1. Nicholas II - the last Russian Czar Ruled 1894-1917 Disastrous military leader Unable to share power. Viewed himself as annointed by God.

2. First disaster for the czar: The Russo- Japanese War 1904

3. Russia wanted a warm-water port in the Pacific/Japan wanted a bigger piece of China

4. 18,000 sea miles to get there!!

5. The Russo-Japanese War: 1904

6. Faster Japanese ships encircled the Russian ships in Tsushima Strait and blasted them. The Russian flag ship sank in seconds. Only 3 ships made it to Vladivostok Casualties: Russia: 10,000 wounded, 4830 killed Japan: 1,000 wounded, 112 killed

7. Loss of Russo-Japanese War Russians at home were horrified and humiliated. Revolutionary fervor against the czar surged

8. Bloody Sunday 1905

9. Father Gapon led a peaceful protest to deliver a petition of grievances to the Czar at the Winter Palace. Over 200,000 loyal subjects of the czar came with him.

11. Bloody Sunday (1905) Nicholas’ troops open fire on the unarmed protestors.

12. Bloody Sunday – historical significance: 1000 protestors shot or trampled in the panic. It revealed how utterly incompetent the Tsarist regime was in dealing with a dissatisfied people. Those who had previously supported the Tsar broke and joined revolutionary groups. ***

13. The October Manifesto Nicolas promised to provide some civil liberties Created the DUMA – a legislative assembly to approve the czar’s laws. Members elected by voting.

14. Between 1905 and 1917 Tsar reneged on most of his promises Tsar bought off the moderates in the Duma Tsar arrested radical opposition as terrorism grew Then the Great War broke out…

15. Russia and World War I Russia was Germany’s Eastern front and suffered early losses at Tannenburg The war was wildly unpopular: over 8 million Russian soldiers died in battle with no victories. Rationing of food back home led to starvation Nicholas II left St. Petersburg to lead the war effort. His leadership was a disaster. – This left his wife Alexandra at home under the influence of a strange man named Rasputin

16. Czar Nicholas II and Alexandra

17. Children Olga (3 Nov. 1895) Tatyana (29 May 1897) Maria (14 June 1899) Anastasiya (5 June 1901) Aleksey (30 July 1904) – The Tzarevitch – Suffered from “The Royal Disease”: hemophilia

18. The Tsarevich Alexei and his father

19. Rasputin

20. Rasputin with Admirers

21. A dinner party he probably should have skipped…

22. Rasputin was hard to murder… 1. They fed him poisoned wine and pastries, but… 2. They shot him - twice - but… 3. They hit him with a truncheon, (police baton) but… 4. They broke a hole in the ice of the Neva River and stuffed him in, but…

24. February Revolution (1917) 1917- protests spread through St. Petersburg and the Royal palace was taken over Tsar Nicholas abdicated Provisional government (Duma) takes control led by Alexander Kerensky Provisional government was unpopular after decision to stay in WWI

25. October (Bolshevik) Revolution-1917 Led by VIadmir Lenin: – “Peace, Bread, and Land” – Popular with peasants Began a Civil War in Russia from 1917-1923— ultimately overturned the Provisional Government and created the Soviet Union in 1922 Civil War between Bolsheviks (red) and Mensheviks (white)

26. Lenin ordered the execution of the Czar and his family in 1918:

27. Did any of the Czar’s family survive the massacre?? In 1921 a mysterious woman showed up in a German mental hospital claiming to be Grand Duchess Anastasia, the czar’s youngest daughter.

28. Supporters of the woman—known as Anna Anderson—waged a 30-year legal battle to win recognition for “Anastasia” (not to mention a cut of the Romanov fortune), but a German court rejected her suit in 1970. Anderson died in 1984, and DNA testing done in the 1990s proved conclusively that she was NOT related to the Romanov family.

29. Movie clip web addresses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W1b6j8U46k&list=PL9819 B471D1049AE6 Nicholas, hemophilia, Rasputin, ww1, abdication https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-qxWWRcN-4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W1b6j8U46k&list=PL9819 B471D1049AE6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-qxWWRcN-4