1. The Decline and Fall of the Romanov Dynasty in Russia

2. The Last 5 Tsars Alexander I Nicholas I Alexander II Alexander III
Alexander I
Nicholas I
Alexander II
Alexander III
Nicholas II

3. Alexander I (ruled 1801-1825) Grandson of Catherine the Great
Inherited throne after father (Paul I) murdered
Ruled Russia during the Napoleonic wars
Expanded Russian empire with Finland and part of Poland
Initially introduced reforms but later took these back
Died of typhus

4. Nicholas I (ruled 1825-1855) Younger brother of Alexander I
Decembrist Revolt (1825)
Attempted coup after Nicholas I’s older brother, Constantine, declined the throne (after Alexander I died of typhus)
Nicholas I’s reaction set the tone for his firm rule of Russia
Highly reactionary
Principles of “Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationality”
Feared nobles’ reaction to potential reforms, such as abolishing serfdom

5. Alexander II (ruled 1855-1881) Crimean War (1853-1856) Reforms
Loss of war prompted military modernization
Universal military conscription
Reforms
Allowed for early form of corporations (LLCs)
1861—emancipated the serfs
Police force
Local self-government (zemstvo)
Had finished plans for a duma the day before his assassination
Assassination
Attempts in 1866, 1879, 1880
1881—bomb set by members of Narodnaya Volya (People’s Will), a nihilist group

6. Alexander III (ruled 1881-1894)
Along with his son, the future Nicholas II, he witnessed Alexander II’s assassination
Anti-Semitism—blamed Jews for his father’s assassination
May Laws (1882)—harsh restrictions on all Jews
Pogroms—led to Jewish immigration to the U.S. and elsewhere
Film reference: “Fiddler on the Roof”
Return to principles of “Nationality, Autocracy, and Orthodoxy”
Put local control in the hands of appointed officials
Secret police
Strict censorship
Political prisoners exiled to Siberia
Died of kidney disease at age 49

7. Nicholas II (ruled )
Married Alexandra, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria of Great Britain
Their son, Alexei, was a hemophiliac
Treated by the “mad monk” Grigori Rasputin
Completed the Great Siberian Railway
Port at Vladivostok in the east
Russians have historically sought warm-water ports
Rejected calls for democratic reforms
Last Russian tsar
Executed along with his wife and children in 1918

8. Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)
Imperial rivalry between Japan and Russia over Korea and Manchuria
Japanese surprise attack at Port Arthur, Manchuria
First modern defeat in war of a European power by a non-European power
Treaty of Portsmouth (1905)
Russians left Manchuria
Japan gained recognition of Korea as part of its sphere of influence (i.e., imperialism)
Japan gained the southern half of Sakhalin Island

9. Russian Revolution of 1905
Among long-standing complaints, the people were unhappy over Russia’s defeat in the Russo-Japanese War
Bloody Sunday (January, 1905)
Peaceful protesters, led by a priest named Gapon, marched on the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg with a petition
Shot at by tsar’s forces
92 dead and hundreds wounded

10. Russian Duma August, 1905—Duma organized as an advisory body
But this wasn’t well received
October Manifesto
Legislative powers for the Duma and civil liberties for the people
Nicholas II repeatedly butted heads with the Duma
Socialists and revolutionaries kept winning seats

11. World War I and 1917 Revolution
Russians joined with Great Britain and France to fight the Germans and Austrians
Russian army suffered terrible losses due to outdated equipment and poor leadership
Tsar came to the front to lead troops, leaving Tsarina Alexandra to rule
Tsarina disliked
Foreign heritage
Influence of Rasputin
1917
These factors, along with food shortages and general discontent, led to full-scale revolution
Russia withdrew from World War I
Civil war in Russia over which group would rule Russia
Tsar and his family assassinated by Bolsheviks in 1918

14. March Revolution (1917)
1917- protests spread through St. Petersburg and the Royal palace is taken over.
Czar abdicates
Provisional government (Duma) takes control lead by Alexander Keresnky
Provisional government unpopular after decision to stay in WWI

15. October (Bolshevik) Revolution-1917
Lead by VI Lenin “Peace, Land, and Bread”
Won support of people (especially peasants)

17. 1918
1918 March The Bolsheviks accept the peace of Brest‑Litovsk, ending WWI with Germany.

18.
1919 White Armies (Royal and Menshevik troops) attack the Reds (Bolsheviks) from all directions.
1920- Reds defeat Whites

19. Rule of Lenin
Economic Reforms included the New Economic Plan (NEP)
-moderate mix of capitalism and socialism
Political Reforms
-Bolshevik party became Communist Party
-Russia becomes the United Soviet Socialist Republics

21. Communism A Form of Socialism
Central Planning of the Economy by the State
Gov’t (Communist Party) makes decisions on individual jobs and pay

22. 1924 Lenin Dies Power Vaccuum Leon Trotsky vs. Joseph Stalin
Stalin takes control
Now must decide how he will maintain power
Decides to create a totalitarian state

24. Characteristics of a Totalitarian State
Dictatorship- Absolute Authority
Dynamic Leader- Vision for the nation
State Control Over All Sectors of Society
Business, Family Life, Labor, youth groups, housing, religion, education, the arts
State Control Over the Individual
Obedience
Denies basic liberties
Organized Violence
Uses force to crush opposition

25. Stalin’s Totalitarian State
State Control of the Economy
5 year plan, collective farms
Police Terror
Great Purge, crush opposition
Religious Persecution
Control of the individual
Propaganda (socialist realism)
Molding peoples minds
Education
Controlled by the government