Period 5: Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and the U.S.

Question 1

Who was Alexander II?

Answer 1

• issued the Emancipation Edict in 1861 which abolished serfdom

Question 2

What were the effects of the Emancipation Edict?

Answer 2

• serfs were given small plots of land which they had to give huge payments to the government to keep
• difficult for serfs to improve their lot
• some peasants went to the cities to work in Russia’s burgeoning industries but encountered harsh working conditions

Question 3

Who were The People’s Will?

Answer 3

• assassinated Alexander II in 1881

- political group

Question 4

Who was Alexander III?

Answer 4

• tried to suppress anything he perceived as anti-Russian

Question 5

What was Russification?

Answer 5

• all Russians were expected to learn the Russian language and convert to Russian Orthodoxy
• anyone who didn’t comply was persecuted, especially Jews

Question 6

What was the Monroe Doctrine?

Answer 6

• U.S. President Monroe declared in his 1823 State of the Union Address that the Western Hemisphere was off-limits to European aggression
• U.S. didn’t have enough power to enforce its declaration
• angered some Latin Americans who saw the U.S. as exercising its own brand of imperialism like when the U.S. incited Panamanians to declare independence from Colombia so that the U.S. could negotiate the right to build the Panama Canal

Question 7

What was the Roosevelt Corollary?

Answer 7

• President Theodore Roosevelt added the Roosevelt Corollary after European powers sent warships to Venezuela to demand repayment of loans
• provided that the U.S. would intervene in financial disputes between European powers and countries in the Americas if doing so would help to maintain the peace

Question 8

What was the Spanish-American War of 1898?

Answer 8

• Spain still controlled Cuba and Puerto Rico
• Spain was embroiled in conflict with Cuban revolutionaries when the U.S., which sympathized with the Cubans, intervened and launched the Spanish-American War
• the U.S. quickly destroyed the Spanish fleets in Cuba and in the Philippines
• the U.S. gained control of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines

Question 9

What were the effects of the Spanish-American War?

Answer 9

• Cuba was given its independence in exchange for concessions to the U.S. including allowing the creation of two U.S. naval bases on the island
• the U.S. was considered to be among the world powers