The Romanovs

Technically speaking, no one ever set up a communist state as Karl Marx defined communism. Vladimir Lenin, after the October Russian Revolution, set up a socialist state in Russia, expecting that at some time in the future it would become a true communist state. It was referred to as a communist state because he had the name of the Bolshevik Party changed to the Communist Party in 1918.

Czar Nicholas II was the ruler of Russia at the start of World War I. Some say he welcomed his country's involvement in World War I because he approved of the mobilization of Russia. He was ruler at a point in time in which Russia was a pretty imperialistic nation, and while many of his people were in favor him, he and his family were killed by a Bolshevik group in 1917. You can Wikipedia him to find a pretty detailed bio as far as what battles he was a part of and by looking at the Bolshevik organization as well you'll get more insight on his death and why he was killed. Just thought I'd share a bit more information than the previous answer gave.

His wife's name was Alexandra.

they were related (distant cousins) through Queen Victoria of England, although he was Russian and she was German (this caused controversy later when WWI started)

After the two Russian Revolutions, they were put under house arrest in Siberia. However, after the Civil War began, the ruling communists had the family assassinated so the Tsarists fighting them to restore the tsar would have no tsar to champion.

The names of Czar Nicholas's children were Her imperial Highness, The Grand Duchess Olga (1895-1918), Her Imperial Highness, The Grand Duchess Tatiana (1897-1918), Her Imperial Highness, The Grand Duchess Maria, (1899-1918) Her Grace, the Grand Duchess Anastasia- 1901-1918 and the Czaevich-Crown Prince- Alexis (1904-1918)

Nicholas the Second was the last czar of Russia. He reigned from 1894 to 1917. He was married to Czarina Alexandra and had 5 children: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei. He and his family were killed by firing squad on July 17, 1918. His arrest and death were the beginnings of the Bolsheviks overthrow of czarist Russia. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_II_of_Russia for more information.

The March Revolution happened in 1917. It was a series of political upheavals. These political upheavals led to the establishment of the Soviet Union. Workers protested food shortages in Petrograd and within days most local factories and shops closed to join the protests. Police and soldiers joined the protests, attempts to restore civil order were crushed.

Nicholas II did NOT welcome World War I. It was only after Austria tried to overrun Serbia that Nicholas went to Serbia's aid and was given an ultimatum by Germany, that Russia entered the war.

Alexander II's most important reform was the emancipation of the serfs and the ending of that system. Although "serfdom" itself was abolished, the former serfs were not simply given the land they had been working for the benefit of the owners of that land. Some of those lands were taken from the owners and put together in communal sites called mirs run by the village. The government paid the landowners but made the mirs repay the government over 49 years. This effectively bound the now free serfs to the mir instead of the owners.

Alexander also Westernized the Russian judicial system, gave more freedom to the universities and allowed some local self-government through elected councils called 'zemstvos.'

He was assassinated in 1881.

Gregory Rasputin was the monk who advised Nicholas II.

300 years of Tsarist rule ended in 1917 when Tsar Nicholas II abdicated in March after the first revolution in Russia in 1917. Although the Tsar abdicated in March, Russia was not taken over by the Communists until October 1917.

Nicholas II believed he had an obligation as Tsar to retain complete autocratic control over Russia as all the Tsar's before him had done. Both he and most of the peasant civilization of Russia believed that the Tsar was practically sent from God. Nicholas II believed he had to be true to that concept.

Bloody Sunday was on the 22nd of January, 1905.

The Czar was overthrown by the communist. He was taken prisoner along with his wife and their 6 children. They were taken to a site in the woods kept in a basement where they were shot. Later, their bodies are buried in a mass grave in the woods. It wasn't until the last 10 or 15 years that their graves were found.

He abdicated his throne March 15, 1917 according to the western Gregorian calendar. It was March 2, 1917 in Russia according to the Julian calendar it used.

Father capon led the protestors on the 22nd January in 1905 when they approached the gates to give the petition that was signed by over 150,000 people they were fired at and killed and this day was called bloody Sunday.

Tsar Nicholas II recognized that he could no longer simply use military force to prevent the Russian people from overthrowing him. Therefore he agreed to create the Duma, a democratically elected legislature that would be able to pass legislation that even the Tsar would have to abide by. He also signed the October Manifesto, which promised the Russian people greater individual freedoms. The Tsar soon reneged on both these promises. The Duma never became anything more than an advisory body and the new freedoms never appeared. This set the stage for the revolutions to come in 1917.

Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, died in the early morning hours of July 17, 1918. He was not killed during the Russian Revolutions in 1917.

Catherine the Great actively took part in the European history of the 18th century. During her rule, Russia participated in the partition of Poland (in all the three partition), built good relationships with Austria and Prussia. She made territorial advances at the expense of the Tartars and the Turkish.

East Germany was gained from WW2.

Stalin's goal was to create a buffer region between the western capitalist countries and the Soviet Union. Near the end of World War 2, Stalin could have driven straight to Berlin, but he chose to go south into the Balkans first in order to create a Soviet presence in Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia and parts of Poland. He wanted Greece too but didn't get it because of British opposition. He set up communist regimes that were answerable to him in all but Yugoslavia. It became communist under Tito, but he would not knuckle under to Stalin. Communist governments which were Stalin were installed and which then became satellite states of the Soviet Union.

In the north, Stalin demanded and got from the Allies, the rights to impose Soviet power over Finland and the Baltic states, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which were traditionally Russian influenced anyway.

In the west, 3 months after the war in Europe ended, Stalin declared war on Japan. The Soviet Union regained all territory which it had lost in the Russo-Japanese War. The Soviet Union gained Manchuria, North Korea, most of the Kuril Islands, Inner Mongolia and other lands.

Russia was so poor because before the revolution there was not a lot of jobs out there until the revolution and people were changing there style

Mostly in St. Petersburg, the official capital- with Moscow the secondary one. He also had a palace in the small city of Tsarskoye Selo, where his family spent much of their time while Nicholas was in St. Ptersburg or Moscow.

Many countries in Europe have this Two-heads set-up including Spain (Barcelona and Madrid), Germany ( Bonn and Berlin), Switzerland (Berne and Geneva) and so on.Some people call St. Petersburg- with just cause- Stacy-Town, after Anastasia.

Vladimir Lenin ordered a detail of the Cheka, Lenin's secret police, under Commandant Yakov Yurovsky murder Tsar Nicholas II and his entire family in the early morning hours of July 17, 1918. This was done during the Russian Civil War in order to stamp out any hope of restoring the Tsar to the throne that the forces opposing the Bolshevik takeover of the government had.

One can find a short first hand account of the incident written by one of the soldiers, Pavel Medvedev, in the book "Eyewitness to History'" (copyright 1987 John Carey, published by Faber and Faber Unlimited in 1987) edited by John Carey.

I assume this question refers to Tsar Nicholas II, although several czars had been assassinated throughout history (Peter the III and Alexander II come to mind)

For example, Tsar Peter III was assassinated by a conspiracy of people who wanted the weak Tsar deposed so that the future Catherine the Great could assume power.