soviet union Totalitarianism

Birth of Stalin

Dec 12, 1879

Birth of Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, later known as Stalin.

Stalin gets Arrested

Apr 5, 1902

Stalin arrested for the first time, exiled to Siberia

And Escapes

Jan 5, 1904

Stalin escapes from Siberia, the first of many escapes from exile in the following decade.

Stalin meets Lenin

Dec 9, 1905

Stalin goes as a delegate to Bolshevik conference in Finland, meets Lenin for the first time.

Birth of Stalin's first child

Mar 7, 1907

Birth of Stalin's first child, Yakov

World War 1

Aug 31, 1914

Outbreak of World War I.

Russian Revolution Begins

Mar 10, 1917

Beginning of Russian Revolution. The Tsar's government falls, replaced with a Provisional Government. Bolsheviks, including Stalin, hasten to St. Petersburg

Provisional Government is overthrown

Jun 7, 1917

Bolsheviks overthrow Provisional Government, seize power. Stalin plays only a minor role.

Marriage

Feb 6, 1918

Stalin marries Nadezhda Alliluyeva

Civil War

Jun 15, 1919

Civil war in Russia. Trotsky organizes Red Army; Stalin commands forces in Tsaritsyn, Petrograd (St. Petersburg), and elsewhere.

Birth of Stalin's Second Child

Feb 9, 1921

Birth of Stalin's second child, Vasily

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Jan 13, 1922

Official founding of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Stalin Elected Secretary

Apr 9, 1922

Stalin elected General Secretary of the Communist Party

Lenin Suffers a stroke

May 22, 1922

Lenin suffers his first stroke.

Lenin warns Party to remove Stalin.

Jan 4, 1923

Lenin, in a postscript to his Testament, warns the Party to remove Stalin from his position of power.

Lenin Loses Speech

Mar 7, 1923

Lenin suffers final stroke, loses his powers of speech

Lenin Dies

Jan 21, 1924

Death of Lenin. Stalin survives the reading of the Testament by the Central Committee in May.

Stalin Publicly Attacks Trotsky

Jun 15, 1924

Stalin publicly attacks Trotsky for being unfaithful to "Leninism."

"Socialism in One Country"

Dec 9, 1924

Stalin publicly articulates his theory of "Socialism in One Country."

Attacks on Zinoviev

Dec 8, 1925

Allied with Bukharin and the "Rightists," Stalin begins attacks on Zinoviev.

Birth of Stalin's Third Child

Feb 28, 1926

Birth of Stalin's third child, Svetlana

Stalin attacks again

Oct 31, 1926

At the Fifteenth Party Congress, Stalin attacks the "United Opposition" of Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Trotsky.

THE FIVE YEAR PLAN

Jun 15, 1927

Beginning of the first Five-Year Plan.

People Expelled Form Party

Nov 9, 1927

Kamenev and Zinoviev expelled from the Party; Trotsky expelled and sent to Central Asia.

Communists Rises

Feb 8, 1928

Communists seize power in Czechoslovakia, cementing Soviet control of Eastern Europe.

Assault On Bukharin

Apr 9, 1929

Stalin begins assault on Bukharin.

Removal of Bukharin

Nov 9, 1929

Bukharin removed from the Politburo

Stalin Announces "liquidation of the Kulaks as a class

Dec 9, 1929

Stalin announces "liquidation of the kulaks as a class"; collectivization begins in earnest.

Soviet Famine

Dec 31, 1931

Terrible famine across the Soviet Union; millions die

Stalin's Wife Commits Suicide

Nov 8, 1932

Suicide of Nadezhda

Murder, by Stalin's agents, of Sergei Kirov.

Dec 1, 1934

Murder, by Stalin's agents, of Sergei Kirov. Beginning of "Great Terror," which continues until 1938.

People Arrested

Jan 9, 1935

Zinoviev, Kamenev, and others are arrested, accused of complicity in Kirov's assassination.

Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Their Allies Executed

Aug 9, 1936

First "Show Trial." Zinoviev, Kamenev, and their allies confess and are executed

More Executed

Jan 3, 1937

Second Show Trial

Purge of Army

Jun 15, 1937

Purge of the army begins, top generals are tried and executed

Even more Executions

Mar 13, 1938

Third Show Trial, conviction and execution of Bukharin, Rykov, others.

End of Great Terror

Mar 3, 1939

At Eighteenth Party Congress, Stalin announces end of the Great Terror.

Anit-war Argement is singed with Nazi's

Aug 23, 1939

Nazi-Soviet Pact is signed in Moscow

World War 2

Sep 11, 1939

Outbreak of World War II

Assassination in Mexico City

Aug 20, 1940

Trotsky assassinated, by Stalin's agents, in Mexico City.

Nazi's

Jun 21, 1941

Hitler invades Soviet Union.

Battle of Stalingrad

Dec 9, 1943

August 1942 - February 1943 in Battle of Stalingrad Germans are defeated, marking the turning point in the war.

World War Two come the an end in Europe

Apr 30, 1945

Hitler commits suicide in bombed-out Berlin, ending war in Europe. Red Army controls all of Eastern Europe.

Atomic Bombs Dropped in Japan

Aug 9, 1945

United States uses atomic bomb against Japan, bringing an end to the war in the Pacific.

Communism Rise

Feb 8, 1948

Communists seize power in Czechoslovakia, cementing Soviet control of Eastern Europe.

Soviets blockade East Berlin

Jul 15, 1948

Soviets blockade East Berlin.

Chinese Civil War

Feb 9, 1949

Communists, under Mao, are victorious in Chinese Civil War.

Atomic Bombs by Soviets

Sep 9, 1949

Soviets explode their first atomic bomb

Stalin Turns 70

Dec 9, 1949

Stalin celebrates his seventieth birthday.

Sino-Soviet Treaty

Jan 6, 1950

Sino-Soviet Treaty signed (China and Soviets.

Korean War

Feb 9, 1950

Korean War (1950-53)

Jewish "Doctors' Plot"

Jan 9, 1953

Announcement of Jewish "Doctors' Plot" against Stalin, plans for new wave of terror.

Stalin Dies

Mar 5, 1953

Death of Stalin