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Marx Publishes the Communist Manifesto
Karl Marx published the Communist Manifesto, creating new ideas to be shared with the public. It claimed that capitalism was designed to be overthrown, and replaced with a "Worker's Society." -
Martial Law is Passed in Russia
Tsar Nicholas II declared Russia under martial law, allowing for him to impose extremely strict regulations on the people, using the first World War as an excuse. -
Menshevicks Nationwide Strike
On the 12th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, 30,000 workers in Moscow went on strike, and 145,000 in Petrograd reduced their work. By the end of the month, they were running low on food, setting up the February Revolution. -
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The February Revolution
For half a month, strikes began to arise in Petrograd, Russia's capital. Their efforts were not organized, nor were they led by any particular group or political party. Over 130,000 strikers and sympathizers were gathered picketing, destroying several bakeries as they did whatever they could to get bread. Eventually, Tsar Nicholas II ordered lethal and violent force to be used on the protestors--only for his military forces to join them, turning against him. (Note: It won't let me add an image) -
Tsar Nicholas II Abdicates
After half a month of strikes in Petrograd, and after the majority of his military forces had mutinied, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated. The throne went to his brother, who refused it, thus ending czarism in Russia, and beginning a new government. -
The April Theses are Published
Vladimir Lenin presented his theses to a gathering of Democrats and Bolsheviks, proposing that the war should end, the land should go to the workers, and that the banks should be nationalized. -
Vladimir Lenin Returns from Exile
After 10 years in exile to Switzerland, and following the February Revolution, Vladimir Lenin returned to Petrograd. -
Bolsheviks Storm the Winter Palace
During the war, the Winter Palace was not being used as a place for the royals to stay, but instead as a hospital and government headquarters. The Bolsheviks surrounded the building on the 25th of October, and had artillery fire down at the building while they snuck in through a backdoor. The group was able to find all of the ministers gathered in the same room, oddly unguarded, and immediately had them all arrested. A wine cellar had been destroyed, creating a myth that blood had been shed. -
Signing of the Treaties of Brest-Litovsk
Peace treaties were signed in Brest-Litovsk to prevent hostilities between the Ukrainian Republic and Soviet Russia.