InNo+9+(1-13)+Byue+10.13.10

=__Awesomeness__=

This is a comic I made, which is obviously awesome. It is through hard work and sweat that this comic is produced. It is awesome because it greatly connects to the notes that are written below. The first box includes Tsar Nicholas II in a black suit with his wife Alexandra in a blue dress. A 'wise' person can be seen in a gray suit. He represents the person who told the couple that their son has haemophilia. Tsar Nicholas can also be seen to be very shocked and worried. In the second box, their son is seen with a crab. The crab is attempting to pinch the boy, and readers can choose if the crab pinches him or not. If pinched, the son would obviously die. The 'wise' person's words can be seen at the top, while Alexandra's words can be seen on the left. In the third box, she prays to 'God' and hopes for the best of her son. I used a website called ToonDoo.com for this comic. I recommend it because it is fun and easy to use.

__Yet Another Picture__ This picture is another one of my awesomeness items. This picture shows someone's finger bleeding intensely. It can be seen clearly that his blood doesn't clot, which shows he might have haemophilia. This is awesome because this can give people an idea of what haemophilia is. It relates to the notes, Tsar Nicholas II's son had it, and it gives people a good visual. This disease is truly sad because even one single little can lead to death. Good thing it is a rare disease.

Toondoo.com Bleeding picture

PART __**ONE**__ - Russia Under the Tsar

1. Russian Empire in 1900
__Land and the Climate__ __An empire of many peoples__
 * although big, size of Russia is useless (mostly for farming)
 * high mountains block enemies but keep out warm air spread from South
 * in Arctic Circle, land is __tundra__, nothing grows except moss and small shrubs, 1000 km south of this is __taiga__: cold land covered in forests of pine trees
 * only warmer regions where farming is possible, 1900 - 5% of land usable only, rest = waste
 * cold climate affected Russia's industry and commerce + farming
 * much of Russia's coastline is in Arctic Circle, making it frozen over thick ice for much of the year
 * rivers of Serbia - Ob, Yenisey and Lena frozen too
 * sea and river were never possible until spring (ice breakers were weak in 1900)
 * new railway, Trans-Siberian, built to allow trade between east and west all year, but 1900 it was only half buily
 * great empire ruled by **Tsar** or Emperor - Nicholas II
 * 125 million lived in his empire, and **less than** half were Russians
 * majority were Poles and Ukrainians who conquered by ancestors of Tsar Nic. II
 * own language, customs, way of life
 * 6/10 of Tsar's subjects Russian was foreign language and Russian people were foreigners
 * not spread out evenly, most lived on the 5% good land
 * cold lands of Siberia, east of Ural mountains thinly populated, while good lands were overcrowded

2. The Government of Russia
__The autocracy__ __Nicholas and Alexandra__
 * Tsar Nic. II was an autocrat - monarch who does not have to share power
 * make laws, increase taxes, do whatever he liked without discussing
 * employed servants to govern 125 million with, them organized like army into 14 ranks - "Table of Ranks"
 * top of the "Table of Ranks" were minsters in charge of gov. departments, bottom were minor officials, like post office clerks and customs inspectors
 * civil service collected tax from Russian people and made sure decisions were carried out, but some made end meets by taking bribes because they weren't paid
 * Tsar didn't let people oppose him - secret police force - **Okhrana** (Protective Section) - censored all books and newspapers, agents spying on political groups and arrested people who criticized gov.
 * prisoners tried by court juries and ended up in exile (usually), aka Lenin was punished
 * could not cope when there was famine, riots broke out, factory workers went on strike, peasants attacked landlords
 * it was **Cossacks** who came to Tsar's rescue - fierce mounted soldiers armed with sabres specializing in breaking mobs by butchering everyone
 * **Russian Orthodox Church** helped too - taughgt people to respect autocracy and loyal to Tsar, head of church = government minister, this way, gov. had contorl over minds of churchgoers
 * he never wanted to be a Tsar when his father died, but continued what his father had done
 * gentle but uneducated, he does not know how to protect his autocracy, and he found what he did boring
 * his wife - Alexandra - was German and confident and strong willed, encouraged Nic. to be autocrat and ignore new ideas about sharing power
 * happily married + 5 children during first 10 years, first 4 girls last one boy, Alexis, heir to the throne
 * ruined when Alexis found out to have haemophilia, can't clot blood - one small cut = bleed to death
 * they were religious and Alexandra prayed for hours in a chapel, begging for recovery, and told daughters not to talk about it, and everyone else who knew swear an oath of secrecy

