SOCIAL SCIENCE CRAM-VIEW. GEOGRAPHY Russia is the world’s largest country at 17.1 million square km Only about 7% of the Russian steppes in the south.

SOCIAL SCIENCE

CRAM-VIEW

GEOGRAPHY

• Russia is the world’s largest country at 17.1 million square km

• Only about 7% of the Russian steppes in the south is fertile

• Russia has many rivers but no natural ocean ports, and many of its leaders have launched wars to gain sea access

• It lacks natural borders, enabling many foreign invasions

PRE-KIEVAN RUSSIA

• Norman Varangians first entered Slavic lands around 800 C.E.

• In 862, the Slavs invited Rurik the Rus to rule Novgorod

• Rurik’s son Oleg conquered the city of Kiev in 882

KIEVAN RUS

• Kiev gained power as a trade center along the Dnieper River

• Prince Sviatoslav consolidated the city’s control over the surrounding regions in the late 10th century

• Prince Vladimir introduced Eastern Orthodoxy as the official religion of the Kievan state in 988

KIEVAN RUS

• Prince Jaroslav – introduced Russia’s first legal code and– encouraged Russian art and architecture

• Kiev was divided into competing principalities ruled by each of his sons after his death in 1054

• Kiev spent roughly the next 200 years in civil turmoil before being conquered by the Mongols in 1240

MONGOL RULE

• The Mongols administered Russia through the Rurikov princes who collected tribute on their behalf

• Under Moscow’s leadership, Russia earned its independence from Mongol rule in 1480

MUSCOVITE RUSSIA

• Moscow first rose to power in the 14th century under Prince Vasili I

• In 1326, Moscow became home to the seat of the metropolitan, making it the religious capital of Russia

• Prince Vasili II defeated a Mongol campaign to depose him in 1452, making Moscow effectively independent

• Prince Ivan III tripled the size of the Muscovite state

IVAN THE TERRIBLE (R. 1547-1584)

• Ivan IV took the title ‘‘Tsar of All Russia’’ in 1547

• reformed the government and military, reducing – the nobility’s corruption and class privileges

• He imposed state oversight on the Orthodox Church and– reduced its wealth and power

IVAN THE TERRIBLE (R. 1547-1584)

• Ivan IV conquered khanates to Russia’s east but failed to obtain Baltic access through Livonia

• In 1565, he launched a bloody campaign of political terror against the nobles known as the Oprichnina

• Ivan IV was succeeded by Theodore

THE TIME OF TROUBLES (1598-1613)

• Theodore’s regent Boris Godunov effectively controlled Russia during and after Theodore’s reign

• The Rurikov line ended with Theodore, creating a power vacuum and encouraging false heirs (False Dimitris) supported by Poland

• Famine led to peasant uprisings and mass emigration• Of course, Poland and Sweden attacked!• In 1613, a council of nobles elected Michael

Romanov tsar

PETER THE GREAT (R. 1689-1725)

• Imperial Russia cycled between periods of reform and counter-reform

• Peter I assumed the throne after deposing his half-sister and regent, Sophia

• Peter modernized Russian culture and government after the model of Western Europe

• He reformed the military and expanded the navy, allowing Russia to defeat Sweden in the Great Northern War

CATHERINE THE GREAT (R. 1762-1796)

• Catherine II assumed the throne after nearly forty years of political turmoil

• She was– inspired by Enlightenment thinkers – but did not substantially reform Russia’s laws

• After putting down Pugachev’s peasant rebellion, Catherine reorganized Russia’s regional governments

• Catherine divided and annexed Poland alongside Prussia and Austria in 1772, 1794, and 1795

PAUL I (R. 1796-1801)

• Paul I sought to undo Catherine’s policies• He implemented primogeniture – where the ruler’s eldest son was heir to the

throne• In 1801, Paul I was assassinated in a palace

coup

ALEXANDER I (R. 1801-1825)

