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128 Cards in this Set

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Ivan IV also called...
Ivan the Terrible
When did Ivan IV come to the throne? What was his life like?
3 years old, 1533. His life was disrupted by struggles for power among Russia's landowning nobles, the boyars, who fought to control him.
When did Ivan IV crown himself czar? What does "czar" mean?
At 16 years old. It means "Caesar". Ivan was the first Russian to use it officially.
What family did Ivan IV marry into?
The Romanovs, through Anastasia
Boyars
Landowning nobles
When and what was Ivan IV's "good period"?
1547-1560
Ivan ruled justly, won great territories, added land to Russia, and gave it a code of laws.
When and why did Ivan IV's "bad period" start?
1560
Anastasia died and he accused the boyars of poisoning his wife.
Ivan the Terrible's secret police force
Dressed in black and rode black horses. Their chief duty was to hunt down and murder those who Ivan considered traitors. Through the secret police, Ivan executed many boyars, their families, and the peasants who worked their lands.
Ivan the Terrible's new class of boyars...
were given the boyars' estates. They had to remain loyal or lose their land.
What did Ivan the Terrible do in 1581 that showed he was lacking in foresight?
He killed his eldest son and heir. When he died three years later his weak second son was left to rule.
How did the Time of Troubles come about?
Ivan the Terrible's second son died without an heir.
What was the Time of Troubles?
A period of turmoil where the Boyars struggled for power (civil war) and heirs of czars died under mysterious conditions. Many imposters tried to claim the throne.
Who was chosen as the next czar in 1613?
Michael Romanov, who began the Romanov dynasty, which ruled for 300 years.
What was Russia like when Peter came to power?
It was still a land of boyars and serfs.
How long did serfdom continue in Russia?
Until the mid-1800s
Why did Russia know little of Western Europe?
In the Middle Ages, Russia looked to Constantinople for leadership. Mongol rule had cut off Russia from the Renaissance and the Age of Exploration. Furthermore, Russia's only seaport, Archangel, was choked with ice much of the year. The few travelers who reached Moscow were usually Dutch or German, and they had to stay in a separate part of the city. Russians adopted the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity. Because western Europe was mostly Catholic or Protestant, the Russians viewed them as heretics.
What did Peter think the future of Russia depended on?
A warm-water port
What did Peter do in 1697?
He embarked on the "Grand Embassy", a long visit to Western Europe.
What was the purpose of the Grand Embassy?
To learn about European customs and industrial techniques. With him were 200 servants and 55 boyars. This was the first time a czar traveled among Western "heretics"
Inspired by his trip to the west, what did Peter resolve?
That Russia would compete with Europe on both military and commercial terms.
How did Peter force Russia to change?
He increased his power as an absolute ruler. He brought the Russian Orthodox Church under state control. He abolished the office of patriarch, or the head of the church. He set up the Holy Synod to run the church under his control.
How did Peter ensure that lower-ranking families were loyal to him alone?
He reduced the power of great landowners. He promoted men from lower-ranking families to authority and rewarded them with land-grants.
How did Peter modernize the army?
He hired European officers, who drilled his men in European tactics and weapons. At the time of Peter's death, the army was 200,000 strong. To pay for this huge army, Peter imposed heavy taxes
What did Peter do as part of his attempts to Westernize Russia?
-introduced potatoes, which became a staple of the Russian diet
-started Russia's first newspapers and edited its first issue himself
-raised women's status by having them attend social gatherings
-ordered nobles to give up their traditional clothes for Western fashions
Why did Peter want a seaport to the west?
To promote education and growth
What did Peter do to gain a seaport to the West?
He fought Sweden to gain a piece
of the Baltic coast. After 21 years of war, Russia won
The building of St. Petersburg
In 1703, Peter had begun building a new city on Swedish land occupied by Russian troops. Although the swampy sight was unhealthful, it seemed ideal to Peter. Ships could sail down the Neva River into the Baltic Sea and onto the west
The costs of building St. Petersburg
Every summer, the army forced thousands of serfs to leave home and work on St. Petersburg. 25,000-100,000 people died from terrible working conditions and widespread disease.
Once St. Petersburg was done, Peter ordered ....
many Russian nobles to move to his new capital
Results of Peter's reforms
Peter had tried to reform the culture and government of Russia. By 1725, Russia was a force to be reckoned with.
Catherine the great
Ruled Russia from 1762 to 1796. She was well-educated and read the works of philosophes and exchanged letters with Voltair. She ruled absolutely, but also took steps to modernize and reform Russia.
