1900-1905

Russian Empire, 1900
Russia’s land is huge. The land was quite useless, only 5% was used for farming because of the cold climate.
In the 1900’s about 125 million people lived in the Tsar Nicholas’s empire, less than half were Russians.
Because there were many different types of people living in Russia they all had their own languages, and their own customs. People were not evenly spread out throughout the country; most of the people lived on the 5% of the land that was good for farming. The majority of people were peasants (4 of 5). The capital of Russia was St.
Petersburg.

Czar Nicholas II was the last Emperor of
Russia. He was an autocrat , which means he does not have to share his power with anyone. Even thought he didn’t have so share his power, he hired thousands of civic workers because of the mass population of Russia. Czar Nicholas did not allow anyone to question his decisions or challenge his power. His secret police, the Okhrana censored literature, spied on political groups and arrested anyone who criticized the government. If workers or peasants disobeyed the orders or refused to work, the Cossacks would kill anyone who doesn’t escape. The prisoners he captured would be sent off to the cold lands of Siberia .
Czar Nicholas II
Cossack

Russian Aristrocrat
In the early 20th century, the majority of the Russian people lived in poverty. Starving and illiterate, many of them were peasants, not being able to easily own their own land.
The rest were factory workers who worked for starvation wages in factories in Russia’s major cities.
The tiny Russian upper class was fabulously rich. Although they exploited them, most the bottom class looked up upon their rulers.
The aristocrats ruled over a massive lower class with no rights and depended on that proletarian mass to support their extravagant lifestyles.
Russian Peasant

Karl Marx was a German socialist who was considered as one of the most important socialist of all time.
In his life, he wrote a book called
Communist Manifesto and influenced a Russian man named
Lenin to bring a great revolution to his native Russia. Lenin introduced the idea of communism to Russia but not everyone agreed. Different groups including the liberals and the socialists were formed and
Russia split up supporting Lenin’s idea or not supporting his idea.
Karl Marx

Word
St. Petersburg
Siberia
Autocrat
Cossacks
Okhrana
Karl Marx
Communist
Liberals
Definition
Capital of Russia during the 1900’s
Northern region where prisoners were sent for hard labor
A monarch who doesn’t have to share power
Mounted soldiers who beak up mobs and kill people
A secret force set up by the Czar who spy, censor, and arrest people who criticize the government
A German writer who wrote the Communist Manifesto
A society in which people work and are paid for their abilities
Property owning Russians who are loyal to the Czar

Information:
Russia in the War and Revolution –
Russia 1900-24
Leaders of the Russian Revolution http://www.encarta.com
From Tsar to Stalin (movie)
Pictures: http://images.vectorimages.com/102/g604_russia_empire.gif
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http://www.arcoiris.com/George/images/cossack_nikitin.jpg
http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/aencm ed/targets/maps/mhi/T045091A.gif
http://www.russiannobility.org/images2/Nickolas2
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&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=41CAE2DF95708C
E269B694CC56A9F87EA55A1E4F32AD3138 http://www.corbis.com

By:
Avril Koblitz
Jason Woo
Oliver Bech
Stephanie Young
8-6

January 1905 crowd of 200,000 workers marched to the Tsars Winter palace in St. Petersburg to petition for better working conditions. The workers were lead by Father Gapon who was the leader of a the workers organization, and sympathized with the poor workers. The workers carried religious icons and pictures of Nicholas to show their peaceful intent. The authorities were nervous and over reacted by opening fire on the crowds and killed more than 500 workers, and injured thousands more. Lenin was happy to hear of this days news of the breakdown of law and order. This massacre became known as
“ Bloody Sunday ”.

After the events on Bloody Sunday , riots and strikes led by workers and peasants were persistent. On September
1905, a general strike occurred in the whole country, making Tsar Nicholas II issue a document called the
October Manifesto in October 1905, declaring the creation of the Duma , an elected parliament by the people. But the first 3 Dumas were controlled by the tsar completely. The
Bolshevik leader Lenin watched the whole country going through these affairs from his exile in Switzerland. Lenin and his Bolshevik s would later successfully overthrow autocracy and introduce communism in the country.