• Alexander was shaped by both conservative and liberal Influences

• Alexander I – repealed his father’s more reactionary decisions– but failed to implement reforms of serfdom and

Autocracy• He repelled Napoleon’s invasion in May 1812

and began to pursue more conservative social policies thereafter

NICHOLAS I (R. 1825-1855)

• Nicholas I crushed the liberal-minded Decembrist Revolt

• He consolidated political power in the hands of the tsar, bypassing the Council of State

• Russification policies were implemented in line with the doctrine of ‘‘Official Nationality’’ --(orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality)

• The tsar’s decision to enter the Crimean War deprived Russia of its dominant position in the peninsula

ALEXANDER II (R. 1855-1881)

• Alexander II was a liberal ruler who introduced elected regional legislatures called zemstvos

• On March 3, 1861, he abolished serfdom in Russia

• The radical Will of the People assassinated him in 1881

ALEXANDER III

• Alexander III – revived the doctrine of ‘‘Official Nationality’’ – and implemented reactionary policies

• His Russification policies discriminated against non-Orthodox Russians

NICHOLAS II

• Nicholas II continued the programs and Russification policies of his father

• He lost a war with Japan over Russian influence in Manchuria

REVOLUTION OF 1905

• Liberals petitioned Nicholas II for reform while Social Democrats and Social Revolutionaries pursued violence

• On January 22, 1905, guards shot into a crowd of protesters in St. Petersburg, killing 130 on Bloody Sunday

• Nicholas II issued the October Manifesto, establishing an elected Duma that was ineffective

REVOLUTIONS OF 1917

• Russians protested food shortages during World War I

• Nicholas II abdicated on March 15, 1917• The Provisional Government led Russia until

the Bolshevik coup on November 8• Its authority was undermined by the

Petrograd Soviet and monarchist opponents

MARXISM-LENINISM

• Marx’s theory of historical materialism argues that human society is determined by its economic structure

• Communism is the highest stage of economic development

• Unlike Marx, Lenin argued that an elite vanguard had to lead the revolution and oversee the state

RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR (1918-1921)

• White army (conservatives) went to war with the Bolsheviks

• War Communism was imposed to mobilize the economy

• The Supreme Economic Council requisitioned and rationed all consumer goods and production

RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR (1918-1921)• The U.S.S.R. was established on December 30,

1922 . It consisted of:– Russian, – Ukrainian, – Belorussian, – and Transcaucasian Soviets

• The New Economy Policy was introduced in 1921• It permitted limited free market activity to allow

Russia’s economy to recover after the civil war

JOSEPH STALIN (1927-1953)• Stalin replaced the NEP with ‘‘five-year plans’’

setting production goals for the entire economy

• The first three five-year plans industrialized Russia and collectivized its agriculture at great human cost

• In the 1930s, Stalin carried out a purge of party leaders

• The NKVD secret police arrested 7 million Soviet citizens

• Stalin introduced a new constitution in 1936

WORLD WAR II• Stalin signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with

Germany dividing Europe into spheres of influences• The U.S.S.R. occupied parts of Poland, the Baltics and

Moldavia after Germany invaded Poland in 1939• Germany invaded the U.S.S.R. on June 22, 1941• Hitler’s forces launched two more offensives in 1942

and 1943 before being expelled from Soviet territory in 1944

• Allied leaders held conferences at Yalta and Potsdam• Stalin won a sphere of influence in east-central Europe

POST-WAR

• Soviet troops occupied east-central Europe and established Communist regimes there

• Comecon and Warsaw Pact formalized the Soviet bloc

• Stalin persecuted Jews and intelligentsia• The Soviet economy recovered from the war quickly,

aided by forced reparations from former Axis countries

• After Stalin’s death in 1953, the Soviet elite became focused on their self-interest rather than ideology

THE KHRUSHCHEV ERA (1953-1964)

• Khrushchev denounced Stalin’s totalitarian rule and initiated a brief cultural ‘thaw’

