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The Russian Federation

Priya BhimaniAlex HaeusserYeJin MoonShivani Patel

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Society - Basics• Population: ≈ 142 million; declining

• Russian is the official language

• Death rate higher than birth rate

• Average life expectancy for males (≈ 60) is more than 10 years less than that for females (≈ 73)

• Only major country in the world where the life expectancy is declining

• Average fertility rate is less than two children per woman

• Very low migration rate

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Religion• Russian Slavic-Orthodox Christianity

• Russia adopted Christianity in 988 under Prince Vladimir of Kiev

• Only official religious holidays observed are Orthodox

• Long history of validating state policy starting in the czarist period

• Animosity towards foreign missionaries (Protestant and Catholic)

• Nikon, the patriarch of Moscow and Russia (1652-1658) was one of the most famous hierarchs

• Attempted to modify church rites and service books

• Led to a religious split and emergence of the “Old Belief”

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Religion during the Communist Era• Under Stalin’s regime churches were subjugated

• Religion was supervised, and believers were not free to practice religion how they wanted

• Church severely humiliated by 70-yr Communist rule

• Loss of influence, property, and worship

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Religion After and Now• Following the fall of the Bolsheviks, the church underwent a rebuilding

and restoration era

• In 1990 Gorbachev passed a law giving religious believers virtually complete religious liberty

• Voluntary cooperation between church and state

• Putin’s plans for building a stronger, more prosperous Russia focused on a religious revival

• The church gives the head of government support and legitimacy

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Poverty and Education• Russia is a very poor country

• Health care is free in principle, but in practice, good treatment depends on wealth

• Medical professionals are inadequately trained and scarce

• Hospitals and other health facilities clustered around cities

• Literacy rate remains close to 100%

• Citizens have the right to free education through secondary school

• Nine years of schooling are compulsory

• During the Soviet Era the education system was exclusively state-operated

• Thus, after its collapse, private institutions began to appear

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Ethnic Groups• 80% Russian, next most prevalent ethnic groups are Tatar(3.8%) and

Ukrainian(2%)

• Most ethnic groups were forced into the Russian Empire/USSR before and after the communist revolution

• Ethnic conflict intensified after Soviet collapse

• Most common ethnic strife recently is b/t Russia and rebels who seek independence in Chechnya

• Unfortunately these conflicts can sometimes be violent

• Similar ethnic conflicts in other former Soviet Union countries like Azerbaijan

• Most of these countries have a sizable Russian minority nationalists call for recreation of the SU

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Political Culture• Open and voluntary political participation and public opinion polling are

new

• Paradoxical feelings toward regime

• Shaped by widespread frustration and hostility of the people

• Have a history of illegitimate regimes

• Underlying culture has remained the same

• Demographic shift indicates that Russian culture may become more democratic over the next two generations

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Political Culture cont’d• Survey studies confirm paradoxical feelings about politics

• Voter turnout in national elections since 1993 has only once dropped below 60%

• Russians have low expectations of their government

• Civil society is very weak

• Interest groups are small and dependent on the state and involvement is low

• Regime has made it harder for groups to organize or exert their influence

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Political Institutions

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Structure of Government

• Administrative divisions

– 46 oblasts, 21 republics, 4 autonomous okrugs, 9 krays, 2 federal cities, and 1 autonomous oblast

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• Executive Branch– head of government: Premier Vladimir Vladimirovich

PUTIN (since 8 May 2008); First Deputy Premiers Igor Ivanovich SHUVALOV and Viktor Alekseyevich ZUBKOV (since 12 May 2008); Deputy Premiers

– cabinet: Ministries of the Government or "Government" composed of the premier and his deputies, ministers, and selected other individuals; all are appointed by the president

• There is also a Presidential Administration (PA) that provides staff and policy support to the president, drafts presidential decrees, and coordinates policy among government agencies; a Security Council also reports directly to the president

– elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 2 March 2008 (next to be held in March 2012)

• no vice president; if the president dies in office, cannot exercise his powers because of ill health, is impeached, or resigns, the premier serves as acting president until a new presidential election is held, which must be within three months; premier appointed by the president with the approval of the Duma election

