Long term and short causes of the Russian Revolution of 1905.

Long term and short causes of the Russian Revolution of 1905. The Russian revolution of 1905 was the product of more than a century of discontent shown by the Russian people (http://www.thecorner.org/hist/russia/revo1905.htm). The revolution was a burst of anger bottled up by the people of Russia for over 50 years, starting with the rule of Alexander the II. I believe, all three Tsars' - Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II were the cause of the 1905 revolution. Alexander III was known to history as a liberal autocrat. He came to power only a year after the Crimean war, in which Great Britain, France, the kingdom of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire defeated Russia. This highlighted the backwardness of the Russian Empire; hence, Alexander II started liberal reforms all over Russia. The most important of those reforms was emancipation of the serfs - Alexander II thought he gave freedom to the Serfs (slaves). Although in reality, many of the serfs were upset because they could not longer share their land, or graze their animals on the same land. They didn't like it because they had to pay money to the government. Another reform that wasn't popular with the Russian people was the creation of the Zemstva. This is because they did not have enough power to do anything significant. Alexander III was known to history as a reactionary and conservative ruler. He had many

  • Word count: 805
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: History
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Yalta and Potsdam Conferences

The Yalta and Potsdam Conferences Yalta Conference . Why Did Roosevelt and Churchill agree to allow the Soviet-sponsored Provisional Government to continue in power in Poland? Roosevelt was anxious to secure Soviet cooperation in the Pacific War against Japan, and was thus willing to concede Russian dominance in Poland. 2. Why did they want it reorganized to include democratic leaders and committed to "free and unfettered" elections? With a democratic institution with "free and unfettered" elections, Poland would become a legitimate democratic nation. Since the Soviet Union was communist and therefore not aligned with this form of government, it would enable Poland to stand in the way of Soviet foreign policy in Poland and also in the greater Eastern Europe, and this would also be instrumental in allowing Britain and the US to legitimately establish diplomatic relations with Poland. 3. What factors would make it possible for the Soviets to establish communist control in Poland, despite these provisions? Wording in the document such as: "the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity shall be pledged to the holding of free and unfettered elections as soon as possible" enables the Soviets to control Poland until the time for democracy is necessary. This line is ambiguous and allows for multiple points of interpretation. Moreover, Roosevelt was anxious for Russian

  • Word count: 985
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: History
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To what extent did Alexander II succeed reforming Russian life and institutions?

To what extent did Alexander II succeed reforming Russian life and institutions? Tsar Alexander II came to power during the Crimean war in 1855 and ruled Russia until his assassination in 1881. Historians believe that he may have been the "best prepared heir-apparent ever to have ascended the Russian throne" as Alexander II had been heir for most of his boyhood and received a special education preparing him to rule Russia. As well prepared as he may have been he inherited a difficult position from his father, Nicholas I. His nation was isolated in Europe, on the verge of defeat, which made it dangerously weak. In terms of domestic policy, he was left and intact autocracy that repressed all western influenced political thinking and practices. Finally, as Russia's economic and social progress had been extremely limited under Nicholas I, particularly in comparison to the rapidly industrializing western European powers, Alexander II inherited a relatively "backwards" Russia. The new tsar was aware of Russia's weakness and recognized the necessity to introduce reforms to preserve his autocratic system of government. Alexander II is best known for his first reform, the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. There were two large obstacles that he had to overcome before he could complete this reform. Firstly the gentry and nobility were hostile to the destruction of serfdom, they

  • Word count: 1843
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: History
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The Great Depression Notes

