Soviet Union By Cvieira Period: Jan 1, 1900 to Jan 1, 2000 Soviet Union Jan 1, 1904 Russo-Japanses War Jan 1, 1906 Duma is created Jan 1, 1914 WW1 Jan 1, 1917 Czar Nicholas II abdicates the throne Oct 1, 1917 November revolution Dec 1, 1917 Russian civil war Jan 11, 1922 Stalin takes over as General Secretary of the Communist Party Jan 1, 1928 1st 5 year plan Jan 1, 1936 Stalins great purge Jan 1, 1953 Stalin dies Jan 1, 1964 Leonid Brezhnev leads the Soviet Union Jan 1, 1985 Gorbachev is named General Secretary of the communist party Jan 1, 1986 Glasnost Jan 1, 1986 Perestroika