The Rising Of The Decembrist Russia

Under a backdrop of systematic fear and terror, the Stalinist juggernaut flourished. Stalin’s purges, otherwise known as the “Great Terror”, grew from his obsession and desire for sole dictatorship, marking a period of extreme persecution and oppression in the Soviet Union during the late 1930s. “The purges did not merely remove potential enemies. They also raised up a new ruling elite which Stalin had reason to think he would find more dependable.” (Historian David Christian, 1994). While Stalin purged virtually all his potential enemies, he not only profited from removing his long-term opponents, but in doing so, also caused fear in future ones. This created a party that had virtually no opposition, a new ruling elite that would be

In 1905 and 1917 Russia was tormented by chaotic revolutions. The workers and the intelligentsia had arrived at the point of hating the autocracy because they could no longer endure the suffering, hunger and repression that the tsarist policies brought with them. Years later Lenin referred to the revolution of 1905 as a “dress rehearsal for the October Revolution” of 1917. In 1905 tsardom nearly fell. Nicholas II succeeded in remaining in power, stabilizing the situation, only thanks to various concessions. However, his continuing to rule harshly and unwisely brought him to be forced to abdicate in the February of 1917, signing the end of the Russian monarchy.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges facing Alexander III was political violence. Not only his predecessor, Alexander II, but also other leading political figures across Russia during the 1870s had been assassinated. People’s Will was a terrorist organisation that hoped to bring political change to Russia through revolutionary violence. They attacked leading members of local and national government. The assassination of Alexander II was merely the culmination of a nationwide campaign of violence.

The Russian Revolution began in 1917 and lasted until late 1930’s, the revolution was very brutal with total death of 3 million people and 7 million people were arrested (Document 12). The revolution broke out when Nicholas II comes to power because Bloody Sunday leads to Duma, then he steps down and the Duma sets up a provisional government thus sparking the want for domination and the revolution kicks off (Book). By the end of the revolution Russia was definitely weakened in some aspects but strengthened as a nation. Therefore, the Russian people were better off after the Russian Revolution because they benefited from a better economy, government, and living conditions.

The Romanov dynasty began in 1613, however 1917 saw an abrupt end to the Romanov’s with the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. Demonstrations and strikes gripped the Russian people and with anti-governmental soldiers taking control, the Tsar had no alternative but to abdicate. Historians such as Michael Lynch1 and John Daborn2 state that in Russia’s great need of strength and power came a Tsar of weakness and limited outlook. However historians such as Ray Pearson believe that in aggressive opposition groups and with the help of the working class aimed to bring down the Tsardom at all costs.

In 1917, a revolution started more specifically the Russian Revolution. Many people were impacted by this revolution. It started in 1905 when Russia was suffering military defeats in the Russo-Japanese War. Following, Russians flooded the streets protesting. About 300 people were killed and many were wounded. The two leaders during this time were Czar Nicholas II and Vladimir Lenin. Czar Nicholas II was the leader who caused the Russian Revolution because of his bad leadership.

1855 was a tough time for Alexander II to take the throne. Russia was in the middle of a costly war

It is and always has been human nature to become defensive when an opinion that one is passionate about is challenged. Whether or not one turns these opinions into actions is a different story. Throughout history, the passion of mankind’s opinions have turned into conflicts, war, slavery, and one of the most devastating of all, genocide. In (date here) Russia was struggling. In addition to being a part of WW1, the low, hard working class of Russia were starving. In exchange for backbreaking labor in factories and farms they were being paid little to nothing. Despite doing most of the work that supported the government, their existence was hardly noticed and could merely be passed off as machines. The monarch government at the time did no work for their country, and remained rich simply for being royalty. Most of Russia knew what was going on but out of fear and knowledge that they could never do anything about it, remained quiet. The anger fueled by this unjust way of life led a group of men to retaliate, ending in a violent, bloody genocide known as the red terror. The murder of thousands of innocent people during the Red Terror may have been avoided through compromise instead of violence, but the long for change turned The Russian Revolution into the

The Decembrists was a Russian revolutionary group, mainly composed of those in the upper class. There were two groups—the Northern society and the Southern Society. The Northern Society, with Prince Troubetzkoy as the provisional dictator, wanted the abolition of serfdom and greater freedom, while the Southern Society, with Pestel as the leader, was more radical, wanting to overthrow the absolutist regime and establish a republic, as well as redistribute the land to give half of the land to the peasants. On December 14th, 1825, the Northern society marched 3,000 men to the Senate Square of Saint Petersburg, refusing to swear allegiance to the new tsar, Nicholas I, claiming loyalty instead to Constantine and their Decembrist Constitution. However,

Assess the role of the Bolsheviks for the decline and fall of the Romanov dynasty.

After Alexander II’s constant arrests, and the publication of the book “What Is to Be Done?” (A book that challenges all of Old Russia’s ways) written by N. G. Chernyshevsky, caused even more followers and even more outrage. When you have all these followers eager for a revolution, you get anarchy. When these peaceful “protests” did nothing in turning aristocratic heads into a new revolution, the only way get their attention is by force. This new group which

The Russian Revolution is a widely studied and seemingly well understood time in modern, European history, boasting a vast wealth of texts and information from those of the likes of Robert Service, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Allan Bullock, Robert Conquest and Jonathan Reed, to name a few, but none is so widely sourced and so heavily relied upon than that of the account of Leon Trotsky, his book “History of the Russian Revolution” a somewhat firsthand account of the events leading up to the formation of the Soviet Union. There is no doubt that Trotsky’s book, among others, has played a pivotal role in shaping our understanding of the events of The Revolution; but have his personal predilections altered how he portrayed such paramount

The emergence of the intelligentsia can be heavily attributed to a general feeling of unease towards the future of the Russian Empire, which is examined by David Saunders in his book entitled “Russia in the Age of Reaction and Reform: 1801-1881”, in which he explains how the intelligentsia first came to fruition:

Though ultimately the Decembrist movement can be viewed as a failure, it was the first rebellion against the autocratic government and eventually gave rise to the Russian Rebellion of 1917 and the Emancipation of Serfdom. There was a growing uneasiness and distaste for the Romanovs’ rule, especially toward the end; the general hatred was mostly that of the liberal intelligentsia. Many important men that were a significance to Russian history that were born of the Decembrist movement were Lenin, Herzin, and Bakhunin.

Constantine and people swore an oath to him. Later it was revealed that in some secret pact signed in 1822 by Alexander, he stated that Nicholas would take upon the throne after his death. This further gave the Decembrists an opportunity to lead a revolt and they guessed that all soldiers and people too would be confused in such a situation. They decided not to swear an oath and refuse Nicholas as Tsar on December 14, 1825 and call a revolt at the same day.