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• Legislative Branch

– bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of an upper house, the Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (168 seats; as of July 2000, members appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 84 federal administrative units - oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; serve four-year terms) and a lower house, the State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats; as of 2007

– Elections: all members elected by proportional representation from party lists winning at least 7% of the vote; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)

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• Judicial Branch

– Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; Supreme Arbitration Court; judges for all courts are appointed for life by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the president

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Environment of Russia

• Russia is a party to:

– Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling

• signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Sulfur 94

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Elections• Duma elections follow German system

• Presidential elections follow the French pattern

• Little continuity from election to election

• Each presidential campaign has been less competitive than the one before it

• Major media outlets heavily supported Yeltsin and Putin in their campaigns

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Political Parties• Russia has a “floating” party system

• Little party identification

• Nothing stable about Russian parties and elections

• All signs indicate that United Russia, a middle-of –the-road party, will dominate political life for the present and near future

• Formed in ‘99 for the Duma election

• Communist Party had been the most effective until 2003 with a peak in 1995

• Counts few prominent communists from the old days among its leaders

• Less reformist than other Eastern European counterparts

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Political Parties cont’d• Yabloko is the most consistent and persistent of the reformist parties

• Strongest stand in support of democracy and retention of welfare state

• Supporters include intellectuals who favored Gorbachev’s reforms

• Union of Right Forces – another reformist party

• More committed to promarket policies than Yabloko

• Both parties face uncertain futures at best

• Liberal Democrats – antidemocratic party

• Leader is the enigmatic and possibly dangerous Vladimir Zhirinovsky

• Thankfully, they have passed their peak and are currently not a significant factor in daily politics

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Interest Groups

• Interest groups are weaker and independent of the state

• Difficult for interest groups because of regime

• Michael McFaul & Elina Treyger state that “civil society’s ability to influence political outcomes on a national scale seems to have been greater during the last years of the Soviet era than it is today. Russian civil society is weak, atomized, apolitical, and heavily dependent on Western assistance for support.”

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Bureaucracy

• Yeltsin team wanted to purge the bureacracy of officials who were glue of the communist system

• Widespread corruption that exists within the state

• Putin promised reform that would trim down the number of bureaucrats

• Political unrest between the bureaucrats and decision making process

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Military

• Military not actively involved in politics

• Yeltsin needed support from another prominent general to win in 1996, and since then the military has not actively been involved in politics

Judiciary Judicial system consists of Constitutional

Court; Supreme Court; and Supreme Arbitration Court Supreme Court is court of last resort, but can have original

jurisdiction (challenge of individual acts by president or government, etc.)

Constitutional Court is empowered to rules whether or not certain laws or decrees are contrary to constitution

Supreme Arbitration Court decides cases of commercial dispute

However, the judicial system still has very little authority compared to the executive branch.

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SOVEREIGNTY AUTHORITY

POWER

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Sovereignty

Quality of having supreme, independent authority over a territory

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Government Type = Federation

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Administrative Divisions

• 46 oblasts (regions)

• 21 Republics

• 4 autonomous okrugs (areas)

• 9 krais (territories)

• 2 federal cities

• 1 autonomous oblast

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The Federation • Observers believed that the creation of countries

would ease ethnic tensions; however, none of the new republics are homogeneous

• Relations between Moscow and many of the republics and regions were tense in 1992

– Tatarstan declared itself a sovereign state.

– Leaders in Checheno-Ingushetia refused to carry out Russian Laws

– Fighting in Georgia spilled over into the Russian Republics in the north Caucaus

– Worst situation in Chechnya where civil wars have taken a terrible told on the government's legitimacy at home and abroad

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• Government has negotiated a nationwide Federation Treaty and a series of bilateral agreements with eight of the agreements.

• Other such agreements have been executed to give more autonomy to the forty nine provinces not defined in ethnic terms

• However, Putin has pushed through reforms designed to weaken the power of the republics’ and regions’ governors.

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Executive Branch

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Chief of State

President Dmitriy Anatolyevich Medvedev

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About the President...

