Russian Revolution Project

  • Marxist Revolutionaries Split

    Marxist revolutionaries disagree over revolutionary topics. The more radical Bolsheviks are ready to risk everything. The charismatic Vladimir Lenin becomes leader.
  • Russo-Japanese War

    The Russo-Japanese war creates weakness in Russia's government allowing revolutionary action to take place.
  • Bloody Sunday Massacre

    Bloody Sunday, Russian massacre in St. Petersburg, Russia, of peaceful demonstrators marking the beginning of the violent phase of the Russian Revolution of 1905.
  • Duma

    The Duma calls on the tsarist government to ratify democratic reforms; Goremykin, the tsar's prime minister, says the Duma has no authority to make such demands.
  • Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand

    The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo precipitated the crisis that erupted into World War I.
  • February Revolution (March 1917)

    The February Revolution was a revolution focused around Saint Petersburg, then capital of Russia. Members of the Imperial parliament or Duma assumed control of the country, forming the Russian Provisional Government.
  • Overthrowing Provisional Government

    Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin overthrow the Provisional Government in what comes to be known as the October Revolution.
  • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

    The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is signed between Russia and the Central Powers, ending WW1 in the East; Russia concedes a massive amount of land, people and resources.
  • Treaty of Riga

    October 1920: The Treaty of Riga brings most fighting in the Russo-Polish War to a halt.
  • March 1921 Events

    -The tenth Party Congress of the Communist Party. Lenin announces the New Economic Policy (NEP) and demands an end to factionalism in the party.
    -Red Army troops enter the streets of Kronstadt and arrest the last rebel sailors.
  • Lenin's Political Testament

    Lenin dictates his ‘political testament’, a series of letters containing his views about the future of Soviet Russia, the Communist Party and its potential leaders.