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The Khodynka Tragedy
A stampede in Moscow occurs during festivities following Nicholas II’s coronation, as crowds, worried that the supplies of free souvenirs would run out, rushed for the stalls to get them. This results in the deaths of over 1,300 people. -
Bloody Sunday
Troops and police open fire on a peaceful demonstration outside the Winter Palace and elsewhere in St Petersburg, killing and injuring around 1,000 people. The liberal press blames Nicholas II. -
Outbreak of First World War
Germany declares war on Russia, with Russia entering the First World War.
St Petersburg is renamed Petrograd to make it sound less German. -
The Provisional Government Topples
Without warning,armed factory workers stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd. Calling themselves the Bolshevik Red Guards, they took over government offices and arrested the leaders of the provisional government. Kerensky and his colleagues disappeared almost as quickly as the czarist regime they had replaced. -
February Revolution
A series of public protests begin in Petrograd, which last for eight days and eventually result in abolition of the monarchy in Russia. The total number of killed and injured in clashes with the police and government troops in Petrograd is estimated around 1,300 people.
On International Women’s Day, demonstrators and striking workers – many of whom are women – take to the streets to protest against food shortages and the war. Two days later, the strikes spread across Petrograde -
June Offensive
Russian minister of war Alexander Karensky launches an offensive against Austria-Hungary forces in Galicia.Although the Russian effort is initially successful, the soldiers soon refuse to leave their trenches and fight due to low morale caused by the Revolution. Many soldiers return home to take part in redistribution of land.The offensive collapses four days later and Russian troops have to respond to the Austrians’ and Germans’ counteroffensive. -
Kornilov affair
The Kornilov affair: A failed coup by General Kornilov, commander of the Russian army, takes place, when he orders troops towards Petrograd to counter the threat of the Bolsheviks.Prime Minister Kerensky presents Kornilov’s actions as an attempted right wing coup While the affair is short lived, it secures power for the Bolsheviks among Petrograd’s working classes, workers and soldiers, and crushes the credibility of a coalition Provisional Government. -
Civil War Rages in Russia
The Bolsheviks now faced a new challenge—stamp-
ing out their enemies at home. Their opponents formed the White Army. The White Army was made up of very different groups. There were those groups who supported the return to rule by the czar, others who wanted democratic government,and even socialists who opposed Lenin’s style of socialism. Only the desire to
defeat the Bolsheviks united the White Army. The groups barely cooperated with each other.