Chapter 28 Review

1)

abdicate- to resign as ruler

autocrat- a ruler of unlimited power and uses it in an arbitrary manner

nihilism- the bbelife that the existing world should be eliminated to make a better one

soviet- a workers council that has political powers and organizes political activities

command economy- an economy with centralized planning by the state

totalitarian- a political system in which the gov’t has total controll over the lives of individual citizens

2)

Decembrist revolt- When Alexander died, old officers who fought in the Napoleanic wars came back to Russia and revolted with the people. They had come back to see the czar had total power, an idea of the bill of rights. Since the protest took place in December they were called Decembrists.

Social Revolutionary- A group dedicated to overthrow the czar. They depended on the power of the peasents. They wanted to overthrow the social class.

Social Democrats- They were marxists. They worked on the power from industrial workers. They belived that one day the working class would overthrow the high classes and they would all eventually live as equalls.

Marx- Carl Marx was a german philosopher who created Marxism. In the future the social democrats would start a Marxist revolution.

Lenin- He led the Social Democrats to create a Marxist revolution. He was exiled for a time but came back to Russia and seized power. He planned to create a socilaist order. Eventually a civil war broke out. He restored order after a time. Many changes took place. They renamed Russia the USSR (union of Soviet Socialist Republic) and renamed the Bolsheviks the Communist party.

Boleshevik- A group that followed Lenin and was part of the SD. The Bolshviks gained lots of power and eventually began a takeover.

Menshevik- The group that opposed Lenin but still part of the SD. They had similar ideas for a revolution, they however were slow moving and never gained enough support.

Nicholas II- One of the czars of Russia. He proceeded Alexander III and like him, held the autocracy. He refused all ideas for change. However during his rule people became fed up so cultural and economical changes took place anyway.

Bloody Sunday- On January 22, 1905, 200,000 workers and their families went to the czars palace with a petition for better working conditions, freedom, and an elected national legislature. The czar was not there but his generals were. They fired on the unarmed people and killed 500-1000 people. This was called Bloody Sunday, and after it there were many riots and strikes.

Duma- By October the czar could no longer stand it. He reluctantly gave more freedom. He also approved the Duma, or Russian parliament. The seats took their place. Most wanted a constitutional monarchy. It was eventually dissolved.

Rasputin- A beggar who claimed to be a holy man. He gained the czarnias support when he supposedly healed her son from a blood disease. He was able to cause great harm to Russia. He got his friends positions of power and encouraged the czar to ignore reforms. He eventually was assasinated.

Krensky- A young lawyer who was friends with Lenin in some ways. He however was a social revolutionary. He started the provisonal gov't and continued the war.

Trotsky- One of the possible succecors to Lenin’s power. He had led the red soldiers and was a great leader, most popular with the people only to Lenin. He was passed over for power because it was though that he would become a dictator.

Kronstadt revolt- The sailors who were once strong Bolshvik supporters were now revolting. They were now pleading for free elections and freedom of speech. Ironically they were one of the main forces in overthrowing the czar.

Communist party- Eventually Lenin realized it was time for change. He made the idea to change the name of the Bolshviks to the Communist party. The name coming from the writings of Carl Marx.

Stalin- The other person who wanted Lenin’s power. He had been the secretary for the Bolshviks and was a quiet man. Therefore presumed to be safe he was given power. He in truth was a cruel man with an iron fist over the USSR.

3) The attitude to the charge of reform was different between the czars. Nicholas I resisted all the charges and ruled with an iron hand, restricting education and creating worse living conditions. Alexander II freed the surfs and was for the reforms, he gave land to serfs and formed mirs. AlexanderIII firmly belived in autocracy. He ignored all reforms and was harsher than Alexander II. Nicholas II was for autocracy but still at this point there were many cultural and economic developments.

4) In the early 1900’s many people belonged to the lower working class. They were divided into two groups, the Social Revolutionaries, they though that since they had a high number of peasant class. They would overthrow the czar and divide the land equally between them. The Social Democrats were the workers and wanted to share everything with all classes. The Social Democrats eventually split into the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.

5) The role of the Duma was to set up certain freedoms for Russia, however their main goal was to create a constitution. The Soviets were set up as groups of workers and soldiers and helped the workers of Russia. Kerensky set up the provisional gov’t, it failed. The Duma wanted peace and the Soviet wanted out.

6) Lenin lost land and mines to Germany and his Red armies to Germany. This outraged many enemey Bolshvik people and in revolt created white armies to fight Lenin. This caused a civil war that killed millions. Eventually the whites lost. Proceeding the war, Lenin made many changes to Russia and there was a period of peace.