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Communist Manifesto
Karl Marx is a man known for partly being the inspiration of the Russian Revolution. He is a German economist and the founder of revolutionary communism. On November 19, 1848, Marx's book the "Communist Manifesto" was out there for the people to see his theory of communism. It is with these theories that Lenin and Stalin were going to make drastic decisions in the later years. -
Bloody Sunday
This day is the initial start of the 1905 Revolution. On this day, Tsarist troops had opened fire on protestors that were begging the Tsar for help and assistance. By the end there were hundreds of protestors wounded and 130 killed. Bloody Sunday shows significance of the Tsarist regimes inability in dealing with a malcontent society. As well, many of the workers who had supported the Tsar in previous times had now joined the revolutionary groups. -
The October Manifesto
After what was going on in the revolution, Tsar Nicholas II introduced his intentions known as the October Manifesto. The proposal promised to provide some civil liberties and to ease the unrest in Russia. The proposal also introduced the idea of creating a Duma. Despite the fact these promises had brought some optimism, the Tsar failed to live up to them. For example, they had dismissed the Duma. The failure of the October Manifesto signified the downfall of the Tsar. -
The Soviets Rise
Shortly after Bloody Sunday, all of Russia went on a strike after the Tsar failed to relive the distress of the public by giving them a few concessions. This strike has been said to be the most effective strike in History. This strike raised the formation of a council of Marxist revolutionary workers or, the "Soviet" in St. Petersburg, Russia. Furthermore this council is an essential part of the upcoming politics that take place in Russia. -
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First World War
WWI was a devastating conflict for Russia because she had lost over 4 million men in just the first year! Russia clearly suffered and lost the most from this war. Even though Russia started on a positive note with a united and loyal population, by the end of the war Russia was weakened by military defeats, poverty, and a lost of unity caused by the opposition groups. This is significance since even though Russia was suffering with several problems, they were still preparing for another war. -
March Revolution
Increasingly there has been a spread of strikes and food shortages and by March 10th 200,000 strikers joined alongside woman waiting in bread lines in Petrograd calling for the overthrow of the Tsar. The Tsar then told The Cossacks to attack the protestors. However The Cossacks refused to do this, and instead joined alongside the protestors. It is because the Cossacks went against the Tsar that the revolution was successful and by the end of that day, the revolutionaries controlled Petrograd. -
Moscow Falls - Abdication of the Tsar Nicholas II
After March 14, when Petrograd was put under control of the revolutionaries, Moscow had fallen. The Tsar then abdicated his throne and was put under house arrest near Moscow in a Dacha. This shows how difficult it was for the Tsar to rule a country with several problems. In addition, by the standards of the French and America, the revolution in Russia was considered a non event, because the autocracy had simply fallen on itself. -
The Provisional Government
The Duma got together with the Tsar and declared a Provisional Government. Immediately, the Provisional Government promised to create a Constitutional Assembly with a universal secret ballot and to make strikes legal. The formation of the Provisional Government made it evident that the tsar is over. However, the Provisional Government may have some problems in the near future. -
Lenin and the April Thesis
Lenin was in exile for his revolutionary ideas and was smuggled back to Russia by the Germans. On April 16th, 1917 he arrived back to Russia and was disturbed by how unwilling the revolutionaries were in pushing the revolution against the Provisional Government. Lenin then introduced the "April Thesis" which developed his slogan of "Peace, Bread and Land". Due to this Lenin gained recognition of being a leader by the Bolsheviks and Soviets and it formed the basis of the revolutionaries' fights. -
A new Prime Minister
Once, Lenin had fled from the Provisional Government, Alexander Kerensky who was a moderate had now become P.M. As well the more conservative socialists were able to make some more gains. -
July Days
During July 16th to the 18th, the Bolsheviks tried to join with radical soldiers and mobs to seize power and overthrow the government. Lenin then had to flee to Finland away from the Provisional Government after the failure of the July Days rebellion. Lenin had to flee because he was being accused of a German agent. Regardless of the fact that Lenin was in Finland, he still was able to control the Bolsheviks in Russia which showed how much influence Lenin had on the revolutionaries. -
State Conference
During late August there was a major conference held between former and current government officials to try and solve the problems that Russia was having. However all the conference did was underline the rift between the different views in solutions from the Marxists and the Non Marxists. Outside of this conference, a new alliance was being formed between the communists and the liberals. -
Kornilov Affair
Soon after the state conference, an alliance was formed between the Social Democratics, who were communists led by Alexander Kerensky, and the Constitutional Democratics, who were liberals, led by General Kornilov. Both sides of the alliance decided to send troops to Petrograd through threats of the government. However, during the time Kornilov was betraying Kerensky through the army and as well, trying to remove him from being prime minister. However his plan backfired. -
Bolshevik Revolution
On October 13, the Bolsheviks gained control of Petrograd and on the 23 they took over Moscow with Lenin returning later that day. Together, they joined with Trotsky and the Soviets and on November 7th, the Bolsheviks arrested the provisional government and took over their power. Lenin then led the Russian government to follow Marxism, making Russia no longer a republic. -
Civil War (1917 to 1923)
In Civil war, the Bolsheviks were known as the Reds and all the other groups who were against them were the Whites. The Whites never did well in areas that were controlled by the Bolsheviks like Petrograd, Moscow and Kiev. Then in 1918 came the Allied Intervention and this set the new communist regime against the capitalist West from the beginning. In the summer of 1918, the Whites thought they could take over Moscow by October but failed to do so. reasons for Red's Victory in War. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Lenin had decided to go against everyone and open peace negotiations with Germany. He believes that the young government could not tackle the problems facing Russia and still fight a foreign war. Lenin was willing to give up large pieces of land in exchange for peace with Germany. This marks the end of Russia's involvement in the war. -
