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Alexander II crowned emperor
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Russia fights Britain, France, Sardinia, and Ottoman Empire in Crimean War; Russia forced to accept peace settlement dictated by its opponents.
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Treaty of Aigun signed with China; northern bank of Amur River ceded to Russia.
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Treaty of Beijing signed with China; Ussuri River region awarded to Russia.
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Army reformed Russian radicals go to the people.
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Kuril Islands yielded to Japan in exchange for southern Sakhalin Island.
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War with Ottoman Empire ends with Treaty of San Stefano independent Bulgaria proclaimed Russia forced to accept less advantageous terms of Congress of Berlin.
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Alexander II assassinated; Alexander III crowned emperor.
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Nicholas II crowned emperor.
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Russian Social Democratic Labor Party established and holds first congress in March Vladimir Lenin one of organizers of party.
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Russian Social Democratic Labor Party splits into Bolshevik and Menshevik factions.
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Bloody Sunday massacre in January begins Revolution of 1905, a year of labor and ethnic unrest; government issues so-called October Manifesto, calling for parliamentary elections.
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Russo-Japanese War ends with Russian defeat; southern Sakhalin Island ceded to Japan.
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First Duma (parliament) elected.
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Pyotr Stolypin, prime minister since 1906, assassinated.
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World War I begins.
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February Revolution, in which workers riot in Petrograd; Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies formed; Provisional Government formed; Emperor Nicholas II abdicates; Petrograd Soviet issues Order Number One.
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Demonstrations lead to Aleksandr Kerenskiy's assuming leadership in government; Lenin returns to Petrograd from Switzerland.
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Bolsheviks outlawed after attempt to topple government fails.
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Bolsheviks seize power from Provisional Government; Lenin, as leader of Bolsheviks, becomes head of state
