1) The czars ruled over Russia for 300 years (the ‘Romanov Dynasty’, 1613-1917)… but the last century of their rule was marked by social & political unrest, with increasing revolutionary activity:

- Army officers revolted in 1825 (the ‘Decemberists’), demanding a constitutional monarchy, with an elected legislature (learned from French soldiers 13 years earlier).

- Multiple revolutionary groups developed through the 1800s, seeking to overthrow the czars.

- Czar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881.

2) The last four czars, and their openness to reforms:

Nicholas I opposed

Alexander II in favor (and was assassinated!)

Alexander III opposed

Nicholas II opposed

3) Most czars favored ‘AUTOCRACY’:

Any form of government in which ONE person (OR party) has total political power.

Can be an absolute monarchy OR dictatorship

4) Alex III considered the following dangerous:

1. Anyone who questioned the absolute authority of the czar (DISSIDENTS)

2. Anyone NOT Russian Orthodox Christian

3. Anyone who did not speak Russian as their first language (i.e. any non-Russian ethnic group)

ALL were considered potential (or actual) sources of revolutionary activity against the czar.

(consider: Alex II had been assassinated!)

5) Czar Alexander III used, harsh autocratic policies:

- strict censorship

- secret police

- teacher reports on student activity

(creates distrust, paranoia!)

- deportation to eastern Russia (Siberia) for punishing hard labor

- outlawed non-Russian languages in schools

6) Religious group most persecuted: Jews

aka ANTI-SEMITISM

Victims of organized mob violence & destruction of property… encouraged (or ignored) by the gov.

= POGROMS

(WHY?)→ scapegoating (falsely blame them for

national problems) → small, vulnerable group = easy target → easily identified group in segregated

communities

7) Russian industrialization…

Similarities w/ Western Europe, U.S. (or anywhere!):- Government policies designed to encourage

industrial growth- Terrible working conditions, early on

(i.e. unsafe, dirty, long hours, low pay, child labor)- Government outlaws labor unions (so no

opportunity for improved conditions!)- Workers sometimes responded w/ illegal strikes

Difference:

Dissaffected working class (and peasants) increasingly turned to violent, REVOLUTIONARY activity, inspired by…

8) Karl Marx

(why was there NOT a similar Marxist revolutionary reaction in Britain, the U.S., and Germany?)

9) Not all Russian Marxist revolutionaries agreed on the GOALS and METHODS of revolution… they would split into two factions:

Mensheviks preferred a more moderate, gradual approach in cultivating a broader and more democratic base of popular support among Russia’s working class in preparing for revolution.

Bolsheviks a smaller, more radical group of ruthless and “committed revolutionaries willing to sacrifice everything” for more immediate change.

Bolsheviks: Mensheviks:

- Revolutionary - Socialist - Evolutionary (immediate) (delayed revolt) - Proletariat overthrow of

- Top Down Bourgeoisie - Bottom Up (dictatorial) (democratic)

- Marxist

10) Bolshevik leader: Lenin

Leadership Qualities:

- charismatic (“engaging personality”)

- well organized

- well educated (middle class background)

- ruthless

- ambitious

- gifted speaker

Early obstacles to revolution:

Self-exile to avoid

arrest & imprisonment.

11) Czar Nicholas II’s fateful decisions, which will cost him his throne and end three centuries of monarchy in Russia:

1. Russo-Japanese War (1904): Czar uses nationalism and militarism to try and distract and unify Russians... initiates a war with Japan (for imperial control of Korea).

Result: FAILURE... Russians lost war to a more industrialized Japan, thus magnifying the scope of Russia's problems and poor leadership!

11) End of the czars (continued):

2. Russia's “Bloody Sunday” (Revolution of 1905) →

200,000 workers gather peacefully to petition for better working & living conditions (i.e. more personal freedoms) and an elected legislature to represent them as a voice in the government.

Outcome:

- Czar's security forces, feeling threatened, fire upon crowd, killing hundreds, wounding thousands

- Workers respond with violent national strikes

- Czar forced to create a national legislature, but he then dissolves it within months... tensions remain!

11) Failures of Czar Nicholas II (continued): 3. World War I

- Under-equipped, poorly trained, poorly led troops suffer massive deaths; civilians endure food & fuel shortages.

- During war, Czar Nicholas II left for the front (to “inspire” the troops), leaving government administration

in the hands of the Czarina and Rasputin. - Rasputin was a peasant advisor and family

confidant (believed to have special powers in ameliorating the czar’s son’s symptoms of hemophilia).

- The royal family permitted Rasputin to influence government policy, infuriating Russians of all classes.

12) Russian Duma: = elected legislature

(i.e. Russian parliament, or congress) Had the Russian Duma been implemented,

Russia would have become a constitutional monarchy…… and may have avoided a violent revolution that killed millions, and destroyed its

monarchy forever!