Nicholas only has one son – Alexei, who has a bleeding disorder (hemophilia).

Alexei

Alexei is the only heir to the throne and the last male of the Romanov dynasty.

Alexandra is hated by most Russians for being German and out of touch with reality.

Said he was a monk and had “magical” healing powers.

Claimed he could cure Alexei’s hemo-philia.

Becomes leader of the Provisional Government(temporary government) after the first revolution.

Not a strong leader, and has many enemies and rivals.

Soviets were groups of workers from local towns who united to rule over themselves and had more power than the provisional government (similar to a city council).

Came up with the idea of communism(an economic system in which there is no private property and the government regulates every part of the economy).

He was the inspiration for Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik Revolution.

Leader of the Bolshevik Revolution and the communist party.

Believer in the ideas of Karl Marx, close friend and supporter of Lenin, assisted in the Bolshevik Revolution.

Comes to power after Lenin by eliminating his enemies. Turns Russia into a totalitarian state.

How

Russian

Peasants

Feel

Japan and Russia clashed over control of Korean and ManchuriaThe Russians were

defeated…quite badly…by the Japanese.The defeat was one reason

people began to call for change.

150,000 workers and their families marched to the Tsar’s Winter Palace to bring a petition of economic grievances to him.

Winter Palace, St. Petersburg

The Tsar’s troops confronted the protesters, killing 40 and wounding others.

Violence spread throughout the capital.

Bloody Sunday permanently altered the attitudes of the people toward the tsar and his government. Nicholas II was not a strong

leader and did not manage the situation well.

However, the Russian people were divided over what type of government/leadership Russia should have and failed to coordinate their efforts, so the gov’t remained intact…for now.

In 1914, Nicholas II decided to get Russia involved in World War I. Russia was not strong enough to compete with the industrialized countries.

In 1915, Nicholas went to the Eastern Front and leaves Alexandra in charge.

Rasputin claims he can cure Alexei’s hemophilia.

Alexandra lets him live in the palace with the royal family and make important government decisions in exchange for him “helping” Alexei.

Rasputin opposed reforms and wanted to maintain a strict autocracy and Alexandra listened to him.

This was not good for Russia and the government advisers were not happy. In 1916, a group of

nobles at court murdered Rasputin.

Since Russia was not prepared to fight industrialized nations, many soldiers were dying and they could not keep up with supplies.

Food and supplies were running out and prices were increasing.To the Russian people it seemed

like the government was doing nothing to solve these problems.

While Russian men went off to fight in the war and…

children were dying from starvation,Alexandra and Rasputin live it up in the Winter Palace.

1. Who does he represent?

2. Who do they represent?

3. What is the message the artist is trying to send to the viewer?

In 1917, women workers led a strike in Petrograd. People rapidly

joined in the strike protesting the lack of bread and fuel.

Soldiers were ordered to shoot the rioters, but the soldiers joined them.

Nicholas II is forced to step down from the throne.

Alexander Kerensky and the Duma(Russian parliament) take over the government and form the Provisional Government.

Kerensky decided to stay in World War I which lost him a lot of support.

Soviets (local councils consisting of workers, peasants and soldiers) formed, and begin to gain more power than the Provisional Government.

Get us out of the war!

We don’t like Kerensky!

Lenin, the communist leader, had been chased out of Russia by Nicholas.

He now returns and begins gathering supporters to takeover the government and make Russia communist.

The Bolshevik party had two messages, “Peace, Land, and Bread,” and “All power to the Soviets!”

Lenin saw that the provisional government was weak, and saw his opportunity to take action.

With no warning, a group of Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace in November of 1917.

They took over the government offices and arrested leaders of the provisional government.

The Bolsheviks were in power.

Lenin ordered that all farmland be divided up amongst peasants and that workers take control of the factories.

He signed a truce with the Germans (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk) in March 1918. The treaty got them out of the war, but it also meant a large loss of land.

After the war the economy was a disaster. In March 1921 Lenin

began the New Economic Policy (NEP).

He allowed peasants to sell excess crops for profit instead of turning them over to the government.

Individuals were allowed to buy and sell goods for profit.This went against the

ideas of communism, but helped get the economy back on track.

In 1924, Lenin dies.A power struggle

between several top members of the party begins to become the next leader of the Soviet Union.

Leon Trotsky thought he would become the leader after Lenin.He had been a long

time friend of Lenin’s and played a major role in the Bolshevik Revolution.

Trotsky believed the Soviet Union’s focus should be spreading revolution to other countries.

Josef Stalin had joined the Bolsheviks later, and did not play a major role in the revolution.

Stalin rose through the ranks of the party quickly because of his hard work and dedication.

Stalin thought the focus of government should be on strengthening the Soviet Union’s economy and government.

Through eliminating anyone he believed was the enemy or who stood in the way of him coming to power, Stalin became the next leader of the Soviet Union.

Stalin made major changes to the Soviet Union.

Totalitarianism is when the government takes total control over every aspect of public and private life.Stalin said it was worth giving up

freedom to be protected by the government.

Totalitarianism is when the government takes total control over every aspect of public and private life.

To get the people on board with his new ideas Stalin used censorship(limiting information people receive) and propaganda (one sided information designed to persuade people).

Stalin created new curriculum to be taught in schools to make people loyal to him.

Stalin created a command economy – meaning the government controlled the economy and made all the economic decisions for the country.

Stalin’s goal was to modernize industry and agriculture.

“Lets accomplish a plan of great deeds” –

Five-Year Plan propaganda

Stalin combined the land into large government owned farms known as collective farms.

Many families would work together on this land owned by the government and produce food for the state.

Peasant and kulaks (wealthy land-owning peasants) were unhappy about this.Many of them killed their own

livestock rather than turning them over to the government.

“We will keep the kulaks from the collective farms”

Eventually 90% of peasants lived and worked on collective farms and there was an increase in production.

School children were indoctrinated with Stalin’s philosophies and beliefs from an early age.Stalin increased access to

education and training programs.

Women were treated as equals under the communist regime and had the same access to education and jobs as men. Everyone was expected to participate

in the economy and help the state. The collective (group) was valued over the individual.