• He sent Soviet troops into Hungary in 1956 after uprisings in Poland and Budapest

• The U.S.S.R. launched Sputnik I in October 1957• Economic growth began to slow during the

sixth and seventh Five-Year Plans• Khrushchev resigned under pressure from

Brezhnev

THE BREZHNEV ERA (1964-1982)

• Brezhnev – reversed Khrushchev’s reforms – and cracked down on public dissent & samizdat

• He passed the Third Soviet Constitution in 1977• The economy experienced decline and consumer

shortages• The Brezhnev Doctrine declared Soviet intentions to

defend the Communist bloc by military force• Brezhnev militarily suppressed the 1968 Prague Spring• Dissident movements began to emerge in the Soviet bloc

THE BREZHNEV ERA II

• The United States and USSR signed several disarmament treaties from 1968 to 1979 during a period of détente

THE BREZHNEV ERA II

• HELSINKI ACCORDS (1975)– 34 European and American signatories, including the Soviet

Union– Set out basic human rights provisions– Inspired movements such as

• Czech Charter 77 • and Polish Solidarity,

which demanded that their regimes honor the accords• BUT … Détente ended with the 1979 Soviet invasion of

Afghanistan

TRANSITIONAL LEADERSHIP

• Yuri Andropov– died in office after 15 months

• Konstantin Chernenko – died in office after 13 months

• Both leaders continued Brezhnev’s policies

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV

• Gorbachev introduced – demokratizatsiya, – perestroika, and – glasnost, allowing some free market activity and democracy

• He also renounced the Brezhnev Doctrine of upholding communism in eastern Europe through military force

PERESTROIKA

• Perestroika loosened central control over the political and economic system

• The Law on State Enterprise decentralized state planning

• The Law on Cooperatives permitted limited enterprise

• Foreign trade and investment was permitted

GLASNOST

• Glasnost increased party and state transparency

• Censorship laws were relaxed, encouraging media investigations into corruption and state crimes

DEMOKRATIZATSIYA

• Demokratizatsiya increased party officials’ accountability

• Multicandidate elections were held and later expanded to multiparty elections

THE COLLAPSE OF THE U.S.S.R.

• Gorbachev’s reforms hurt the Soviet economy and undermined the party’s monopoly on political power

• The summer and fall of 1989 brought a wave of anticommunist revolts sweeping through East-Central Europe

• Internal nationalist movements challenged Soviet control

THE COLLAPSE OF THE U.S.S.R.

• Lithuania declared itself independent in March 1990

• Conservatives launched a coup in August 1991 but were defeated by popular opposition led by Yeltsin

• After the coup failed, all remaining Soviet Republics seceded from the U.S.S.R.-----including Russia itself

• Gorbachev signed the Belavezha Accords dissolving the Soviet Union in December 1991

LEVELS OF TRANSITION FROM COMMUNISM (CLAUS OFFE)

• Designing policies to govern the use of valuable resources

• Restructuring political and economic government institutions

• Reformulating national identity following the dissolution of Russia’s once multinational state

POLITICAL TRANSITION

• Conflict between President Yeltsin and a conservative Duma led to a constitutional crisis in 1993

• Yeltsin won the standoff and passed a new constitution in December with extensive presidential powers

POLITICAL TRANSITION

• The constitution provided for a bicameral legislature composed of the – Federal Council and– Duma

• Single-member Duma seats were eliminated in 2007 in favor of PR with a 7% threshold

• The Communists and hard-right Liberal Democrats performed well electorally until 2000

• United Russia has dominated politics since 2000

SOCIAL TRANSITION

• Traditional gender roles have been revived• Russian citizens remain apathetic towards

civil society and were dissatisfied with democracy under Yeltsin

• The Russian military fought a separatist movement in Chechnya from 1994 to 1996

• The second Chechen war began in 1999 and has mainly taken the form of Islamic terrorist attacks

