the Romanovs on many occasions. He attracts huge amounts of foreign
investment on the theory that if people are wealthy, they won’t mind the stifling
political system. He managed to more than double the income of the Russian
government during his tenure as Finance Minister.
1894 – Nicholas II takes the throne unexpectedly after the sudden death of his father.
Problems he inherits include:
- General unrest within the multi-ethnic population.
- An antiquated class system.
- A badly led military in which the soldiers were actually referred to as dogs.
- Much corruption within the government.
- The current immense famine.
- General difficulty with transportation.
1904 – The Japanese attack the Russians over the lush area of China known as
Manchuria. The war is provoked by the Russian War Minister, Plehve. His plan
was that the students and workers would desist protesting if they were provided
with a situation in which they would renew their patriotism and pride in their
country. His plan was to create this situation by provoking a short, victorious
war. However, his plan did not go exactly according to schedule. The war was
short, yes, but ended up being disastrous for the Russians. They had not
counted on the Japanese having basically bought a ready-made, state of the art
navy from the British. The Russians sailed their fleet of ships all the way down
under Africa only to have the entire fleet demolished within a few hours of their
arrival by the Japanese. However, Witte, once again saving the day, managed to
negotiate a relatively easy peace treaty with Japan. It was negotiated in New
Hampshire, while Teddy Roosevelt won an early Nobel Prize for his work as the
mediator of the treaty. The Russians did not have to give up any of their
homeland or pay any settlements, and only had to turn over limited rights to
Manchuria to the Japanese.
1905, January – A priest named Father Gapon decides to take advantage of Nicholas’
total faith in the loyalty of the peasants. He gathers thousands of peasants
together to march to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, where they humbly
attempt to present their grievances through a letter to the Czar. Unfortunately,
soldiers were ordered to fire upon the peasants. There was mass panic and the
numbers eventually totaled 200 killed and 800 wounded. “Bloody Sunday” was a
hugely significant event that basically began the call for revolution. Out of this
came the October Manifesto, which was the brainchild of Witte. It created a
Parliament which existed with limited rights, called the Duma. Liberals rushed to
create their own political party, known as the Octobrists.
1905 – The crazed monk Rasputin is introduced to Alexandra and Nicholas in St.
Petersburg. This fateful meeting changed the course of history when it was
found that Rasputin had the ability to calm the screaming of the hemophilic infant
prince, Alexei. Through this power, he gained immense reputation and imperial
power through his influence on the Czarina. This made much of the country
greatly unhappy, as Alexei’s illness was kept secret and so the people did not
know where Rasputin’s seemingly magic influence came from. He did not seem
fit to have so much power, with his disgusting hygiene and love of women and
drink. He was eventually assassinated in 1916 by some unhappy nobles who
tried to kill him with poisoned cookies. When this didn’t work out, they shot him
and eventually dug a hole in the ice and threw him under it. When his body was
discovered, Alexandra was the only one who mourned for him.
1906 – Nicholas, while having promised some limited form of democracy, did not intend
to keep his promise if he could help it. For a candidate for Prime Minister, he had
to find a man who could get him out of all the hassles of dealing with the people’s wants and needs. He found just what he was looking for in Petr Stolypin, who became the first Prime Minister of Russia (1906-11). Stolypin was an intelligent, intimidating man who was utterly devoted to Nicholas. He instituted many reforms including a land reform which took land away from communes and gave it over to individual peasants. He also managed to rid the country of almost all active revolutionaries, through hanging and exile. He survived a first assassination attempt but was eventually shot while at a performance on September 14, 1911 in the Kiev Opera House. After his death, the Duma which had fallen by the wayside once again began to come to real power.
1914-17 – The Great War begins and Russia is immediately thrown into turmoil. Its
unprepared and understocked army was a disaster. Huge numbers of Russians
were killed immediately, and most civilians opposed the war. This created a
huge political mess. Also, much of the food that used to be shipped into the
cities began to go to the soldiers, creating a huge shortage of food.
1917, February – The weather begins to warm up in St. Petersburg and people are
willing to go out into the streets to protest the shortage of food. The police and
the army begin to falter in their loyalty to the government. Cossacks, the hugely
frightening people who were mainly in charge of controlling the rioting, began to
desert. The Czar begins to travel by train back towards the capital but he arrives
too late. When he is told that there is no longer any loyalty to him left in St.
Petersburg, he surrenders to a Provisional Government right there on the train
tracks. He and his family are put under house arrest. A Provisional Government
takes charge, led by Prince Lvov and housed in the Winter Palace. The Winter
Palace also houses the Soviet committee of socialist workers. When peasants
begin to kill nobles, many nobles flee to France. Fear runs rampant through
Russia. The US becomes the first government to recognize the new PG. The
PG will eventually make two fateful decisions which bring about the next
revolution. They decide a) to stay in the war and b) to not make any other
immediate changes.
1917, April – A professional revolutionary who goes by the name of Lenin arrives in St.
Petersburg via “sealed train.” He is a driven man with clear ideas and total
control over the Bolsheviks. His April Theses lays out the following program of
peace (including dropping out of the war), land (communal peasants receive land
from nobles), and bread (moving food to the people). In September, after many
long discussions, a plan comes about. The change of power happens relatively
quickly. The Bolsheviks simply storm into the Winter Palace and take it over.
This is the end of the truest democracy in the world (at that point) and the
beginning of a new regime, that of communism.
