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1905 Revolution and Bloody Sunday
The two year period starting with Bloody Sunday and subsequent civil unrest, and ending with the Coup of June 1907.
Troops and police open fire on a peaceful demonstration outside the Winter Palace and elsewhere in St Petersburg, killing and injuring around 1,000 people. The liberal press blames Nicholas II. -
Outbreak of First World War
Germany declares war on Russia, with Russia entering the First World War. -
February Revolution
A series of public protests begin in Petrograd, which last for eight days and eventually result in abolition of the monarchy in Russia. The total number of killed and injured in clashes with the police and government troops in Petrograd is estimated around 1,300 people. -
June Offensive:
Russian minister of war Alexander Karensky launches an offensive against Austria-Hungary forces in Galicia. Although the Russian effort is initially successful, the soldiers soon refuse to leave their trenches and fight due to low morale caused by the Revolution. Soldiers’ committees debate orders and encourage soldiers to disobey officers. Many soldiers return home to take part in redistribution of land. -
October Revolution
The Decrees on Land (proclaiming abolition of private property and the redistribution of the land amongst the peasantry), and Peace (proposing an immediate withdrawal of Russia from the First World War), are issued by the new Bolshevik government. Subsequent workers’ decrees outline measures for an eight-hour working day, minimum wage and the running of factories. The death penalty is abolished once again. -
western
Russia adopts the Western (Gregorian) calendar. -
Brest-Litovsk Treaty
Russia ends its participation in the First World War. Bolshevik Russia loses one-third of the old empire’s population, one-third of its railway network, half its industry, three-quarters of its supplies of iron ore, nine-tenths of its coal resources and much of its food supplies. -
red terror
Beginning of ‘Red Terror’: An assassination attempt on Lenin by the Socialist Revolutionary Fanny Kaplan leaves him seriously wounded. The attempt, together with the murder of Uritskii, sparks a period of mass arrests and executions known as the ‘Red Terror’. -
Communist
Communist parties form across the world. -
red Army
The Red Army invades and occupies Crimea and the White Army is forced to withdraw.