ECONOMIC TRANSITION

• All economic institutions were rapidly privatized under ‘‘shock therapy’’

• Most state-owned companies were bought by powerful oligarchs

• Shock therapy resulted in hyperinflation, high unemployment, and GDP contraction

• This was exacerbated by the 1998 financial crisis

THE PUTIN ADMINISTRATION

• Russia’s economy recovered during Putin’s first term• Putin restricted press freedom and prosecuted

political opponents (like Mikhail Khordokovdky)• He pursued tough measures against Chechen

terrorism• Putin was reelected with over 70% of the vote in

2004• He changed electoral laws in 2007 to favor United

Russia

THE MEDVEDEV ADMINISTRATION

• Medvedev succeeded Putin in 2008 and continued his focus on – economic modernization and – political stability

• He launched an anti-corruption campaign

PRESENT-DAY RUSSIA

• Russia enjoys decent GDP growth rates and manageable unemployment levels

• Yeltsin’s 1993 constitution has stayed a central pillar of Russian politics

• Democracy and post-materialism have gained traction among citizens as Russia’s transition further stabilizes

DATES TO REMEMBER• June 24, 1812• March 3, 1861• January 22, 1905 • March 15, 1917• November 8, 1918 • December 30, 1922• June 22, 1941

• November 4, 1956

• December 25, 1991 • December 12, 1993 • December 11, 1994

• Napoleon invades Russia• Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom• Bloody Sunday protests; start of 1905 revolution• Nicholas II abdicates• Bolsheviks overthrow the Provisional Government• Bolsheviks found the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics• Germany invades the Soviet Union in breach of the

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact• The Soviet Union sends troops into Hungary to suppress

the Budapest uprising• The Soviet Council of Republics disbands; Soviet Union

is dissolved• New constitution approved in a national referendum• Yeltsin orders a military invasion of Chechnya

High Priority Political Groups

• Charter 77 – Czech dissident group formed to pressure the regime to

abide by the Helsinki Accords• CPRF Communist Party of the Russian Federation

– advocates Soviet-era policies• Decembrists

– Liberal army officers who launched a coup at Nicholas I’s inauguration in 1825

• Fair Russia – Liberal, pro-democracy political party in the current Russian

Duma

High Priority Political Groups

• LDPR Liberal Democratic Party of Russia– ultranationalist political party

• League of Struggle – Underground revolutionary organization founded by Lenin in

1895• Oppositionists

– Stalin’s term for Trotsky’s followers• Social Democrats

– Marxist revolutionary group formed in 1898; split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks

• Socialist Revolutionary Party – Populist revolutionary group with links to the Will of the People

High Priority Political Groups

• Solidarity – Polish labor union led by Lech Walesa; overthrew the

Communist regime• United Russia – Russia’s center-right and dominant party

• Volunteer Army (White army) – Conservative army that fought against the early

Bolshevik government• Will of the People – Assassinated Alexander II in 1881

11 IMPORTANT TERRITORIES

• Astrakhan – Central Asian khanate acquired under Ivan IV

• Chechnya – Caucasus region; site of two separatist wars against the

Russian Federation• Crimea

– Peninsula to the north of the Black Sea contested by the Ottomans and imperial Russia; site of Crimean War

• Dagestan – Chechnya invaded this region in 1999, prompting the Second

Chechen War

11 IMPORTANT TERRITORIES

• Ingria – Baltic territory acquired in the Great Northern War

• Karelia – Baltic territory acquired in the Great Northern War

• Kazan – Central Asian khanate acquired under Ivan IV

• Livonia – Invaded by Ivan IV to gain Baltic sea access; acquired

in the Great Northern War

11 IMPORTANT TERRITORIES

• Manchuria – Japan opposition to Russian influence in this

territory caused the 1905 Russo-Japanese War• Moldavia – Occupied by Soviet Union in 1940 under Molotov-