3. Russian Society
__The Peasants__ __The town workers__ __The rich__
 * 4/5 Russian Empire citizens were peasants - farming, in 1861 known as **serfs**, slaves of landlords with no rights, no freedom, and no land
 * 1861, Nic's grandfather freed them from serfdom and allowed them to own land and grow food
 * BUT: land not individual but given to village commune, **mir**
 * pay for land given to commune in yearly instalments called redemption payments over next 49 years
 * after this payment will it be their own land
 * being freed didn't improve lives, each year mirs divided the land in communes and gave each family according to needs that year
 * bigger family = bigger land, but lands grew smaller as population grew, 1861 - 1900 size halved
 * nearly half of all babies died before 5, average age = 50
 * many diseases and malnutrition, only good hope = good harvest
 * many tried improving lives by working in nearest town or city
 * largest city = St Petersburg, millions in search of work
 * workers unable to improve conditions, trade unions not allowed by law
 * employers easily replaced complaining workers
 * Russian nobles were rich, with Nic. at the head, owning 8 palaces + employ 15000 servants!!!
 * when royals moved, up to 20 railway carriages were needed JUST for luggage
 * nobles = 1% of population...but they owned 25% of land
 * 1900 new class forming - **capitalists** - made money from banking, Minister of Finance = Sergei Witte
 * this man gave Caps. government contracts, loans, cut taxes
 * they didn't have to work very hard to improve life, and soon people hated them

4. Opponents of the Tsar
-people believed God made Tsar in charge, but some people refused and wanted to get rid of him __Terrorism__ __The Socialist Revolutionary Party__ __The Social Democratic Party__ __Liberals__
 * March 1881 bomb exploded between carriage of Alexander II, the guy gave peasants serfdom
 * he was unhurt but when he went out to inspect, a young man threw a snowball looking thing at his feet which exploded
 * his leg flied, and his belly flied open too, bled to death - all watched by son Alexander and grandson Nicolas
 * assassination by terrorist group "People's Will" - one of many groups wanting to destroy autocracy, but this assassination did not stop autocracy
 * son and grandson determined to continue what the dead man did, and arrested critics and opponents in Okhrana
 * neither son or grandson could wipe out all enemies though --- there were still 3 important enemies/groups
 * 1st = Socialist Revolutionary Party, members called SRs - wanted all land to be given to **mirs** so peasants have bigger share of LAND
 * they had 'Fighting Organisation" to help achieve, 1900 - 1905 it killed 3 gov. ministers and dozens of other gov. officials
 * they got supported by many peasants
 * 2nd group - following ideas of **Karl Max**, German writer with **Communist Manifesto** book in 1848
 * in book prediction of violent revolution where working class overthrew capitalists who were wealthy
 * the workers would take away factories, mines, machinery, raw materials from them and share equally, Marx called this sharing **Socialism**
 * in socialist society, people did everything to help each other, good of everyone, and take only what is needed
 * system of **communism** would exist too, where people work according to ability and paid according to their needs
 * SDP made in 1898, leader started arguing for the best way to start a socialist revolution, 1903 - split into 2: **Bolsheviks** and **Mensheviks**
 * Bols. believed revolution should be organised by small groups of dedicated + skilled revolutionaries
 * Mens. believed Party should be mass party with many working class members as possible - should be run democratically, members elect leaders and decide policies
 * leader of Bols. = **Vladimir Ilyich Lenin**, said if Mens. had their way, revolution would take years to start and waste time
 * leader of Mens. = **Julius Martov**, replying revolution will fail if whole working class didn't support
 * and because both groups never agreed, they are split forever
 * and three groups of opponent = Socialist Revolutionaries, Bols. and Mens.
 * liberals were law-bidding and they weren't violent
 * they supported Tsar but they wanted him to share power, democratic system of gov.
 * unfortunately, Alexander II made plans for Russian parliament before he got blown and bled to death
 * his son Alex. III teared up the plans once he died