Most important was the 15.5 million young men who were drafted as soldiers and went to war. This more than halved the number of people available to work in factories. Russia also depended on trains to supply food and raw material.
But the lack of workers made all the coal mines close. This caused starvation for a lot of soldiers. Russia’s money also lost value.
The Tsar slowly lost power and the trust of people during the war. The people felt abandoned when Tsar Nicholas left the people to go and help command troops. This left
Alexandra in control of Petrograd. Alexandra was completely under the influence of Rasputin. The Tsar lost power after the war during the October Revolution.

In 1917, protest rallies were organized by socialists. About
385,000 workers went on strike. This caused transportations and newspapers to be unavailable. Troops had been sent by the Tsar, but they refused to attack the strikers. By February 28, all of the Tsar’s troops had surrendered and his ministers had been arrested. Tsar
Nicholas II had agreed to abdicate and give up his throne
To his brother, Grand Duke Michael.

Word
Bloody Sunday
Vladimir Lenin
Duma
October
Manifesto
Abdicate
Bolshevik
Definition
March for better working conditions, ending bloodily
The leader of the Bolshevik and
Marxist
Elected parliament of the people
Document that Tsar issued on
October of 1905
To step down from power
Member of Russian majority or socialist party

• “leaders of the
Russian Revolution”
• “Russia in war and revolution”
• “encarta.com”
Corbis.com

Class: 8-6
Name: Maura Dentino, Diana Redza,
Jacques Van Anh, Hoi Fung Ma

Who was Alexander Kerensky and what problems did his Provisional Government face?
When the Tsar’s government fell,
Alexander Kerensky , a young man raised in the village of
Simbirlse, accepted the post of
Minister of Justice in the newly established Provisional
Government, which faced many problems. Many Russians were upset with the way it handled the war and many soldiers wanted to stop fighting. However, Kerensky wanted to continue fighting in the war. Many were influenced by the
Soviet and many were formed in other towns. As the Bolsheviks gained popularity, Kerensky became Prime Minister but shortly after, his government fell.

What were the causes of the Nov/Oct Revolution?
The Provisional Government took care of Russia until elections could be held, but were not confident enough and since soldiers deserted, they delayed elections, losing support. Also, they failed to give the peasants their land, who then took control of their farming land, causing countryside violence which delayed harvest and started food shortages. On the other hand, the Bolsheviks gained support.
Lenin, together with Trotsky and
Stalin, made the slogan: “Peace,
Bread, and Land”, knowing people wanted all three points.
However, the Provisional suppressed demonstrations and arrested a few leading
Bolsheviks, therefore Lenin started the Bolshevik revolution.

Who was Vladimir Lenin and how did he come to power?
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) was one of Russia’s greatest historical figures, born on April
20th, 1870. The book Das
Kapital, by Karl Marx influenced him to fight for communism. He brought everyone who disliked the current government type to bring about a revolution. He called his allies and himself
Bolsheviks. During their first act they marched peacefully, yet, many died. The Bolshevik then invaded Petrograd ’s Winter
Palace which dethroned the king.
He was later elected President of the Soviet of People’s
Commission because of his popularity. He also created an army called the Red Guards .

What immediate actions did Lenin take following the Oct/Nov Revolution?
After the Oct/Nov revolution, Lenin set up a government called Sovnarkom, the council of people’s commissars. Being chairman, Lenin had the power to make many decrees to create a better Russia. The most popular decrees were backing off from the war with Germany and less work hours for workers to have rest on Sunday. Lenin made these decrees so Russia can slowly recover from the political and economical damage the war caused.
The decrees made Lenin extremely popular, turning him into Russia’s hero but with a price of selling one third of Russia’s population to Germany for the peace treaty with Germany.