What did Catherine form to review Russia's laws?
A commission. She presented it with a proposal for reform based on the ideas of Montesquieu and Beccaria. She also recommended allowing religious toleration and abolishing torture and capital punishment.
What were the results of the commission?
None of the goals were accomplished.
What did Catherine do about Russian peasants?
Almost nothing.
Why did Catherine's thinking about enlightened ideas change?
There was a serf uprising in 1773. Catherine's army crushed the rebellion with brutality. Before, Catherine had favored an end to serfdom. However, the revolt convinced her she needed the nobles' support to keep her throne. Therefore, she gave the nobles absolute power over the serfs. Russian serfs lost their last trace of freedom.
How did Russia gain the right to send ships through Ottoman-controlled straits leading from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean?
Catherine sought access to the Black Sea. In two wars with the Ottoman Turks, Catherine's armies won control of the northern shore or the Black Sea.
Catherine's expansion into Poland
The King of Poland was relatively weak; independent nobles held the most power. Russia, Prussia, and Austria each tried to assert control over it. In 1772, the neighbors each took a piece of Poland in the First Partition of Poland. In further partitions in 1793 and 1795, they grabbed the rest of the territory- Poland did not re-appear until after WWI.
What age was she married to the Grand Duke Peter?
15
.
What happened to the Grand Duke Peter?
.
Peter was mentally unstable. When he became Czar, Catherine had him arrested and confined. He died soon after, probably murdered under her orders.
Alexander II
He was reform-minded and in 1861, emancipated the serfs, made education reforms, set up fair legal systems (public trials/trial by jury) and local governments.The people became angry at the slow pace of political change. He was assassinated by student revolutionaries 1881.
Alexander III
In 1881, he succeeded his father and halted all reforms.
What principle did Alexander III hold to?
Autocracy, a government where he had total power. He was determined to strengthen "autocracy, orthodoxy, and nationality". Anyone who questioned his absolute authority, worshiped outside the Russian Orthodox Church, or spoke a language other than Russian was tagged as dangerous.
autocracy
a government where he had total power
What did Alexander III do to wipe out revolutionaries?
He imposed strict censorship codes on all written documents. His secret police watched secondary schools and universities. Teachers had to send detailed reports on every student. Political prisoners were exiled to Siberia.
What did Alexander III do to establish a uniform Russian culture?
He oppressed other national groups within Russia. He made Russian the official language and forbade the use of minority languages in schools. Alexander made Jews the target of prejudice by subjecting them to laws that encouraged prejudice. Jews could not buy land or live with other Russians, and universities set quotas for Jewish students. Pogroms broke out in many parts of Russia. Police and soldiers stood by and watched Russian citizens loot and destroy Jewish homes stores, and synagogues.
Pogroms
Organized violence against Jews
Nicholas II resists change
In 1896, Nicholas II became czar. He refused to surrender any power. His trust in Russian autocracy blinded him to the changing times
Between the 1863 and 1900, the number of factories...
doubled.
What helped finance buildup of Russian industries and boosted the growth of the heavy industry, particularly steel?
Higher taxes and foreign investments
Sergey Witte
Nicholas II's most capable minister.
What place was Russia in terms of producing steel?
4th place by 1900
When did Nicholas become czar of Russia?
May 14, 1896
Why was there such a big parade in 1913?
300th anniversary of Romanov dynasty
What was the doubt about Alexis succeeding?
He had hemophilia.
What were the 3 pillars of authority in Russia?
Crown, church, bureaucracy
What was the population and physical size of Russia?
160 million
70,000 miles
From what source did the peasants find comfort?
The church
What percentage of land did Nicholas own?
50%
What percentage of land did Nicholas, along with his nobles, own?
95%
Which landowner did not treat his serfs badly?
Leo Tolstoy
What did leaders encourage factory workers to do? How did the army and police react?
The leaders encourage workers to strike. The army and police attacked and beat the strikers. They sometimes arrested them, executed them, or sent them to Siberia.
Trans-Siberian railway
-Moscow to Vladivostok
-5800 miles
-Witte pushed for its building. It was the world's longest continuous rail line. With the help of British and French investors, work began in 1891, completed in 1904. It connected European Russia with Russian ports on the Pacific
When did Lenin become interested in politics?
After his brother Alexander was executed for his part in a plot to assassinate the Czar.
How did Lenin become a Marxist?
