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The German Empire signed a military collaboration with Austria-Hungary and Italy. -
The German Empire offered to help Morocco against France, who wanted to establish a protectorate in the region. -
A revolution broke out in Russia demanding the end of autocracy. There was a peaceful demonstration, but the tsar responded with brutal repression (Bloody Sunday). The Soviets appeared. The Tsar agreed to hold elections by universal suffrage and to promote agrarian reform. He didn't keep him promises. -
The Algeciras Conference, which authorised a Franco-Spanish protectorate, forced the Germans to back down. -
The Algeciras Conference, which authorised a Franco-Spanish protectorate, forced the Germans to back down.
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France, Russia and Britain signed a mutual aid pact, the triple Entente -
The annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary increased tensions in the Balkans. -
The Balkan Wars in 1912 and 1913, Serbia allied with Russia and was the victor. -
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand. -
The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June 1914 set off a chain of events that led to war in early August 1914. The assassination was traced to a Serbian extremist group that wanted to increase Serbian power in the Balkans by breaking up the Austro-Hungarian Empire. -
German gives an ultimatum to France -
The Germans launched a new offensive on the Western Front but were stopped by the French at the Battle of Verdun. The French and British then attacked the German lines at the battle of the Somme. Both offensives achieved very little despite enormous casualties on both sides. -
Romania entered in the war in 1916 -
The victory of the Soviets gave way to Russia's exit from the Great War, the creation of the USSR and the establishment of Stalin's rule after the death of Lenin. -
A huge demonstration was held in Petrograd by women demanding peace and bread. It was followed by a general strike and riots in the barracks -
After the demonstration, the tsar Nicholas II abdicated and a republic was proclaimed. The new republic was headed by a provisional government, which promised to call constituent elections to make Russia a parliamentary democracy. -
American President Woodrow Wilson declares war on Germany -
The Bolsheviks had created the Red Guards (their own armed militia with the support of the Soviets), and prepared for an insurrection on 25 October. The rebels occupied Petrograd, took the Winter Palace and overthrew the provisional government. The revolution quickly spread to Moscow and industrial regions. They proclamed a workers' government led by Lenin. -
An armistice was signed, bringing the war to an end. -
The allied countries signed the Treaty of Versailles with Germany. -
The Civil War lasted three years and brought great misery to the people. In 1921, the Red Army won the war. The conflict had contributed significantly to the hardening of the Soviet regime -
The Bolshevik party (CPSU) now had a monopoly on power and suppressed all who opposed them and created the Cheka. War communism was introduced. The USSR was a federal state with a parliament (Supreme Soviet) and a single party (CPSU). It was a totalitarian system justified by the theory of the dictatorship of the proletariat.