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The Bolshevik-Menshevik Split
On November 16, 1903, the Russian socialist movement, who were the Marxists, divided into two groups due to differences in revolutionary tactics. Those groups were the Mensheviks, who favored a large, loosely organised democratic party whose members could agree to differ on many points, and the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, who preferred a relatively small, but extremely dedicated, group of revolutionaries. -
Bloody Sunday: The Revolution of 1905
The 22nd of January 1905 saw a protest with around 200k workers and their families petitioning at the tsar's winter palace in St. Petersburg for more personal freedom, better working conditions, and an elected national legislature. However, the tsar's generals ordered troops to fire into the crowd, killing several hundred and injuring more than a thousand people, earning the day the title of "Bloody Sunday." This triggered even more strikes and violence across the country. -
Conclusion of the Russo-Japanese War
Japan and Russia had treaties that divided the lines between the two in Korea. However, as part of the construction of the Trans-Siberian railroad, Russia had broken the treaties, insisting that it builds its railroad right through Korea in order to connect to one of Russia's ports. This started the Russo-Japanese war, which ended on September 5, 1905, in an embarrassing Russian defeat. Even before the war's end, the bad news from the war started a revolt before war's conclusion. -
The Duma: Russia's First Parliament
In May 1906, the Duma, which was Russia's first parliament, met. It was created the year before in response to the Bloody Sunday protest and the ones that followed. There were two chambers, where one was elected by the people but the other had people chosen by the Tsar. It was dissolved after two months because the Tsar saw that it complained too much, -
Completion of the Trans-Siberian Railroad
As part of Russia's rapid industrialization, the Trans-Siberian railroad was constructed. After its completion in 1916, it became the world's longest continuous rail line, connecting the western side of Russia with its ports on the Pacific Ocean towards the east. Rapid industrialization in general stirred discontent within the people of Russia due to hard working conditions, low wages, and child labor. -
The March Revolution
A local protest and riots in Petrograd on March 1917 turned into a general uprising. This uprising caused the Tsar to abdicate his throne, ending the three century long reign of the Romanovs. Following this, a provisional government was set up, which was led by Alexander Kerensky. -
The Bolshevik Revolution
Germany sent Lenin back to Russia, which ignited the Bolshevik revolution, which had a lot of support. They stormed the Winter Palace, toppling the provisional government and replacing it with a Bolshevik government, which then pulled Russia out of World War 1. -
The Conclusion of World War 1 for Russia
When Russia had entered World War 1 in 1914, their military wasn't up to par, especially when compared to Germany. Because of this, Russia suffered devastating defeats, with 4 million Russian soldiers dead before the end of the first year. Morale and supplies were running low, resulting in people of all classes wanting an end to the war. When the government was overthrown by communists in November 1917, the treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed a few months later, pulling Russia out of the war. -
The Russian Civil War
After the Bosheviks took control, there were still opponents in Russia, mainly the White Army. The White Army had many different ideologies, some supported the tsar, some wanted democracy, and more, but they all opposed the Bosheviks, and were even supported by western nations. The war between the White Army and the Red Army lasted from 1918-1923, ending on October 25, 1922, after killing 14 million Russians, but ended in a victory for the Bosheviks. -
Lenin and the Communist Party
Following the end of the Russian civil war, a lot of rebuilding had to be done. In 1921, Lenin had put a small-scale version of capitalism called the New Economic Policy in place. Nationalism was seen as a threat, so Lenin organized several self-governing republics under control of a central government. In 1922, he renamed the country to the "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics," also known as the USSR. Lastly, the Bolshevik party renamed themselves as the Communist party in 1925.
