-
Russo - Japanese War
War over Northern China (Manchuria) which turned into a disaster for Russia. It was embarrassing and led to a lot of protests for change. This helped bring on the rise to the Soviet Union because it brought Russia to the point where they didn't have a strong leader or government. -
Duma is Created
A duma is a legislative elected assembly. It was used as a form of government by Czar Nicholas when they didn't have a source of government. The duma helped bring on the rise of the Soviet Union because it failed as a source of government/leadership, so they needed someone/something else. -
World War 1
Trench warfare fought within Europe, which began with Russia, England, France fighting against Germany, Austria, Italy. Fighting would eventually expand to include other countries outside Europe. World War 1 helped raise the Soviet Union because they needed a leader who could control the army and protect the Union from invaders from other countries. -
Czar Nicholas II abdicates the throne
In World War 1, Nicholas II was forced to resign the throne because of the public opinion. They turned against him because of the results of the war (Russia wasn't ready for war). Because he was forced to resign, the Duma became the provisional government. When Nicholas II abdicated the throne, he showed that Russia needed a new leader. The duma was a temporary fixation, but that failed shortly after. -
November (October) Revolution
In fall of 1918, the German military leaders knew that they could not win World War 1. Lenin led this revolution to try and get a better government because the provisional government (the duma) wasn't working. This led to the rise of the Soviet Union because the failed government meant that Russia needed a new leader/source of government (someone in charge). -
Period: to
Russian Civil War
The war was Bolsheviks red army and democratic or the imperial white army. The red army (Bolsheviks) wins the war and they establish Russia as the Soviet Union. This war helped the rise of the Soviet Union, because during the war Russia (and other countries near Russia) was declared to the Soviet Union. -
Stalin takes over as General Secretary of the Communist Party
Stalin was the "successor" to Lenin. Lenin thought that the people wouldn't want such a violent person as their leader, but he grew popular with them in 1922, which is how he took over the General Secretary. Stalin's leadership showed a lot of promise to the citizens of Russia, which is why this helped the rise of the Soviet Union. -
1st 5 year plan
This was concentrated on developing the industry and growing agriculture. He used the peasants farms and homes and made them do the labor. The gulags were also a place where this hard labor was done. This was part of the downfall because Stalin's leadership took a turn where he started not caring about a lot of the citizens in the Soviet Union. -
Stalin's Great Purge
This was Stalin's trials (that were kept a secret) of old Bolsheviks that were found guilty of treason and they were then executed or imprisoned in the gulags. The NKVD (Stalin's secret police) helped capture these people. This was a start of the downfall because the country started to become a place where you could be imprisoned for simple things. -
Stalin dies
Stalin was out drinking with 4 high government officials of Russia and he was reported the next day dead, the cause of a stroke. They later figured out from the autopsy that he had died from a hemorrhage (brain bleed) in his head. Stalin's death has a huge part of the Soviet Union downfall because there was a lot of chaos when the country found out they did not have a leader. -
Period: to
Leonid Brezhnev lead Soviet Union
He was the leader of the Soviet Union after Kruschev. Under his leadership the Soviet economy and quality of goods got worse. This led to the decline of the Soviet Union because the Command Economy failed to provide quality goods to the people. They became unmotivated and the system began to decay. -
Gorbachev is named General Secretary of the Communist Party
He was the General Secretary for 6 year because of his good leadership skills and for being a good Soviet official. His efforts to democratize the political system in Russia led to the downfall of communism and the end of the Soviet Union. -
Period: to
Perestroika
This is a series of political and economic reforms meant to start up the Soviet Union's economy. Since the Russian Revolution, Gorbachev has overseen big economic changes. The suddenness of the reforms and the weak stability of the Soviet Union contributed to the fall of Russia. -
Glasnost
Glasnost was instituted by Gorbachev and it was the beginning of the democratization of the Soviet Union. There were fundamental changes to the government in 1986. This led to the decline of the Soviet Union because of the changes in the government that occurred. -
End of the Soviet Union
A lot of the countries that were involved in the Soviet Union (Ex. Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia) decided they no longer wanted to be a part of it anymore. The main reason why it fell was because of the large amounts of reform done on Russia under Gorbachev's leadership. The cause of the downfall of the Soviet Union was the big decisions made under Gorbachev and his 6 years of ruling Russia.
