Russian History Essay

It all began in 1894 when a man named Alexander III (Tsar of Russia), died leaving his son Nicholas II to become the tsar of Russia at the age of 26. In 1894 Nicholas married Alexander the princess of Germany; they had 5 children, 4 girls and a boy. There only son Alexei was born with hemophilia.

This was achieved with the emancipation of the serfs. Still without a middle class, the government played a strong role in the early decisions with industrialization. The tsar during this time, Alexander II, had a great railroad network created that allowed for more efficient use of Russia’s plentiful natural resources.

Alexander III was the Tsar of Russia from 1881 to 1894 and during his reign, Russia became somewhat stable, and Alexander himself opposed his father’s reforms and stamped out any opposition to his rule.

Recognized worldwide as a noteworthy historical figure, Catherine the Great was one of the most prominent rulers of Russia and a figure deserving of admiration. During her rule from 1762 to 1796 the Russian Empress Catherine II made such progress in political power that it is hard to find similar examples in world history. Catherine II was Empress of Russia for more than 30 years and one of the country’s most influential rulers .

Over the period from 1855 to 1964, Russia saw various reforms and policies under the Tsars and the Communist leaders that had great impacts on its economy and society both positive and negative. Lenin definitely implanted polices that changed society and the economy for example with war communism. However whether his policies had the greatest impact is debatable and in this essay I will be assessing the view whether Lenin had the greatest impact on Russia’s economy and society than any other ruler between the period from 1855-1964.

During Alexander II reign he concentrated on exposing Russia to the outside world therefore he built a railway line. During this period too there was some though very little reform in the government’s taxation policies which still was a heavy burden for the peasants because they still had to pay poll tax which was increased by 80% during his reign while Alexander III abolished the poll tax and also created the

This obviously made Russian citizens very happy. They had tremendous respect for Peter. This is one of the reasons why Peter was one of the most respected Czars in Russia's time. He developed progress in the development of the national economy, trade, education, science, culture, and foreign policy. This led Russia to be one of the greatest countries in Europe.

Peter was the first tsar to ever leave Russia. He went on an 18-month journey exploring all the European knowledge he could obtain. After getting back from his trip Peter started encouraging trade, giving local merchant opportunity to make money. He helped landowners keep their serfs by tying peasants to their land. Peter raised taxes, these taxes went to building new cities and expanding the military.

One of Peters goals that he accomplished was that he enhanced Russia’s economy with industrial growth. From 1700 until his death, Peter the Great gave industrial development immense importance. Peter the Great was a great person in Russia. He establishes Russia as a great nation, and he got his name from that. Peter the Great was born on June 9, 1672, he was a cruel and powerful autocrat. He expanded Russian territory greatly. Peter the Great was a very energetic and intelligent

Tsar Alexander II and III while father and son had very different ambitions as Tsar and different view for the future of the empire. Alexander III succeeded to his father’s throne in 1894. His reign is looked upon by most historians as a time of repression that saw the undoing of many of the reforms carried out by his father. Certainly that was a time of great economic and social change but these had led, in the West of the nation, great pressure on political system. However Alexander was deeply suspicious of the direction in which his father had taken Russia and the internal reforms that he instituted were designed to correct what he saw as the too-liberal tendencies of his father's reign.

Catherine the II also known as Catherine the Great was the longest serving female Russian monarch, serving her country from 1762-1796. She controlled over a revitalisation of Russian strength and Russian enlightenment. Known more for her affairs of the heart, she however expanded her country’s empire. Her accomplishments are often outshined by the legends and rumours about her disreputable personal life.

Catherine II once said “Power without a nation’s confidence is nothing” (“Catherine the Great Quote”). Catherine II, or Catherine the Great, was one of Russia’s greatest leaders. Although she was German born, Catherine II looked forward to her chance at ruling Russia and changed the country for the better. She tried to create policies that were in the best interest of the Russian people and would help to westernize her country (“World”). Catherine the Great was responsible for expanding Russia and the implementation of political, education, and social reforms that changed the country (“World”). Catherine II fueled Russia with progressive and modern ideas that threw her country into the future.

By corresponding with Enlightenment Philosopher’s, she was able to implement several of the ideas of the Enlightenment into reforms for Russia and its people. Catherine became the sovereign ruler of Russia on the 9th July 1762, where she began a 34-year reign. Catherine implemented reforms that were of political, social, educational, economical and cultural nature and followed the principles of the Enlightenment. Her improvements allowed religious practices as well as abolishing torture and capital punishment. Catherine was also instrumental in the amassing of land for Russia, where she expanded Russia’s boarders to the black sea and into central Europe. Catherine also had great military success as she conquered the Ottoman Empire on two separate occasions. Through education improvements, Catherine allowed Russian’s to learn and become more knowledgeable, also giving them the opportunity to have jobs that required a higher level of education. Her introduction of social and cultural reforms allowed the people of Russia to become westernised, experiencing art and literature associated with the Enlightenment. Without her correspondence with the Philosophers, Voltaire, Diderot and d’Almebert, Catherine would not have had such a comprehensive knowledge of the Enlightenment as she did. This meant she would have not been likely have had the ability to shape Russian society into

This primary source talks about a Russian ruler named Alexander the 3rd. He ruled March 13 1881 to November 1 1894. He was known as “The Peacemaker”. Since he never started any wars or had any conflicts with anyone, that made him a good ruler. He was a very religious man. It states “He was a deeply religious man and tried to do everything for the Orthodox Church that he considered necessary and useful” (Aprelenko 11). He unfortunately ruled Russia when it was at its worse. He did major changes to the economy. According to the site, “As his father before him, Alexander encouraged the development of trade and industry and imposed customs duties on imported goods to recover Russia's economy” (Aprelenko 6).Alexander the 3rd would not only help

Alexander II is affectionately termed the “Great Reformer,” but the policies of his reign from 1855 to 1881 attempted to modernize society while maintaining the tsarist authority. Although Alexander II was forced to implement reforms to accommodate Russia’s loss in the Crimean War, the impediments of serfdom, and challenges to the autocracy, his reforms ultimately attempted to expand the tsar’s power.