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Marxists Revolutionaries Split
Marxists revolutionaries disagree over revolutionary tactics. The more radical Bolsheviks are ready to risk everything. The charismatic Vladimir Lenin becomes the leader. -
Japan Attacks Russia
Japan attacks Russians at Port Arthur, Manchuria. Japan attacked because Russia broke the agreements that they had with Japan over Korea and Manchuria. -
Workers Storm Winter Palace
About 200,000 workers and their families went to the czar’s winter palace in St. Petersburg. They had a petition for better working conditions, more personal freedom and an elected national legislature. Nicholas II’s generals ordered fire. More that 1,000 were wounded and several hundred were killed. It provoked many waves of strikes and violence across the country. -
Duma Meets for First Time
First day that the Duma (Russian Parliament) met. It’s leaders wanted a constitutional monarchy similar to Britain. But the czar dissolved it after 10 weeks because he was scared of its power. -
Russia Joins World War 1
Nicholas II decided that Russia should join World War 1. Russia wasn’t prepared to handle the costs of the war. They had weak troops and generals and were no match for the Germans. Before the first year, 4 million soldiers were killed. -
Women Hold Citywide Strike
Women Textile workers in Petrograd led a citywide strike. Soon after, riots over shortages of bread and fuel arose. Nearly 200,000 workers were in the streets. The riots forced czar Nicholas II to step down. A year later he and his family were executed. Leaders of the Duma established a provisional government, headed by Alexander Kerensky. Soviets were formed of workers, peasants and soldiers and sometimes had more say than the government. Lenin returned to Russia in April 1917. -
Bolsheviks Storm Winter Palace
Armed factory workers stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd. They took over government offices and arrested leaders of the provisional government. They called themselves the Bolshevik Red Guards. After that, Lenin ordered that all farmland be distributed among peasants. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Russia and Germany signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Russia surrendered a large part of its territory to Germany and its allies. It angered Russians. -
Civil War in Russia
Civil war raged in Russia. Several Western nations, including the US, sent military aid and forces to Russia to help the army. However, they were little help. 14 million Russians died and famine followed. In the end, the Bolsheviks won, showing that they were powerful. -
New Economic Policy
Lenin temporarily put aside his plan for a state-controlled economy. Instead he had a small version of capitalism called the New Economic Policy. It allowed peasants to sell their surplus crops instead of giving them to the government. The government had control of major industries, banks and means of communication, but lt some businesses, farms, etc. run under private ownership. -
USSR
The country was named The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The Bolsheviks renamed their party the Communist party. Lenin had a stroke, and the communists had a petition to vote for a new leader. Joseph Stalin became the leader of the Communist party.