War Communism Summer 1918
During the summer of 1918, War Communism started to get a definite shape. With war communism came the nationalization of the industry, introduction of compulsory labour, and the suppressing of private trade. Additionally with all these new changes came unhappy peasants who found the new system to be quite unfair. -
New Government Winter 1918 and First Months
Lenin's government has two initiatives; (1) The war needs to end immediately, and (2) That it is formalized if the peasants should seize the land. Under the Council of the People's Commissars, the Soviets established a new government. Within the first months there have been significant changes made that led to the introduction of communism. -
Comintern Establishment
In 1919, comintern was established with the purpose of supervising the international communist revolution. But in 1922, Lenin decided to hold this off because he needed communism in the U.S.S.R to be built and finalized. -
New Economic Policy
When it had become evident that War Communism would not put U.S.S.R on the road to economic recovery, the New Economic Policy was launched in March, 1921. Lenin's flexibility in compromising his Marxist ideals with what the citizens of Russia even if it some of it was a bit related to capitalism played a huge factor in how the policy were to turn out. This is the first successful compromise in Russian Government History. -
Treaty of Rapallo
Lenin's government entering agreement with Germany was a beneficial idea for both sides. This new relationship helped to improve the economic states of both countries, since both were affected by the First World War. They made the agreement that the U.S.S.R would manufacture illegal war materials for Germany that were forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles and Germany made the agreement to send out steel manufacturing technology to the U.S.S.R. This shows Russia's need to expand industrially. -
Lenin's Death
In 1921, Lenin had been shot and although the shot was not fatal, Lenin failed to fully recovered and died 3 years later in 1924. Now the power of ruling U.S.S.R was left for Leon Trotsky (The Left Opposition) and Joseph Stalin (The Moderates) to battle over. -
The Power Struggle
Once Lenin had passed away, two leaders had stepped up to take over his position and emerged in a power struggle. The moderates, led by Joseph Stalin wanted to continue Lenin's N.E.P. and were more patient in trying to build a communist state. On the other hand, The Left Opposition, led by Leon Trotsky was much more impatient and wanted communism right away. In 1927 Stalin had won the struggle, expelling Trotsky from the Party and in the next year Trotsky was exiled. How was he able to do this?? -
Kellogg-Briand Pact
This pact was the U.S.S.R's first inclusion in western affairs. Specifically, the pact strongly encouraged for collective security between the eastern and western nations. The pact believed that denouncing the war would be a method to solve disputes. The U.S.S.R was now able to get out of political isolation, regardless of the fact that WW11 was arising. -
First Five Year Plan (1928)
This plan was made my Stalin and was used to force industrialization for its country so that they could survive and still participate in world affairs. The main components of the First Five Year Plan were a Command Economy, Collectivization, and Heavy Industry. By the end of this, the plan was only able to meet its goal in the oil industry and make some radical improvements to production. The significance of this plan was that it showed that Stalin was determined to protect U.S.S.R. -
Normalization (1932 - 1935)
With the disastrous effects of the First World War and the Civil war, U.S.SR began to build a strong military. However U.S.S.R's production was misleading because quantity was always emphasized over quality. Along with this the U.S.S.R signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact to denounce war as a way of solving disputes with other nations as well as joining the League of Nations in 1934. In Addition the U.S.S.R signed with other countries several non-aggression pacts. Furthermore... -
Second Five Year Plan (1933 & 1934)
The Second Five Year Plan was introduced in 1933 and was able to set up goals until 1937. However, due the mini-revolts amongst the party officials who were saying the plan was too harsh, it was modified in 1934. As well, the group had tried to push Kirov, their leader as a new power but Stalin had him shot in December 1934. This is significant because it led to the beginning of the purges. -
U.S.S.R and the League of Nations.
In 1934, U.S.S.R had joined the other countries in the League of Nations. By doing so the U.S.S.R had significantly added to the development of a Soviet Foreign Policy under the rule of Stalin. -
The Purges (1934 - 1941)
Due to the shooting of Kirov by Stalin came a beginning of the Purges. There were secret police that were first called the OGPU and then later renamed to be the NKVD. The NKVD was Stalin's instrument in removing his enemies. They charged the old heroes of the revolution with treason and trying to overthrow the government. Stalin then carried the purge into the Red Army where he executed 1 of 5 officers in the army. Stalin would soon find these decisions to haunt him later on. In addition... -
Appeasement Crisis - Negotiations with the West (Summer, 1939)
Stalin was started to get suspicious of the west during the Munich Crisis. Stalin was ready to fight for the ownership of Czechoslovakia but he was not invited to Munich to do this. Once the west had given Czechoslovakia away, Stalin knew he was fighting on his own. In the summer of 1939, U.S.S.R, France, and Britain tried to negotiate with the west starting talks about Hitler. The western countries never took them seriously and only sent a low ranked commission to Moscow. Stalin got impatient! -
Nazi-Soviet Pact
In Moscow on August 23rd, 1939, Germany and the U.S.S.R signed an agreement of strict neutrality even though the Soviets and the Nazis hate each other. Hitler (Germany) was on a one-front war with the west, while Stalin got time to prepare. The division of Poland was a secret part of their agreement. This is significant because the 2 countries who had suffered the most during the First World War were now preparing for a second world war. -
Operation Barbarossa
Germany invaded the Soviet Union even though they had the Nazi-Soviet Pact. U.S.S.R was now brought into another problem with world conflict. This is significant because it now put the U.S.S.R on the battle field where it will truly show if the economic, social, and political matters of Russia are strong enough to last another war.
