1. World Geography Mrs. McElroy
History of Russia
World Geography
Mrs. McElroy

2. Early Settlement A. Slavs- probably original settlers of the land
1. Built trading towns along the rivers joining them to the Mediterranean, western Europe and Scandinavia

3. Early Settlement B. Varangians- warrior traders from Scandinavia
1. Adopted Slavs’ language and customs, and formed loose unions with them
2. Had city-states which were ruled by princes
Kiev was the capital, and ruler was the Grand Prince

4. Early Settlement C. Mongols- warriors from central Asia
1. Destroyed Kiev, and conquered much of the Slavs’ territory
2. Allowed Slavs self rule, but cut them off from Europe

5. Rule of the Czars A. Ivan the Terrible
1. Was Grand Prince of Moscow, conquered other Slavic princes, and drove out the Mongols
2. Set up Russian state with Moscow as the capital, and declared himself Czar
Czar- supreme ruler; just like a king

6. Rule of the Czars Peter I- Peter the Great
1. Was determined to modernize Russia in the late 1600s
Europe had made many achievements leaving Russia behind, especially in science and technology
2. Went to war to win things- seaports along the Baltic Sea from Sweden
3. Moved capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg- city he had built- “Window to the West’

8. Rule of the Czars 4. Russia made great strides with him as a ruler
Increased naval strength (seaports)
Territory expanded
Trade multiplied

9. Revolt of the People A. Late 1800s brought discontent, people were
1. Tired of war
2. Resentful of iron rule of Czars
3. Factory workers lived harsh difficult lives

10. Revolt of the People B. People looked for new ideas- Socialism
1. Called for ownership of all land and factories by peasants and workers
2. Brought forward by Karl Marx- German philosopher who believed that in time conflict between land owners and the working class would lead to a workers’ revolution- out of the revolution would be a new classless society

11. Revolt of the People
C. Czars reacted by freeing the serfs and promoting education
1. They instituted russification- required everyone in the empire to speak Russian and become Eastern Orthodox Christians
2. Russification only made things worse

12. Revolt of the People D. Fall of the Czars
1. January the Russian people revolted
2. March Czar Nicholas II abdicated- rule of Czars ended

13. Nicolas II and Family

14. The Soviet Era A. The Bolsheviks
1. In November 1917, a group led by Vladimir Lenin took over the government and proclaimed a socialist revolution

15. The Soviet Era
2. New government took control of industry and church property and promised and 8 hour work day
3. Not everyone was happy- war broke out between Bolsheviks (red) and anti-Bolsheviks (white)- Bolsheviks won

16. The Soviet Era B. Communist- New name of Bolsheviks
1. Established a new nation: USSR
s Josef Stalin came to power and worked to create world’s greatest industrial power

17. The Soviet Era
3. Involvement in WWII helped to spread communism to eastern European countries
4. Soviet Union became a ‘superpower’ that was in competition with the US
5. Conflict and competition became known as the Cold War

18. The Soviet Union

19. The Soviet Era C. Mikhail Gorbachev
Gorbachev came to power believing that the country could not survive without restructuring

20. The Soviet Era 2. Initiated perestroika and glasnost
Perestroika- restructuring
Glasnost- openness
3. Reformations were not enough and the Soviet Union began to collapse

21. The Soviet Era D. Collapse
1. By early 1990s the republics of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia had declared their independence

22. The Soviet Era
2. Summer of 1991, Russia held its 1st democratic election for president- Boris Yeltsin was elected
Tried to strengthen government- too late

23. The Soviet Era
3. Mid December, all republics had declared their independence
4. Decided to form CIS- Commonwealth of Independent States, which each member republic was independent and had its own government and constitution- largest federation of separate republics