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Czar Alexander II is assassinated by the terrorist group ‘People’s Will’
After the student’s failure, the movement was split into three groups. The first group continued to rely on peasants as the source of revolutionary action. The second group focused on urban factory workers instead. The third group completely gave up on the people and turned to terrorism to inspire change. In 1881 the terrorist group achieved its main goal by assassinating Alexander II. But instead of weakening the government, the Czar’s death had the opposite effect. -
Nicholas II crowned czar of Russia
After his father Alexander III died, Nicholas II became the new Czar. Nicholas did not inspire the fear or respect that his father had been known for. Nicholas had few political ideas that did not have to do with protecting his power as Czar. Nicholas began to anger moderate informers when he called their goals “senseless dreams.” -
Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg begins the 1905 Russian Revolution
After being defeated by Japan, discontent with the Czar began to grow amongst the people. A peaceful march was of St. Petersburg workers, who had a long list of demands, were approached by troops who then opened fire. About 130 protesters were killed in what is now known as Bloody Sunday. This caused the empire to erupt in uproar. -
World War I begins
World War I put an enormous strain on Russian society because they were poorly prepared for this war. 15 million men were called to serve in this war, and of those 15 million men 6 million had been killed, wounded, or captured by 1917. When the war first started the people fully supported it and violent strikes began to subside. As the Russian army suffered defeats, patriotic fervor began to fade. The economic hardships back at home didn’t improve morale either. -
The February Revolution begins with strikes, demonstrations, and mutinies in Petrograd
The February Revolution destroyed a 400-year-old monarchy and it created a democracy. The February Revolution began when women factory workers who were upset with having to wait in line for bread protested having to stand in line for bread. Men from nearby factories then came to join them. In days most workers in Petrograd were on strike. Students, middle class citizens and many soldiers also joined in on the strike. This strike spread to many cities and army units across the empire. -
Czar Nicholas II abdicates
While Nicholas II was away at World War I’s Eastern Front, a revolution was going on. Nicholas II tried to solve this problem by dissolving the Duma. But the Duma refused Nicholas II’s request, and instead they formed a temporary government called the Provisional Government. Nicholas II lost control of his army, his government, and his people, so this led to him giving up the throne. -
Lenin returns from exile and arrives in Petrograd via a sealed train
Lenin returned 10 years after his exile from Russia, and he immediately called for the soviets to overthrow the Provisional Government. However, most soviets were controlled by the Mensheviks and other less radical revolutionaries. The Bolsheviks were now the minority. This led for them to take to the streets of Petrograd in July in 1917. -
Bolshevik uprising fails in Petrograd
The Bolshevik workers decided to take to the streets of Petrograd in July 1917, but the Petrograd Soviet refused to help them. The uprising was easily ended by government troops but soon after this events would begin to turn in the Bolshevik’s favor, and this will lead to the Bolsheviks taking over Petrograd. -
The October Revolution - the Bolsheviks take over Petrograd
In September the Bolsheviks began gaining majorities in some soviets. Lenin then decided to overthrow the Provisional Government. Lenin’s plan made the revolt look like a takeover by all the soviets instead of the act of a single political party. On the night of Lenin's plan, Bolshevik soldiers quietly took control of bridges, telegraph offices, railroad stations. The following morning Lenin announced that the government had been overthrow and the Congress of Soviets had taken power. -
Russia withdraws from World War I
Shortly after Lenin came to power and named Bolsheviks to other key posts, the Bolsheviks quickly moved to solidify their power. The Bolsheviks reaffirmed censorship to the press, they created a new secret police force to deal with those who did not agree with them, and they ended the participation of Russia in World War I. -
Russian civil war begins
The Bolsheviks had to deal with democratic elections that the people had been promised after the February revolution. The Bolsheviks only controlled Petrograd, Moscow, and a few other industrial regions, so Lenin hesitantly let the elections take place. Less than 25 percent of the delegates in the new national assembly were Bolsheviks. Lenin then forced the assembly to disband, and this plunged Russia into a complicated three-year civil war. -
The capital of Russia is changed from St. Petersburg to Moscow
Moving the capital of Russia from St. Petersburg to Moscow was simply a matter of precaution due to the russian civil war. This decision was made by Lenin, he expected an intervention by Western powers to put down the red rebellion in Russia. Having the capital moved to Moscow was supposed to be a temporary measure until after workers in Western Europe and North America rose up to establish a single proletarian state to govern the the entire world. But things didn’t work out that way. -
The Bolshevik Party changes its name to the Communist Party
After Lenin forced the assembly to disband, Russia plunged into a complicated three-year civil war. The Bolsheviks made an army called the Red army, in February 1918. In March they changed the name of their party to the Communist Party. The communists were then opposed by a group called the “Whites” who were anti-communist forces. -
Czar Nicholas II and his family are executed
Nicholas II and his family were ordered to dress quickly late at night, and were told to go to the cellar of the house. Suddenly, a dozen armed men burst into the room and gunned down the imperial family in a hail of gunfire. Anyone who had survived and were still breathing by the time the smoke cleared, were then stabbed to death. -
Russian civil war ends
The red army had to deal with nationalist movements in non-Russian parts of the former empire. Instead of giving these regions complete independence, the communists created six-self governing Soviet republics. By 1922, they had defeated the Whites and the Greens and they joined those republics with Russia to create the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. -
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) established
The Bolsheviks created the Red army in 1918, red in Europe symbolizes revolution. This army had to deal with nationalist movement in non-Russian parts of their former empire. Instead of giving these regions total independence, the communists created six self-governing Soviet republics. In 1922 the Red army had defeated the Whites and Greens, and had joined these republics with Russia to created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. -
Lenin dies
In 1921 Lenin created a New Economic Policy so that the countryside would not oppose the Bolshevik Revolution, if the countryside did oppose the Bolshevik Revolution then it would not survive. The death of Lenin ended up setting off a power struggle in the Communist Party. Eventually Joseph Stalin would secure power in 1928, after outmaneuvering his rivals.
