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The Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was Peter the Greats quest to give Russia an outlet to the sea. Peter the Great spent many years under a fake identity in Europe learning their culture. From his experience in Europe and his fairly normal childhood, he became an excellent leader. Before the war he spent time training and reorganizing Russia’s army. In 1700 he felt like his army was ready to attack. With Poland and Demark as allies, he fought Sweden for the shores of the Baltic Sea. The war lasted until 172 -
The Decembrist Revolt
In December of 1825 Russian nobles and army officers attempted to overthrow the czar's government. Czar Nicholas the First quickly stopped the uprising. He executed 5 leaders and sent hundreds to Siberia. Even though the nobles and army officers failed they become heroes to generations of revolutionaries. The revolt cause strict censorship and a banned on Western books. He had a secret police that spied on students, teachers and government officials .He also sent more than 150,000 people to Sibe -
Czar Alexander II Emancipates the Serfs
In 1861 the czar emancipated the serfs because they slowed Russia's political and economic growth compared to Europe. The Europeans didn't have slaves and were able to progress much faster because the working class was more "willing" to work. Even the conservative Russians knew that they need to be freed in order to become a modern country. Even though the serfs were free they lived in proverty and faced many hardships. They were deep in debt and couldn't hardly make a better life for themselves -
The Assassination of Alexander II
Alexander the II of Russia led many social and political reforms in Russia. Most of the reforms were applauded by the Russian citizens but like in most countries not everyone liked the direction the government was headed in. Starting in 1879 young revolutionist plotted terrorist attacks against him. They tried to shot him, blow up the winter palace, and derail his train among other things. On March 13, 1881 (March 1st on the old style calendar) terrorist fatally wounded him with a bomb in St. Pe -
The Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War started in February of 1904 when Japan broke diplomatic relations and launched a torpedo attack on Russian ships in the Port of Arthur. Russian wanted ports and land that Japan had and wasn’t willing to give up. Russia wasn’t ready for the war and had many handicaps because their soldiers and supplies were thousands of miles away and could only travel by the railroad. Russia suffered a major defeat and the war ended on September 5, 1905 with the Treaty of Portsmouth. The d -
Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday was supposed to be a peaceful protest but it ended up being a massacre of innocent people. Father Georgi Gapon had planned a peaceful march of factory workers in front of the czar’s palace. They wanted better working conditions and political freedoms. Instead of getting there request the czar sent soldiers with guns to stop the protest. More than 100 marchers were killed and the massacre lead to riots, strikes and peasants burnt the homes of the landowners. Bloody Sunday also gave -
The Revolution of 1905
The massacre called Bloody Sunday and the Russian leader’s failure to win the Russo- Japanese War started The Revolution of 1905. In the large cites of Russia, riots and strikes were started by the working class. In the country side peasants looted and burned their landowners’ houses. To end the revolution Czar Nicholas II (or Bloody Nicholas) set up the Duma. The Duma was an elected assembly that made minor reforms in Russia. They had little power, didn’t fix any problems and Czar Nicholas II s -
World War One
World War 1 lasted for 4 years and was known as the Great War. Russia was in an alliance with Britain and France. Eventually the United States and 20 other nations joined the war. The “Allies” fought against the “Central Powers” (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire). Russia had the largest army in the war but they lacked weapons and leadership. As a result the Russians’ suffered terrible losses. After the Russian Revolution, Russia withdrew from the war. -
The March Revolution
The March Revolution happen in 1917 in the city of Petrograd (known today as St. Petersburg but during the war it wasn’t called St. Petersburg because it was to German of a name). Angry crowds wanted “Bread and Peace”. The government sent soldiers to stop the protest but many soldiers joined the protest. Word of the revolution spread quickly and throughout Russia and demonstrators started overthrowing the czarist officials. A week after the riots began Czar Nicholas the 2nd abdicated the throne. -
Czar Nicholas II Abdicates the Russian throne
After the March Revolution the tension in Russia grew. Throughout Russia demonstrators overthrew czarist offcials. Only a week after the riots Czar Nicholas II abdicated the throne of Russia for him and his sickly son Alexis. The family was kept safe until they were sent to Siberia and later killed and buried in a common grave.
