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Russian Revolution
By March 1917 (late February) most of the workers in Petrograd (St. Petersburg) and Moscow were striking and rioting for higher food rations. Many of the soldiers refused to suppress the insurgents; military insubordination and mutiny spread. Nicholas II ineffectually sought to put down the workers by force and also dissolved the Duma. The Duma refused to obey, and the Petrograd insurgents took over the capital. Nicholas was forced to abdicate and the Duma had appointed a government. -
Bolshevik Revolution
In early October of 1917, Lenin convinced the Bolshevik Party to form an immediate insurrection against the Provisional Government. The armed workers known as Red Guards and the other revolutionary groups moved on the night of Nov. 6-7 under the orders of the Soviet's Military Revolutionary Committee. Once the shot rang out from the Battleship Aurora, the thousands of people in the Red Guard stormed the Winter Palace. V. I. Lenin announced his attempt to construct the socialist order in Russia. -
Creation of the Communist Party
Lenin declared the new communist government on 8 November 1917. The first Communist Party started in the Soviet Union when the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party split in two and the Bolshevik faction became the Communist Party and then suppressed the other party. The name Russian Communist Party was adopted in 1918. This was the start of the communist reign that would last for over 70 years. -
Lenin's New Economic Plan
Lenin's New Economic Policy was a temporary retreat from full socialism to partial capitalism for the purpose of rebuilding Russia's economy. The NEP permitted small businesses to make personal profits and permitted almost all of the peasant farmers to keep and sell their produce as they wished. Elements of capitalism such as individual profit and private ownership of land were permitted in order to revitalize the Russian economy. -
Establishment if the USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics began in 1922 with Russia and three other republics: Belorussia, Ukraine and the Transcaucasian Republic (which was made up of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). This was the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism. -
Stalin's 5 Year Plan
The five year plan was created expedite the industrialization of Russia and increase production of coal, steel and iron. Stalin created the five year plan in order to catch up with the rest of the industrialized world. Each business or factory was required to meet a quota through a system called Collectivization. During the first five year plan dams, railroads, canals, mines and factories were built. Since it was a success Stalin made many more five year plans throughout his reign. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was when the Russian’s started building missiles in Cuba as a way to deter the United States from launching an attack on Russia. But John Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev negotiated and war was averted. The U.S. had to remove their missiles from Turkey in exchange for Russia removing their missiles from Cuba. -
Glasnost/Perestroika
Gorbachev‘s “perestroika” (“restructuring”) allowed private business ownership for the first time in decades, while “glasnost” (“openness”) brought the country’s problems out into the open. Thousands of political prisoners were released. He decided that the USSR wouldn’t deal with the East European Soviet satellite states. Each of their governments collapsed due to anti-communist revolutions. In 1989, Soviet forces pulled out of Afghanistan, ending a decade-long war. -
End of the Communist Party
The satellite states in Eastern Europe became more open in their demands of freedom from communist governance in their republics. Many revolutions happened in 1989, most of them involved overthrowing the communist government and replacing it with republics. And, as a result of perestroika and glasnost, Communism collapsed, not only in the USSR but also in Eastern Europe. In December 1991, the republics met to discuss a system, which eventually became the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). -
Government in Russia after 1991
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Council of Ministers had become the main executive body. The government makes the decisions, orders, and laws. These must not go against the constitution, constitutional laws, federal laws, and Presidential decrees, and are signed by the Prime Minister. -
Russian Stock mArket Crash of 1998
The crash started on August 17, 1998, and it overtook the country in a day. Retail prices were raised over 30% because of the drop in ruble value. Millions who had deposited money into banks lost everything. The millions of senior citizens who had pending pensions had nothing. Over 11.3 million Russians were jobless at the end of 1998. That’s 7.7% of the nation's total population. -
Russian Stock Market Crash of 2008
Almost exactly 10 years after the financial crash of 1998 history repeated itself. On Sept. 16, Moscow's largest stock exchange, MICEX, fell by 17.5 %, the largest one-day loss in a decade, while the rival RTS exchange was down by 11.5 %. The Russian central bank put $14.1 billion into the financial system, while the Finance Ministry said it would provide $44.9 billion in short-term loans to the country's biggest banks.