Unit 11- The Great Depression 1.1 The Causes of the Great Depression > Trade, Money, Loan, and Internal problems > Protective tariffs (taxes on imported goods) were put in place in order to protect domestic industry, but they were not high enough to obstruct the movement of goods > WW1 changed this because all belligerents (countries participating in war) overproduce, overdevelop their industrial sectors to provide enough goods for war > After the war, to protect the new industries, all countries instilled high tariffs (to keep the industries from going out of business) > 1922 the US began increasing tariffs > 1930- Hawley Smoot Tariff raised the country's tariffs to an all time high - taxes on imported goods was 32%-40% > It became hard to restore trade because the trade links were broken (uneven distribution of currencies) > A lot of European wealth had gone to US because convertible currency (currency accepted by any country) was in short supply > To stimulate trade, US, Britain, and France loaned and invested in poor countries, like Germany > World trade shrank > Allies still owe the US $10 billion from loans from the war > Allies point out that they lost more than the US and requested that the US saw the unpaid $10 billion as a contribution to the Allies > US says no, pay back all of the money plus interest > Germany had to pay $33 billion to the Allies

  • Word count: 3472
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: History
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Adolf Hitler

WAS WORLD WAR 1 THE OUTCOME OF IMPERIALISM? From the year 1870 till 1914, countries across Europe and Americas were having a common disease called 'Imperialism'. Every single superpower was keen on expanding their empire and annexed maximum colonies as possible. This led to an immense tension between the countries and also caused insecurity within them. We are about to discuss whether or not, 'Was World War 1 the outcome of Imperialism?' Since the beginning of 1870 itself, British and the French have been wealthy nations. America had attained independence from the British. As the British were expanding their empire, tensions seemed to rise amongst the neighbors as well as other powerful countries. Annexation of countries became a competition, for more colonies, as it depicted more power. When France started taking up colonies in Africa, the British became insecure and started competing by taking over parts of Asian countries. As America was slowly emerging to be a superpower, by being victorious over Spanish, Japan was a powerful nation in Asia with a strong empire and colonies. Germany and USA began their imperialism almost during the same time. USA had defeated the Spanish and Germany had newly entered the imperialism list. USA chose to expand for domestic reasons as well as for economic issues. Businessmen and politicians suffered economic depression. The Panic of 1893

  • Word count: 1548
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: History
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Manitoba School Act

History 6151-1 2 February 2009 French Catholics Required to Have Receptivity and Modesty Among a myriad of conflicts between Anglophone and Francophone since the British North America Act of 1867 which established Canada, the Manitoba school question represents the major discord between Anglophone and Francophone, Protestants and Catholics and provincial government and federal government in Canadian history. When Manitoba became the fifth province of Canada in 1870, John A. Macdonald cabinet legislated the Manitoba Act which guaranteed the equal rights for both English Protestant and French Catholic denominational schools. In 1890, however, Manitoba provincial government of Thomas Greenway passed the Manitoba Public Schools Act, integrating two religious school systems to one public school system by eliminating funds for denominational schools and acknowledging only English in courts and official documents. The furious Francophone went to courts; although French Canadians almost won the case in Supreme Court, they lost in Manitoba court and the British Privy Council in 1892. Sir. Wilfrid Laurier, the first Francophone Prime Minister, was elected in 1896 and successfully negotiated the Laurier-Greenway Compromise which allowed the limited religious education and use of French under certain conditions; this compromise was the most unbiased and efficient law that Laurier could

  • Word count: 1379
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: History
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why did stalin, instead of trotsky, become the USSR leader?

History Essay Why did Stalin instead of Trotsky emerge as leader of the USSR by 1929? Vladimir Lenin, leader of the USSR, died on the 21st of January 1924. His death will bring a great power struggle among the main characters of the Bolshevik party. They were the members of the Politburo: Leon Trotsky, Gregory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Nikolai Bukharin, Alexei Rykov, Mikhail Tomsky and Joseph Stalin. By 1924 the communist party was divided in left and right. On the left there were Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev, on the right Bukharin, Rykov, Tomsky, and Stalin was playing in the middle. Stalin plan was basically to look at his opponents destroying each other and jumping always in the majority, even if this might ask to change his views. In 1924, Stalin decided to make an unofficial Triumvirate with Kamenev and Zinoviev in order to destroy Trotsky. However Stalin decided not to be too obvious to attack Trotsky personally, so he let Kamenev and Zinoviev do the work. It looked like Trotsky being the main contender and Kamenev and Zinoviev being his rivals. So his underestimation played a major role for him, so Trotsky missed many opportunities to get rid of him because of it. For example he did not insisted to publish the Lenin's testament, where it was said to keep Stalin out of power, because he was too selfish and he did not think a lot about the party. Stalin gained the

