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Russia Industrializes
Rapid industrialization occurred in Russia. This caused a rise in factories, jobs and goods. However, this later sparked anger due to poor wages, working conditions, and child labor. -
Assassination of Alexander II
Revolutionaries assassinated czar Alexander II. The reason for the assassination was that revolutionaries were angry over the slow pace of political change in Russia. This event guided Russia into a revolution. -
Russian Marxists Split into Two Groups
Russian Marxists split into two groups. Mensheviks wanted a broad support for the revolution while the Bolsheviks were willing to sacrifice everything for change. This split caused the country to separate based on the different views. -
The Russo-Japanese War
Japan attacked Russia at Port Arthur, Manchuria due to Russia rejecting Japan's plan to divide up Korea and Manchuria. Japan won the war. This sparked unrest and led to a revolt in Russia. -
Bloody Sunday
On this date, about 200,000 workers and their families approached the czar's Winter Palace in St. Petersburg asking for better working conditions, freedom, and an elected national legislature. Soldiers fired on the crowd and more than 1,000 were wounded and several hundreds were killed. This event provoked strikes and violence throughout the country. -
World War I
On this date, Russia entered World War I. Russia struggled in this war and lost more than 4 million soldiers within 1 year. World War I caused disputes back home and proved the weakness of czarist rule and military leadership. -
The March Revolution
Women textile workers in Petrograd led a citywide strike. In the next 5 days, riots started over the shortage of bread and fuel and 200,000 workers swarmed the streets wanting an end to the autocracy. These events forced Czar Nicholas II to give up his throne. -
Bolshevik Revolution
Lenin and the Bolsheviks take control in Petrograd and overthrow the republic. Without warning, armed factory workers stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd, calling themselves the Bolshevik Red Guards, and took over government offices and arrested leaders of the provisional government. This event put the Bolsheviks in power where they would set up a communist regime and would sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. -
Russian Civil War
On this date, a Civil War started in Russia between the Bolsheviks' Red Army and the White Army. The Red Army won which proved that the Bolsheviks were able to seize power and keep it. However, the death of 14 million Russians and the famine left Russia in chaos. -
Lenin Restores Order
Lenin established the U.S.S.R. and renamed their party the Communist Party. He used the word communism to describe the classless society that would be created after workers take power. This event would eventually lead to a dictatorship over Joseph Stalin.