Ribbentrop Pact; became a Soviet Republic• Novgorod – Russian principality that resisted political control

by Kievan and Muscovite princes

11 HIGH PRIORITY DOCUMENTS

• 1936 Constitution – Soviet Union’s constitution created by Stalin and replaced by

1978 Brezhnev Constitution• Article 58 – Defined treasonous activities in the U.S.S.R.; legal basis for

the Great Purge• Article Six – Made the Communist Party the sole political authority

• Belavezha Accords – Replaced the Soviet Union with the Commonwealth of

Independent States

11 HIGH PRIORITY DOCUMENTS

• Brezhnev Constitution – Declared socialism achieved in the U.S.S.R. and superficially

honored the provisions of the Helsinki Accords• Helsinki Accords

– Human rights treaty signed by the U.S.S.R.• October Manifesto

– Created a constitutional monarchy under Nicholas II following the 1905 revolution

• Table of Ranks – Peter I’s hierarchy of civil service, military, and judicial ranks

11 HIGH PRIORITY DOCUMENTS

• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk – Ended Russian participation in World War I

• Treaty of Nystadt – Formalized Sweden’s surrender in the Great

Northern War in 1721• Treaty of Portsmouth – Ended the Russo-Japanese War

11 Policies to Know

• Brezhnev Doctrine – The Soviet Union’s policy of controlling its

satellites by military force if necessary• Détente – Period of reduced hostility and disarmament

between the United States and Soviet Union• Glasnost – Increased transparency and lifted censorship in

the Soviet Union under Gorbachev

11 Policies to Know

• New Economic Policy – Allowed limited private industry following the Russian Civil War

• Official Nationality– Declared Russia’s core values to be ‘Orthodoxy, autocracy, and

nationality’• Order Number 1

– Issued by the Petrograd Soviet; implemented democratic decision-making in military

• Perestroika – Permitted free market exchange in the Soviet Union;

decentralized state control

11 Policies to Know

• Sinatra Doctrine – Gorbachev’s renunciation of the Brezhnev Doctrine

permitting reform in eastern Europe• Socialism in One Country – Stalin’s ideological perspective that focused solely on the

preservation of the Soviet Union• Temporary Regulations – A set of anti-terrorism laws passed by Alexander III

• War Communism – State rationing and economic mobilization implemented

during the Russian Civil War

BATTLES and WARS

• Battle of Austerlitz– (December 1805) Resulted in heavy losses for Russia and its

allies against Napoleon• Battle of Narva

– (1700) Early Russian defeat in the Great Northern War in 1700• Crimean War

– (1853-1855) Ended Russian domination of Black Sea territories

• First Chechen War – (1994-1996) Began as a result of Chechnya’s 1991

independence movement

BATTLES and WARS

• Patriotic War of 1812– Napoleonic invasion of Russia resulting in heavy French defeat

• Great Northern War – (1700-1721) Secured Russian naval access to the Baltic coast

at Swedish expense• Russian Civil War

– (1918-1921) Fighting between the newly-established Bolshevik regime and the Whites

• Russo-Japanese War – (1905-1906) Crippling defeat of Russia’s military by Japan; loss

of influence in Manchuria

BATTLES and WARS

• Second Chechen War – (1999-) Triggered by Chechen invasion of

Dagestan; resulted in Islamic terrorist attacks• World War I – (1914-1918) Immediate cause of Russia’s 1917

Revolutions• World War II – (1939-1945) Enabled a Soviet sphere of influence

in eastern Europe

11 ADVISORS AND OFFICIALS

• Alexis Arakcheev – Established strict settlements as part of Alexander I’s

conservative experiments• Boris Godunov

– Effectively controlled Russia during Tsar Theodore’s reign; usurped the throne

• Grigori Rasputin – Influential peasant mystic and adviser to Tsar Nicholas II;

assassinated in 1916• Lavrentiy Beria

– Chief of Stalin’s NKVD; arrested under executed under Khrushchev

11 ADVISORS AND OFFICIALS

• Michael Speransky – Liberal advisor of Alexander I who proposed a

constitutional monarchy• Sergei Uvarov – Nicholas I’s education minister; introduced the

doctrine of ‘‘Official Nationality’’• Sergei Witte – Close advisor to Alexander III and Nicholas II;

modernized Russia’s economy

11 ADVISORS AND OFFICIALS

• Viktor Chernomyrdin – Conservative backed by the Duma to become Prime Minister in

