Modern History

• Tsar


  King or emperor of Russia
• Autocracy


  Government where all power is concentrated in the hands of one person
• Autocratic


  Having or using uncontrolled or unlimited power over others
• When Michale Romanov was declared Tsar in 1613, Russia became united under one leader over the course of his 32 year reign where he set standards for how Russia should be led and the politics as well as laws to be followed
• The period before he was Tsar Russia was politically fragmented and economically as well as culturally undeveloped
• The Romanov house led Russia for 304 years until Russia was introduced to the modern world's largest and most powerful empire
• Most famous Romanovs


  • Michale Romanov (1613-1645)
  • Peter the Great (1696-1725)
  • Catherine the Great (1762-1796)
• While the Romanovs led, Russia's geographic border grew significantly
• Russia was a country that suffered from great economical and financial downfalls leading to a large hole of poverty
• While Russia expanded the ethnic diversity increased to a large number causing the Romanovs to get more hatred as there were too many languages being spoken around them
• Russia had been led by a monarch for centuries. The Romonav family had ruled for 300 years
• Autocracy


  Russia had a government system where the Tsar had complete power in ruling the country
• Tzars believed that it was their divine right to rule and that they were appointed into that position by god
• The leadership of Tsar Nicholoas II and his disconnect to the people became an issue as it meant there was very little hope for political change and it led to revolutionary ideas
• There were several different events that led to the fall of the Romanov dynasty
• Key features of 19th century Russian society


  • Deeply conservative clergy (humble and honest)
  • Oppressive military (controlling)
  • Complex and corrupt bureaucracy (all about the money)
• Social classes represented in Source A


  • Tsar
  • Government
  • Clergy
  • Military
  • Working class (with good job)
  • Peasant
• The message Source A is conveying about Russian society is that the higher up in classes the better and more respect you would gain
• The intended audience for Source A is the under educated peasants
• Most people were rural peasants living under serfdom. Half were privately owned serfs, half were state owned
• Serfdom allowed Russia to go into an economic backward state. While serfdom was an inefficient system no tsar had stopped it because many landowners were in debt
• Before 1861 the slave system was Serfs. The Serfs slaves on their land and worked in exchange for housing and food
• In 1861, Tzar Alexander II emancipated the serfs
• Once the peasants gained freedom there was no money or social security on a hierarchy making the community not know their place in the society
• This creates a civil tension between the masses(people) and Autocracy begins
• Laissez-faire


  Policy of minimum government interference in the economy affairs of individual and society
• Autocrat


  A ruler who has absolute power and what they say goes
• Emancipation


  The act of being set free from legal, social and/or political restriction
• Tzar Alexander II created the Emancipation Manifesto in 1861 to cure Russia economic weakness and to make contextual changes as well as try to remove economical pressure
• The social impact of the Emancipation of the Serfs was that it affected the hierarchy of Russian society as the reforms created a new system in which the Monarch had to co-exist with an independent court, free press and local governments that operated differently than in the past
• The economic impact of the Emancipation of the Serfs was that there was no economic security for the serfs once the emancipation was in place. This meant peasants had to buy their own land and it was small amounts of bad land. Most serfs in employment were not able to make enough money to live and survive
• The political impact of the Emancipation of the Serfs was that it led to capitalism and free trade. This changed the hierarchy meaning people who were higher before did get as much say in issues as peasants
• The foreign policy of the Russian empire covers Russian foreign relationships from their origins in the policies of the Tsardom of Russia down to the end of the Russian empire in 1917
• The policy or system Tsarist autocracy meant all the tsar's made the main decisions in a forceful manner
• Several weak Tsar also reigned which lead to plotting as well as many assassinations which can be unpredictable leading to chaos
• Russia played a minor role in the Napoleonic war (France) until 1812 when they destroyed Napoleon's huge army assisting in the defeat of Napoleon during the period of 1815-1848
• Russia also had a war with the Ottoman Empire in 1586-1912 with Britain, France and the empire
• Russia's territory control extended to Asia, invested in strong economic projects and relation with the Chinese region of Manchuria which would lead to future military conflict with Japan
• France would emerge as Russia's main ally, which needed size and power to self protect itself from the increasingly powerful German empire
• The relation (cousins) between Nicholas and King george made strong ties between the nations