After reading his brother's books on Communism, he became a believer in Socialism and then a convert to Marxism.
What newspaper did he publish?
The "Iskra"- The Spark- which was smuggled to Moscow
Where was Lenin exiled?
After his sentence in Siberia, he was allowed into exile in London and then Poland
When did the Russian Communist Party split, and what were the groups?
At a meeting in London in 1903. They split into the Mensheviks (Minority) and the Bolsheviks(Majority).
Why did the Russian Communist Party split?
3 fundamental issues:
-Composition of the party
-Timing of the revolution
-Which class was truly revolutionary/Which class would the revolution be on behalf of?
Who was the leader of the Bolsheviks?
Lenin
Who was the leader of the Mensheviks?
Trotsky
Disputes of Composition of Party
Bolsheviks: Party should consist of a hardcore of revolutionary activists. Secrecy was of the utmost importance to avoid infiltration and arrest.

Mensheviks: Party should consist of every willing worker. It should be an open party, with democratic decision making
Disputes Over Timing of the Revolution
Bolsheviks: The revolution should take place sooner rather than later, in their lifetime, without waiting for further industrialization

Mensheviks: The revolution should not take place until workers were in a majority- well into the future, when Russia was more industrialized
Disputes over the Revolutionary Class/Group
Bolsheviks: The Revolution should combine workers and peasants- each was revolutionary

Mensheviks: The revolution should involve workers only
Which party was more consistent withe the ideas of Marxism/Communism?
Mensheviks
How did Lenin adjust Marxism for Russian conditions?
-He felt all-inclusive party would mean infiltration and arrests
-To wait for a worker majority might mean that there would never be a Communist Revolution...peasants might always outnumber workers
-Peasants were so impoverished and disgruntled that they would be a revolutionary, not a conservative element
What was the cause of the 1905 revolution?
Almost all the classes/groups were unhappy with the Czarist regime
Bloody Sunday
January 9th 200,000 unarmed demonstrators/workers marched to the Winter Palace with a petition
-Led by Fr. Gapon
1000 killed, 500 wounded
What did the October Manifesto give?
Full civil rights (speech, assembly, press) and promised a popularly elected Duma (Parliament) with real legislative power
.
.
What was the October Manifesto a response to?
.
.
A paralyzing general strike in St. Petersburg, organized by the city's Soviet
Soviets
Worker councils
When did the Duma open?
May 1906
How was the Duma undermined by Nicholas and the new constitution?
The new constitution gave Nicholas the power to veto decisions made by the Duma, appoint all ministers, and dismiss/dissolve the Duma and call for new elections at any time- which he did frequently
What had Nicholas succeeded in doing by issuing the October Manifesto?
Undermining/diffusing the 1905 revolution. He survived until 1917
What was Rasputin's nickname?
The Degenerate
What was Rasputin's role in the government?
The Czarina Alexandra trusted him and he was able to interfere in govt decisions (until he was murdered in 1916), which made the Czar's regime more reprehensible
October/November Revolution
On the 6th/7th the Bolsheviks took over in a bloodless coup. They seized important buildings and dismissed the Provisional Government
Who was the head of the Provisional Government?
Alexander Kerensky
What did the Bolsheviks do immediately?
They distributed land among the peasants, requisitioned food for the cities, gave workers control over some factories.
How did the Bolsheviks end Russian involvement in WWI?
Signed a truce and then the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, ending Russian involvement in WWI
How did the elections for seats in the Constituent Assembly turn out for the Bolsheviks?
It gave them 1/4 of the seats. The Socialist Revolutionaries had the majority
How did Lenin react to the minority of the Bolsheviks in the Constituent Assembly?
He disbanded it after one day
Civil War
-Fought between the Whites(all the opponents of Communism, assisted by foreign nations) and the Reds, from 1918-1920, which the Bolsheviks won.
Why was the royal family executed during the Civil War?
To eliminate them as a focus/motivation for the Whites to fight on
At first...Mixed Economy
Individual ownership and state ownership (Market Socialism)
Then....War Communism
Total control by gov. (Command economy)
Last...NEP (New Economic Policy)
Mixed economy
Lenin hoped to....
move again to full communism
Czar's secret police
Okhrana
Lenin's secret police
Cheka
Stalin's secret police
NKVD
USSR
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, with 15 national republics, but dominated by Russia
How did the USSR promote Communism?
