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Decembrist Revolt
*A group of military leaders staged a revolt against Tsar Nicholas I.
*The rebels were liberals, who felt threatened by the Tsar's new conservative views.
*The Tsar defeated the rebels, and as a result, implemented a variety of new regulations to prevent the spread of the liberal movement in Russia. -
Emancipation of the Serfs
At this point, Russia was involved in the Crimean War. Compared to other major civilizations of the time, Russia was very weak, because its military consisted completely of serfs who were forced to serve the country. Tsar Alexander II realized that in order to strengthen the country, he had to abolish serfdom. In the end, freeing the serfs did little to give them real freedom. They still had little to no money, and brutality towards them continued. -
Bloody Sunday
Father Gapon, a Russian priest, was concerned about the concerned about the conditions experienced by the working and lower classes. The petition called for improving working conditions, fairer wages and a reduction of work days to 8 hours. Unarmed, peaceful demonstrators were marching to present the petition to Tsar Nicholas II when the Imperial Guard gunned them down. Bloody Sunday increased revolutionary activites and started the Revolution of 1905. -
Revolution of 1905
The Revolution of 1905, beginning with Bloody Sunday, resulted from mass political and social unrest throughout Russia, most of which was directed at the government. This included terrorism, worker strikes and peasant unrest. Eventually, Nicholas II published the October Manifesto. It granted freedom of conscience, speech, meeting and association. Also, all new laws had to be approved by the Duma, a new organization, before becoming operative. -
Russia Enters WWI
Russia first entered World War I after their ally, Serbia, was invaded by Austria-Hungary. The Russia army successfully fought against the Austria-Hungary forces, but were pushed back by the German. The Russian empire eventually collapsed and left the war after the October Revolution, where Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown by the Bolsheviks. -
Rasputin Murdered
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin, a peasant who claimed powers of healing, came to the aid of Tsarina Aleksandra's son, who had bleeding episodes as a result of his hemophilia. Soon after, Aleksandra and Rasputin became so close that Rasputin was her advisor. The aristrocrats looked down upon Rasputin, and couldn't have him advising the tsarina. Rasputin was murdered by Prince Felix Yusupov, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, Vladimir Purishkevich, Lieutenant Sukhotin and Dr. Lazavert. -
March Revolution
The March Revolution was caused by Russian military failures during WWI, dissatisfaction with the way Tsarina Aleksandra was running the country, and the economic challenges faced fighting a total war. Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire. The Tsar was replaced by a Russian Provisional Government under Prince Georgy Lvov, which was an alliance between socialists and liberals who wanted political reform. -
Tsar Nicholas II Abdicates
Tsar Nicholas II's policies at home and abroad led to unrest in Russia. The members of the Duma formed a Provisional Government to try to restore order, but then decided that Nicholas II must abdicate. He did so peacefully, and later was executed with his entire family by the Bolsheviks. -
Bolshevik Revolution
The Provisional Government was formed to replace the void left by the czar. It promised to end Russia's involvement in the war, but failed to do so.The October Revolution overthrew the Russian Provisional Government and gave the power to the local soviets dominated by the Bolsheviks, lead by Lenin and Trotsky. As a result, Russia was transformed from parliamentariam to socialist. -
Murder of the Romanovs
To many in Russia, Nicholas was still its legitimate ruler because he had been appointed by God. This proposed a problem to the Bolsheviks and Lenin. When the city of Ekaterinburg was threatened by Nicholas' supporters, it was decided that he and his family needed to be executed. Yurovsky was in charge of the murders. -
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty to end World War I. Out of this treaty, Germany had to return to Russia land taken in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Some of this land was made into new states, like Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. Also, leaders like Lloyd George of Britain were secretly scared of the rise of communism in Russia, so they didn't want to hurt Germany so much that they couldn't fight back against Russia's communist ways. -
Lenin Dies/USSR Forms
A conference of the Russian SFSR, the Transcaucasian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR approved the Treaty of Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, forming the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The new USSR led to an intensive restructuring of the economy, industry and politics of the country. Having suffered from three strokes, Lenin died at the age of 54. After his death, Lenin was seen as a god by the people of Russia. -
Stalin Takes Power/Death of Trotsky
Originally, Stalin was supposed to share rule of the USSR with two other men. Instead, he used his influence to become the undisputed leader of the USSR, and later established totalitarian rule. Stlain worked to build a socialist economy. Trotsky created a group called the United Oppositions, which disagreed with Stalin's ideas, especially concerning the Chinese Revolution. Stalin felt threatened by Trotsky and had him murdered.
