-
1894
Czar Alexander III dies after a sudden illness and his son, Nicholas II, becomes the ruler of Russia -
1895
Lenin is arrested, kept in solitary confinement for 13 months, and then exiled to Siberia for three years. -
1896
Nicholas II crowned czar of Russia -
Period: to
1903
The Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) meeting in which the Party splits into two factions: Mensheviks ("minority") and Bolsheviks ("majority") -
1904
After having four girls, Czarina Alexandra gives birth to a son, Alexei. -
Period: to
1905
Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg begins the 1905 Russian Revolution, The October Manifesto, issued by Czar Nicholas II, brings an end to the 1905 Russian Revolution by promising civil liberties and an elected parliament (Duma). -
1906
A constitution (the Fundamental Laws of 1906) is created, reflecting the promises made in the October Manifesto. -
1914
World War I begins -
1915
Czar Nicholas II assumes supreme command of the Russian Army. -
1916
Rasputin is murdered -
Period: to
1917
The February Revolution begins with strikes, demonstrations, and mutinies in Petrograd (also called the March Revolution if following the Gregorian calendar). -
Period: to
1917
Czar Nicholas II abdicates and includes his son. The following day, Nicholas' brother, Mikhail announced his refusal to accept the throne. Provisional Government formed
Lenin returns from exile and arrives in Petrograd via a sealed train -
Period: to
1917
The July Days begin in Petrograd with spontaneous protests against the Provisional Government; after the Bolsheviks unsuccessfully try to direct these protests into a coup, Lenin is forced into hiding. -
1917
Alexander Kerensky becomes Prime Minister of the Provisional Government. -
Period: to
1917
The Kornilov Affair, a failed coup by General Lavr Kornilov, commander of the Russian Army -
Period: to
1917
The October Revolution - the Bolsheviks take over Petrograd (also called the November Revolution if following the Gregorian calendar)
The Winter Palace, the last holdout of the Provisional Government, is taken by the Bolsheviks; the Council of People's Commissars (abbreviated as Sovnarkom), led by Lenin, is now in control of Russia -
Period: to
1918
The new Bolshevik government converts Russia from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar turning February 1 into February 14 -
1918
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, between Germany and Russia, is signed and takes Russia out of World War I -
1918
The Bolshevik Party changes its name to the Communist Party -
1918
The capital of Russia is changed from St. Petersburg to Moscow -
1918
Russian civil war begins -
1918
Czar Nicholas II and his family are executed -
1918
An assassination attempt leaves Lenin seriously wounded -
1920
Russian civil war ends -
1922
Stalin is appointed General Secretary -
1922
Lenin suffers first stroke -
1922
Lenin suffers second stroke and retires from politics -
1922
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) established -
1924
Lenin dies; Stalin will become his successor -
1925
Stalin publicly attacks Trotsky for being unfaithful to "Leninism." -
1926
Birth of Stalin's third child, Svetlana -
1926
At the Fifteenth Party Congress, Stalin attacks the "United Opposition" of Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Trotsky. -
1927
Kamenev and Zinoviev expelled from the Party; Trotsky expelled and sent to Central Asia. -
1929
Stalin begins assault on Bukharin -
Period: to
1929
·Bukharin removed from the Politburo
·Stalin announces "liquidation of the kulaks as a class"; collectivization begins in earnest. -
1931
Terrible famine across the Soviet Union; millions die -
1932
Suicide of Nadezhda -
1934
Murder, by Stalin's agents, of Sergei Kirov. Beginning of "Great Terror," which continues until 1938. -
1935
·Zinoviev, Kamenev, and others are arrested, accused of complicity in Kirov's assassination. -
1936
First "Show Trial." Zinoviev, Kamenev, and their allies confess and are executed. -
1937
·Purge of the army begins, top generals are tried and executed -
1939
·At Eighteenth Party Congress, Stalin announces end of the Great Terror. -
1940
Trotsky assassinated, by Stalin's agents, in Mexico City. -
Period: to
1942
Battle of Stalingrad. Germans are defeated, marking the turning point in the war. -
1945
Hitler commits suicide in bombed-out Berlin, ending war in Europe. Red Army controls all of Eastern Europe. -
1945
United States uses atomic bomb against Japan, bringing an end to the war in the Pacific. -
1948
Communists seize power in Czechoslovakia, cementing Soviet control of Eastern Europe. -
1949
Soviets explode their first atomic bomb. -
1949
Stalin celebrates his seventieth birthday. -
Period: to
1950
Sino-Soviet Treaty signed
Korean War -
1953
Announcement of Jewish "Doctors' Plot" against Stalin, plans for new wave of terror. -
1953
Death of Stalin
