Upgrade to remove ads
Only $35.99/year

Euro: Chapter 4

Terms in this set (25)

Autocrat
A ruler who holds total and supreme power and can make decisions without the approval of any other legal body
Orthodox Christianity
The official faith of the Russian state, which originated in the eastern part of the Roman Empire; it was independent of any foreign influence and acted as a vital support of the tsarist political system.
Pogroms
Outbreaks of mob violence against Jews, often approved by authorities
Emancipation of the serfs
The granting of legal freedom to the serfs- agricultural labourers who belonged to their landlords, or the state, in a condition quite similar to slavery. They were freed in 1861 by Tsar Alexander II, Nicholas's grandfather, but many remained poor and with limited freedom.
Gold standard
An international monetary system in which the value of a country's currency was linked directly to a fixed quantity of gold in order to give long-term price stability.
Socialist
A person who wants to create a more equal society, based on cooperation, rather than on the capitalist concept of competition.
Proletariat
The urban, industrial working class. They generally had no savings or property, and their only source of income was their own labour.
Bolshevik
A member of the more radical faction of the Russian Social Democrat Party, which seized power in the revolution of October 1917. The party was renamed the Russian Communist Part in 1918, but the term Bolshevik quill be used throughout this chapter for the sake of simplicity.
Soviets
Workers' councils, which first appeared in industrial cities in 1905. They were to play an important part in the October 1917 Revolution.
Progressive Bloc
A group consisting of 236 of the Duma's 442 members, made up of Octobrists, Kadets, moderate nationalists and others, which called for a 'ministry of confidence' and an extension of civil liberties.
Franchise (or suffrage)
The right to vote
Abdication
The act of giving up a public office, in this case the Russian imperial crown.
Military Commission of the State Duma
A body created by the Duma, at the time of the February Revolution, to manage the army.
Soviet Union
Shortened form of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the communist state officially established in 1922 and dissolved in 1991, and comprising Russia and a number of other republics.
Legitimacy
Legal entitlement (to govern)
Other sets by this creator