The Russian people were oppressed for many, many different reasons.

      Ivan, The Terrible, grew up in Boyar Russia. The Boyar class was very cruel and seized control of Russia from Ivan when he was very young after his parents, the rulers, of what was then Russia, died. When he came to power he started an obssesion to wipe out the Boyar class. That obsession almost led to the destruction of all Russia.

      Peter the First (the Great) was a great ruler in the fact that he made Russsa into a thriving European empire. But he was very violent and would sacrifice many people to achieve his means of making Russia a western country.

     Alexander III was czar after his father, Alexander II, was assasinated in 1881. He stopped reforms his father had made and increased police in anger over his father's death.

     Emperor Peter III was a careless ruler who never quite grew up. He played with toy armies and ignored the problems of Russia. His careless decisons led to a revolt that placed his wife, Catherine, into power. Another big reason for oppression is that the Czars belived they were hand picked by God.They thought that any decison they made would be the right decison and be endorsed by God. They also belived that Jews were an inferior people. This caused the czars and czarinas to expell them from Russia. From money to power to just trying to achieve what they wanted, the monarchs of Russia found ways to oppress the people of Russia.

     The people oppressed by the czars were in the areas from Siberia to the Ukraine. When the Russians conquered lands, they oppressed the people who had been conquered. People felt the wrath of the czars in Poland and in Finland. The Russian Empire spanned two continents and spread from sea to shining sea.

     The Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, mountain ranges and several empires bordered the Russian Empire. Among them, the Austro-Hungary and the German. It also was very close to Japan.