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The Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was also known as the Second Northern War. It was a military conflict between Russia, Denmark-Norway and Saxony-Poland. They challenged the power of Sweden. This war resulted in the decline of Swedish influence and the appearance of Russia as a huge power in that area. In also resulted in Sweden having lost supremacy as the leading power in the Baltic region and was replaced by Russia. -
The Decembrist Revolt
The Decembrist Revolt is also known as the Decembrist uprising. It took place in Imperal Russia. About 3,000 soldiers protested against Nicholas I's assumption of the throne. Since this occured in December, the rebels were known as the Decembrists. They were taken to the Winter Palace to be interrogated in 1826. As a result, Nicholas I implemented a variety of new regulations to prevent the spread of liberal movement in Russia. -
Czar Alexander II Emancipates the Serfs
The Emancipation Reform of 1861 in Russia was the first and most important of liberal reforms effected during the reign of Alexander II of Russia. The 1861 Emancipation Manifesto proclaimed the emancipation of the serfs on private estates. Serfs were granted the full rights of free citizens, gaining the rights to marry without having to gain consent, to own property and to own a business. Household serfs were the worst affected as they gained only their freedom and no land. -
The Assassination of Alexander II
Czar Alexander II, the ruler of Russia was killed in the streets of St. Petersburg by a bomb thrown by a member of the "People's Will" group. The People's Will, employed terrorism and assassination in their attempt to overthrow Russia's czarist autocracy. They murdered officials and made several attempts on the czar's life before finally killing him. Alexander II's assassins were arrested and hanged, and the People's Will was thoroughly suppressed. -
The Russo-Japanese War
"The first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival ambitions of the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over Manchuria and Korea. Russia sought a warm water port on the Pacific Ocean. Japan offered to recognize Russian dominance in Manchuria in exchange for recognition of Korea as a Japanese sphere of influence. Russia refused, so Japan chose war to counter the Russian aggression in Asia. In result, Japanese military attained victory over the Russian forces arrayed against them. -
Bloody Sunday
It began as a relatively peaceful protest by angry steel workers in St Petersburg. Angered by poor working conditions, thousands marched on the Winter Palace to plead with Czar Nicholas II for reform. But he wasn't present and the workers were instead gunned down on the streets by soldiers. The massacre was followed by a series of strikes in other cities, which seriously threatened the Czars regime and became known as the Revolution of 1905 -
The Revolution of 1905
The 1905 Russian Revolution started by a peaceful protest. This protest may well have been the turning point in the relationship of Nicholas II and his people.150,000 people took to the cold and snow covered streets of St Petersburg to protest about their lifestyle. By December, troops had arrived back in European Russia from the Russo-Japanese War. Nicholas used loyal troops to put down the St Petersburg Soviet and to crush those on strike in Moscow. -
World War I
World War I was also known as the First World War. It was a global war centered in Europe. The war drew in all the world's great powers, which were assembled into two alliances: the Allies which included the United Kingdom, France and the Russian Empire and the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The war approached a resolution after the Russian Tsar's government collapsed in March 1917 and a subsequent revolution in November brought the Russians to terms with the Central Powers. -
The March Revolution
The February Revolution was a revolution focused around Petrograd. In the chaos, members of the Imperial parliament assumed control of the country, forming the Russian Provisional Government. The army leadership felt they did not have the means to suppress the revolution and Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, abdicated. The Soviets, which were led by more radical socialist factions, initially permitted the Provisional Government to rule. -
Czar Nicholas II abdicates the Russian throne
During the Febuary Revolution, Nicholas II is forced to claim the throne by the Petrograd insurgents which a government provincial is put in his place. Nicholas wasn't trained or ready to rule when he was crowned. In 1914, Nicholas led his
country into a costly war. In the end, Nicholas was forced to abdicate which ended the monarchy in Russia. A secret meeting was held and a death sentence was passed on. Nicholas and his family were shot on the night of July 16.
