The Romanovs and the Russian Revolution

1. The Romanovs and the Russian Revolution By: Darlene Tempelton Catholic Central High School March, 2009

2. Historical Background The Romanovs 1500 – 1905

3. Russia before the Romanovs • The Rurik Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of the KievanRus, and early Russia from 862 to 1598 A.D. • Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) was the first to take the title of “Tsar”; he married Anastasia Romanovna • Defeated the Mongols and expanded Russian territory • The Rurik Dynasty ended when Tsar Ivan IV’s son Fyodor I died without an heir Ivan the Terrible

4. “The Time of Troubles” • 1598 – 1613 A.D. • After the death of Fyodor I • Civil War - caused by poor crop yields, foreign invasions and weak kings. • Cossacks and peasants united in calling for a “true Tsar” that would restore their freedoms • Boyars chose Mikhail Romanov – the 16 year old grand-nephew of Ivan IV • Mikhail I ruled from 1613 - 1645

5. Mikhail Romanov

6. Mikhail meeting with Boyars

7. Peter the Great • Reigned 1672 – 1725 • First Tsar to travel to Europe • Modernized the Russian navy & army • Built St. Petersburg • Encouraged boyars to adopt Western dress and attitudes • Reformed the Church

8. Catherine the Great • German princess who married Tsar Peter III • Ruled Russia alone after his assassination • Corresponded with Voltaire and supported the philosophes • Patron of the arts and literature • “Enlightened Despot”

9. Alexander I • 1801 – 1825 • Tsar during the Napoleonic invasions • Joined France, Spain, Britain in opposing Napoleon after his invasion of Poland • Supported Greek War of Independence against Ottomans

10. Russia after Napoleon • Only European nation to still have serfs – nearly 90% of population in 1850 • Agrarian – the Industrial Revolution did not affect Russia • Crimean War (1853 – 1856) – humiliating defeat for Russia • Russia realized it had to modernize to compete with nations like Germany and Great Britain

11. Alexander II“The Tsar Liberator” • 1855 – 1881 • Abolished serfdom – giving serfs their own land • Establishes zemstvo = local elected assemblies • Reformed legal system – all are equal before the law • Railroads • Assassinated by terrorists

12. Alexander III • 1881 – 1894 • Reactionary • Patriotism = Russian Orthodox faith • Anti-German • Anti-Semitic (May Laws ,1882) • Assasinated1894 by the same terrorist group that killed his father

13. Sergei Witte • Alexander III’s Minister of Finance • Wanted to industrialize Russia • Trans-Siberian Railroad • Put nation on gold standard • Encouraged foreign investment in Russian industry • Steel and petroleum production began to rival Western Europe

14. Tsar Nicholas II 1894 - 1917

15. The Last Romanov Tsar

16. Tsar Nicholas II • Born May 18, 1868 • Died July 17, 1918 • Very well educated; spoke French, English and German fluently • Well traveled while he was Tsarevitch – visited most of Europe and Japan • His first priority was always his family

17. Empress Alexandra • Born June 6, 1872 • Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt • Her maternal grandmother was Queen Victoria of England. • Very religious, she nearly did not marry Nicholas because she would be required to convert from the Lutheran faith of her childhood to the Russian Orthodox Church

18. Nicholas and Alexandra’s Wedding Married Nov. 26, 1894

19. Coronation

20. The Early Years: 1894 - 1912 Russo-Japanese War (1904 – 05) • Over territorial ambitions of both nations • Japan attacks Russian Fleet at Port Arthur • Battle of Tsushima Strait – rest of Russia’s fleet destroyed • Russia loses the war Battle Of Mukden

21. Unrest in Russia • Business and professional classes wanted a more liberal, representative government • Factory workers wanted better pay and working conditions • Many of the peasants were still living in extreme poverty • Nationalism among the ethnic minorities in the west and south, especially Ukraine and Poland

22. “Bloody Sunday” • St. Petersburg workers wished to petition the Tsar to allow trade unions, a more representative government and some freedom of religion • Peaceful march to the Winter Palace led by Fr. Georgi Gapon; crowd included families; people are singing, praying and carrying icons Fr. Gapon

23. Troops blocked their way as they approached the palace and open fire, killing around 100 and wounding hundreds • Turning point in Russian history – common people no longer saw the Tsar as caring about them Russian troops fire on protestors

24. October Manifesto Events of “Bloody Sunday” led to a general strike which paralyzed the nation The October Manifesto was a reaction to that: • Allowed full civil rights for all Russians • Duma was to be popularly elected with legislative powers • Universal male suffrage • Tsar retains veto power over anything passed by the Duma • Tsar continues to appoint and dismiss his ministers

25. The Duma • In response to “Bloody Sunday”, Nicholas promised that the Duma will sit regularly and will be an advisory body to the Tsar • 1905 – first Duma was radical and demanded universal suffrage, land reform, release of political prisoners and the right to appoint the Tsar’s advisors. Nicholas refused and dissolves the Duma • Feb., 1907 – second Duma is more radical than the first • By 1912, the Duma had become more moderate and established a good working relationship with the Tsar and his advisors • If it had not been for WWI, in all probability Russia would have eventually developed some type of constitutional monarchy

26. Family Problems become National Issues

27. The Grand Duchesses: Olga, Tatiana, Marie and Anastasia

28. The Tsarevich Alexei • Born Aug. 12, 1904 – the long awaited Heir! • Inherited hemophilia through his mother • Nicholas and Alexandra decided not to make his disease public knowledge