5. The 1905 Revolution
__War Against Japan__ __Bloody Sunday__ __The 1905 Revolution__
 * 1904 war with Japan over Korea and Manchuria, Nic. was happy for this war because he thought quick victory = popular + stop criticism of his gov.
 * Russia kept losing and Nic. tried helping by sending Russian Baltic fleet on a 7 month voyage half way round Earth to Manchuria
 * but all ships destroyed as they touches Japanese waters, only 3 ships made it in this **battle of Tsushima**
 * made conditions for workers **EVEN WORSE** - food supplies went down, factories closed - workers soon no job
 * Jan. 22 1905, 200,000 people marched to streets of St Petersburg towards Tsar's Winter Palace with petition asking for better working + living conditions + end of war with Japan - mob led by **Father Gapon** a lovely priest
 * 500 of these people died when soldiers tried to stop them, and this massacre is known as **Bloody Sunday**
 * this made many riots strike in countryside and towns, and many gov. people died. Nic's uncle (Grand Duke Serge) was blown away by terrorist bomb
 * Bloody Sunday started a revolution against Tsar
 * 1905 crew of **Potemkin** of Black Sea fleet threw officers off the ship = mutiny, and they were big threat to Tsar
 * many peasants rebelled, and some Poles and Georgians took the time to declare independence from Russian rule
 * factories, offices, shops, railways, hospitals, schools all closed down as rebels got worse and the strikers called **Soviets** to run town
 * alternate form of gov. for strikers
 * Nic. made **October Manidestro** that said Russia has **Duma** which is an elected parliament to run country and gave people rights to form political parties and free speech
 * liberals like, revolutionary parties didn't trust him, and they were right when in Dec. police arrest members of St Petersburg Soviet and 15 went into exile
 * Moscow, army sent to crush Soviet, >1000 died
 * 1906 Tsar destroyed all revolution areas, and a band of thugs called __Black Hundreds__ took the law as their own and also destroyed everything related to revolution
 * March 1906 revolution finished and nothing was done except the Duma, and first time they met Nic. issued **Fundamental Laws**, where the first one said basically Russia was still an autocracy

6. The Aftermath of the 1905 Revolution
__ The Dumas __ __The Stolypin reforms__ __Rasputin__
 * Nic. made sure Fundamental Laws made it clear that Duma had no __real__ power, and when Duma asked to share, Nic. brought soldiers and broke it up. This Duma lasted for only 75 days
 * 2nd Duma in 1907: liberals + Socialist Revolutionaries + Social Democrats - all aimed to destroy autocracy - broke in 3 months
 * 3rd lasted 5 years because Nic. changed voting rules - that revolutionaries don't get elected - and 3rd made up of mostly politicians who behaved
 * 3rd Duma provided show of fake democracy & Nic. continued autocracy, 1906 appointing new Prime Minister to prevent outbreaks of revolution - **Peter Stolypin**
 * 1008 terrorists arrest, tried by special military courts, executed, 21000 people exiled, and soon terrorism wasn't serious threat anymore
 * Stolypin helped peasants get their own land, and the redemption payment in 1861 abolished, and law of mirs controlling land abolished too
 * he hoped peasants would leave to their own farm because there were bigger, more productive
 * he thought peasants would have peace like this and might help prevent revolution
 * conditions improved, harvests good, wages increased, peasants had own farm, but in 1911, a police investigating terrorism turned out to be terrorist himself and he shot Stolypin
 * when Stolypin was P.M., Nic and his wife met a peasant who called himself **a Staret** - a holy man of God
 * they were both religious and Alexandra prayed for her sons disease, and 1905 praying seemed to come true
 * 2 ladies introduced Nic. and Alexandra to someone who had 'special powers of prophecy' and 'healing' - Gregory Efimovitch
 * Alexis (the son) fell and started internal bleeding, Gregory prayed at his bedside and next day he was fully recovered
 * Starets then became trusted people on court
 * Gregory Efimovitch given nickname **Rasputin** - the disreputable one, because he drank heavily and had many affairs
 * in court he took part of wild orgies, raped a nun, and was always drunk, but Nic. and Alexandra refused to listen when others complained and continued their trust
 * death of Stolypin = more influence from Rasputin --- Alexandra took it and passed it on to Nic.
 * ambitious politicians found easier promotion with friendly relationships with Rasputin, and businessmen who entertained him seemed to get gov. contracts easier
 * hated grew as influence increased and rumors started about him and Alexandra having affair, discussed by Duma, and all over newspapers
 * this everyone knew except Alexandra and the "Supreme Autocrat" himself

=__SUMMARY__= Russia is a huge country, but most of its land is useless and 25% of it is under royal control. Peasant needed to find good jobs, terrorists killed government people they didn't like, and different groups were against the way Russia was run. Soon revolution began but ended quickly as Tsar Nicholas II made new rules and people had to live under it. Peter Stolypin was put in charge and he made peasants happy, which for awhile, seemed good for peoples' conditions. After Stolypin died, a new man was put in charge but people hated him. 1. What disease did Tsar Nicholas II and Alexandra's son have? Why was it important he did NOT get any injuries? 2. Why did Nicholas II continue what his grandfather did? 3. What was unexpected during the war between Russia and Japan? 4. Why did the 3rd Duma last longer than the 1st and 2nd? 5. Why might giving peasants their own land be a benefit to the government?
 * __Questions__**