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October Revolution (beginning of Lenin's government)
Soldiers directed by the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet captured the Winter Palace, ending the power of the Russian Provisional Government. The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets convened. Menshevik and moderate SR representatives walked out to protest the October Revolution. The Congress established and elected the Sovnarkom, and Lenin its first chairman, to run the country between sessions. -
Decree on Peace
The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets issued the Decree on Peace, promising an end to Russian participation in World War I, and the Decree on Land, approving the expropriation of land from the nobility. -
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Russian Civil War
Fought between the Whites (supporters of the Tsar) and the Reds (Bolsheviks) primarily to decide who should control Russia... Other groups such as the blacks (anarchists) and greens (peasants defending their villages) -
Cheka established
The CHEKA was the Bolshevik security force or secret police. It was formed by Vladimir Lenin in a December 1917 decree and charged with identifying and dealing with potential counter-revolutionaries. -
War Communism
War Communism was introduced by Lenin to combat the economic problems brought on by the civil war in Russia. It was a combination of emergency measures and socialist dogma. -
Orgburo established
The Orgburo was established to oversee the membership and organisation of the Communist Party. -
Red Army conquers Kiev (gregorian calendar starts)
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Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Soviet Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, ending its participation in World War I, relinquishing Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine, and ceding to the Ottoman Empire all territory captured in the Russo-Turkish War. -
Royal Family executed
Nicholas and the rest of the royal family were executed on direct orders from Lenin. -
Russian famine
A decree published in Izvestia authorized the seizure of church valuables for famine relief. -
Gosplan
Gosplan, the economic planning committee of the Soviet Union, was created by a decree of the Sovnarkom -
Kronstadt Rebellion
The crews of the battleships Petropavlovsk and Sevastopol, harbored at Kronstadt, published a list of demands on the government. -
Kronstadt Rebellion pacified
After over a week of fighting, government troops pacified Kronstadt. -
New Economic Policy
A decree of the Tenth Party Congress replaced war communism with the more liberal New Economic Policy (NEP had more capitalistic ideologies) -
Declaration of 46
The Declaration of 46 was written. The Declaration echoed earlier concerns expressed by Leon Trotsky, the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, that the Communist Party was insufficiently democratic. -
Lenin Died