  • Word count: 1006
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: History
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The USSR under Lenin

The USSR under Lenin To what extent was the USSR under Lenin an orthodox communist state? From the October Revolution in 1917 until his death in January 1924 Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, ruled Russia via the Communist Party. He justified his rule by a philosophical and political ideology called Marxism-Leninism, an adjusted form of the teachings of Karl Marx. This ideology is usually referred to as Communism. But to what extent was the USSR under Lenin in fact an orthodox communist state? The truth is that Lenin's policies were influenced by his pragmatism almost as much as by his belief in communism. The extent of his adherence to communist doctrine is to be looked into in this essay. An important characteristic of Communism is a strong aversion to religion. Thus already Karl Marx stated that "Religion is the opium of the masses" and was convinced that "The first requisite for the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion." Additionally, the Bolsheviks strongly associated the Orthodox Church with the Tsarist regime and were therefore even more determined to abolish it. The separation of church and state and the ban of the church from owning property in the 'Decree on Freedom of Conscience and on Church and Religious Associations' (1918) was the first step to abolishing the orthodox church in Russia. During the Civil Wars (1918-20) soviets were

  • Word count: 1955
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: History
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The atomic bombs were necessary to end the Second World War. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

At the end of the Second World War, President Truman decided to use the atomic bombs against Japan in an attempt to end the war. While the use of such force was not technically necessary, it brought an almost immediate end to the war and theoretically saved thousands of lives. Without the atomic bombings, the Japanese leaders might have dragged the war out, refusing to surrender. Moreover, the bombings could be seen as falling in line with the concept of "total war," which was being practiced in the Second World War by both the Allies and the Axis powers. However, the opposite could be argued as well. The second bomb, dropped on Nagasaki, could be seen as an unnecessary follow-through after the first bomb on Hiroshima. One could go as far as saying that both atomic attacks were unnecessary and even immoral. Supporters of the bombings argue that an invasion of Japan by the Allies would have resulted in a much higher death toll. One such person, Winston Churchill, claimed that invading Japan, as opposed to dropping the atomic bombs, would have "sacrificed a million American and a quarter of a million British lives." It was also reported by the Air Force Association that the "Japanese cabinet had approved a measure extending the draft to include men from ages fifteen to sixty and women for seventeen to forty-five (an additional 28 million people)." Such an increase of Japan's

  • Word count: 951
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: History
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The Cultural Revolution

Urvi Mittal History SL Assess the role played by youth and terror in China during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) The Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) was launched by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) chairman Mao Zedong to stem what he perceived as the country's drift away from socialism, toward the "restoration of capitalism." The origins of the Cultural Revolution can be traced to the mid-1950s when Mao first became seriously concerned about the path that China's socialist transition had taken in the years since the CCP had come to power in 1949. His anxieties about the bureaucratization of the party, ideological degeneration in society as a whole, and the glaring socioeconomic inequalities that had emerged as China modernized escalated through the early 1960s and propelled him to embark on a crusade to expunge the "revisionism" that he believed was contaminating the party and the nation. Mao had also been disturbed by his analysis that the Soviet Union had already abandoned socialism for capitalism which made him insecure and made him want to control the people by terror. Mao was also insecure about his position in the party because of the growing popularity of moderates Lin Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping to whom he had given power to correct the mistakes made by the policies of The Great Leap Forward. The moderates had introduced an element of capitalism in Chinese society.

  • Word count: 1452
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: History
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