9781422285893

An artistic rendering of Bloody Sunday, January 22, 1905, considered a critical event leading to the Russian Revolution of 1917. It depicts unarmed demonstrators marching to present a petition to Tsar Nicholas II being shot by the Imperial Guard at the Winter Palace.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, the social structure of the empire started to shift. A new class of workers who had emerged during Russia’s period of industrialization began advocating for a greater say in the affairs of com- merce and government. These workers banded together into councils known as “soviets,” which in turn joined up with the Social-Democratic Workers’ Party. The party split into two wings: the radical Bolsheviks and the more moderate Menshiviks. By 1917, after World War I had ravaged the Russian people, the Bolsheviks were poised to take power. In February they forced then-emperor Nicholas II to abdicate his throne. Under the direction of Vladimir Lenin, they seized control of the government in St. Petersburg that October. Subsequently renamed the Communist Party, this political entity would control Russian life for the bulk of the century, not formally dissolved until December 1991. After the fall of Communism, Russia faced many challenges in its attempt to reintegrate into Western capitalist society. The difficulty of transitioning from

state-owned to privately owned enterprises resulted in unemploy- ment and other economic crises. Over time Russia has managed to rebuild itself into a world superpower. Today its economy is the ninth largest in the world, and it controls vast amounts of oil and gas reserves. The grand ambitions of its history continue to influence Russian life in the twenty-first century.

This 1956 stamp depicts Vladimir Lenin, one of the founding figures of the Russian Revolution.

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MAJOR NATIONS IN A GLOBAL WORLD: RUSSIA

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