Alexei, the only son of Nicholas II and heir to the Russian throne, had hemophilia. A man named Rasputin claimed he could cure Alexei through his mystical powers, gaining influence over the royal family. Rasputin's opposition to reforms and support of autocracy made him unpopular. In 1917, food shortages and unrest led to the overthrow of Nicholas II and the establishment of a provisional government, but the Soviets gained power and Lenin returned to Russia. In November 1917 the Bolsheviks seized power in the Bolshevik Revolution, establishing the Soviet Union with Lenin as its leader.

3. Alexei
Nicholas only has one son –
Alexei, who has a bleeding
disorder (hemophilia).

4. Alexei is the only heir to
the throne and the last
male of the Romanov
dynasty.

6. Alexandra is
hated by most
Russians for
being German
and out of touch
with reality.

7. Said he was a
monk and
had
“magical”
healing
powers.
Claimed he
could cure
Alexei’s
hemophilia.

8. 

Becomes leader of
the Provisional
Government
(temporary
government) after
the first revolution.
Not a strong
leader, and has
many enemies and
rivals.

9. Soviets were groups of workers from local towns who
united to rule over themselves and had more power
than the provisional government (similar to a city
council).

10. 

Came up with the idea of
communism (an
economic system in
which there is no private
property and the
government regulates
every part of the
economy).
He was the inspiration
for Vladimir Lenin and
the Bolshevik
Revolution.

11. Leader of the Bolshevik
Revolution and the communist
party.

12. Believer in the ideas of Karl
Marx, close friend and
supporter of Lenin, assisted in
the Bolshevik Revolution.

13. Comes to power after Lenin by
eliminating his enemies. Turns
Russia into a totalitarian state.

15. How
Russian
Peasants
Feel

16. 

In 1914 Nicholas II
decided to get Russia
involved in World War I.
Russia was not strong
enough to compete with
the industrialized
countries.
In 1915 Nicholas went to
the Eastern Front and
leaves Alexandra in
charge.

17. Rasputin claims he can
cure Alexei’s hemophilia.
 Alexandra lets him live in
the palace with the royal
family and make
important government
decisions in exchange for
him “helping” Alexei.


19. 1. Who does he
represent?
2. Who do they
represent?
3. What is the
message the
artist is trying to
send to the
viewer?

20. Rasputin opposed reforms
and wanted to maintain a
strict autocracy and
Alexandra listened to him.
 This was not good for
Russia and the
government advisers were
not happy.
 In 1916 a group of nobles
at court murdered
Rasputin.


21. 


Since Russia was not prepared to fight
industrialized nations many soldiers were
dying and they could not keep up with
supplies.
Food and supplies were running out and
prices were increasing.
To the Russian people it seemed like the
government was doing nothing to solve these
problems.

22. Russian men going off
to fight in the war, and
children dying from
starvation.
Alexandra and
Rasputin live it up in
the Winter Palace.

24. 


In 1917 women workers
led a strike in Petrograd.
People rapidly joined in
the strike protesting the
lack of bread and fuel.
Soldiers were ordered to
shoot the rioters, but the
soldiers joined them.

25. Nicholas II is forced to
step down from the
throne.
 Alexander Kerensky
and the Duma (Russian
parliament) take over
the government and
form the Provisional
Government.


26. Kerensky decided to
stay in World War I
which lost him a lot of
support.
 Soviets (local councils
consisting of
workers, peasants and
soldiers) formed, and
begin to gain more
power than the
Provisional
Government.


27. We don’t like
Kerensky!
Get us out of
the war!

28. 

Lenin, the communist
leader, had been chased
out of Russia by
Nicholas.
He now returns and
begins gathering
supporters to takeover
the government and
make Russia
communist.

31. The Bolshevik party
had two
messages, “Peace, Lan
d, and Bread,” and “All
power to the Soviets!”
 Lenin saw that the
provisional
government was
weak, and saw his
opportunity to take
action.


32. In November 1917 with
no warning a group of
Bolsheviks stormed the
Winter Palace.
 They took over the
government offices and
arrested leaders of the
provisional
government.
 The Bolsheviks were in
power.


33. Lenin ordered that all
farmland be divided up
amongst peasants and
that workers take control
of the factories.
 He signed a truce with the
Germans (Treaty of BrestLitovsk) in March 1918.
The treaty got them out
of the war, but it also
meant a large loss of
land.


34. 




After the war the economy was a disaster.
In March 1921 Lenin began the New
Economic Policy (NEP).
He allowed peasants to sell excess crops for
profit instead of turning them over to the
government.
Individuals were allowed to buy and sell
goods for profit.
This went against the ideas of
communism, but helped get the economy
back on track.

36. In 1924 Lenin
dies.
 A power struggle
between several
top members of
the party begins
to become the
next leader of the
Soviet Union.


37. 


Leon Trotsky thought he
would become the leader
after Lenin.
He had been a long time
friend of Lenin’s and
played a major role in the
Bolshevik Revolution.
Trotsky believed the
Soviet Union’s focus
should be spreading
revolution to other
countries.

38. 


Josef Stalin had joined
the Bolsheviks later, and
did not play a major role
in the revolution.
Stalin rose through the
ranks of the party
quickly because of his
hard work and
dedication.
Stalin thought the focus
of government should be
on strengthening the
Soviet Union’s economy
and government.

39. Text your vote t0 37607
To vote for Stalin text 109256
To vote for Trotsky text 109258

40. Through eliminating
anyone he believed
was the enemy or who
stood in the way of him
coming to power Stalin
became the next leader
of the Soviet Union.
Stalin made major
changes to the Soviet
Union.

41. 

Totalitarianism is
when the government
takes total control
over every aspect of
public and private life.
Stalin said it was
worth giving up
freedom to be
protected by the
government.

42. 

To get the people on
board with his new ideas
Stalin used censorship
(limiting information
people receive) and
propaganda (one sided
information designed to
persuade people).
Stalin created new
curriculum to be taught
in schools to make
people loyal to him.

43. Stalin created a
command economy –
meaning the
government controlled
the economy and made
all the economic
decisions for the country.
 Stalin’s goal was to
modernize industry and
agriculture.

“Lets accomplish a plan of great
deeds” – Five-Year Plan
propaganda

44. Stalin combined the
land into large
government owned
farms known as
collective farms.
 Many families would
work together on this
land owned by the
government and
produce food for the
state.


45. 


Peasant and kulaks
(wealthy land-owning
peasants) were unhappy
about this.
Many of them killed their
own livestock rather than
turning them over to the
government.
Eventually 90% of
peasants lived and worked
on collective farms and
there was an increase in
production.
“We will keep the kulaks from the
collective farms”

46. 



School children were indoctrinated with Stalin’s
philosophies and beliefs from an early age.
Stalin increased access to education and training
programs.
Women were treated as equals under the
communist regime and had the same access to
education and jobs as men.
Everyone was expected to participate in the
economy and help the state. The collective
(group) was valued over the individual.