• President wields considerable executive power

• No Vice President

• Legislative weaker than executive

• President nominates highest officials, including Prime Minister, who must be approved by the Duma

• President can pass decrees without approval of Duma

• President = head of armed forces and national security council

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Decision Making in Russia

President State Duma & Federation Council

Voters

Cabinet & Advisors Decrees Constitutional Court

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Head of Government

Premier Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin

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Cabinet Ministries of the Government

= premier + deputies + ministers + selected other individuals

(All appointed by the president)

*there is also a presidential administration that provides staff and support to the president, drafts presidential decrees, and coordinates policy among government agencies

**a security council reports directly to the president

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Elections

• President elected by popular vote for a four year term

• If president for some reason is unable to execute his duties, the premier serves as acting president until a new presidential election is held

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Legislative Branch

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Federal Assembly

• Russia’s Parliament = Federal Assembly

-Bicameral

• 2 Houses

–Upper House = Federation Council

–Lower House = State Duma

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Upper House = Federation Council

Approves…

– government appointments

– presidential actions as the declaration of martial law

– use of armed forces outside of Russia

• Members are local government officials

– Half of the members appointed by local governors

– Half elected by local legislatures

Suffrage = 18 years

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Lower House = State Duma

• Makes Country’s Laws

• Legislation proposed by the Duma must be approved by the Federation Council

• State Duma can override a veto by the Federation Council

• Members elected to five year terms by proportional representation

Proportional Representation- each political party that receives at least 7% of the popular vote gets a number of seats determined by the percentage of vote that it receives

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Courts and Judgments

• Russian Judiciary Divided into three branches

1. Constitutional Court

2. Supreme Court

3. Supreme Arbitration Court

*Judges are appointed for life by Federation Council

with approval of President.

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History of Organization of Power

Russian Revolution Communist Bolsheviks Collapse of USSR Russian Federation

*Politically, the USSR was divided into 15 constituent or union republics

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Economy Free Market Economy

- Russia’s economic growth has been concentrated in certain economic sectors

- In December 2000, the Russian parliament (Federal Assembly) passed Russia’s first post-Soviet balanced budget

- The government had borrowed billions of dollars that they were unable to repay, resulting in the stock market losing half of its value and the ruble by two-thirds.

- Two prime ministers were fired because of their inability to end the crisis.

- Difficult to see and direct connection between government policies and the better economic performance.

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Political Culture since 1985 • Shaped by widespread frustration and hostility felt

by the people.

• When people were finally given the opportunity to express their views, it was the anger built up over the centuries of imperial rule and 70 years of Soviet rule that burst to the surface

• Most Russians still want the state to provide critical services and take the initiative in vital social, political, and economic issues

• ¾ of all Russians tell pollsters that the new regime is better than the old Communist one

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• Russian’s have favored autocratic rule due to its history

• As Gorbachev came to power as General Secretary of the Soviet Union, he relaxed civic activity outside official party organizations

• Gorbachev also directed Russia on the road to democratization

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Civil Society

• Russia has a weak civil society.

• Strength of civil society indicated by status of interest groups

• Strong civil society…

– Helps build legitimacy

– And the belief that people can have an impact on the policy decisions that have to be made by the elites

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Interest Parties

Signs of a strong civil society are not encouraging…

• Social organizations weaker and less independent of the state

• Regime has made it harder for groups to organize or try to exert their influence

• Sense of alienation in low rates of involvement in interest groups

– One exception = increased rate of strikes

• But unions are small and have had at best a limited impact on economic policy making

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History of Political Parties

• In Soviet Union, the one- party system was enshrined in the Constitution, which declared the Communist Party the “nutshell of the political system of the country”

• First officially registered non-communist party was Zhirinovsky’s Liberal-Democratic party of the Soviet Union, officially established in 1989.  

• In 1990’s, many parties established, but only communist party of the Russian Federation had stable and widespread grassroots.

