The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union

PowerPoint Notes

1. Why was Ivan the Terrible considered “terrible”?

- tortured people to relax, was cruel to his own people

-had architect of St. Basil’s cathedral blinded so he couldn’t build anything so beautiful again

2. Ivan the Terrible had St. Basil’s cathedral built.

3. Peter the Great modernized Russia.

4. Catherine the Great enlarged the Russian Empire.

5. Alexander II freed 10 million _serfs and their families in _1861______.

6. Alexander II was ___assassinated______in 1881.

7. Alexander III was a strict leader. He gave the people of Russia very little_____freedom______.

8. Alexander III is Nicholas II’s ___father______.

9. Nicholas II was the last __tsar _ of Russia. He was not prepared for the position because his father died unexpectedly.

10. Nicholas II granted a Duma (like __parlaiment ____) in _____1905______(year).

11. Nicholas II lost a war with ___Japan______.

12. Nicholas II made himself _commander in

___chief ______during WWI. Russia was

______losing ______badly.

13. Nicholas II __abdicated_ (gave up the_throne____) on March 15, ___1917______.

14. Alexandra—Alix of Hess married ___Nicholas II_____ in 1894. The Russian people didn’t like her.

15. Nicholas II and Alexandra had __5__ children.

16. ____Alexei ______is the youngest child.

17. Alexei had ____hemophelia___, a condition characterized by excessive bleeding.

18. _Grigory __Rasputin_____ was a Siberian Peasant that claimed to work miracles__.

19. __Alexandra______believed that Rasputin could stop __Alexei’s bleeding.

20. Rasputin was _assassinated_ in 1916? What methods were used:

a. poisoned

b. shot

c. drowned

21. _Felix Yussopov, Nicholas II’s cousin, murdered _____Rasputin______.

22. What is a provisional government?

A temporary government

23. ______Alexander Kerensky__ was the head of the provisional government.

24. Vladimir Ulyanov changed his name to ___Lenin______to confuse the police.

25. Lenin worked for __revolution______.

26. Lenin was the first communist_____ leader of Russia.

27. _Josef______Stalin______was Lenin’s successor.

28. __Purge______--the removal of something or someone undesired.

29. Stalin _purged______his enemies---_40,000____

murders a month in 1937 and 1938.

30. Nikita Kruschev (_1953__--__1964__)

31. Brezhnev (__1964--1982___)

32. Andropov (1982--1984)

33. Chernenko (1984--1985)

34. Mikhail Gorvachev (__1985--1991___)

35_Glasnost___--openness, the Soviet people could criticize the system without fear of being punished.

36. Perestroika_--restructuring, loosened government control and moved the economy toward capitalism. You could own your own _business______.

37. Boris Yeltsin (___1991--1999_)

The Soviet Union officially broke up on _Christmas Day_____, 1991. He is the 1st elected _President _____ of Russia, the largest of the 15 Soviet _Republics__.

38. The second president of Russia is _Vladimir___ __Putin___ (1999-2008)

39. The current president of Russia is __Dmitry Medvedev_