After this victory in Kazan, Ivan was not thought of as a boy anymore by his people and became known as Ivan the Terrible. The term 'terrible' was used to show the people's respect for Ivan as a leader. It is said that Ivan blinded the architect who he had construct the cathedral to be sure that no cathedral was ever built to look similar. Ivan suspected that Anastasia was poisoned and became obsessed with seeking out the culprits. He married six more times after this only for political advantages.
However, there were other factors that came into play that the Bolsheviks hadn’t intended, such as, geographical factors and the lack of unity of the opposition. I believe that the factor which had the biggest impact on the survival of the communists is the lack of unity between the opposition because without one unified front fighting the Bolsheviks during the civil war, it became easy for the skilled soldiers in the red army to pick off smaller, individual ‘white armies’. Lenin introduced the cheka to stamp down on opposition to the government. The cheka were a political police force who used terror tactics to prevent opposition from forming. This proves that the Bolsheviks were brutal because they used force to keep themselves in power.
He made it clear that when he became Tsar he would undo all the reform his father had set about bringing. Alexander II’s assassination made Alexander III hate reform even more, as he blamed the reform for his father’s death. He was now even more determine to get rid of any reform that there might have been, also any political opposition, and this was done by censorship. This meant that the Tsar and his people would decide what could be published, and what material they decided was politically appropriate. Also they censored what people talked about by having a secret police, the okhrana.
In hindsight many would say that the Tsar's next move was one of the biggest mistakes he made, making himself commander-in-chief, he was not only now responsible for Russia's future military disasters, but he left his wife Alexandra, who the Russian people were already hostile towards because of her Russian heritage, under the influence of Rasputin. The murder of Rasputin came too late to save the government and the Tsars' reputation and now the Tsarina faced accusations of treason. However it was not just the autocracy that faced problems the people of Russia also had problems as a result of the war. Russia lost an estimated 1.6 million people because of lack of equipment they had three rifles for every three soldiers. Lack of communication was also a cause of such a great loss as
The Bloody Sunday was a very important event in Russia which leads to the Russian revolution. The Russian people saw the Tsar as their father. When the police under the Tsar’s orders shot the workers who wanted to get their point of view across and not only that but also people who had the right to ask 'their father' to hear their requests for betters wages and working conditions, the workers were horrified and angered. It shocked the public that their ‘Father’ did not care and did not share their feelings at all. This event turned a lot of Russians against the Tsar.
Nicholas poor leadership and traditional beliefs meant that there was little change in Russia, outside Russia many countries were further advancing in industrialization where as Russia was still lacking behind. Possibly the most fatal mistake that the Tsar made was appointing himself Commander in Chief of the Russian military as he was suddenly personally responsible for the many defeats in the first world war. The most devastating being the Brusilov Offensive of June 1916, killing about 1.5 million soldiers. The people of Russia felt let down. However, it was not just the Russian people who felt let down by the Tsar’s actions, the soldiers themselves began to desert, in some cases even killing their own officers.
Similarly the Germans and the Jews during the Holocaust were also forced into this ‘kill or be killed’ attitude. No doubt there were some Germans who did not agree with Hitler’s regime, but were too scared to stand up for their beliefs and decided to inflict suffering in order to save themselves from the same fate. This inaction caused much pain and suffering to innocent victims. Inaction can be worse than action in some cases, as not stopping the atrocities during the Holocaust was worse than inflicting them, because the victims could not stand up and save themselves. Edmund Burke epitomes this concept in a single quote, “All that is
Peter the Great took him, in his childhood, in various warring missions and that made him very miserable. The fact that his son does not share his enthusiasm for war and western ideas, that he had no talent in military art, were great disappointments for Peter the Great. Alexis gave up his right to become a czar and ran away to Vienna, being certain that his father would kill him. Peter the Great convinced him to return to Russia and had him arrested and put to trial for treason. Alexis died tragically from the effects of torture shortly before was due to be executed.
The working and lower classes in Russia did not have a say in how the country was run (no political power), Nicholas did not give them the opportunity as autocracy had been drilled into him all his life by his father, and tutor Pobedonostev. This autocracy was undermined by the working and lower classes and especially the revolutionists who wanted to overthrow the Tsar; we know that people were infuriated by autocracy because of the 2000 political assassinations carried out by the revolutionists between 1901 and 1905, and also the peasant disturbances of 1902. In this case Nicholas’ ignorance was to blame for his reluctance to reform and autocratic views. Various economic problems in Russia contributed to the 1905 revolution but not all were Nicholas’ fault. Population growth and land hunger in Russia at the time was a great issue, people were discontented, industrialisation of Russia meant that workers in the new factories were being targeted by revolutionaries, and were also becoming increasingly militant.
One of his many moral struggles, and the whole reason everyone else has moral conflict, is his decision to not properly bury Polyneices. His decision to not bury Polyneices was made because Polyneices was fighting against his brother, Eteocles, for their father’s, Oedipus, crown. Eteocles was on Creon’s side and thought that Creon should get the crown, while Polyneices thought that Creon should not get Oedipus’ crown. Creon made the decision to leave Polyneices’ body to rot. He swore that he’d punish anyone who tried to bury Polyneices would die.