29. Hemophilia in Europe’s Royal Houses

30. Gregori Rasputin • A starets; many people believed he had the power of healing • Rasputin was able to either heal or bring relief to Alexei when he had a hemophiliac incident • Alexandra believed that without Rasputin, Alexei would die • This led to his increasing influence over the royal family, especially Alexandra • Rasputin’s influence and interference in political affairs was a contributing factor to the Revolution

31. World War I • “Pan-Slavism” – Russia had a treaty to protect Serbia • “Willy – Nicky Letters” – between Nicholas and Kaiser Wilhelm I; attempts to prevent the outbreak of war • Wilhelm, however, had already decided on war • July, 1914 – Russia mobilized on Austrian border; Austria and Germany declared war on Russia • Russia was economically and militarily unprepared for war

32. Military leadership came from the aristocracy – who had contempt for ordinary soldiers • Russia was not ready for modern warfare • By 1915, mass desertions and 2 million causalities

33. Mid-1915 cities experienced shortages of food and fuel • Military had few weapons and no ammunition • Sept, 1915 Nicholas decided to take personal command on the front and left Alexandra in charge in St. Petersburg Nicholas at Military Headquarters

34. Alexandra left in charge of the government in St. Petersburg • Relied upon the advice of Rasputin • Dismisses government officials Rasputin does not like • Encourages Nicholas not to hand any power over to the Duma Alexandra was more autocratic than most of the Russian Emperors had been!

35. Dec. 16, 1916 – Rasputin was assassinated by several members of the Royal Family • Rasputin’s last letter to Alexandra stated that if he were killed by Romanovs, the entire dynasty would be destroyed within 6 months

36. The Revolution Begins

37. The February Revolution • People in the cities were facing severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine as nearly all supplies were being sent to the Front • Riots in Petrograd – Nicholas ordered the military to deal with it but they refused and joined the rioters • Duma takes overthe government • Nicholas abdicated in favor of his brother, Grand Duke Michael • Michael immediately abdicates There is no longer a Tsar in Russia! Nicholas after his abdication

38. The Provisional Government • Headed by Alexander Kerensky • Democratic • Continues the war b/c he believed Russia should continue to meet its obligations to it allies • Unable to deal with food shortages and an army that no longer wanted to fight • Throughout 1917 the country descended into anarchy

39. Captive • After his abdication, Nicholas was returned to Petrograd and reunited with his family. They remained under house arrest in the Winter Palace from March through August, 1917 • In August, Kerensky decided to move the family east of the Urals for their protection. He was trying to arrange to move them out of Russia – but no other nation would take them in Alexei and Olga on the train to Yekaterinburg

40. Bolshevik Revolution Leon Trotsky Vladimir Lenin

41. Bolshevik Revolution • Caused by lack of food and fuel in the cities • Germany arranges for Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik party, to return in secret to Russia • Trotsky gets the support of the army – creates the Red Army • October, 1917 – Bolsheviks led by Lenin and Trotsky take over the government • Lenin promises to end the war, get the people food and collectivize the farms and factories

42. The Bolshevik Revolution • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk – Russia makes peace with Germany. • General elections in 1918 – Russian people elect not to keep the Bolsheviks in power. Lenin nullifies the elections and this leads to Civil War • Industry nationalized • Private property abolished • Secret Police (Cheka) created • Bolshevik Party renamed Communist Party

43. Civil War Red Army (Bolsheviks) vs. White Army (everyone else) • Bolsheviks control the major cities and industrial centers of Russia • Trotsky controls the army and makes it efficient • Whites are fragmented: democrats, Tsarists, socialists • Foreign intervention promotes nationalism

44. Yekaterinburg • From August, 1917 until May, 1918, the Imperial family lived in the Governor’s house in Tobolsk, Siberia • With the outbreak of Civil War, the family was moved to Yekaterinburg – a city loyal to the Bolshevik party • On July 17, 1918, the family was awakened early in the morning, taken to a basement room and shot • Lenin had ordered their deaths to prevent their being rescued by the White army • The bodies were burned and buried in the woods nearby.

45. Ipatiev House Basement after the murders

46. Romanov memorial “The Church of the Blood” Located on the site of the house where the Romanovs were murdered

47. Did Anyone Survive? • In the early 1920s, several young women surfaced in Europe claiming to be the youngest Romanov princess, Anastasia • The most famous was Anna Anderson • Recent DNA tests have been able to prove they were all frauds • Reports from the soldiers who executed the family confirmed that all the family members, along with their doctor, ladies-in-waiting and pet dog, were killed • The bodies of all family members have been accounted for since the early 1990s Anastasia

48. The Romanov Martyrs • In 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized the Imperial Family as “passion bearers” • “Passion Bearers” – people who remained faithful and accepted their deaths with Christian faith and love of God • Most of the family was recently reburied in Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, which is where most of the Romanov Tsars are buried Icon of the Romanov family

49. 1921 – Civil War Ends • Bolsheviks win • Russia renamed Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) • Russian economy and infrastructure is devastated after 7 years of war Flag of the Soviet Union

50. Lenin died after a stroke in 1924 • After a power struggle between Trotsky and Joseph Stalin – Stalin took control and Trotsky was exiled