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Revolution of 1905
On January 9th, the first revolution against the Tsardom occurred. 150,000 workers marched to the capital, hundreds were wounded with 200 dead. This protest started peacefully but when met with brutal opposition, it created “Bloody Sunday”. -
October Manifesto
To resolve the riots from the Revolution of 1905, the October Manifesto was signed by Tsar Nicholas II on October 30, 1905 to give further rights to the people. -
Beginning of WWI
A time brewing with discontent among countries and alliances between others. The main forces against each other were the Allied Powers (Britain, France, Russia) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottomans).
(For Russia): Russia was completely unprepared for WWI and the beginning of the war showed it. With a weak economy and weak leadership they mobilized their troops early to the border of Germany, yet could not accomplish much with their weak forces. -
Czar Nicholas II take sole control of military operations
With Russia’s failures in the war, Tsar Nicholas II went to the front lines to try and change the tide of their battles. However, this was a grave mistake as when Russia continued to lack victories, the blame was put on the government and Nicholas in turn. -
Brusilov Offensive
The Brusilov offensive was a Russian assault in World War I. Led by commander General Aleksey Brusilov, the Russians defeated the Austro-Hungarian army that significantly harmed the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was a surprise offense, and Russia suffered roughly half a million casualties, and Austria-Hungary lost significant land. It ended on September 20, 1916. -
Assassination of Rasputin
A group of nobles had decided Rasputin’s influence on the Tsarina had grown to large, which led to his assassination. The group attempted to poison Rasputin, however when he did not react to the poison, he was shot in Petrograd. -
International Women's Day March in Petrograd
Women left their work and gathered together to ask for food during horrific conditions. While women led the movement, 100,000 of men and women gathered. The following day, over 200,000 protestors had amassed- including soldiers. Led to the abdication of Nicholas II. -
Provisional Government formed
The leaders of the Duma had elected themselves as leaders of the provisional government. In its first few weeks they passed several laws for reform including freedom of assembly, speech, women’s suffrage, and more. Later under dual authority and mounting pressure from Bolsheviks, the provisional government was dissolved. -
Nicholas II Abdicates
Following the 1917 Revolution, under advice from his cabinet, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the throne. Power was given to the provisional government. -
Return of Lenin from exile
Lenin returned to Petrograd after a decade of exile to take the reins of the Russian Revolution. With claims for peace, bread, and land, Lenin and the Bolsheviks gained a large following which later led to Bolshevik-controlled Russia. -
April Theses published
A series of 10 directives issued by Lenin upon his return to Petrograd. Lenin called for power to soviets, denounced the provisional government, and urged new communist policies. -
First all-Russian Congress of Soviets meets
The first meeting was dominated by Social-Revolutionaries and established the rule of the Russian Provisional Government. The active voting delegates consisted of: 285 Socialist-Revolutionaries, 248 Mensheviks, 105 Bolsheviks, 32 Menshevik Internationalists, and others. Ended on July 7, 1917. -
July Days
A period of unrest in Petrograd, Russia that involved demonstrations from sailors, workers and soldiers in response to the provisional government choosing to remain in WWI, while the Bolsheviks were raising their propaganda efforts. The July Days ended on July 20, 1917. -
Kornilov Affair
An attempted military coup led by General Kornilov against the provisional government in Petrograd, Russia. It involved the Petrograd Soviet of Soldiers' and Workers' Deputies. Alexander Kerensy, the leader of the provisional government, and the provisional government itself, survived (they were supported by the Bolshevik army). It ended on September 13, 1917. -
Trotsky organizes Red Guard to defend Petrograd
Trotsky organized the Red Guard on the 24th to go to Petrograd, assuring that they were only there to defend the congress of Soviets in Petrograd. Over the next few days, the Bolsheviks gained control of Petrograd. -
Bolsheviks overthrow the Provisional Government and take control
The Red Guard, led by Trotsky and the Bolsheviks, gained control of Petrograd by capturing important buildings, and through the use of very little violence, got the provisional government out of power and declared soviet rule. -
Cheka formed
The secret police of the Bolsheviks, whose role was to investigate and get rid of any threats to the new Bolshevik regime. These threats included "class enemies", and it is estimated that around half a million people were shot by the Cheka. They were also used to enforce grain requisitions during wartime communism, and went on a terror campaign through rural towns to build fear of the Bolshevik government. -
Wartime Communism created
