Russian Revolution Flashcards Preview

Modern World History > Russian Revolution > Flashcards

Flashcards in Russian Revolution Deck (54)
Loading flashcards...
1
Q

What kind of government style did Russia have before its revolutions?

A

Monarchy

2
Q

What is a czar?

A

Russian word for king

3
Q

Alexander III turned Russia into a police state. What are the ways he did this?

A

put “different” people under government surveillance
Censored all written documents (news and private letters)
Schools and Universities were carefully watched
Forced citizens to speak Russian and practice Russian Orthodox Christianity
Encouraged Pogroms (gov’t backed terror against Jews)

4
Q

Why did Alexander III turn the country into a police state?

A

In order to stop the frequent revolutions that were happening in their country

5
Q

Why were people upset about industrialization in Russia?

A

It was done through low pay, bad conditions, and child labor

6
Q

What are three long term causes or events that helped to cause the Russian revolution?

A

Russo-Japanese War
Bloody Sunday
WWI

7
Q

Why did Russia lose to Japan in the Russo-Japanese War?

A

Poorly trained troops and officers
Lack of strategy
Lack of weapons and reinforcements

8
Q

How did this contribute to the Russian Revolution?

A

It showed how weak the country had become under the czar’s and gave ammunition to revolution groups that pointed to how bad the czar was a leading a military

9
Q

What were the workers asking for on Bloody Sunday?

A

Better work hours, pay and conditions
Free healthcare
Voting rights
Parliament
Freedoms of speech, religion, press, and association

10
Q

What happened to the protesters?

A

Nicholas’ guards fired on them, killing 1,000

11
Q

How did Nicholas II settle down the near revolution that happened in response to Bloody Sunday?

A

He has agrees to give them a duma (parliament) which he disbands in a few months

12
Q

Why does Russia lose so many battles in WWI to Germany?

A

Lack of weapons
Lack of technology (artillery, machine guns, etc.)
Poorly trained troops
Poorly trained officers

13
Q

Why does Nicholas II go to the front lines?

A

To motivate his troops

14
Q

Who is left in charge of the Russian government?

A

Alexandra, the czar’s wife

15
Q

In what ways does WWI lead to the end of the Russian monarchy?

A

The war and government was already unpopular with the peasants, the Russians lose millions of men and civilians which, and the war effort makes daily essentials like food and heating fuel unavailable.

16
Q

What action did Nicholas II take to end the riots of the March Revolution?

A

Steps down as king of Russia

17
Q

What did the March Revolution accomplish, and who took over afterwards?

A

Got rid of the king, the Provisional Government

18
Q

What terrible decision did the Provisional Government make that made them lose the support of the peasants and military?

A

To stay in WWI

19
Q

What did the October Revolution accomplish?

A

Gets rid of the Provisional Gov’t, Bolsheviks take power of the capital city

20
Q

Define the Bolshevik and soviet?

A

Bolsheviks – Communists political group

Soviet – Local councils of workers that are set up by the Bolshevik Party

21
Q

Explain the slogan of the Bolsheviks?

A

Peace – Get out of WWI
Land – Split up land from royalty and give to peasants
Bread – Increase basic living standards, such as making sure bread is available

22
Q

Who was the Red Guard, or Red Army?

A

The military force of the Bolsheviks

23
Q

What were 3 immediate reforms the Bolsheviks took once they took over the Capital?

A

Signed Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Created secret police
Got rid of the duma

24
Q

What did the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk do for Russia?

A

Got Russia out of WWI, they had give up land to Germany

25
Q

Who did the Red Army fight during the Russian Civil War?

A

The White Armies

26
Q

What sort of people were in the White Army?

A

Royalists, Capitalists, people who wanted a democracy, European countries, and anti-communists

27
Q

How many died in the Civil War, and how long did it take?

A

15 million, 3 years

28
Q

What are three political reforms made by the Bolsheviks when they gained control of Russia?

A

Moved capital city to Moscow
Renamed country Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Divided country into “republics” (states) that would report directly to Lenin
Took land from nobles and gave it to the peasants
gov’t took over banks
Gave factory control to workers
Emptied private bank accounts
Outlawed all discrimination, and military ranks

29
Q

Who took over after Lenin died? How did he accomplish this?

A

Joseph Stalin, used blackmail and bribery to get elected, then killed all rivals

30
Q

What is a totalitarian?

A

A government that has total control of citizens’ lives

31
Q

A government that has total control of citizens’ lives

A

Religious Persecution
Propaganda
Censorship
Police States

32
Q

How does a totalitarian government deal with religion?

A

Replace old religions with leader worship

33
Q

What is censorship? Why does it work?

A

Keeping information damaging to the king from the public. People don’t get mad about what they don’t know about.

34
Q

Why was it important to for Stalin to use censorship?

A

Because he had done a lot of terrible things that people would be upset about

35
Q

What is Propaganda?

A

Using false or biased information to get the public to believe the government’s ideas

36
Q

What kinds of things would propaganda stress?

A

pro-communist ideas
anti-capitalist ideas
self-sacrifice
hard work

37
Q

Describe what a police state is, and why it works to keep people in line.

A

A country that is run through fear of being imprisoned or killed by the government. Uses a lot of government spies and secret police that can arrest people for any small thing

38
Q

What was the purpose of the Great Purge, and how many died?

A

Stalin solidified his power by killing all enemies and high ranking supporters, or anyone who threatened his power. 8-13 million

39
Q

How far behind Europe and the US was the USSR when Stalin took over?

A

50-10 years

40
Q

What were the Five Year Plans, and what did the first one focus on?

A

These were the plans that Stalin had to get the USSR industrialized very quickly. Set production goals for each 5 years. The first one focused on increasing the amount of raw materials (heavy industry)

41
Q

How much did Stalin increase their industrial output? What was the cost?

A

A lot. I didn’t give you the actual numbers. Millions died, there was a lack of household goods and food. Daily life in Russia was terrible for the normal citizens.

42
Q

How did Stalin “update” farming in the Soviet Union?

A

Combined millions of family farms into massive government-run farms

43
Q

What is a collective farm?

A

Massive government-run farms, some had up to 50,000 people working on them.

44
Q

How did Russians resist collectivization?

A

Sabotage machines and crops, killed livestock

45
Q

What was the Holodomor?

A

Stalin’s program to punish Ukrainians for their resistance to Communism by taking away all of their food. Killed 8 million people in one year.

46
Q

What was the outcome of the Agricultural Revolution in Russia?

A

Doubled food production, but had a huge famine that killed millions, executed another 5-10 millions who resisted.

47
Q

What were the successes and failures of Stalin as a leader?

A

Stalin increased industrial and agricultural output, made the country an economic and military power.
He killed tens of millions of people, ran a society based on fear, and the daily life of a Russian citizen was horrible.

48
Q

Alexander III

A

czar that first turned Russia into a police state

49
Q

Nicholas II

A

Last czar of Russia

50
Q

Rasputin

A

Supposed holy man who was murdered by Russian nobles

51
Q

Vladimir Lenin

A

Leader of the Bolsheviks and the USSR

52
Q

Leon Trotsky

A

Head of the Red Army

53
Q

Joseph Stalin

A

Took control of the USSR after Lenin died

54
Q

Kulaks

A

Wealthy peasants targeted by Stalin