1992• Vyacheslav Molotov

– Negotiated the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on behalf of the U.S.S.R

• Yegor Gaidar – Served as Yeltsin’s first Prime Minister; advised Yeltsin on the

economic transition• Yevgeny Primakov

– Became Prime Minister in 1998; oversaw Russia’s recovery from a financial crisis

ALLIANCES

• Commonwealth of Independent States– Largely symbolic alliance formed in 1993 by Russia, Belorussia,

and Ukraine; several other former Soviet republics joined later• Comecon

– Council for Mutual Economic Assistance; economic alliance of the Soviet bloc

• Confederation of Europe– Formed after the defeat of Napoleon to defend the European

status quo• European Union

– Organization whose expansion met with opposition from Putin

ALLIANCES

• Fourth Coalition – Anti-Napoleonic alliance of Russia, Saxony, Prussia,

Sweden, and the United Kingdom• Holy Alliance – Alliance between Russia, Prussia, and Austria

formed in 1815• NATO – Cold War military alliance among Western

democracies

ALLIANCES

• Quadruple Alliance– The Holy Alliance plus Great Britain

• Three Emperors League– Mutual non-aggression pact between Russia,

Germany, and Austria-Hungary during the reign of Alexander III

• Warsaw Pact – Military alliance among the Soviet bloc states

LOW PRIORITY ROYALTY

• Alexander Nevsky – Novgorod ruler who cooperated with the Mongols against

foreign invaders• Alexei – Peter I’s conservative son; sentenced to death for treason

• Anastasia Romanova– Ivan IV’s wife; died under mysterious circumstances in

1560• Alexandra Romanova– Nicholas II’s wife; promoted Rasputin at court

LOW PRIORITY ROYALTY

• Catherine I – Peter I’s Lithuanian wife and successor

• Oleg – Rurik the Rus’ son; conquered Kiev

• Peter II – Last direct descendant of male Romanov line;

reigned 1727 to 1730• Peter III – Catherine III’s husband; reigned briefly in 1762

LOW PRIORITY ROYALTY

• Theodore – Mary Miloslavskaia’s eldest son; died soon after

taking the throne in 1676• Vasili Shuisky – Deposed false heir during Time of Troubles; ruled

1606 to 1613• Yuri– Vasili I’s brother; contested Vasili I’s rule of

Moscow

12 Practices

• Appanage – Distribution of smaller landholdings to princes who

did not inherit the throne• Crop rotation – Introduced in early Kievan Rus; increased crop yield

• Cyrillic – Russia’s written language

• Dekulakization – Stalin’s campaign to exterminate the kulaks

12 Practices

• Head tax – A flat tax on citizens; introduced by Peter I

• Pocketbook voting – Voting according to one’s economic wellbeing; helped

Putin win re-election• Pogroms – Anti-Semitic riots tolerated by the Russian state under

Alexander III• Primogeniture – Inheritance by the deceased’s eldest son

12 Practices

• Proportional representation – Distribution of legislature seats according to party’s share of

the popular vote• Rota system – Gave royal siblings precedence over children in matters of

succession• Russification – Tsarist-era policy against non-Russians, forcing them to adopt

Russian culture• Serfdom– Bondage of peasants to feudal landowners

12 Lower Priority Officials

• Alexander Dubcek– Czech party secretary; introduced reforms known as Prague

Spring in 1968• Alexander Golitsyn– Restricted freedom of thought and secularism in universities

under Alexander I• Alexander Kerensky – Succeeded Prince George Lvov as head of the Provisional

