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Revolution of 1905 and the October Manifesto
The Russian Revolution of 1905 was a Revolution that took place shortly after bloody Sunday- a massacre sparked by the Russian people’s discontent with the economic situation and work conditions of Russia. This resulted in the October Manifesto which limited the Tsar’s powers as well as established dumas, -
Beginning of WWI
Russia got involved through the Triple entente agreement as well as their alliance with Serbia. This resulted in many different issues economically as well as politically and was the beginning of the end for the Tsardom. -
Czar Nicholas II takes sole control of military operations
What was originally supposed to boost morale of the people and increase nationalism became a sign of the Tsar not caring for its people by going off to war- leaving behind an economically unstable country. -
Assassination of Rasputin
Rasputin was an easy way to discredit the Romanov Dynasty. With the death of him, it allowed an easier way to remove Romanovs from power and eventually kill them. -
Brusilov Offensive
The Brusilov Offensive is known as one of the most lethal offensives in all of world history and the most lethal offensives of Russia during World War One. It has been even described as Austria-Hungary’s worst crisis during the war and the Triple Entendre’s greatest victory. Although successful, the casualties suffered by the offensive would contribute to its collapse one year later. -
The Cheka (secret police) is created
The Cheka were ruthless, an estimated half-million people were shot; Black marketers, hoarders, speculators and kulaks were sent to labor camps or shot, the harsh treatment extending to the victim's families/villages -
Provisional Government formed
A result of the Tsar stepping down- not very effective and lead to the people of Russia being unhappy with the system and political instability -
Kornilov Affair
The Kornilov Affair was an attempted military coup d'etat on the Russian army. While this coup was not successful it had a postive impact on the Bolsheviks. The Kornilov Affair, for example, revived interest and support for the Bolshevik party. Because of this attempted coup, the Kornilov Affair helped pave the way for another revolution -
Trotsky organizes Red Guard to defend Petrograd
Made up of volunteer soldiers of factory workers, peasants, and sailors, the Red Guard was a transitional military force that marked the first force after the fall of Imperial Russia. They served as the base of formation for the Bolsheviks and defended both Moscow and Petrograd serving as a regular military (though made up of mostly the urban population). -
International Women’s Day March in Petrograd
Sparked the riots of the eventual 1918 revolution. -
Nicholas II Abdicates
Tsar steps down as the tsar-marks the end of the monarchy and leads to the eventual takeover. -
April Theses
The April Theses were a series of directives written by Lenin. This was one of his first courses of action after returning to Russia from exile. The papers called for a Soviet control over the state. As a result, they helped inspire the July Days uprisings along with the coup d’etat in October later during the year. -
Return of Lenin from exile
In December 1895, Vladimir Lenin was jailed for a year before being exiled to Serbia for three years. While in exile, he studied in Western Europe where he continued to encourage the Russian Revolution. After being exiled,Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik party, returned to Russia.As a result, he was able to come into power following the Russian Revolution. -
First All-Russian Congress of Soviets meets
The first All-Russian Congress of Soviets was made mostly up of pro-government parties such as Socialist-Revolutionaries. The first congress gave the right to vote to soviets. However, when the October Revolution and overthrow of the Provisional Government occurred, this caused the first congress to disband as a result. -
July Days
The July Days refer to a period of unrest during the Russian Revolution from July 3rd to the 20th. During the protest, armed demonstrators of sailors, soldiers, and industrial workers came together to protest the Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks ended up supporting the demonstration. But, to undermine public favor, the current government produced evidence that Lenin had financial and political ties with Germany. As a result, the Bolshevik Government temporarily lost some of its influence. -
Bolsheviks overthrow the Provisional Government and take control
The Mensheviks and right-wing revolutionaries walked out of Congress after failing to heckle Lenin with accusations of using violence to gain power; Literally left congress in the Bolshevik's hands -
Wartime Communism created
The Supreme Council of the National Economy took control over industrial enterprises
Labor discipline became stricter; National passports were made to keep workers from traveling out to the country (if you left, you were either shot/imprisoned)
Payment = ration tokens -
Red Terror
After two assassination attempts on Lenin, the Cheka pursued the SRs, who retaliated by capturing Felix Dzerzhinsky, assassinating the German ambassador, and murdering two Bolshevik leaders; began a campaign of creating "class enemies" -
Constituent Assembly meets and is disbanded
Elected an SR, so the Bolsheviks left the Tauride Palace; opposing groups were evicted by Bolshevik soldiers and protestors were shot -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The treaty of Brest-Litovsk united many Russians under anti-Bolshevik sentiments (Lenin forced further negotiations even though his party abandoned him; resulted in 1/6 of Russia's population being handed over to the Germans) -
Kolchak's White army begins a Westward push from Siberia
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Poles move toward Kiev
Also known as the Kiev Offensive, its goals were to create a formally independent Ukraine. It was led by Poland’s Chief of State Jozef Pilsudski, in order to seize territories of Ukraine that were under Soviet rule. It led to a counteroffensive by the soviets called the Galician Soviet Socialist Republic & ultimately led to the Poland-Soviet War. -
Soviets attempt to take Warsaw
Also known as the Battle of Warsaw, the goal of this battle was to overtake the Polish capital Warsaw from Poland and capture the Modlin Fortress. The Red Army forces were led by Russia’s Mikhail Tukachevsky, and Polish forces led by Jozef Pilsudski counterattacked, eventually winning. Before the battle, it was seen that Poland would not win Ukraine’s independence, but this battle led to a myriad of victories. -
Tambov Rebellion
After the Bolsheviks came to power and established War Communism, this was one of the biggest and most organized peasants’ rebellions. This occurred in the Tambov province, where the Social Revolutionaries, led by Alexander Antonov, in resistance to the Cheka (secret police) taking the peasants’ grain. It further showed the suppression that peasants faced, as the Red Army was used to take out the peasants that rose up. -
Kronstadt uprising
After the Bolsheviks came to power, the Kronstadt sailors had enough of War Communism and proposed a manifesto to the Bolsheviks hoping to improve conditions. In response, the Red Terror suppressed them, and the sailors mutinied. This was significant because the Kronstadt sailors were big supporters of the October Revolution and helped the Bolsheviks rise to power, now they were upset with how they ruled. -
Ending of Wartime Communism
After being established with Lenin and the Bolshevik’s rise to power in 1918. It came to an end around the end of the Russian Civil War, where the Bolsheviks were victorious. It was replaced with the NEP, which had more capitalistic policies and allowed the citizens a free market. -
Treaty of Rapallo
This treaty was organized between Russia’s Georgi Chicherin and Germany’s Walther Rathneau after World War I discussing territorial and economic matters. This treaty ended all financial claims against the two countries, and strengthen their financial and military ties, especially after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. -
Formation of Soviet Union
After the Civil War in Russia for many years which ended in the Bolsheviks remaining in power, the Soviet Union was created. It was made up of 15 countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Ruled by the Bolsheviks, it was one of the biggest powers. -
Lenin dies
Lenin died 2 years after creating the USSR. After his death, it was difficult to determine who would succeed him, as both Trotsky and Stalin were powerful candidates. In the end, Stalin became ruler of the USSR. -
Supreme Soviet of Ukraine declared independence