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Industrialization of Russia
Between the years of 1863 and 1900, the number of factories in Russia more than doubled and the urge for rapid industrialization had been sparked. The Russian government raised taxes and sought foreign investors to finance the development of Russian industries, which resulted in the boosted growth of heavy industry, especially steel. The industrialization in Russia caused many of its people to become discontented with its effects and led to numerous protests and movements. -
Separation of Russian Marxists
The group of Russian communists separates into two parties upon the disagreement of revolutionary tactics. The more reasonable Mensheviks sought a broad base of popular support for their revolution, whereas the more radical Bolsheviks were devoted to change through less practical and more savage revolution. The split-up of the Russian communists established an influence for radical revolutions in the future. -
Bloody Sunday Revolution
200,000 workers and their families carried a petition to the czar's Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, which requested better working conditions and more personal freedom. Soldiers fired on the crowd and several hundred were killed and more than 1,000 were wounded. Bloody Sunday provoked and encouraged a nationwide wave of protests and disorder that influenced a promise for more freedom. -
Russia Enters World War 1
When Russia was dragged into World War 1 by Nicholas II, it was clear that Russia did not have an arranged military and was unprepared to handle the military and economic costs. After a year at war, more than 4 million Russian soldiers had been killed, wounded, or abducted. Russia's interference in Wold War 1 revealed the weakness of the czarist rule and military leadership which prompted the people to do something about it. -
The March Revolution
Women textile workers led a citywide strike in Petrograd that inspired 5 days of riots that flared up over shortages of bread and fuel. Approximately 200,000 workers flooded the streets, chanting: "Down with the autocracy" and "Down with the war!" The March Revolution prevailed and successfully brought down the czar, but it inadequately replaced the czar with an unqualified government, which led to worsening conditions within Russia. -
Provisional Government Topples
Armed factory workers aggressed the Winter Palace in Petrograd where the provisional government operated without warning. The factory workers referred to themselves as the Bolshevik Red Guards and they took control of government offices and arrested leaders of the provisional government. This event gave the people of Russia hope that order would restored and issues would now be handled in the interest of the Russian people. -
Signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Russia surrendered an extensive section of its territory to Germany and its allies. Anger was triggered nationwide because of the embarrassing terms of the treaty and Russians began to resent the Bolsheviks and their polices. The signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a very risky move on the behalf of the Bolsheviks; it displayed Russia's instability and caused some tension among the Bolsheviks and their enemies. -
Civil War Breaks Out In Russia
The Bolsheviks may have abandoned the war, but they still faced challenges with their enemies at home who had now formed their own dysfunctional army, the White Army. From 1918 to 1920, civil war raged in Russia; around 14 million Russians died in the war and in the famine that followed, which left Russia in chaos. The civil war within Russia verified that the Bolsheviks were capable of seizing and maintaining power, which set them on the road for success. -
Lenin Restores Power
After the Russian economy was devastated by the war and revolution within Russia, Lenin established the New Economic Policy to help the country recover. Lenin organized Russia into several self-governing republics to keep nationalism subdued, and the Bolsheviks renamed their party the Communist Party and created a constitution based on socialist and democratic principles. Lenin and the Bolsheviks now had ultimate control over Russia and his legacy would continue to surface in future leaders. -
Stalin Becomes Dictator
Lenin's health began to suffer in the early-to-mid 1920's and a competition for control of the Communist Party was in motion with two candidates, Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Lenin was skeptical about Stalin's ability to properly supervise his party before his death in 1924, however, Stalin achieved total command of the Communist Party by 1928. Stalin's ascent to power displayed the prosperity of the Russian revolution and the danger of it when put into the wrong hands.