Government in 1917• Anatoly Sobchak – Mayor of St. Petersburg in the early 1990s

12 Lower Priority Officials

• Gustav Husak – Czech leader after Soviet suppression of Prague Spring;

implemented normalization• Lavr Kornilov – Led an unsuccessful conservative coup against the

Provisional Government• Lech Wałesa – Leader of the Polish labor union Solidarity

• Nicholas Bukharin– Moderate Bolshevik who supported continuing the NEP after

Lenin’s death

12 Lower Priority Officials

• Stanislaw Poniatowski– King of Poland under whom Poland was partitioned

• Vaclav Havel – Founded Czechoslovakia’s Charter 77 dissident movement

• Vladimir Zhironovsky– Founder of the Russian Federation’s Liberal Democratic

Party• Władysław Gomulka– Polish party secretary; suppressed protests in October

1956 without Soviet intervention

10 Uprisings to Know

• February 1917 Revolution– Overthrow of the Russian monarchy; formation of

Provisional Government• Confederation of Bar– (1768) Polish revolt led by the nobility; provided pretext

for first partition of Poland• Hungarian Revolution – (1956) Protests against Soviet control; suppressed by

Soviet military• July Days • (1917) Failed popular uprising against the Provisional Government

10 Uprisings to Know• Nationalist movements

– (1917) Uprisings against new Bolshevik government; Finland and Baltic states won independence

• October 1917 Revolution– Overthrow of the Provisional Government

• Prague Spring– (1968) Brief period of Czech liberalization under Alexander Dubcek;

ended by Soviet military• Pugachev’s Rebellion

– (1773) Last major peasant uprising in Russia; led by Emelian Pugachev• Revolution of 1905

– Popular protests that led to creation of a constitutional monarchy• Revolutions of 1989

– Popular uprisings that overthrew communist regimes in eastern Europe

12 RUSSIAN INSTITUTIONS• Anti-Corruption Council

– Medvedev initiative to prevent corrupt ties between businesses and the state

• Central Planning Commission– Gosplan; set production goals for Soviet Five-Year Plans

• Communist International– Comintern; promoted international socialist revolution

• Federation Council – Upper chamber of the Federal Assembly

• Holy Synod – Established by Peter I; subordinated church to state oversight

• People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs– NKVD; Stalin’s secret police that carried out the Great Purge

12 RUSSIAN INSTITUTIONS

• Petrograd Soviet – Workers’ council; undermined Provisional Government’s authority

• State Duma– Lower chamber of the Federal Assembly

• Soviet of Nationalities– Upper house of the Soviet legislature

• Union Soviet– Lower house of the Soviet legislature

• zemskii sobor – Early Russian parliament; elected Michael Romanov as tsar in 1613

• Zemstvos– Elected regional legislatures established by Alexander II

Important International Agreements

• Congress of Vienna – (1814-15) Redrew European borders and preserved balance of power after

Napoleon’s defeat• Cuban Missile Crisis

– (1962) Standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet missiles in Cuba

• Hague Peace Conference – (1899) Established International Court of Justice; no progress on European

disarmament• Marshall Plan

– (1947) American plan to aid post-war Europe; prompted Soviet formation of Comecon

• Partition of Poland– (1774-96) Agreement between Russia, Prussia, and Austria to divide and

annex Poland

Important International Agreements

• Strategic Arms Limitations Talks I– (1969) Soviet-American negotiations reducing deployment of

missile launchers• Strategic Arms Limitations Talks II

– (1979) Soviet-American negotiations reducing total nuclear arsenals; never ratified

• Yalta Conference– (February 1945) Allied leaders conference; Stalin granted sphere

of influence in eastern Europe• Potsdam Conference

– (July 1945) Allied leaders conference; Soviet Union demanded reparations from Axis powers