• First parties of power were political movements, not official political parties

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Political Parties

• A Just Russia- Mironov

– Left wing socialists

• Communist Party of the Russian Federation- Zyugano

– Opposes democratic/economic reforms introduced after disintegration of the Soviet Union

• Liberal Democratic Party of Russia- ZHIRINOVSKIY

– Pro-reform democratic party calling for social liberalization

• Patriots of Russia- Semigin

– Left wing nationalists/ socialists against the U.S.A. and NATO

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• People’s Union- Baburin

– Nationalism/conservatism

• Right Cause- Gozman

– Pro business liberal party in favor of democracy and human rights

• United Russia- Putin

– Centrism/Statism

• Yabloko Party- Mitrokhin

– Social Liberalism

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Foreign Policy

• Russian foreign policy has been largely pragmatic

• Yeltsin and his team adapted to their status as a middle-level power, developed reasonable relations with their neighbors, and began putting as much emphasis on economic as geopolitical issues in the their foreign policy

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• Under Putin, Russian-American relations have been like a political roller coaster ride.

• U.S. support for Russia has included…

– Aid in dismantling Russian nuclear equipment

– Incorporation of Russia as a permanent member of the G-8 summit

– Provision of substantial economic aid and investment from the public as well as the private sector

– Training and other assistance in developing democratic institutions

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Constitution

  - defines the federative structure of the Russian Federation  - establishes the principles of sovereignty and independence of the Russian Federation

  - defines the principle of separation of powers between legislative, executive and judicial branches   - establishes equality of ideologies and religions   - defines the Russian Federation as a secular state.

Political and Economic Change

The Impact of Revolution 1905 Revolution resulted in the first

parliament (the State Duma), and the reduction of the monarchy from autocracy to limited constitutional monarchy However, the coup of June 1907 restored the

autocracy and dissolved the State Duma February Revolution of 1917 resulted in the

abdication of Nicholas II and the end of Imperial Russia

Russian Civil War 1917-1923 Resulted in the fall of the provisional

government Bolsheviks won, resulting in the creation of

USSR In the end, Russia transformed from autocracy

to communist state

Politics➲ The current Russian government has three

branches—executive, judiciary, and legislative—but power is not equally shared.

The Russian president has nearly unlimited jurisdiction as the head of the armed forces and the Security Council. He may appoint numerous government officials without check, as the bicameral legislative houses offer only weak opposition and strong opposition parties do not exist.

➲ After the collapse of the Soviet Union, democratization was hard due to the fact that there were no established organizations to use as a starting point for new interest groups and parties. Instead, many of the politicians

➲ were Communist.

➲ Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms to the Soviet Union introduced the seeds of democracy; most important is glasnost, giving the media more freedom. However, glasnost proved to be counterproductive in

that it caused more dissention and caused more radical protests. As the country headed toward collapse, glasnost only helped to divide the unsatisfied people.

Putin later began to control media once more in order to stabilize Russia, thus decreasing the influences of democracy.

Economics➲ When Stalin came into power, he forced

industrialization so that the Soviet Union may survive.

➲ With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the economy has shifted from the Soviet state planning system (which followed five-year plans) to a more freer market. However, government privatization plans failed due to

corruption (significant economic resources remained in the hands of the elite)

➲ By 2005, one-third of the private oil and gas sectors were re-nationalized.

➲ There is a large disparity between classes. The richest 10% of Russia own 40% of the income, whereas the poorest 10% own only 2%.

The Relationship Between Economic and Political Change

➲ Strong economic growth since the mid-1990s has stabilized Russia after the traumatizing collapse of the Soviet Union. However, Putin’s grip on media and the Russian economy has only strengthened during his tenure (which has also helped to stabilize Russia.) Politically, the government has started to increase its hold.

Globalization

➲ Compared to many countries, Russia has very little foreign investors. (China had $55 billion invested by foreigners in 2004, whereas Russia only had $7 billion.)

➲ Though the cities in Russia seem to be fully globalized, many of the citizens outside the cities cannot reap the benefits.

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Public Policy

• Public Policy can be generally defined as the coarse of action or inaction taken by governmental entities with regard to a particular issue or set of issues.

• The government, under the control of Yeltsin and Putin, has struggled to define and implement the public policy.

