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Great North War
To gain a warm water port and be able to trade more Peter the Great fought Sweden for a strip of land on the Baltic Sea. The war lasted 21 years, but the actual fighting was on and off for that period of time. So it wasn't constant fighting for 21 years straight. Peter the Great ended up winning the war, and on the land he gained he built Saint Petersburg, the present day capital of Russia. -
Demembirst Revolt
During Nicholas I's rule, a large group of military officals and soldiers tried to revolt. Nicholas found out before-hand and stopped the revolt. Afterwards he publicaly shot a few of the main rebels and sent 100's to Siberia. Later he cranked down on the "people". Banning books, censorship, and sending teachers and goverment officals to Siberia to work in labor camps. -
Emancipation of Serfs
Czar Alexander II emancipated serfs in 1861, giving them limited political rights. Also gave them the ability to keep their homes and tools. Peasants were offered land ownership at extremely high prices. Many people got the land ownership, but got in a lot of debt. Because of all the debt and high taxes, most peasants continued to live in poverty. -
Death of Alexander the II
The educated middle class Russians got frustrated with the slow paced change in country. Their goal was to overthrow the czar and establish socialism. Russian socialists tried to recruit peasants to lead a revolution that would end inequality and do away with private ownership of land. The peasants didn't want to, though. When it failed they turned to terrorism. Killing Alexander II. -
Russain/Japanese War
Both countries wanted a peninsula on Russia's eastern border for it's resources. Nicholas the II thought it was going to be a great victory, but the Russians got beaten badly. The reason was because most of the military was in Saint Petersburg, so it took about a month to get troops to the peninsula. By that time most Russians there already were dead or captured. Citizens were mad at the czar for the complete failure. -
Bloody Sunday
Father Gapon, a Russian Orthodox priest, organized a peaceful nonviolent march. 200,000 workers marched to the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. They sang and chanted, doing nothing wrong. Under the Czar Nicholas's orders the military opened fire on the crowd. 100 dead 3000 wounded. Blood stained the snow at winter palace, which is how the act got it's name. They just wanted to talk and say they weren't happy with conditions they had to work in. -
Revolution of 1905
Workers,peasants, and military were upset and angry, so they had a very unorganized revolution. To calm down the violence Nicholas II set up a Duma (group of representatives to speak for the "people" and make better laws. The czar kept firing them when he didn't like their laws, though. The revolution also led to a constitution. All this made the "people" happy for a bit. -
Russians going into WWI
The Russians joined WWI, and at first every citizen was patriotic and happy. When the Russians were doing badly, and everyone was dieing that was at war, everyone back in Russia was getting upset and they had economic troubles too. They blamed the czar and he ended up going to the war to command the armies. The czarina and Rasputin started firing all of the czar's council and they started taking over. -
March Revolution
The March Revolution is the revolution where Nicholas II abdicated the thone because he didn't want to die. In all the chaos the Duma took control and formed the Russian Provisional Government. The a Soviet socialist union, the Bolsheviks, kinda had some control. Later they had all the power. -
Nicholas II abdicates the throne
During the March Revolution Nicholas II wanted to protect his family, so he told the coup leaders he'll leave power. Him and his family ended up living in the Alexandria palace still living like royalty. The family was hoping to be able to leave the country, but wasn't able to. The weren't even able to leave the palace.