Wartime communism was an economic and political policy instilled by the soviet state (Bolshevik party, led by Lenin) as a way to provide all necessary supplies to the Red army during the Russian Civil War. It involved complete governmental control over industry, government ownership to food grown by peasants, and the abolishment of money in exchange for food rations. It ended on March 21, 1921. -
Constituent Assembly meets and is then disbanded
This was when the constituent assembly met for the first time. They met for a total of 13 hours before being disbanded by the Cheka. It was made up of mostly the Social Revolutionary party, and the Bolsheviks had less seats than they did. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest- Litovsk was a peace treaty signed between the new Bolshevik government in Russia and the Central Powers. It ended Russia's participation in WW1. The treaty was signed in Brest-Litovsk after negotiations lasting two months. The terms were incredibly harsh for Russia; they lost a lot of land and had to pay a large sum. Lenin pushed the treaty in order to remove Russia from the war as he had promised. -
Red Terror
A soviet campaign, led by Bolsheviks, containing mass oppression of political opposition using terror and coercion to continue war communism and supply for the civil war. There were mass killings in response to uprisings and demonstrations (mainly carried out by the Cheka).This ended in 1922. -
Ukraine brought under Soviet control
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) was formed in Ukraine, giving Ukraine a Soviet government in December 1917. Ukraine was officially an independent nation in March 1918, and Soviet Ukraine got their own constitution in March 1919. Soviet Ukraine still was under Bolshevik rule, however, and officially consolidated into the USSR in 1922. -
Kolchak begins serious attacks against Reds from Siberia
Alexander Kolchak was recognized as the White force commander by all White forces. He brought terror to whole populations (burned villages, farms, infrastructure, etc.), and he took hostages. He killed hundreds of thousands of people during his terror. This ended in October of 1919. -
Poles move toward Kiev
Otherwise known as the Kiev Offensive, polish armies that had invaded western Ukraine in April 1920 pushed toward Kiev (capital of Ukraine) from April-May 1920, which caused the communist Reds to invade Poland and push the Polish soldiers back into Poland, and arguably started the Polish-Soviet War of 1920. -
Tambov Rebellion
It was the largest rebellion organized by peasants against the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War. It was led by the Social Revolutionary party, and the most significant short-term cause of it was the Red Guards’ forceful seizure of surplus grains. Long-term causes include starvation and famine. They didn’t support the Whites or Reds, and organized their own group called the Union of Toiling Peasants in December 1920. Their goal was to drive the Bolsheviks out of Moscow. Ended in June 1921. -
Soviets attempt to take Warsaw
This was a result of the Poles moving toward Kiev. General Tukhachevsky worked under Lenin to push the Poles out of Kiev by invading Warsaw from May-July. The Poles rejected Lenin’s communist agenda and revolted against it, and the Poles were able to push the Reds out of Warsaw. An armistice was agreed upon in October 1920 and was signed in 1921, which gave Poland and other countries self-dependence and kept them from communist control, making Lenin’s plan to make Poland communist a failure. -
Kronstadt uprising
Sailors from Kronstadt who formally supported the Bolsheviks in 1917 didn’t like their War Communism policy and Lenin’s lack of follow through with his original promises. They protested for freedom of speech, democratic elections, trade unions, no more seizure of surplus grain, and free market economy, but the Bolsheviks felt threatened by this; they attacked the people of Kronstadt by injuring thousands unjustly. This was the last major revolt from anti-Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War. -
Ending of Wartime Communism
Following the two major revolts against War Communism (Kronstadt Rebellion and Tambov Rebellion), along with the fact that the Soviet economy and people were struggling, Lenin realized that even though ending War Communism was an unwanted action for him, he knew it was a necessary sacrifice. War Communism was replaced by the New Economic Policy of 1921 (NEP). -
Treaty of Rapallo
Georgi Chicherin (who replaced Trotsky in 1918) and his Soviet Union came to an agreement with Germany in Rapallo, Italy. It normalized conditions between the two nations by repealing war debts between each other and strengthening both military and economic connections between them both. This helped improve Soviet security and Russia in general, and it helped make up for failed attempts of spreading communism. -
Formation of Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) replaced the Russian Soviet Federal Republic (RSFR) from January 1918. It was essentially the exact same as the RSFR and it contained all nations in the Russian Empire at the time. -
Lenin dies
Suffered three strokes beginning in May 1922, which slowly impaired his speech and mobility until the third left him speechless and paralyzed in a coma in 1923, which he stayed in until his passing.
