, the Duma established a temporary government led by Aleksandr Kerensky. The Russian citizens felt unsatisfied because the new government was doing little to help their terrible conditions. Despite the poverty and revolts back at home, Aleksandr still made Russia participate in WWI. After being exiled, Lenin returned to Russia in April 1917 to stir up more civil unrest and lead the fight under Marxism-Leninism. -
The Bolshevik Revolution (The October Revolution)
In mid-1917, Kerensky had orderd a final military strike agasint the Central Powers along the Eastern front. The attack failed and rebellions spread through the Russian army. Army soldiers were slaughtering their own commanders and officers. With all the chaos, Lenin felt it the ideal time to lead Bolshevik revolution. In novemeber Bolshevik factory works, known as Red Guards, attacked the government. After a bloodless fight, Kerensky's government collapsed. Lenin became the leader of Russia. -
Russia Under Vladimir Lenin
When Vladimir Lenin took control, he wasted no time establishing a Communist government system. He made private owenership illegal. He gave land to the peasants and factories to the factory workers. Despite the new power the Russian people had received, it did not leave a bright future ahead. -
The CHEKA
The CHEKA was a group led by radical Soviet Felix Dzerzhinksy. The CHEKA was created around the end of the October Revolution. It was created to attack any opposers of the Soviet regime. The CHEKA was considered "the sword and shield of the Soviet Union." As opposition to the Soviets grew, so did the CHEKA. It went from being a small investigation system to a large bureaucratic agency containing 100,000 agents. The CHEKA followed its own rules and answered to no one. -
Exiting World War One
After the revolution had ended, Lenin sent Leon Trotsky, a bolshevik official, to negotiate a peace treaty with the Central Powers to exit World War One. Russia had finally found peace, but the treaty left harsh consequences on Russia. The treaty forced Russia to give up large chunks of its empire to the Central Powers; mainly Germany. The acceptance of this treaty deeply angered the Russians. -
The Russian Civil War
Some of the Bolsheviks organized into a group called the White Army which included army leaders, political opponents, wealthy Russians who opposed Lenin, and even military support from other Countries like France and the U.S. Lenin led the Bolshevik's Red Army. For three years Lenin's Red Army and the White army raged in a civil war. Millions of Russians died fighting and famine struck Russia. In 1922, the civil war ended with a victory for the Red Army. -
Czar Family Execution
During the Russian Civil War, the White Army advanced on Yekaterinburg, where Czar Nicholas and his family were located. Local authorities were ordered to not rescue the family, and the Yekaterinburg Soviet passed a death sentence on the entire family. Later that night, Nicholas, Alix, his five children, and four servants were sent to the cellar of their house where a dozen armed men burst into the room and gunned down the entire family. Anyone left alive was stabbed to death. -
The Treaty of Versailles
On November 11th, 1918, Germany surrendered to the Alliance. World War One ended with the Treaty of Versailles on June 28th, 1919. The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to accept blame for the war and pay thirty-three billion dollars in war reparations. Germany also had to give back the land they had taken from Russia in the Brest-Litosvk treaty. -
A New Economic Policy
Vladimir Lenin introduced a new economic policy after the Russian Civil War had destroyed an already collapsing Russian economy. Peasants and workers endured more years of suffering from their sacrifices trying to win the war. In 1921, Lenin responded by introducing a new economic policy that instituted some capitalist activity. For example, peasants were allowed to sell their food to make money. Lenin's new plan was meant to boost more food production which Russia desperately needed. -
The Soviet Union
After Lenin's new economic policy, the Russian economy began to improve in 1922. Under the Treaty of Versailles, Russia also reunited with several of the neighboring lands that had been a part of Russia before 1917. The new country was known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the Soviet Union. Communism leadership dominated Russia and the Soviet economy gained strength. -
Vladimir Lenin's Death
After a series of strokes, Vladimir Lenin died on January 21st 1924. Lenin had not selected a successor before his death, so the Soviet Union struggled to maintain control. The Soviet Union would later fall under the rule of Joseph Stalin
