The Tsar and political authority (1)

Question 1

Who was the autocratic emperor of Russia 1917?

Answer 1

Tsar Nicholas II

Question 2

Who was Tsar Nicholas II a member of?

Answer 2

The Romanov dynasty

Question 3

Since when had the Romanov’s ruled Russia?

Answer 3

1613

Question 4

When did the Tsar inherit the throne?

Answer 4

In 1894 at the age of 26

Question 5

What happened when the Tsar was 12?

Answer 5

His reformist grandfather, Tsar Alexander II, had been blown up by a revolutionary bomb

Question 6

What was the Tsar determined to do?

Answer 6

To fulfil his divine calling and uphold autocracy

Question 7

What was the Tsars reign in terms of dates?

Answer 7

1868-1918

Question 8

What was a main cause of the Tsar’s downfall?

Answer 8

This was the defeat in the war against Japan in 1904-1905 which brought about strikes.

Question 9

What happened as a result of the loss to Japan in 1905?

Answer 9

It led to a revolution which spiralled out of the Tsar’s control after the Tsarist army shot a crowd of demanding reformers in St Petersberg on “bloody Sunday” in January 1905.

Question 10

What was Nicholas forced to do?

Answer 10

Establish a State Duma

Question 11

Was the Duma effective?

Answer 11

No, because he restricted its powers

Question 12

What did the Tsar use instead of the Duma?

Answer 12

He used the Okhrana to crush opposition.

Question 13

What was the Okhrana?

Answer 13

The Russian Empire’s secret police force

Question 14

What happened when Nicholas II tried to handle the first world war?

Answer 14

Lead to popular demonstrations in Febuary 1917, which forced the Tsar to abdicate.

Question 15

How did the Tsar die?

Answer 15

He was executed by Bolsheviks in January 1918

Question 16

Why was the Tsar not a very good leader?

Answer 16

he was very shy and awkward in public; he found political affairs boring and tended to be over-cautious, struggling to make clear political decisions.

Question 17

Who was the Tsra’s wife?

Answer 17

Alexandra, a German princes whom he had married two weeks after his farther’s death in 1894.

Question 18

Who did the Tsar’s wife introduce the Tsar to?

Answer 18

The “holy man” and faith-healer, Grigorii Rasputin.

Question 19

How was Rasputin a benefit to the Tsar and his family?

Answer 19

Because he was able to ease the pain of their only son, Aleksei, who suffered from haemophilia, an inherited disease that prevented his blood from clotting.

Question 20

What had Rasputin started to do after easing his sons pain?

Answer 20

Rasputin’s influence over the Tsar had extended to interfering in government appointments, particularly after the war broke out in 1914.

Question 21

What was Rasputin known for?

Answer 21

Womanising and drunkenness

Question 22

Did Rasputin do any favours for the Tsar, popularity wise?

Answer 22

He damaged Nicholas’s reputation with the very people the Tsar relied on to prop up the autocracy: politicians inside and outside the court, civil servants, Orthodox bishops and army officers.