Russia and the Commonwealth

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Russia and the Commonwealth

• The Commonwealth of
• Independent States

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One of the most important events of the 20th
century was the breakup of the Soviet Union
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The largest area of the world under one
government was The Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union was considered an enemy of the
United States because of the fear of the spread
of Communism
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Tribes that once roamed the area that became the
Soviet Union were Slavic People
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The most powerful of these tribes was the Rus
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The most important city in the early times of
this area Kiev
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Religion brought to Russia about 850 AD
Christianity
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Orthodox Correct/Right
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The Slavic people belonged to The Russian
Orthodox Church
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Western Civilization means Europe and the
Americas
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The leader of the Western world now The United
States
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The Mongols invaded Asia and Europe around the
1100s
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One of their well known leaders was Genghis Khan
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The Russians called these invaders Tartars
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With the permission of the conquerors, Princes
ruled the Russian cities
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Ivan the Great challenged the Mongols, so they
would leave the Russians alone
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This man took the title of Tsar (King)
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Moscow then became the most important city in
Russia
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The Commonwealth of Independent States

• Reading Page 4
• Worksheet 2

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The Slavic tribes earned their living as farmers
                    
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Tartars destroyed the fields and killed the
animals
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The peasants who sold their labor became serfs
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The estates were owned
by next
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Nobles
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When a leader has complete control over the
people, its called an autocracy
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Icons religious paintings done on wood
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The peasants believed everything would be better
for them when theyd get to heaven
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Peasant rebellion people turning against their
government
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The peasants who led rebellions were punished or
killed
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The government and the Church did all they could
to keep the peasants worn out
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Vladimir Lenin later said if they rose up, the
peasants would have nothing to lose but their
chains
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The Russian people were ruled by tsars for almost
500 years.
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Russia and the Commonwealth

• Reading Page 6
• Worksheet 3

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One of the worst Russian TsarsIvan the Terrible
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The powerful Russian family who took over the
rule of Russia

• The Romanovs (next slide)

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The tsar who traveled to Western Europe Peter
the Great
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St. Petersburg became the new Russian capital
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This new capital was calledThe Window to the
West
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Peter the Great is remembered in Russian history
because

• he tried to move
• Russia forward and
• make it like the
• rest of Europe

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Russian women rulers were called tsarinas

• Peter I, Catherine I, Peter II, Anna,
  Elizabeth(tsars and tsarinas, 1689-1763)

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Catherine the Great

• Conquered a lot more land for her country

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Catherine ruled during the Age of Reason
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Reforms arechanges for the better
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The Age of Reason

• It was better to use reason than force to rule
  the people.

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France during the Age of Reason

• The French had a revolution (12)
• King and Queen of France were beheaded (13)
• Catherine was afraid the same thing might happen
  to her if she started reforms (14)

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Russia and the Commonwealth

• Reading Page 8
• Worksheet 4

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Napoleon became the new leader of France (1)

• His ideas spread throughout Europe (2)
• He invaded Russia
• (3)

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The plan for burning Russia and driving the
French away was called The Scorched Earth
(next slide)
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(The terrible Russian winter also killed a lot of
Napoleons soldiers)
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The French invasion kept Tsar Alexander from
making needed reforms in Russia
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Abolished means to do away with something
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During the time of Alexander II, serfdom was
abolished
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Changing Russias Government?

• Alexander wanted a representative form of
  government (8)

• On his way to sign the papers to do so, he was
  killed (9)

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The last Russian tsarTsar Nicholas II
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Rasputin was an evil monk whom the tsarina
brought to the palace
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(12) Terrible problems in Russia at this time

• People were starving
• Epidemics
• Tsar had parties and enjoyed themselves
• World War I (13)
• No shoes
• Little clothing
• No guns/ammunition

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The Nobles plotted to kill Rasputin( next slide)

• Rasputin was led to the cellar and fed poisoned
  cakes and wine, but these did not affect him.
  Yusupovsky then shot the monk at point blank
  range and Rasputin collapsed on the floor. When
  Yusupov went to tell his fellow conspirators the
  good news, they sent him back to make sure he had
  done the job. On returning to inspect the body,
  Rasputin suddenly regained consciousness and
  started to throttle poor Yusupov, who needless to
  say was completely scared out of his wits. The
  Prince fled the cellar, screaming for help when
  they returned Rasputin was gone. They found him
  in the yard crawling towards the gate and
  proceeded to shoot and bludgeon him. They then
  bound him and tossed him into the river. When
  Rasputin's body was found, his bonds were broken
  and his lungs were filled with water, showing
  that he didn't actually die until he was
  submerged in the frozen waters.

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(No Transcript)
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As things became worse Nicholas knew he must
resign as tsar
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Nobles believed the best thing they could do
continue the war