Influences on Early Russia Byzantine Mongols Orthodox Christianity Autocratic rulers Art & Architecture Close relationship between Church and State Russian rulers called czars Absolute power of rulers Written Language Cyrillic Alphabet Isolated Russia from W. Europe Russia missed advances of the Renaissance

Ivan the Terrible Peter the Great Catherine the Great Russian Absolute Monarchs Centralized royal power Harsh rule and violence used to control people Centralized royal power Harsh rule and violence used to control people Tried to modernize Russia by westernization Built St. Petersburg as a “window on the West” Built large army Expanded Russian territory Failed to gain warm water port for Russia Tried to modernize Russia by westernization Built St. Petersburg as a “window on the West” Built large army Expanded Russian territory Failed to gain warm water port for Russia Enlightened Despot Continued westernization Gained warm water port on the Black Sea Enlightened Despot Continued westernization Gained warm water port on the Black Sea

Landowning nobles, priests, and the Czar controlled feudal society – Resisted changes that would weaken them Middle class was small – No influence Serfs were bound to the land – Were under control of the landowner

Romanov czars wanted to keep ideals of the French Revolution and democratic reforms out of Russia – Czar Alexander III – Czar Nicholas II

Czars maintained total power through harsh measures – Secret police forces – Censorship of public and private writings – Monitoring of schools – Political critics arrested and sent to Siberian prison camps

Alexander III and Nicholas II attempted to industrialize Russia – Lagged behind industrial nations in W. Europe – Brought in foreign investors – Construction of Trans-Siberian railway

Serfs gained freedom in 1861 – Feudalism had died out in most European countries by the 1700’s – Were too poor to buy land – Could not support families – Some moved to cities for industrial jobs Russian peasants receive food (1892)

Rapid industrialization created discontent among workers – worked long hours for little pay – Lived in urban slums – Were attracted to socialist ideas of revolution and reform

Czars fought diversity in Russia – Forced ethnic minorities to give up their own culture and adopt Russian culture – Persecuted ethnic minorities Attacks on Poles, Ukrainians, and Armenians Pogroms on Jews

Why would Russian czars resist democratic reforms? Identify one problem that industrial workers in Russia faced.

Long term causes of the Russian Revolution Autocratic czars resisted reforms Peasant unrest Problems of urban workers Diversity and nationalism

Peaceful protestors killed by czarist troops 1/22/05 “Bloody Sunday” Wanted reforms People lost faith in the czar Strikes and revolts across Russia Czar Nicholas II makes reforms Creates the Duma Elected legislature with no real power Did not relieve peasant and workers anger

Russia army faced many difficulties on Eastern Front – Lacked adequate weapons and supplies – Lost a series of battles and suffered large numbers of causalities – Low food supplies Russian soldiers lost confidence in leaders and deserted in large numbers

Czar Nicholas II went to Eastern Front to manage the war – Left his wife in charge of domestic affairs She relied on advice of Gregory Rasputin Self proclaimed holy man and healer opposed reforms Rasputin assassinated by a group of nobles

Protests break out in St. Petersburg Anger over food and fuel shortages, inflation, and lack of housing Czar’s troops refused to fire on protest Czar stepped down from power End of monarchy Provisional gov’t created

Workers and peasants did not support the provisional government – Continued to fight Germany in WWI Socialists wanted major changes in Russia – Socialists created Soviets Local councils made up of workers, peasants, and soldiers more influence than provisional gov’t in some cities

The Bolsheviks were a radical group of socialists led by Vladimir Lenin – Followed the ideas of Karl Marx Communist Manifesto – Wanted to form a “dictatorship of the proletariat” Communist State

Lenin and Leon Trotsky gained the support of many people – Promised the people “Peace, Land, Bread” – Promised to end involvement in WWI

Bolsheviks led an armed uprising of factory workers, soldiers, and sailors (Nov. 1917) – Overthrew the provisional gov’t

Lenin redistributed land to peasants Gave workers control of factories and mines Signed Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany – Ended Russian involvement in WWI – Gave Germany large amount of Russian territory

What impact did WWI have on how the Russian people viewed the Czar? What economic philosophy did Lenin support? What did Lenin promise the people.