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Economic Problems

• Economy is the most problematic area of the public policy

• Dual challenge presented to new government:

– How to shift from a centrally planned economy in which the state owned virtually everything to one based on private ownership and a freer market

– Would all Russians share the fruits of all these changes?

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Yeltsin• At first was committed to

sweeping economic reform as the only viable response to the appalling conditions they inherited.

– This was easier said than done

• There were no historical examples of transition from centrally planned to market economies for them to draw on. Also Yeltsin’s indecisiveness and his personal health resulted in the government’s unwillingness and helplessness to follow any consistent economic policy.

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Post-Communist Economic Policy

• Initially revolved around the struggle of the reformers, which included most professionals economists, and conservatives.

– Reformers:

• Stressed the importance of a rapid and complete shift to a market economy

• The preferred policy was shock therapy, but even its strongest advocates acknowledged that it would have tremendous costs in the short term

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– Conservatives:

• Wanted to proceed much more slowly

• Stressed the fact that the laissez-faire approach has not been all that successful in the west, where all countries have had to turn to a welfare state to help cushion the impact of capitalism’s uneven development on the less fortunate

• The domination of the Communist Party over education prior to 1991, most reformist economist, were provoked criticism at home and in the West, the reformers drew on a relatively unrepresentative group of Western neoclassical economist who urged them to move rapidly to a free-market economy, whatever the costs to people and enterprises in the transition.

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• In 1991 and 1992 Yeltsin and his administration were leaning towards shock therapy. This led the first Yeltsin governments to emphasize privatization, which took two forms.

– About 95% of the restaurants, shoe repair stores, gas stations, barber shops, and other such businesses that existed before 1991 quickly gained private owners, usually the men and women who managed them under the Communists

– Other people formed upwards of twenty thousand small firms, also mostly in service sector.

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• “bottom-up” privatization would not have worked for the gigantic industrial enterprises that dominated the Soviet economy

– As result, the government adopted a different approach to privatizing them, using a system of vouchers made available to the public.

• In 1992, all citizens got vouchers worth 10,000 rubles (about $25), which they could sell, use to buy stock in privatized companies, or invest in larger funds that bought and managed shares in those companies.

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– Most people chose the third option with the vouchers which was to have become the owners of most of the stock that was offered for sale on the open market.

– Shares were also available to the firms’ managers- men and women who had been part of the stock that was offered for sale on the open market.

– Shares in most enterprises being privatized were offered to foreign investors.

» After 1993, the investment and legal climates both improved, and foreigners pumped an average of $100 billion per year into Russia over the next five years.

– Taking enterprises out of public ownership does not necessarily mean creating a competitive market economy.

• Managers were able to gain control over many countries

– Led to creation of powerful oligarchs and their conglomerates

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Negative of Shock Therapy

• In short term- many people lost their jobs or saw their incomes shrink

– Russian economy was deteriorating tremendously with an overall production declining by an average of more than 6% per a year during 1990s

• Example: giant Uralmash heavy machinery factory has lost more than 20 thousand jobs and come close to being shut down because there was no longer any real market for its products. Eventually Uralmash was swallowed up by one of the new conglomerates.

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Signs of Economy reaching rock bottom

• The value of the ruble was declining dramatically

– In mid- 1997 it took 5,500 rubles to get a dollar

– In 2004 it nearly took 30,000 rubles to get a dollar

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• Country was shaken by the worst financial year.

– Russia had a great amount of debt because the government borrowed billions of dollars after 1991. They could not pay the debt, so it defaulted on the loans.

– Stock market lost half of its value and the ruble by 2/3.

– Finally, new loans and a new stabilization package imposed by Western governments and the International Monetary Fund slowed the decline.

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Upturn

• Since rock bottom, there have been some promising economic trends.

– Value of the ruble has stabilized

– Growth rates have averaged almost 7% in 2004

– Upturn is most visible in the middle class which is about 5 million people

– Russia currently has the more billionaires than any other country

– Overall, consumer spending was up by about 20% in 2004

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3 Reasons why we can’t make too much of this upturn

• First, it is not clear how much of a role the state has played in fostering the upturn.

