-
Alexander III halts all reforms to begin autocracy
An autocracy is a form of government in which Alexander III had total power. Alexander III used harsh measure like strict censorship on published materials and private letters. Secret police rounded up political prisoners and sent them to Siberian prisons called gulags. In addition, Alexander attempted to unify Russian culture by blocking out minority groups and making Russian the official language. -
Ministers launch program to move country forward
Rapid industrialization leads to angered citizens. This was the result of poor working conditions and low ages. Unions were outlawed, leading to a proletarian uprising. -
Nicholas II becomes Czar; autocracy continues
Nicholas II was the last tsar of Russia under Romanov rule. His poor handling of Bloody Sunday and Russia’s role in World War I led to his abdication and execution. Ultimately, Nicholas could not adapt to how Russia was changing due to modernization. -
Number of factories doubles and Russia becomes the 4th producer of steel in the world
Russia’s industrialization led to them becoming the 4th producer of steel in the world, and the number of factories in the country doubled. The industrialization created many jobs but angered the people. Dropping the conditions of living in russia, and sending the people into a depression. -
Proletarians split into two groups, the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks
Lenin (Vladimir ILyich Ulyanov) was the leader of the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks supported a small number of committed revolutionaries willing to sacrifice everything for change. The major leader of the Bolsheviks was Lenin, who had an engaging personality. These traits helped him gain power in the early 1900’s. -
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese war was a mlitary conflict in which a victorious Japan forced Russia to abandon its expansionist policy in the Far East, becoming the first Asian power in modern times to defeat a European power. The Russo-Japanese War developed out of the rivalry between Russia and Japan for dominance in Korea and Manchuria. In 1898 Russia had pressured China into granting it a lease for the strategically important port of Port Arthur -
Bloody Sunday
This protest may well have been the turning point in the relationship the tsar, Nicholas II, enjoyed with his people. 150,000 people took to the cold and snow covered streets of St Petersburg to protest about their lifestyle. They were not intent on making any form of political protest in the sense of calling for the overthrow of the government or royal family. The petition they carried clearly shows that they wanted Nicholas to help them began as a relatively peaceful protest by disgruntled ste -
Russian involvement in WWI, 1914-1917
Nicholas II drags an unprepared Russia into WWI. Germans destroyed the weak and disorganized Russian forces. Nicholas II moves his headquarters to the front in 1915, in an attempt to rally his troops. The front remained a disaster, with casualties mounting and the Russian economy becoming decimated. Nicholas was unable to resolve these issues, ultimately leading to the March Revolution. -
Men and women declared equal
Along with gaining equality, women were forced to join the labor force. Medicine attracted many women doctors; by 1950, 75% of Soviet doctors were women. Women greatly assisted in allowing the economy to prosper. -
March Revolution
The three-century czarist rule of the Romanovs finally collapsed. Leaders of the Duma established a provisional government, or temporary government. Autocratic rule was over. -
Winter Palace stormed
Armed factory workers stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd. Within days after the Bolshevik takeover, Lenin ordered that all farmland be distributed among the peasants. Control of factories was given to the workers. -
Civil war rages in Russia, 1918-1920
The White Army fights the Bolshevik Red Army, which is expertly commanded by Leon Trotsky. The White Army was made up of different groups that supported the return to rule by the Czar, while others wanted democratic government. As a result, the White Army was united only by the desire to defeat the Bolsheviks, leading to little cooperation. -
Russia and Germany sign treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Russia surrendered a lot of territory to Germany and its allies. This humiliated lots of Russians and triggered anger. The royal family was threatened to be murdered -
Government seizes 25 million privately-owned farms and combines them into government collective farms
Peasants fought the government attempting to take their land, resulting in the death of 5-10 million peasants. By 1938, more than 90% of all peasants lived on collective farms, and agricultural production was nearly twice as high as it had been in 1928. State farms were also opened, which were run by factories. -
The Great Purge, 1937-1938
In 1937 the Great Purge was a terror campaign aimed at killing “Enemies of the state” and it ended in 1938 . The Great Purge targeted the Bolsheviks who helped stage the Revolution in 1917. 8-13 million people were killed.
