1. Day 1 Russian Rev notes

2. On page 70 in your ISN: RUSSIAN REVOLUTION UNIT COVER Write the words
Then turn to page 73 and write and respond to the following:
Describe a time when something seemed very unfair but you didn’t know what to do about it

3. What are 5 interesting details you see in this cartoon?

5. On page 74, create a 4 column chart
Peasants
Intellectuals
Clergy
Nobility

6. Russian levels of society: Peasants
By the late 1800’s 90% of Russians were peasant farmers
Traditionally, Russian commoners were serfs (servants who farmed someone else’s land or paid rent to do so)
Serfs had no legal rights, could not own land and were not free to move
Serfdom ended in 1861; peasants were heavily taxed and lived in constant poverty well into the 1900’s

7. Intellectuals:
During the 1800’s the tsar was all powerful and extremely wealthy
As the century passed, more educated individuals began to write and talk about ways to improve Russia
Small class of educated thinkers and their students became known as the intelligentsia or intellectuals
Most came from nobility and played an active role in the tsarist government
Evenutally, the group was dominated by revolutionaries working against the gov’t

8. Clergy:
Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity (aka Russian Orthodoxy)
Dominant force in Russian society
In 1800’s life still revolved around church rituals and the priest was a central figure in both cities and villages
Two groups: village priests (wore white robes) and monks (wore black robes)
Priests could marry and have families, monks could not
Priests took care of parishes (churches) while monks lived in monasteries and led lives of prayer
Russian people respected monks as sources of learning and spiritual power; believed to perform miracles

9. Nobility:
During the 1800’s, the tsar and the Russian nobility made up 1% of the population
They controlled much of the land and wealth in Russia
Tsar and his family lived in incredible luxury and extravagance
Tsar personally owned millions of acres of land, over 1 million serfs, and dozens of palaces throughout the empire
Tsar could do anything he wished with his resources
Previous tsars included:
Peter the Great (1700’s)
Ivan the Terrible
Catharine the Great
Alexander II (freed the serfs and forced nobles to sell their land to former serfs)
Nicholas II
They ruled for life and they ruled by divine right

11. Sensory figures
Create 4 sensory figures (one from each level of Russian Society)
And describe what each hears, sees, smells, tastes and feels every day