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In 1881, Alexander III succeeded his father, Alexander II, and halted all reforms in Russia.
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In 1903, Russian Marxists split into two groups over revolutionary tactics.
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On January 22, 1905, about200,000 workers and their familiesapproached the czar’s Winter Palacein St. Petersburg. They carried apetition asking for better workingconditions, more personal freedom,and an elected national legislature.
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In October 1905, Nicholas reluctantly promised more freedom. He approved the creation of the Duma, Russia’s first parliament.
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The first Duma met in May 1906. Its leaders were moderates who wanted Russia to become a constitu- tional monarchy similar to Britain.
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In 1914, Nicholas II made the fateful decision to drag Russia into World War I.
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In 1916, a group of nobles murdered Rasputin. They feared his increasing role in government affairs.
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In March 1917, women textile workers in Petrograd led a citywide strike. In the next five days, riots flared up over shortages of bread and fuel. Nearly 200,000 workers swarmed the streets shouting, “Down with the autocracy!” and “Down with the war!”
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In November 1917, without warning, armed factory workers stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd.
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In March 1918, Russia and Germanysigned the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Russiasurrendered a large part of its territory toGermany and its allies.
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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 sup- ported 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. At one point there were three White Armies fig
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In March 1921, Lenin temporarily put aside his plan for a state-controlled economy. Instead, he resorted to a small-scale version of capital- ism called the New Economic Policy (NEP).
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In 1922, the country was named the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), in honor of the councils that helped launch the Bolshevik Revolution
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By 1928, Stalin was in total command of the Communist Party. Trotsky, forced into exile in 1929, was no longer a threat.
