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Birth of Karl Marx
Karl Marx, father of Communism, is born in Trier, Prussia (Germany) -
Publication of the Communist Manifesto
The Communist Manifesto is a short book written by the German Marxist political theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles in 1848, and is often recognized as one of the world's most influential political manuscripts. -
Emancipation of Labour Group Formed
Emancipation of Labour group was formed in 1883 by Georgi Plekhanov and was the first Russian Marxist group. -
Russian Social Democratio Party Formed
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party formed March 1898 in Minsk to unite the various revolutionary groups into one party. -
Lenin publishes Iskra
Iskra "The Spark" was written by Lenin for the Russian Social Democrat Labour Party. It informed the public about communism and its motto was "From a spark a flame will flare up". -
The Bolshevik/Menshevik Split
The Mensheviks believed that Russia was not yet ready for the Revolution, as they were a mass party with democratic procedures and were prepared to ally with other revolutionary parties. The Bolsheviks believed that a revolution could be achieved without the bourgeois; they restricted membership of the party, and instead vested their authority in a Central Committee rather than cooperating with other parties. -
Lenin Publishes Materialism
This was a philosophical study that was forced to be taught as part of the curriculum called “Marxist-Leninist Philosophy” in high schools. In it Lenin taught that human perceptions correctly and accurately reflect the objective external world. -
Lenin in Exile
During Lenin’s exile to escape arrest by the Tsarist regime, he moved to neutral Switzerland, residing first at Bern, then at Zürich, where he stayed during World War I. He had urged active opposition to the war effort and attended several conferences of radical socialists opposed to the war. -
Lenin Returns to Russia
Lenin arrived back in Petrograd to lead the revolution and was greeted by a crowd of workers, sailors and soldiers bearing red flags. -
April Theses
A series of theses set out by Lenin on his return to Russia calling for soviets to take power. -
War Communism
War Communism was the name given to the economic system that existed in Russia from 1918 to 1921, introduced by Lenin to combat the economic problems brought on by the civil war. It was a combination of emergency measures and socialist dogma. -
Union of Sovet Socialist Republics Established
Russia expanded its borders by essentially absorbing neighboring republics. This not only increased the land mass controlled by Russia, but also increased the labor pool and the amount of natural resources available. It included Russia and 14 other soviet socialist republics, Ukraine and Byelorussia and others included.