Word Definition
Alexander Kerensky Leader of the Provisional Government
Vladimir Lenin Leader of the Bolsheviks
Petrograd
Provisional
Red Guards
Treaty
Modern-day Moscow providing or serving for the time being only
The army of the Bolsheviks a formal agreement between two or more states

• http://www.encarta.com
• http://library.thinkquest.org/C0112205/leading.events.html
• Russia in War and Revolution
•
From Tsar to Stalin (video)
•
Leaders of the Russian Revolution
• http://www.dreamsaddict.com/Orpheus/Images/History/Kerensky.jpg
• http://www.marxists.org/subject/bolsheviks/bolsheviks.jpg
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergei1971/2126397038/
• http://library.ulster.ac.uk/images/Karl%20Marx.jpg
• http://www.corbis.com

Ciera Rife, William Pettersen
Joey Cheung 8-6

During the Civil War, Vladimir Lenin faced the White Army or the Mensheviks.
The Mensheviks were his biggest opposition. Lenin was the leader of the radical socialists’ Bolshevik party as well as Trotsky. The Red Army which
Lenin was a part of, gradually started to win the civil war. After the revolution,
Lenin was head of the new Soviet government that formed in Russia. He became the leader of the USSR upon its founding in 1922. Lenin held the highest post in the Soviet government until his death in 1924, when Joseph
Stalin assumed power.
Red Army

After the war things were put in to place with a set of rules called the
War Communism . There was a revolt of sailors against the War
Communism. The War Communism was not what the Bolsheviks promised after the war. So Lenin decided that there had to be a change in policy so that there were no more uprisings. He made the
New Economic Policy (NEP), which stated that; peasants could sell their own crops. Peasants that increased their food production pay less tax.
Factories with less than twenty workers would not be nationalized, and people could use money again.
Lenin

Following Lenin’s death in 1924, two of his followers, Stalin and Trotsky, wanted to succeed to his position and become the USSR leader. Both claimed to want equality and change yet both had different things in mind.
If Trotsky would have come to power, the ideals of a world wide communist revolution would unfold. Trotsky looked not only at the present but also the future development of communism. However, Stalin became
Lenin’s successor, betrayed the ideals of Marxism and replaced the Tsar with a new dictator. During the “Red
Terror”, Stalin used the Cheka created and censored an industrialized Soviet
Union yet neglected the reasons for evolution in the first place, for equality.
Trotsky
Stalin

Word
Reds
Whites
Cheka
Definition
“Bolsheviks” led by Lenin and Trotsky
“Mensheviks” led by Martov
Russian Secret Police
War Communism Term for the economic and social polices from
RSFSR
New Economic
Policy (NEP)
A policy of temporary economic liberalization in the USSR
Red Terror
USSR
Campaign of terror in RSFS against party and suspected opponents of Stalin
Soviet Union

Information
• Russia in War and Revolution - Josh Brooman
• Leaders of the Russian Revolution – Fred
Newman
• www.encarta.com
• From Tzar to Stalin
Pictures
• www.google.com

1924-1941
8-6
Horace Hou, Christopher Liu, Manami
Masayama, Simon Wu

After Lenin died, the economic growth started to decline and the peasants weren’t producing enough crops. Instead of giving the peasants economic incentives to grow crops, Stalin made a policy that forced them into state-owned collective farms. Also, he intended kulaks as a social to liquidate the class and was sent to another place.
Because his plan required money, he decided to use up all the resources he could from the countryside. This nearly collapsed the agriculture in the countryside in Russia and deaths of millions of peasants from famine .
Russian farmers at work in a collective game.

Stalin's influence on the industry and its workers were greatly admired at the start. Stalin introduced the 5year plan, it was great, the workers loved it and were excited to start the task they had. Even tough they had to increase their production at least double they still did it. In the first 5year plan Stalin changed the length and made it shorter by 1 year because the workers were working harder than he expected. After the change the workers were angered and in the 2nd 5-year plan they weren't as interested as before.
Promoting the 5 year plan

With time, Stalin took control of party members to know about everything. Then using his power he got alliances and purged his oppositions with his secret police
( NKVD ). In the secret police there is also a organization called Gulag which is in charge of the slave labor camps. In 1929 he was the new leader in Russia. Stalin joined the
Rightists, Trotsky wanted to continue
Lenin’s plan for the New Economic
Policy. Stalin disliked the plans, but soon got the members respect. Once he got the respect he voted out
Trotsky. Once he got rid of them he ended the NEP with the help from the members.
Their leader Stalin

