Russian Revolution

By nyden.seward

  • Nicholas II becomes Czar/Tsar of Russia

    Succeeding his father on November 1, 1894, he was crowned tsar in Moscow on May 26, 1896. Neither by upbringing nor by temperament was Nicholas fitted for the complex tasks that awaited him as autocratic ruler of a vast empire.

  • Revolutionary movements begin and compete for power

    The Marxist revolutionaries then split into two groups, the Mensheviks who wanted popular support of the revolution and the Bolsheviks who were willing to sacrifice everything for a change. The leader of the Bolsheviks was very powerful and later fled to western Europe to escape arrest.

  • Russia loses war with Japan

    Japan won a convincing victory over Russia, becoming the first Asian power in modern times to defeat a European power. Russia's Baltic Fleet sailed halfway around the world only to meet its demise at the guns of Adm. Togō Heihachirō and the superior ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Battle of Tsushima.

  • Revolution of 1905—Bloody Sunday

    Up to 200 people were killed by rifle fire and Cossack charges. This event became known as Bloody Sunday and is seen as one of the key causes of the 1905 Revolution. The aftermath brought about a short-lived revolution in which the Tsar lost control of large areas of Russia.

  • Russia enters World War I

    Russia entered World War I in August 1914, drawn into the conflict by the alliance system and its promises of support to Serbia, its Balkan ally. War patriotism helped douse anti-government sentiment, which had been building steadily in months beforehand, peaking with a general strike in July 1914.

  • March Revolution

    The March Revolution in Vienna was a catalyst to revolution throughout the German states. Popular demands were made for an elected representative government and for the unification of Germany. Fear on the part of the princes and rulers of the various German states caused them to concede in the demand for reform.

  • Czar Nicholas abdicates the throne

    In March 1917, the army garrison at Petrograd joined striking workers in demanding socialist reforms, and Czar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate. Nicholas and his family were first held at the Czarskoe Selo palace, then in the Yekaterinburg palace near Tobolsk.

  • Lenin Returns to Russia

    Vladimir Lenin, leader of the revolutionary Bolshevik Party, returns to Petrograd after a decade of exile to take the reins of the Russian Revolution.Aided by German intelligence agents, exiled Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, along with 23 other Russian banished revolutionaries, secretly returned to Russia in a sealed train.

  • Bolshevik Revolution defeats Tsar Nicholas' monarchy government

    During the Russian Revolution of 1917, Bolshevik revolutionaries toppled the monarchy, ending the Romanov dynasty. Czar Nicholas II and his entire family—including his young children—were later executed by Bolshevik troops.

  • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ends Russia’s involvement in WWI

    On March 3, 1918, in the city of Brest-Litovsk, located in modern-day Belarus near the Polish border, Russia signed a treaty with the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria) ending its participation in World War I (1914-18).

  • Lenin establishes New Economic Policy (NEP)

    Introduced by Vladimir Lenin in 1921, the New Economic Policy (or NEP) was a radical shift in Bolshevik economic strategy. It eased the harsh restrictions of war communism, the Bolshevik economic policy during the Civil War, and allowed the return of markets and petty trade.

  • Stalin becomes Dictator

    He held power as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922–1952) and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (1941–1953). Initially governing the country as part of a collective leadership, he consolidated power to become a dictator by the 1930s.

  • Civil War between Red and White Armies

    The Russian Civil War was a civil war fought from 7 November 1917 to 16 June 1922 between several groups in Russia. The main fighting was between the Red Army and the White Army. The Red Army was a communist, Bolshevik group. The White Army was Anti-Communist and included many former Tsar Loyalists.