Dynamics of Change

By: Dan F.

Essential Questions

What are the causes of discontent in Russia during the 1800s?

How did the government respond to the demands for reform?

How did industrialization affect Russia?

Russian Expansion

Late 1500s: Ivan IV opens the way into Siberia

1680s: Russia controls all of Siberia The region was a source of fur, farmland,

and mineral resources Became the place of punishment

Rulers sent political prisoners and criminals into exile in this distant land, using their labor to develop its rich resources

Russian Expansion

Expansion turned the country into a multinational empire

Russian expansion alarmed other European powers Created tension

between them & eventually triggered war

Revolt and Repression

The Decembrist Revolt A small group of nobles & army officers tried to

overthrow the government in December 1825 Hoped to set up a constitutional monarchy

Czar Nicholas I quickly crushes the uprising He executed 5 leaders & exiled the rest to Siberia

He responded to the revolt with brutal repression Imposed stric censorship, targeted schools &

universities as center of unrest Burned books from the west that might contain liberal

ideas

Revolt and Repression

Nicholas did make reforms in th legal system, but made no real change in his government however

He enforced Russian nationalism & loyalty to the autocracy & the Russian Orthodox Church By promoting these goals, he tried to unite his vast

multinational empire Nationalistic policies of the czar encouraged

antisemitism Jews suffered legal discrimination

Laws forced them to live in certain areas Limited access to education & jobs

Limited Reform

Effects of Industrialization

Revolutionary Movements

In the mid-1860s Most revolutionaries came from Russia's small but

growing educated class They wanted to overthrow the czar and establish socialism

in Russia When efforts to win popular support failed radical

groups turned to terrorism They assassinated Czar Alexander II & killed prominent

officials Alexander III resorted to repression to stop the

revolutionaries

Revolutionary Movements Marxism

According to Marx, factory workers, not peasants, would lead the socialist revolution

Were very few Marxists in Russia

They organize & slowly won support from members of the working class

Bloody Sunday

Revolution of 1905

The events of Bloody Sunday horrified Russians & sparked the revolution of 1905 Riots & strikes swept the cities Peasants looted & burned homes of landowners, in

the countryside To end violence the czar agreed to set up an

elected assembly called the Duma & to make other minor reforms The Dums had little power & the reforms failed to

resolve Russia's basic problems Since an autocratic ruler was in power, inequality

and repression remained