Everyone knew that Stalin was a leader.
They could hardly fail to know it, because picture and posters of Stalin was everywhere! His main tool that made him so popular was his wide use of propaganda. Every shop displayed his bust. In offices, factories, and in the corner of the street was pictures of
Lenin and Stalin. There are also many
Streets, towns, buildings named after him. The newspapers referred to him as
‘Man of Steel’, ‘Iron Soldier’ and many other similar names. His name was mentioned everywhere. It also appeared in films, plays, poems, stories, and novels!
A poster of Stalin with people admiring him

Vocabulary Word
Collectives
Kulak
Famine
Five-year Plan
Gulag
Purges
Propaganda
NKVD
Definition made of a group of people in a group
A wealthy peasant who owns land and hires workers
Extreme shortage of food, could lead to deaths.
A plan for economy or industry in which goals are set and reached in 5 years.
System of forced labor camps in the Soviet Union
To eliminate politicians or others that are considered undesirable.
Information that is spread for promoting a cause.
Stalin’s secret police organization.

Information
Stalin and the Soviet
Union (Book) http://encarta.msn.com
Pictures http://images.google.com

Janita Zhang, Sang Woo Chun & Ryan Moore

Before World War II many countries did not want to be involved with the USSR.
The Nazi-Soviet pact was signed by Russia and
Germany to remain neutral in the event of war and to divide up territories. In 1941 a neutrality pact was signed by
Russia and Japan as insurance in case they would be attacked. Once Stalin lead the Comintern , an alliance of
Communist country designed to make sure they obeyed
Soviet rule, Russia became really good friends with several countries including
China.
Signing the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact
Stalin signing the Nazi-Soviet pact

WWII changed the Russian army’s reputation from an average army to the superpowers. The scorched earth policy used by the
Soviet people during the war caused more death and destruction than ever before suffered. Stalin instituted a policy of isolation from the West known as the Iron Curtain . This prevented
Russians from traveling and involved rigid censorship therefore limiting the freedom of the people. In order to solidify authority, Stalin worked at building up a feeling of nationalism by glorifying past heroes.
Even though many groups of people thought Stalin was a cruel leader, he is still Russia’s well known famous leader of all times. He Stalin solidified Russia thus having part in what Russia is today.
The Iron Curtain divided up Europe.
1941 Joseph Stalin calls for a scorch earth policy in broadcast.

To direct task of reconstruction,
Stalin announced a fourth Five-Year Plan which was that of complete military armament. Massive amounts of money and resources were pumped into the defense industry. Through Stalin, as the head of the
Comintern , directed the Soviet Union from a backwards country to a first rate industrial and military power. With all the uproar in
Europe and the thunder heads of war gathering, Stalin turned his attention towards modernizing the Red Army. Stalin ordered one of the largest military build ups and defensive programs that the world had ever seen. Under the fourth Five-Year Plan,
Preparations were made by reconstructing a modern defense industry, military aviation, an up-to-date navy, civil-defense training for the whole population.
Stalin modernized the Russian Red Army turning it into a bigger and stronger army.

Word
Comintern
Nazi-Soviet Pact
Neutrality Pact
Scorched Earth Policy
Reconstruction
Iron Curtain
Definition
An alliance of Communist countries designed to make sure they obeyed Soviet rule.
An agreement signed August 1939 between Germany and Russia to remain neutral in the event of war and to divide up territories. The pact ended when Germany invaded Russia in 1940.
April 1941, Japanese signed a neutrality pact with the
USSR as insurance against an attack from that direction if they were to come into conflict with Britain or the US.
When Germany invaded Russia, Japan broke the pact and joined the West.
A policy of destroying crop or buildings, especially by burning, or of removing anything that might be useful to an advancing enemy in wartime.
The reconstruction of the fourth Five-Year Plan put great emphasis on building up heavy industry and the transport system, and not much emphasis on consumer goods.
A policy of isolation setup by the USSR after WWII that involved rigid censorship and restrictions on travel.

Information
"MSN Encarta : Online Encyclopedia,
Dictionary, Atlas, and Homework." 2000.
Microsoft. <http://www.encarta.msn.com>.
Pictures
"Corbis: stock photography and digital pictures." Corbis Corporation.
<http://www.corbis.com>.
Brooman, Josh. Stalin And The Soviet
Union; The USSR 1924-53. Longman
Twentieth-Century History Series.
"Google Image Search." 2000. Google.
<http://images.google.com/>.