– It is difficult to see any direct connection between government policies and the better economic performance.

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• Second, most of the improvement can be attributed to a single industry- petroleum.

– Because oil prices have rocketed since the late 1990s and Russian suppliers are stable and reliable

• In 2003 oil and related products accounted for $76 billion in exports or about half of the goods and services of Russian firms sold abroad

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• Third, most makes $250 a month

– World Bank estimates that 20% of the population lives in absolute poverty

– It is estimated that they spirited about $24 billion dollars out of the country in 2003, a capital flight roughly equal to four times the amount of money foreigners invest in Russia that year.

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Foreign Policy

• Russia has developed relations with fourteen states that had been part of the Soviet Union; therefore, many Russians still felt like those countries were rightfully part of their country.

• Russian foreign policy has been largely pragmatic.

– Yeltsin and his team adapted to their status as a middle-level power, developed reasonable relations with their neighbors, and began putting as much emphasis on economic as on geopolitical issues in their foreign policy.

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• Despite all the friction between the United States and Russia, the U.S. support for Russia included the following (under Yeltsin):

– Aid in dismantling Russian nuclear equipment

– Incorporation of Russia as a permanent member of the G-7 (now G-8) annual summit

– Provision of substantial economic aid and investment from the public as well as the private sector

– Training and other assistance in developing democratic institutions

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• Under Putin, Russian- American relations have been under something like a political roller coaster ride.

– Took an unexpected turn for the better after the events of 9/11

– Not only did U.S. and Russia cooperate in the initial stages of the war on terrorism, but their overall relations improved.

• An agreement on changes to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty which allowed the U.S. to move forward with its plan for a missile defense system

– In early 2002, however, the relationship began to sour.

• Russian government did not share the American perception that Iran and Iraq should be considered potential targets in the next stages of the war on terrorism. Russia joined France and China in blocking United Nations Security Council approval for the armed intervention in Iraq.

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Video on Recent Russian Foreign Policy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhBo62bwduk&feature=channel

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Works Cited

• Bourdeaux, Michael. "Russian Renewal." Vol. 74. Religion in Politics and Society. Eds. Michael Kelly and Lynn M. Messina. 3rd ed. N.p.: The H.W. Wilson Company, 2002. 41-50. Print.

• Embassy of the Russian Federation N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009 <http://www.russianembassy.org/>.

•

• googleimages.com

•

• Hauss, Charles. Comparative Politics: Domestic Responses to Global Challenges. 5th ed. N.p.: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006. Print.

•

• <http://politicalscience.wadsworth.com/hauss05/>

•

• The World Factbook CIA, n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009 <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rs.html>.

•

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Citation

• Raleigh, Donald J. "Russia." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2009. Web. 30 Oct. 2009.

• http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Europe/Russia-OVERVIEW-OF-ECONOMY.html

• http://www.sras.org/russian_political_culture_since_1985

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• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rs.html

• http://www.russiaprofile.org/resources/political

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• Efegil, Ertan. "Central Asia—Russia Relations." Encyclopedia of Modern Asia. Ed. Karen Christensen and David Levinson. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. 470-473. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. North Penn High School. 30 Oct. 2009 <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=lans23427>;.

• Fraser, Erica L. "Russia-Nato Relations in the Post-Cold War World: Rethinking the Future of Collective Security." History Behind the Headlines: The Origins of Conflicts Worldwide. Ed. Sonia G. Benson, Nancy Matuszak, and Meghan Appel O'Meara. Vol. 6. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 207-220. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. North Penn High School. 30 Oct. 2009 <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=lans23427>;.

• "Russia." Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society. Ed. Richard T. Schaefer. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc., 2008. 1174-1177. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. North Penn High School. 30 Oct. 2009 <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=lans23427>;

• http://www.russianembassy.org/

Works Cited

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3183.htm

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Russia.pdf

Crankshaw, Edward. The Shadow of the Winter Palace: Russia's Drift to Revolution, 1825-1917. New York: The Viking Press, 1976. Print.

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The End