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-Anti-Semite; Jewish pogroms
-one man rule, one religion, one race
-favored nobility over peasants/ working class
-set the stage for the Russian people not trusting the Czar -
--Son of Czar Alexander III
-Absolute power- no democracy
-Did not care for the needs of citizens and about the negative views on him
-Working-class despised him because he turned a blind eye to economic hardships
-Ignored all advice
-Failed to industrialize the country and shot protesters
-Took control of army during WWI and they were not prepared
-Because Czar Nicholas II was an ineffective ruler-->undermined the government-->worse for the people-->lead to the revolution -
-War with Russia against Japan due to territorial dispute over Manchuria
-Japan won-had more ground troops, a better navy, short lines of communication with China
-Only way for Russia to get supplies was from Trans-Siberian Railroad-incomplete, ran across 5,500 miles
-War-->civil unrest in Russia-->Czar backs out of war
-Russians view political system inefficient--> revolution -
After the Russo-Japanese War, there was great civil unrest in Russia. There was a general strike happening across the country and this caused Czar Nicholas II to change Russia from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. By doing this he promised the people that he would expand their individual rights and freedoms. Part of this plan was to establish a newly elected legislature, known as the Duma. Duma acted as a puppet for the Czar though, people were still unsatisfied--> revolution
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-200,000 Russians march on the Czar's Palace because they wanted relief from their difficult working and living conditions
-presented the Czar list of all their grievances/problems
-This protest took place on Sunday and the people held religious symbols and wore nice clothes
-When they went confront the Czar at his Winter Palace, he was not there
-Soldiers opened fire on the protesters- over 100 killed, 2,000 injured
-People saw how Czar reacted to protest-->leads way for revolution -
- Russia joined WWI when Austria-Hungary declared war on a Russian ally, Serbia -Russia was not prepared to fight a country as powerful as Germany because Russia was not industrialized yet and there were internal civil problems happening at the same time because people opposed the Czar's rule -Dealing with both issues at once was too much for Russia so they backed out of WWI in 1918 -The war caused the economy in Russia to be very poor and people were left unsatisfied which led to the revolution
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-uneducated peasant-obsessed with religion, believed he received holy visions
-Rasputin was the only one that knew that the Royal family’s son had hemophilia and he could "heal him slightly"
-Rasputin gave Czarina Alexandra political (Nicholas was away at war)
-Rumors began that Rasputin was the reason for the downfall of Russia--> a group of nobles took multiple attempts on his life and eventually killed him
-Before Rasputin died, he had Foretold the murders of the Czarina and her children -
-Women textile workers led a city wide strike and riots flared up over shortages of fuel and bread (Soldier first shot the citizens but ended up siding with them)
-Local protests-->General uprising= March Revolution→forced Czar Nicholas to abdicate→him and his family were later executed by revolutionaries
-Leaders of the Duma established a Provisional Government- temporary government
-City workers became more radical and soviets were formed, people were still unhappy--> Bolshevik Revolution -
--Lenin spread his ideas through a newspaper that was secretly sent all over Russia--> gain support from Bolsheviks (communist party)
-Lenin and the Bolsheviks started taking over soviets
-Lenin creates his own revolution in order to overthrow the Provisional Government (October Revolution)
-This causes a Civil War which leads to Lenin and the Bolsheviks gaining control of the government-->Russia under communist rule leads to establishment of USSR -
-Lenin uses to Cheka to protect his revolution
-Civil war breaks out between the supporters of this revolution (Red Army- Bolsheviks) and the opponents (White Army- conservatives, anti-Bolsheviks, foreign troops)
-Red Army wins and with Russia under complete control of communists the USSR is established 2 years later -
-Lenin's Revolution-->Civil War in Russia-->Red Army wins--> Russia under the control of communists--> Russia becomes Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or Soviet Union)-Led by Lenin & the Communist Party
-When Lenin could no longer lead USSR he was replaced by Stalin who ruled the Soviet Union as dictator which was negative for Russia in the long run -
Lenin died in 1924 leaving a spot to rule the USSR
-Stalin was cold, hard, and impersonal
-Stalin was a general secretary of the Communist Party and behind the scenes he moved his supporters to powerful positions in order to rise to power
-This put him ahead in the competition against Leon Trotsky to replace Lenin, and his absolute rule for Russia brought the government right back to the start -
Once Lenin dies due to a series of strokes, Stalin replaced him and took control of the USSR and he ruled as a dictator. Stalin in total command of the Communist Party. Stalin's rule dove Russia into a pit of decline and terror.
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After Stalin took command in 1928, Trotsky was forced into exile because Stalin always saw him as a threat to his power and Stalin was very possessive when it came to his control. This left the Soviet Union with just Stalin with no one strong enough to oppose him and his way of ruling using terror lead to many deaths in Russia.