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Tsar Alexander II passes the Emancipation Edict, ending serfdom in Russia (but keeps peasants tied to the land through continuing labour obligations).
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Tsar Alexander II is assassinated by a member of the radical group People’s Will. He is succeeded by his son, Alexander III, who enacts anti-terrorism measures that curb civil rights and freedom of the press.
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Pogroms against Jews spread across the Russian Empire, leading to mass emigration of the Jewish population.
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Tsar Alexander III dies after a sudden illness; his son Nicholas (Nicholas II) assumes the throne.
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Nicholas (Nicholas II) assumes the throne after his fathers death
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The Khodynka Tragedy:
A stampede in Moscow occurs during festivities following Nicholas II’s coronation, as crowds, worried that the supplies of free souvenirs would run out, rushed for the stalls to get them. This results in the deaths of over 1,300 people. -
1905 Revolution The two year period starting with Bloody Sunday and subsequent civil unrest, and ending with the Coup of June 1907.
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Bloody Sunday – Troops and police open fire on a peaceful demonstration outside a Palace and elsewhere in St Petersburg, killing and injuring around 1,000 people. Blame is placed on Nicholas II.
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Sailors mutiny on the battleship Potemkin, part of the Black Sea Fleet. The mutiny triggers riots in Odessa, which are put to an end by troops on the Tsar’s orders.
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Tsar Nicholas II issues the October Manifesto, promising civil liberties (such as freedom of speech) and an elected parliament. As a result, restrictions are implemented on the absolute power of the Russian monarch, and a de facto constitution (the Fundamental Laws of 1906) is issued. The Duma was established by Tsar Nicholas II in his October Manifesto.
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Coup of June 1907, which led to the dissolution of the Second State Durma of the Russian Empire, the arrest of some its members and a fundamental change in the Russian electoral law.
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1914: Germany declares war on Russia, with Russia entering the First World War.
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Grigorii Rasputin, the controversial ‘holy man’ and close friend of Tsar Nicholas II’s family, is murdered after several failed attempts.
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February Revolution (23 February – 3 March) 1917
A series of public protests begin in Petrograd (St Petersburg), which last for eight days and eventually result in abolition of the monarchy in Russia. The total number of killed and injured in clashes with the police and government troops in Petrograd is estimated around 1,300 people. -
On International Women’s Day, demonstrators and striking workers many of whom are women they take to the streets to protest against food shortages and the war. Two days later, the strikes spread across Petrograd (St Petersburg).
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A telegram sent to the Allied Powers by Foreign Minister Pavel Milyukov states the Provisional Government’s intention to continue the war. The note is leaked, resulting in protests and increased support for the Bolsheviks.
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Russia is officially declared a republic.
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October Revolution: The Bolsheviks seize control of Petrograd (St Petersburg)
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The Bolsheviks take control of the Winter Palace, the last remaining holdout of the Provisional Government.
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The Decrees on Land (proclaiming abolition of private property and the redistribution of the land amongst the peasants), and Peace (proposing an immediate withdrawal of Russia from the First World War), are issued by the new Bolshevik government. Subsequent workers’ decrees outline measures for an eight-hour working day, minimum wage and the running of factories. The death penalty is abolished once again.
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Series of spontaneous armed anti-government demonstrations of industrial workers and soldiers. Lvov resigns from the Provisional Government.
Alexander Kerensky taking over and crushing the demonstrations. The death penalty is reintroduced and women are granted the right to vote and hold office. The failed uprising results in the Soviets losing their control over the Government, (ending ‘Dual Power’) This is seen as the point of no return for the peaceful development of the Revolution. -
A failed coup by General Kornilov, takes place, when he orders troops towards Petrograd to counter the threat of the Bolsheviks. Prime Minister Kerensky presents Kornilov’s actions as an attempted right wing coup. The affair secures power for the Bolsheviks among working classes, and soldiers, and crushes the credibility of a coalition Provisional Government between socialists and liberals due to the Kadets (Constitutional Democrats) and even Kerensky himself being implicated in the affair.
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On March 8, 1917, demonstrators clamoring for bread took to the streets of the Russian capital of Petrograd. Supported by 90,000 men and women on strike, the protesters clashed with police, refusing to leave the streets. On March 10, the strike spread among Petrograd’s workers, and irate mobs of workers destroyed police stations. Several factories elected deputies to the Petrograd Soviet (“council) of workers, following the model devised during the Revolution of 1905.
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Tsar Nicholas II abdicates and also removes his son from the succession. The following day Nicholas’ brother Mikhail announces his refusal to accept the throne. A Provisional Government is formed to replace the tsarist government, with Prince Lvov becoming the leader.
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The Decree on the Press, the first Bolshevik censorship decree, abolishes the ‘bourgeois’ press.
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Elections to the Constituent Assembly take place. The Socialist Revolutionaries win the largest number of seats, while the Bolsheviks win less than one-quarter of the vote.
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An armistice between Russia and the Central Powers is signed, and fighting stops.
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The Constituent Assembly meets but is dissolved by the Bolsheviks.
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Brest-Litovsk Treaty
Russia ends its participation in the First World War. Bolshevik Russia loses one-third of the old empire’s population, one-third of its railway network, half its industry, three-quarters of its supplies of iron ore, nine-tenths of its coal resources and much of its food supplies. -
The first constitution of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic grants equal rights to men and women.
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Tsar Nicholas II and his family are executed by the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg.
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Beginning of ‘Red Terror’: An assassination attempt on Lenin by the Socialist Revolutionary Fanny Kaplan leaves him seriously wounded. The attempt, together with the murder of Uritskii, sparks a period of mass arrests and executions known as the ‘Red Terror’.
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The Council of People’s Commissars (Sovnarkom) issues a decree forming the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army.
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The Comintern (or Third International) is formed in Moscow, with the aim of spreading revolution all over the world.
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The Red Army invades and occupies Crimea and their Army is forced to withdraw.
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March 1921
The Kronstadt mutiny, an unsuccessful uprising against the Bolsheviks, takes place. -
End of ‘War Communism’ and the introduction of the ‘New Economic Policy’ (NEP).
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3 April 1922
Stalin is appointed General Secretary of the Communist Party. December 1922
Creation of the Soviet Union. -
Lenin dies, leading to a power struggle within the party. Stalin emerges as Party leader.
