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[[Alexander II]] (1855-1881), a relatively liberal tsar, emancipated the serfs. His 1881 assassination, however, prompted the reactionary rule of [[Alexander III]] (1881-1894).  

[[Alexander II]] (1855-1881), a relatively liberal tsar, emancipated the serfs. His 1881 assassination, however, prompted the reactionary rule of [[Alexander III]] (1881-1894).  

==1900-1917==

==1900-1917==

By 1900, imperial decline became evident. Russia was defeated in the unpopular [[Russo-Japanese War]] in 1905. The [[Russian Revolution of 1905]] forced Tsar [[Nicholas II]] (1894-1917) to grant a constitution and introduce limited democratic reforms. The government suppressed opposition and manipulated popular anger into anti-Semitic pogroms. Attempts at economic change, such as land reform, were incomplete.  

By 1900, imperial decline became evident. Russia was defeated in the unpopular [[Russo-Japanese War]] in 1905. The [[Russian Revolution of 1905]] forced Tsar [[Nicholas II]] (1894-1917) to grant a constitution and introduce limited democratic reforms. The government suppressed opposition and manipulated popular anger into anti-Semitic pogroms. Attempts at economic change, such as land reform, were incomplete.  

====1917 Revolution and the U.S.S.R.====

====1917 Revolution and the U.S.S.R.====

The ruinous effects of [[World War I]], combined with internal pressures, sparked the March 1917 uprising that led Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate the throne. A provisional government came to power, headed by [[Aleksandr Kerenskiy]]. On November 7, 1917, the [[Bolshevik Party]], led by [[Vladimir Lenin]], seized control and established the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic. Civil war broke out in 1918 between Lenin's "Red" army and various "White" forces and lasted until 1920, when, despite foreign interventions and [[Polish-Soviet War|an unsuccessful war]] with [[Poland]], the Bolsheviks triumphed. After the Red army conquered [[Ukraine]], [[Belarus]], [[Azerbaijan]], Georgia, and [[Armenia]], a new nation, the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] (U.S.S.R.), was formed in 1922.  

The ruinous effects of [[World War I]], combined with internal pressures, sparked the March 1917 uprising that led Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate the throne. A provisional government came to power, headed by [[Aleksandr Kerenskiy]]. On November 7, 1917, the [[Bolshevik Party]], led by [[Vladimir Lenin]], seized control and established the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic. Civil war broke out in 1918 between Lenin's "Red" army and various "White" forces and lasted until 1920, when, despite foreign interventions and [[Polish-Soviet War|an unsuccessful war]] with [[Poland]], the Bolsheviks triumphed. After the Red army conquered [[Ukraine]], [[Belarus]], [[Azerbaijan]], Georgia, and [[Armenia]], a new nation, the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] (U.S.S.R.), was formed in 1922.  

[[Image:Yuri Gagarin Russia.jpg|right|Yuri Gagarin Russia.]]

[[Image:Yuri Gagarin Russia.jpg|left|Yuri Gagarin Russia.]]

First among its political figures was Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik Party and head of the first Soviet Government, who died in 1924.  

First among its political figures was Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik Party and head of the first Soviet Government, who died in 1924.

 

==Stalin==

==Stalin==

In the late 1920s, [[Josef Stalin]] emerged as General Secretary of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU) amidst intra-party rivalries; he maintained complete control over Soviet domestic and international policy until his death in 1953. In the 1930s, Stalin oversaw the forced collectivization of tens of millions of its citizens in state agricultural and industrial enterprises. Millions died in the process. Millions more died in political purges, the vast penal and labor system, and in state-created [[famine]]s. Initially allied to [[Nazi Germany]], which resulted in significant territorial additions on its western border, the U.S.S.R. was attacked by [[the Axis]] on June 22, 1941. Twenty million Soviet citizens died during [[World War II]] in the successful effort to defeat the Axis, in addition to over two million Soviet Jews who perished in [[the Holocaust]]. After the war, the U.S.S.R. became one of the Permanent Members of the [[UN Security Council]]. In 1949, the U.S.S.R. developed its own nuclear arsenal.  

In the late 1920s, [[Josef Stalin]] emerged as General Secretary of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU) amidst intra-party rivalries; he maintained complete control over Soviet domestic and international policy until his death in 1953. In the 1930s, Stalin oversaw the forced collectivization of tens of millions of its citizens in state agricultural and industrial enterprises. Millions died in the process. Millions more died in political purges, the vast penal and labor system, and in state-created [[famine]]s. Initially allied to [[Nazi Germany]], which resulted in significant territorial additions on its western border, the U.S.S.R. was attacked by [[the Axis]] on June 22, 1941. Twenty million Soviet citizens died during [[World War II]] in the successful effort to defeat the Axis, in addition to over two million Soviet Jews who perished in [[the Holocaust]]. After the war, the U.S.S.R. became one of the Permanent Members of the [[UN Security Council]]. In 1949, the U.S.S.R. developed its own nuclear arsenal.