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- his policies was the persecution of Jews and systematic Russification of minorities.
- promotes Russian orthodox church
- promotes interests of the nobility over peasants
- Wanted Russia to be a one man rule
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- He ruled (autocracy) and wanted absolute power
- He didn't like public participation in the government
- He didn't care about the negative views about him
- He failed to industrialize
- He created the Duma
- He took over the army
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- Russia and Japan went to war to fight over land over Northern China - Manchuria
- Japan won the war because they had more troops
- Russia's army had poor performance against the Japanese, there was great civil unrest inside Russia, causing the Czar to back out of the war
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- In 1905 Nicholas promised more freedom so the Duma was established
- This was Russia's first parliament to occur
- Its leaders were moderates who wanted Russia to become a constitutional monarchy similar to Britain
- However, Nicholas was so was hesitant to share power that Czar resolved the Duma after 10 weeks
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- 200,000 workers took to the streets to present Czar with a list of grievances regarding the living conditions of the working class
- They presented him a list of grievances that represented all their problems.
- they held religious symbols and wore nice clothes
- When the soldiers saw the protesters they opened fire and over 100 were killed and 2,000 were injured.
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- Nicholas II decided to drag Russia into World War 1
- Russia was unprepared
- They had weak generals and poorly equipped troops
- Defeat followed after defeat
- 4 million Russian soldiers had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoner
- This revealed how weak the Russian military was
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- Rasputin was a self described "holy man"
- Nicholas and Alexandra's son had suffered from hemophilia and Rasputin had helped ease the boys symptoms
- As a way to show her gratitude Alexandra let him make key political decisions
- He opposed reform measures and obtained powerful positions for his friends
- A group of nobles has tricked him and poisoned him (murdering him)
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- The local protest exploded into a general uprising
- Women textile workers in Petrograd led a citywide strike
- In the next five days riots flared up over shortages of bread and fuel
- At first the soldiers obeyed orders to shoot the rioters but later sided with them
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- Lenin created own revolution to overthrow provisional government
- Lenin used a secret police called the Cheka to protect the revolution
- Lenin soon gained control of the Petrograd Soviet as well as the Soviets in other major Russian cities
- Russia became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or Soviet Union) in 1922 - it was led by Lenin & the Communist party
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- Civil war broke out in 1918 between supporters and opponents of revolution
- The Red Army consisted of the Bolsheviks and the White Army consisted of the conservatives, anti-Bolsheviks, and foreign troops
- The Red Army who was led by Leon Trotsky won in 1920
- Russia was now officially under Communist control
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- Russia became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or Soviet Union) in 1922
- It was led by Lenin and the Communist Party
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- Stalin was cold, hard, and impersonal (Stalin means "man of steel" in Russian)
- In 1922 he was general secretary of the Communist Party, hw worked behind the scenes to move his supporters into positions of power
- By 1928 Stalin was in total command of the Communist Party
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- Lenin suffered a stroke in 1922
- When Lenin died there was competition between Trotsky and Joseph Stalin to replace him
- Stalin had one and ruled Soviet Union as a dictator
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- Trotsky was forced into exile and no longer a threat to Stalin
- Now Stalin stood poised to wield absolute power as a dictator