Russia before Revolution

1
Russia before Revolution
Czar Nicholas II 1894-1917
Vladimir Lenin

• 300 Years of Czar Rule Ends

2
Social Structure of Russia
Serfs (Peasants) Nobility Clergy
Intellectuals
Cover Serfs Intellectuals first day
3
Russia before Revolution(1900)

• Tremendous size population
• 145 million (90 peasants)
• Rich natural resources
• Weak Economy
• High prices, food shortages, etc
• Limited transportation network
• Few railroads or well built roads
• Weak industrial power
• Few factories, limited steel production, outdated
  agriculture
• Far behind rivals (U.S., France, Great Britain
  Germany)

4

300 Years of CZAR Rule in Russia (1613 1917)

• Renaissance ideas never spread to Russia
• Czars ruled as virtual dictators
• No legislative body, no constitution
• No freedom of speech or assembly
• Noble class supported czar rule but had little
  political power

The Romanovs
5
Noble Reading
Serfs (Peasants) Nobility Clergy
Intellectuals
6
Rule of Czar Alexander III 1881-1894

• 1881 Begins rule after father is assassinated
  by student revolutionaries seeking reform
• Alexander III fights reform gt Russia becomes a
  police state
• censorship secret police intimidation became
  common
• Russification forced people to adopt the
  Russian language/culture
• minority groups such as Poles, Finns, Latvians,
  Armenians, etc
• Persecution of Jews
• Faced discrimination in work/school, organized
  violence (called pogroms)

7

The Last CZAR
Nicholas II 1894-1917

• Refused to surrender any power
• Committed 3 major mistakes
• Russo-Japanese War (1904)
• Bloody Sunday (1905)
• World War I (1914)

8
Road to Revolution
Russo-Japanese War (1904)
Bloody Sunday (1905)
World War I (1914)
Peaceful protest for reform Soldiers fire on
crowd
Army unprepared Troops mutiny
Humiliating Defeat

• Nicholas establishes Duma
• Russias 1st parliament
• But gives it little/no power

9
Bloody Sunday
10
Video Revolution Begins
11
Journal 1

• Describe the conditions in Russia in 1917 which
  made revolution inevitable.
• Analyze who intellectuals are in terms of
  revolutions and why they are an important group.
• Hint what is their role in the revolution
  process?