Russia
By: Shyneeta Rush
Basic Info.
- 142,423,773 (July 2015 est.)
- Capital-Moscow
- Leader-Vladimir Putin
- Government-Federal Republic
- Languages-Russian (official) 85.7%, Tatar 3.2%, Chechen 1%, other 10.1%
Russian
RUSSIAN REVOLUTION: BACKGROUND
By 1917, most Russians had lost faith in the leadership ability of Czar Nicholas II. Government corruption was rampant, the Russian economy remained backward, and Nicholas repeatedly dissolved the Duma, the Russian parliament established after the 1905 revolution, when it opposed his will. However, the immediate cause of the February Revolution–the first phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917–was Russia’s disastrous involvement in world war 1 (1914-18). Militarily, imperial Russia was no match for industrialized Germany, and Russian casualties were greater than those sustained by any nation in any previous war. Meanwhile, the economy was hopelessly disrupted by the costly war effort, and moderates joined Russian radical elements in calling for the overthrow of the czar.
FEBRUARY REVOLUTION: 1917
The February Revolution (known as such because of Russia’s use of the Julian calendar until February 1918) began on March 8, 1917 (or February 23 on the Julian calendar), when demonstrators clamoring for bread took to the streets in the Russian capital of Petrograd (now called St. Petersburg). Supported by huge crowds of striking industrial workers, the protesters clashed with police but refused to leave the streets. On March 10, the strike spread among all of Petrograd’s workers, and irate mobs destroyed police stations. Several factories elected deputies to the Petrograd Soviet, or council, of workers’ committees, following the model devised during the 1905 revolution.
On March 11, the troops of the Petrograd army garrison were called out to quell the uprising. In some encounters, regiments opened fire, killing demonstrators, but the protesters kept to the streets and the troops began to waver. That day, Nicholas again dissolved the Duma. On March 12, the revolution triumphed when regiment after regiment of the Petrograd garrison defected to the cause of the demonstrators. The soldiers subsequently formed committees that elected deputies to the Petrograd Soviet.
The imperial government was forced to resign, and the Duma formed a provisional government that peacefully vied with the Petrograd Soviet for control of the revolution. On March 14, the Petrograd Soviet issued Order No. 1, which instructed Russian soldiers and sailors to obey only those orders that did not conflict with the directives of the Soviet. The next day, March 15, Czar Nicholas II abdicated the throne in favor of his brother Michael (1878-1918), whose refusal of the crown brought an end to the czarist autocracy.
Russian Culture :)
- Clothing-Traditional Russian clothing are usually worn for Carnivals, holidays, or casual wear.Russian wear/ clothing was usually handmade and could be customized by any needs. Or sometimes they had churches from all over the world to make them.Now and days these traditional clothes are just traits from ancestors. Back then these clothes were not only made for decorations, but for bad weather and for warmth. Traditional clothing can tell a lot about a person, how rich he or she is, how old she or he is, even where they come from. Unfortunately during the reign of Peter 1, he issued a decree that prohibited wearing traditional Russian clothing. But when he issued that decree the servants were not affected by this law/ decree. When peasants/servants were not affected by this, the traditional Russian women clothing almost hid the female figure and only focused on the face with the help of head-dressed which completely covered the hair. But men clothing was extremely simple and stayed the same throughout Russia. The traditional colors for Russian clothes were white and red. Red was the same word used in the olden days to call everything beautiful, which for clothing meant beautiful clothing/clothing elements. interacting with other nations led to emerge colors with/ like blue, gold, yellow, etc.Winter clothing for men and women were similar, those were sheepskin coats, hare-skin coats, half- length fur coats, and all the fur was on the inside of the coats always. Russia has it's own ideas about how and what they eat. Russian people like to eat home-cooked food, and barely buy prepared meals. normally Russians eat three times a day and prefer potatoes, which are eaten almost daily.There is something called the three meals of the day in Russia, Zavtrak, obed and uzhin. There are no exact English translations for these daily meals. For exampl, the second meal (Obed) is only served around 2 p.m. and can be called either "lunch' or Dinner" in English. The third meal,( Uzhin) is served after 6 p.m. and can be called "dinner" or "supper" in English. There are about eleven Russian national public holidays in 2016, New years day (January 01, Bank Holiday (January 04-06) Othodox Christmas day (January 07)