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Emancipation of Russian Serfs
Alexander II published his Emancipation Manifesto in March 1861. The Manifesto was quickly turned into law, and all privately owned serfs were given the right to become free citizens, free to marry, own land and their own businesses. -
The Russo-Japanese War
Following the Russian rejection of a Japanese plan to divide Manchuria and Korea into spheres of influence, Japan launches a surprise naval attack against Port Arthur, a Russian naval base in China. -
Revolution of 1905
The 1905 Revolution was an uprising of the people of Russia calling for a change in their government. It was started by anxious troops opening fire on peaceful marchers in St. Petersburg on January 9, 1905, a date which has since been called "Bloody Sunday." -
The Assassination in Sarajevo
19-year-old Gavrilo Princip burned with the fire of Slavic nationalism, envisioned the death of Archduke Ferdinand as the key that would unlock the shackles binding his people to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. -
March Revolution in Petrograd
On March 8, 1917, Russia’s February Revolution began with rioting and strikes in Petrograd. The unrest was triggered primarily by food shortages in the city, which were caused by the wider problems of a worsening economy and repeated failures on the battlefields of World War I. -
Russian Orthodox Church
A body of Christians who constitute an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Moscow, in communion with other Eastern Orthodox Churches. -
Zemstvo
A local self body that functioned as a self government from 1864-1917 -
November coup d'etat
Bolsheviks seize power in Russian Revolution. Vladimir Lenin seizes power from the Tsarist regime in a coup d'etat. -
The Cheka
The Cheka was used by Vladimir Lenin to consolidate his power after the November 1917 Revolution. The Cheka was the first of numerous Soviet government apparatuses created to control the people. Formally the Cheka was the ‘All-Russian Emergency Commission for Combatting Counter-Revolution and Sabotage’ -
The Duma
Russian name for a representative body, particularly applied to the Imperial Duma established as a result of the Russian Revolution of 1905. -
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on March 3, 1918, at Brest-Litovsk between Russia and the Central Powers, headed by Germany, marking Russia's exit from World War I. -
Russification
The name given to the policy of Alexander III -
The Assassination of Czar Nicholas II and his family
During the early morning hours of July 17 the Tsar, his wife, children and servants were herded into the cellar of their prison house and executed. -
The Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was the peace settlement signed after World War One had ended in 1918. The treaty was signed at the vast Versailles Palace near Paris
