The Repository @ St. Cloud State

Open Access Knowledge and Scholarship

 

Presentation Type

Powerpoint Presentation

Location

St. Cloud

Start Date

19-4-2022 9:00 AM

End Date

19-4-2022 9:30 AM

Description

This project will explore the analogies between Russian foreign and domestic policies from contemporary times and from the late Russian Empire of the early 20th century. Both Czar Nicholas II and Vladimir Putin are leaders committed to autocratic rule and repression of internal dissent. Both leaders have a track record of intensifying repression as their time in power progresses. A further link is the impact that foreign policy plays on the internal politics of Russia, with success or failure in foreign conflict providing either solidification of power or the spark for popular unrest. We will explore topics such as the similarities between the crackdowns on socialist and Jewish dissidents in Imperial Russia and Putin’s expansion of the surveillance state and increased attack on political dissidents such as Alexie Navalny’s democratic reformers. The progression of Nicholas II’s rule and the impact of failed foreign policy tied with a disregard for dissatisfaction at home could give us insight into how Putin’s future decisions and outcomes may play out, as well as provide a warning for the instability and suffering that may come with said endgame. We will also take into consideration key differences between the two rulers, such as personal political aptitude or competence, an empire trying to maintain its power versus a country trying to reassert lost prestige, and a Russia that is interconnected with the wider world versus one retreating further into isolation.

Comments

Faculty mentor: Maureen O'Brien, Department of History

Best Undergraduate Oral Presentation Award Winner

Keywords: Applied History, Analysis, Scholarship, Literature Review.

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Apr 19th, 9:00 AM Apr 19th, 9:30 AM

Putin and the Czar: Autocracy and Dissent

St. Cloud

This project will explore the analogies between Russian foreign and domestic policies from contemporary times and from the late Russian Empire of the early 20th century. Both Czar Nicholas II and Vladimir Putin are leaders committed to autocratic rule and repression of internal dissent. Both leaders have a track record of intensifying repression as their time in power progresses. A further link is the impact that foreign policy plays on the internal politics of Russia, with success or failure in foreign conflict providing either solidification of power or the spark for popular unrest. We will explore topics such as the similarities between the crackdowns on socialist and Jewish dissidents in Imperial Russia and Putin’s expansion of the surveillance state and increased attack on political dissidents such as Alexie Navalny’s democratic reformers. The progression of Nicholas II’s rule and the impact of failed foreign policy tied with a disregard for dissatisfaction at home could give us insight into how Putin’s future decisions and outcomes may play out, as well as provide a warning for the instability and suffering that may come with said endgame. We will also take into consideration key differences between the two rulers, such as personal political aptitude or competence, an empire trying to maintain its power versus a country trying to reassert lost prestige, and a Russia that is interconnected with the wider world versus one retreating further into isolation.