Propaganda and censorship to promote communism
What did they set up to promote international Communism?
the Comintern
Five-Year Plans
Plans to develop the Soviet Union's economy. Govt would take drastic steps to promote rapid industrial growth and strengthen national defense
First Five-Year Plan
1928-1933: Focused on heavy industry. No domestic/consumer goods (light industry). Every factory/mine/etc were given ridiculously high quotas to make them strive
Labor Camps
Gulags
Stalin's Totalitarian State:
Industrial Policies
-Set high quotas to increase ouput of steel, coal, oil, and electricity
-Limited production of consumer goods= sever shortage of housing, food, clothing
-Officials chose workers, assigned jobs, and determined working hours. Workers needed police permission to move. Those who did not contribute were imprisoned or executed.
-Strict methods of making the Soviet Union a modern industrial nation made many families and marriages break up
-Although most targets of the 5-year plan fell short, the Soviet Union made impressive gains
-Second plan equally successful. From 1928-1938, industrial production increased over 25%
How many years was it before collective camps produced more food than previous years?
10 years
Stalin's Totalitarian State:
Agricultural Policies
-More successful, yet more brutal
-In 1928, govt began to seize over 25 million privately owned farms in the USSR. It combined them into large govt owned farms, called collective farms. Hundreds of families worked there, producing food for the state
-The govt expected that modern machinery would boost food production and reduce the number of workers needed
-Peasants resisted by killing livestock or destroying crops. Stalin used terror and violence to force peasants to work on collective farms. The secret police herded peasants onto farms at bayonet point. 5-10 million people died as a direct result of the agricultural revolution. Millions were shipped to Siberia.
-Resistance was especially strong among the kulaks, a class of wealthy peasants. The Soviet govt decided to eliminate them. Thousands were executed or sent to work camps.
-By 1938, more that 90% of peasants lived on collective farms. That year, the country produced twice the wheat it had in 1928 before collective farming
Socialist Realism
Art that promotes a message (Communism. Stalin, etc.)
Religion
"the opium of the masses"
Censors
Many writers, composers and other artists had their works censored
Stalin's Totalitarian State:
Art and Religion
-Art became a method of propaganda
-socialist realism is a style of art that praised soviet life and communist values. It became a vehicle to rally the workers
-Religion was replaced with the ideals of communism. This government and the League of the Militant Godless spread propaganda attacking religion. Museums of atheism displayed exhibits to show that religious beliefs were mere superstition. Many, however, clung to their faiths
-Russian Orthodox Church was the main target of persecution. Other religious groups also suffered. The police destroyed synagogues and churches. Religious leaders were killed or sent to labor camps
Stalin's Totalitarian State:
Education
-The government controlled all education. Schoolchildren learned the virtue of the Communist party. Professors and students who questioned the Communist Party's interpretation of art or science risked losing their jobs or faced imprisonment
-Stalin's economic plan created high demand for skilled workers
Stalin's Totalitarian State:
Control Methods
-Police Terror: used tanks and armored cars to stop riots. Telephone lines were monitored, they read mail, and planted informers everywhere. Children told authorities about disloyal remarks they heard at home. The secret police arrested and executed millions of so-called traitors
-Great Purge of 1934: Thousands of Bolsheviks stood trial for "crimes against the Soviet state" The State had the authority to punish even the most minor acts. Police had criminal arrest quotas
Midnight Knock
By secret police in the early morning, usually meant an arrest
For how many people's deaths was Stalin responsible for?
20 million
Stalin's Totalitarian State:
Propaganda methods
-Newspaper, cinema, and radio broadcasts glorified Communism, Stalin, and economic programs
-indoctrination
Indoctrination
Instruction in the govt's beliefs
Stalin's personality
cold, hard, and impersonal
What does "stalin" mean?
Man of Steel
Lenin's view of Stalin
Lenin, unsure of his successor, began to distrust Stalin.
"Comrade Stalin has concentrated enormous power in his hands, and I am not sure that he always knows how to use that power with sufficient caution." (Final Testament)
What was Stalin's position in the party? How did it bring him power?
General Secretary, which could appoint people, He moved his followers to key positions.
How did Stalin remove Trotsky as a threat?
He exiled him in 1929
Why did Lenin admire Stalin and welcome him into the Bolshevik Party?
He was a man of action and got things done
How was Stalin portrayed in the propaganda of the period?
Savior of the People
With whom did Stalin sign a nonaggression pact with? When did it end? Why was Stalin surprised when it ended?
Germany
1941
He couldn't believe Hitler wouldn't keep his word.
What country did Russia go to war with in 1904?
Japan