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He was given the name "Ivan the Terrible" for his crushing of all opposition to his rule and expanding his realms borders into non-Slav territories.
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Known as Peter the Great, he was determined to modernize Russia by enlarging its terriories, buiding a strong military, and developing trade with western Europe.
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When the Romanov dynasty came to power, the government tightened its grip on the people.
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Peasants became "serfs." which were virtually enslaved workforces bound to the land and under the control of nobility.
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Revolution forces Czar Nicholas II to abdicate his throne. Lenin becomes leader of Russia afterwards.
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The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is established.
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Vladimir Lenin dies. Joseph Stalin emerges as the new Leader
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Pact gave the Soviet Union control over Estonia, Latvia, Lituania, and eastern Poland. Germany and the Soviet Union promise not to attack each other.
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Germany attacked the Soviet Union, drawing it into World War II.
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Germany was defeated in World War II. Postwar agreements gave the USSR influence over eastern and southeastern Europe.
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After his death, Nikita Khrushchev becomes the Communist Party Leader.
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Gorbachev comes to power and proposes perestroika, a restructuring of the economy.
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