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The Decembrist Revolt
After the death of Czar Alexander I on Dec. 1, 1825 a dispute arose over who would replace him. Decembrists, members of Russia's first rebellious movement, attempted to overthrow the government of Czar Nicholas I in December 1825. The Decembrist rebels had arrived late to Senate Square (Decembrist Square in 1917) to stop Russian government officials from letting the new czar from taking the oath of allegiance. The rebels refusd to vow allegiance to the new czar. They hurled stones at officials. -
Czar Alexander II Emancipates the Serfs
Serfs are the Russian peasants that are controlled by the noble rich people. Alexander II and his Father Nicholas I shared the same idea about slavery in America. Alexander II announced to the nobles of Russia that it is better to destroy serfdom. When the Emancipation was done it contained 22 separate meassures whose details filled 360 printed pages. Serfs had the freedom. -
Nicholas II becomes czar of Russia
Nicholas II inherited the Russian throne when his father died of kdney disease. He hardly felt up to the task of assuming his father's role. In 1896 Nicholas II was officially crowned as the Czar of Russia. -
The Social-Democratic Labor Party splits into two groups, Mensheviks and Bolsheviks
The Social-Democratic Labor Party was a revolutionary socialist Russian political party frmed in 1898 to unite the various revolutionary organizations into one party. The RSDLP later split into Bolshevik and Menshevik, with the Bolsheviks eventually becoming the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. -
The Russo-Japanese War
By 1904, Russia and Japan had disputes over control of Manchria. In 1904, the Japanese attacked the Russian fleet at Port Arthur. Over the next year the two armies clashed in Korea and the Sea of Japan with the Japanese scoring costly victories. Russians lost 60,000 soldiers and Japanese lost 41,000 soldiers. The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the Russo-Japanese War. -
Bloody Sunday
Protestors appealed to Nicholas II to improve working conditions. Troops opened fire on the protestors, killing more than a thousand people in what would come to be the infamous "Bloody Sunday." -
The Revolution of 1905
A peaceful demonstration of workers led by the priest Father Gapon was attacked by the Cossacks. The attack led to strikes and riots. Workers and soldiers got together and set up committees called Soviets to represent them. -
World War I (Russian Involvement)
At the beginning of World War I, Russia's armies performed poorly. Nicholas appointed himself commander in chief so he could take direct control of the military. With Nicholas II gone the empress grew increasingly with drawn and ever more dependent on Rasputin. -
The March Revolution
Riots broke out in Petrograd (St. Petersburg). Workers had organized into groups called the SOVIETS. Soviets were councils made up of workers, soldiers, and peasants. "Provisional Government" assumes power. Nicholas II abdicates after him there was no more Czars. -
Czar Nicholas II abdicates the Russian throne
Czar Nicholas II is forced to abdicate the throne by Petrograd anarchists (abdicate means to give up the throne) after his army joins the protest. A provincial government is installed in his place. -
Alexander Kerensky becomes the leader of the provisional government
Alexander Kerensky's provisional government had little power. Bolsheviks gain supported and Kerensky had Lenin arrested. -
Nicholas II and his family are executed
On the night of July 16, Nicholas, Alexandra, and their five children were ordered to dress fancy and go down to the cellar. There the family arrange to get a photograph. Suddenly a dozen army men burst into the room and shot his family. Those that were not dead yet were stabbed to death. -
Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks capture the Winter Palace
Vladimir Lenin hoped that he would transform the popular unrest ingnited by the overthrow of the Czar two months earlier into a revolution that would topple the Provisional Government and take Russia out of war. Lenin ordered an assault on the Winter Palace with his Bolsheviks (Communists), the assault was very bloodless. The defenders of the Palace, Cossacks gave up with little resistance. -
Russian Civil War
The war was 4 years long. The Bolsheviks were led by Leon Trotsky and Lenin. It was a battle between Reds vs. Whites. THe whites were middle and upper class of Provisional or Czarist. -
Vladimir Lenin dies and Josef Stalin becomes leader of the Soviet Union
Vladimir Lenin dies from a series of strokes at the age of 54. Josef Stalin was the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1929 to 1953. He ruled by terror and millions of his own citizens died during his brutal reign. After Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin died, he got control of the party.
