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The Great North War begins
The Great Northern War lasted from 1700 to 1721. It was a fight between King Charles XII from Sweeden and an alligence lead by Russia's Peter the Great. Russia's part in this was that they wanted a port to connect to the fast changing west. And the most accessable port they could fine was the Baltic bay. -
The Great North War ends
By the end of the war, Sweden had lost her total domination as the leading power in the Baltic region and was replaced by Peter the Great and Russia. -
The Decembrist Revolution
About 3,000 members of military staged an uprising against Tsar Nicholas I, because they did not agree with his policies and ideas. The results of this revolt would lead to the beginning of revolutionary affect on the people of Russia. -
Czar Alexander II presented the idea of freeing serfs
Tsar Alexander II spoke before the gentry of Moscow and asked them to consider emancipation of the serfs. He had reminded them that it would be "better to begin to get rid of serf law from above rather than wait for a rising from below." -
Comittees gather in Russia's many provinces
Committees of gentry gathered in Russia's various provinces and, representing the gentry in general, nine met in what was called a Main Committee. This was located at St. Petersburg and it was here that the "main commitee" had agreed to the abolition of serfdom. They also agreed that it should the tsar decided to do so. -
Czar Alexander II emancipates the serfs
Alexander issued his Emancipation Manifesto.He placed Count Panin in charge of the program of emancipation. He had owned 20,000 serfs. The lords were to receive compensation as treasury bonds, and the freed serfs had to pay for their freedom. But they were allowed to pay as a group. -
Assassanation of Czar Alexander II
Czar Alexander II was killed on the streets of St. Petersburg by a bomb. The bomb was thrown by a person who was a part of the "People's Will" group. The People's Will employed terrorism and assassination in their attempt to overthrow Russia's czar rule. They murdered officials and made several attempts on the czar's life before finally assassinating him. Alexander II's assassins were arrested and hanged. The People's Will was really saddened by that. -
Russo-Japanese War starts
In the Russo-Japanese War, military from Japan stopped Russia from expanding its kingdom in the Far East. This was the first Asian supremicy in "modern times" to stop and beat a European power. -
Bloody Sunday
A group of workers led by Priest Gapon marched peacefully to the czar's Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to meet their demands. Soldiers opened fire on the marchers, killing and wounding hundreds. Strikes and riots broke out throughout the country in response to the massacre. -
Revolution of 1905 begins
This was sparked off by a peaceful protest held on January 22nd. This protest may well have been the turning point in the relationship the tsar had with his people. Led by Father Gapon, 150,000 people marched out in the cold of St Petersburg to protest about their lifestyle. No intending any harm over the czar or any other officials, the people marched over to the czar's palace. But these innocent people were fired upon by soldiers. The reaction to this was a revolt by all the working people. -
Russo-Japanese War ends
On September 5th, a peace settlement was signed in Kittery, Maine (U.S.), which ended the Russo-Japanese War. According to the treaty, the defeated Russians recognized Japan as the higher power in Korea. They turned over their leases of Port Arthur and the Liaotung Peninsula, plus the southern half of Sakhalin Island to Japan. Both Russia and Japan agreed to return Manchuria to China. -
Russia joins World War I
On 1st August 1914 Germany declared war on Russia because it had mobilized the previous day. The annoucement was greeted with absolutely delirious applause in Germany.
Russia helped Serbia throughout most of the war. Being the largest army in the world at the time, it used much of its forces to defend its "little brother" Serbia. Eventually, Russia had to withdraw from the war due to a communist revolution in Russia led by Vladimir Lenin. -
March Revolution begins
This revolution had toppled the Russian rule and established a "Provisional Government." Eventhough many wanted a revolution, nobody expected it to happen when it did, or how it did for that matter. For one part, some 90,000 women workers in Petrograd left their posts in their factories and swarmed the streets to protest. Known to be on International Women's Day, the women of Russia were ready to be heard. -
Czar Nicholas II abdicated the throne
During the March (also known as "February") Revolution, Czar Nicholas II is forced to abdicate the throne. He was forced do so by the Petrograd insurgents. They had a provincial government installed in his place. -
March Revolution ends
"The present ruler has lost absolutely the affection of the Russian people, and whatever the future may have in store for the dynasty, the present tsar will never again be safe in the midst of his people." The American consul in Odessa
Nicholas had two choices. He could use force, but he had no guarantee that this would be successful or he could make a conciliatory offer. He did the latter by issuing the October Manifesto on October 30th. The revolution ended in November.