Russia Flashcards
czar alexander II
freed serfs
begins limited political reforms
assassinated by anarchists in 1881
czar alexander III
repressive
“Russification” persecuted Jews and non-Russians
czar nicholas II
son of alexander III, continued repressive rule
Russo-Japanese War
Japan attacks Russia’s Port Arthur, humiliates Russia
Theodore Roosevelt mediates peace treaty
1905 Russian Revolution
led by Russian middle class, defeated
DUMA is created as a result
what year was the Alaska territory sold to the US?
1867
“steward’s icebox” for secretary of state
what marked the collapse of the Romanov dynasty?
World War I and Bolshevik revolution
WWI affect on Russia
huge loss of life and food for Russia
Czar replaced by provisional government
Alexander Kerensky
pro-western leader of DUMA
Russian Civil War (1917-1924)
Anti-Bolshevik supported by Western powers vs. Bolshevik
Leon Trotsky
led Bolshevik forces in Russian Civil War
importance of July 17, 1918
Czar and family murdered by Bolsheviks
Lenin (1917-1924)
led Communist revolution
introduces New Economic Policy in 1922
gave up 1/4 of Russia to Germans, angered West
1924 = death
Trotsky vs. Stalin policies
Trotsky wanted a permanent revolution
Stalin wanted socialism in one state
end of Trotsky’s reign
writes book about revolution and the betrayal of the revolution
murdered in 1940
New Economic Policy
allowed limited free market
Stalin’s Rule (1924-1953)
implements 5 year plan of Communism
sells food to West to get economy moving, starving millions of people
when was the Nazi-Soviet pact signed and why was it a big deal?
1939
two destructive superpowers joining together was scary af
Soviet-Nazi War (1941-1945)
Nazis invade in 1945
US, Britain, Soviets craft Grand Alliance
Battle if Stalingrad in 1942
millions killed
turning point in the war for Western powers
Post WWII events
Soviets occupy Eastern Europe and capture Berlin
Divides Germany into 4 zones, each occupied by various powers
Clement Attlee
Truman-Stalin-Churchill
Potsdam convention
when was the “iron curtain” created and who was it created by?
1946
Winston Churchill
what significant event in 1949 caused the U.S. government to fear a Cold War?
the Soviets tested out nuclear weapons
3 times we came close to combat warfare during the Cold War
Berlin Blockade, Berlin Wall, Cuban Missile Crisis
Nikita Khruschev (1953-1991)
de-stalinized Russia
tried to reconfirm US-Russia relations, but it failed at the beginning of the Cuban missile crisis
Lenoid Brezhnev (1964-1982)
took hardline w/ US
increased military spending
Soviet-Afghanistan War (1979-1989)
Soviets invade on Dec. 24, 1979
terrified of fundamentalist Muslim movement
Carter supports Mujahadeen (whoops)
Glasnost
openness state has to allow criticism and invite suggestions to survive
Perestroika
reform the economic and political system
Gorbachev (1985-1991)
improved U.S.-Russia relations
agreed to start a nuclear treaty with Reagan
Gorbachev’s policies
upset hard line Communist
supports the removal of the Berlin Wall in 1989
Coup of August 1991
hard line Communists stage a coup and arrest Gorbachev
Russian President Boris Yelsin rallies the opposition and coup collapses
Dec. 25, 1991
Soviet Union dissolves
First president of Russia
Boris Yelsin
Yelsin’s actions as president
dissolves Congress and gives more power to the president and central government
resigns in 1999 due to bad health
effects of “Shock Therapy”
leads to chaos and rise to oligarchs and Russian mafia
Putin’s rise to power and how he stays there
curtails democratic press
secures his power by limiting opposition
Dmitri Medvedev
becomes president in 2008, but Putin still remains as prime minister
signs a nuclear treaty with Obama in 2010 but still weary of NATO expansion
how have current US-Russia relations been strained?
expansion of NATO
anti-democratic policies towards Putin
Magnitsky Act
end prison cruelty in Russia
