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Russia Industrializes
This changed the Russian economy. The number of factories doubled, but Russia was still behind western countries. To change this, Tsar Nicholas had one of his minister's create a program that would move Russia forward. The government raised taxes and found foreign investors to back them. By 1900, Russia was ranked as fourth in the world for producing steel. Working with French and British investors, Russia built the Trans-Siberian Railway which was able to connect them to ports in the Pacific. -
Russian Marxists Split
Russian Marxists split into two groups, the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. The Mensheviks wanted a broad base of support for the revolution, whereas the Bolsheviks wanted were more radical and wanted a smaller number of revolutionaries who would be willing to die for their cause. -
Bloody Sunday
Russian workers attempted to petition Czar Nicholas ll for better working conditions, freedoms, and a representative government. The czar's troops fire on the petitioners and kill several hundred. This event demonstrated the socioeconomic problems suffered by average Russians and the unwillingness of the monarchy to reform. -
Russia Enters World War 1
Russia was unprepared to handle the military and the economic costs that come with war. Their generals were weak and their troops didn't have the equipment needed to fight in a war. During the first year, over 4 million Russian troops had been killed, wounded, or taken as prisoners. WW1 showed the Czar's weakness in military leadership -
Czar Nicholas ll Abdicates
The March Revolution forces Nicholas to abdicate the throne. A year later he and his family are executed. The Romanovs three century long czarist rule has ended. -
Lenin Returns to Russia
Germany believed that Lenin and the Bolshevik's would cause unrest in Russia and would hurt the Russian war effort against them. Germany decided to help Lenin return to Russia. -
The March Revolution
Women textile workers led a citywide strike in Petrograd. Over the next 5 days riots began to flare up about bread and fuel shortages everywhere. At the beginning of these riots soldiers obeyed orders to shoot the rioters, but later they sided with them. This turned into a "general uprising". -
The Bolshevik Revolution
Lenin and the Bolsheviks soon gained control of the Petrograd Soviet, and soviet in other major Russian cities. With the Russian people rallying for Lenin, he decided it was time to take action. Armed factory workers stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd, they called themselves the Bolshevik Red Guards. They took control kf government offices and arrested the leaders of the provisional government. The Bolsheviks were now in control of Russia. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is Signed
Russia and Germany signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, officially ending Russian involvement in WW1.Russia had to surrender a large part of their territory to Fermany and their allies. Many Russians were unhappy with the terms of the treaty and began to object to the Bolsheviks, their policies, and the killing of the royal family. -
Russian Civil War
Opponents of the Bolsheviks came together and created the White Army. The members of the group all had very different ideas about who should be in charge of Russia, and what type of government Russia should be. The only thing that united the White army was defeating the Bolsheviks. Civil war raged in Russia from 1918-1920. Many Western countries sent aide to the White army, in hopes that the Red Army could be defeated, this did nothing to change the outcome. The Red Army won the civil war. -
Lenin Restores Order
Lenin created a small scale version of capitalism called the New Economic Policy. The NEP allowed peasants to sell their surplus crops instead of giving them to the government. The government controlled major industries, banks, and means of communication. Some small factories and businesses were allowed to operate under private ownership and foreign investment was encouraged. The country began to slowly recover. -
The Communist Party
The Bolsheviks rename their party the Communist Party. In 1924 a constitution based on socialist and democratic principles was created. However, the government still held all the power. Lenin had established a dictatorship of the Communist Party. -
Stalin Becomes Dictator
Lenin suffered a stroke in 1922, which set into motion competition for leading the Communist Party. Joseph Stalin worked behind the scenes for years, to gather supporters and move them into positions of power. By 1928, Stalin was an absolute dictator of the USSR.
