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Key events of the rise of the Soviet Union
Lenin and other revolutionaries return to Russia from Germany. -
Vladimir Lenin
Main player in 1917 Bolshevik revolution
Survives assassination attempt -
Civil War
- Treaty of Brest-Litovsk according to which Russia ceded large tracts of land to Germany; Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan proclaim their independence from Russia.
- Civil war between Bolsheviks, or Reds, and anti-Bolsheviks, or Whites, ravages Russia. In northern Russia, British, French and US troops capture Murmansk and Archangel until 1919, while in the Russian Far East they occupy Vladivostok, which was held by the Japanese until 1922.
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Policy of "war communism" enunciated
Policy of "war communism" enunciated, with the state taking control of the whole economy; millions of peasants in the Don region starve to death as the army confiscates grain for its own needs and the needs of urban dwellers. -
War with Poland.
The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict that pitted Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine against the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic over the control of an area equivalent to today's Ukraine and parts of modern-day Belarus. At some points the war also threatened Poland's existence as an independent state. -
Peace treaty with Poland signed.
The treaty ended the Polish-Soviet War. The Soviet-Polish borders established by the treaty remained in force until the Second World War. They were later redrawn during the Yalta Conference and Potsdam Conference. -
New Economic Policy
The New Economic Policy (NEP) was an economic policy proposed by Vladimir Lenin, who called it state capitalism.New Economic Policy ushers in a partial return to the market economy and a period of stability. -
Collectivisation and purges
Collectivization in the Soviet Union was enforced under Stalin between 1928 and 1940. The goal of this policy was to consolidate individual land and labour into collective farms. The Great Purge of 1937-38 encompassed the entire Soviet Union and all categories of people. Its goal was to sweep away all of Stalin's real and imaginary enemies and to infuse all levels of Soviet society -
Union treaty.
Union treaty formally joins Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasus - which were divided in 1936 into Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan - into the Soviet Union. -
The start of collectivisation and purges.
Union treaty formally joins Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasus - which were divided in 1936 into Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan - into the Soviet Union.
Germany recognises the Soviet Union. -
Lenin dies and is replaced by Joseph Stalin.
Soviet Union adopts constitution based on the dictatorship of the proletariat and stipulating the public ownership of land and the means of production; Lenin dies and is replaced by Joseph Stalin. -
Adoption of first Five-Year Plan.
Adoption of first Five-Year Plan, with the state setting goals and priorities for the whole economy, signifies the end of the New Economic Policy.
Collectivisation of agriculture begins; numerous relatively prosperous peasants, or Kulaks, killed; millions of peasant households eliminated and their property confiscated. -
United States recognises the Soviet Union.
United States recognises the Soviet Union. -
Soviet Union admitted to League of Nations.
Soviet Union admitted to League of Nations. -
Announcement of the discovery of a plot against Stalin's regime.
Announcement of the discovery of a plot against Stalin's regime headed by Leon Trotsky ushers in a large-scale purge in which thousands of alleged dissidents in the armed forces, the Communist Party and the government were sentenced to death or long imprisonment. -
Soviet Union and Nazi Germany conclude a non-aggression pact
Soviet Union and Nazi Germany conclude a non-aggression pact; Germany invades Poland, triggering World War II. -
Soviet troops enter Poland
Soviet troops enter Poland, which is then divided between Germany and the USSR. -
Russian-Finnish war
Russian-Finnish war, which ends with Finland ceding territory to the USSR - the present Russian constituent republic of Karelia. -
Soviet troops occupy and Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
Soviet troops occupy and Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which are then incorporated into the USSR; Romania cedes Bessarabia and North Bukovina to the USSR which declares the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic - the present independent republic of Moldova. -
World War II and its aftermath
The Aftermath of World War II is often considered a new era. This period was defined by a mixture of international cooperation to rebuild Europe and Japan through the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine, as well at the inauguration of the United Nations. -
Soviet Union and Japan sign a non-aggression pact.
Soviet Union and Japan sign a non-aggression pact. -
Germany invades the USSR
Germany invades the USSR and by the end of the year occupies Belarus and most of Ukraine, surrounds Leningrad (now called St Petersburg). Although a Soviet counter-offensive saves Moscow, by June 1942 the Germans were on the gates of Stalingrad (now called Volgograd) and close to the Caucasus oil fields. -
Germans fail to take Stalingrad
Germans fail to take Stalingrad; Soviet troops launch a general counter-offensive which eventually culminates in the capture of Berlin in May 1945. -
Soviet Union and the Allies reach understanding
Soviet Union and the Allies reach understanding on postwar spheres of influence in Europe during the Yalta and Postdam summit conferences. -
Soviet Union declares war on Japan
Soviet Union declares war on Japan, eventually annexing the southern half of Sakhalin and the Kuril islands. -
Berlin blockade
Berlin blockade: Soviet Union fails to prevent supplies from reaching the sectors of Berlin occupied by Western forces. -
Soviet Union explodes its first atomic device
Soviet Union explodes its first atomic device; recognises the Communist government in China. -
Soviet Union and China sign 30-year alliance treaty.
Soviet Union and China sign 30-year alliance treaty. -
Outbreak of Korean war
Outbreak of Korean war sees relations between the Soviet Union and the West deteriorate markedly. -
China falls out with the Soviet Union over Moscow's policy of peaceful coexistence with the West.
China falls out with the Soviet Union over Moscow's policy of peaceful coexistence with the West. -
China falls out with the Soviet Union over Moscow's policy of peaceful coexistence with the West.
China falls out with the Soviet Union over Moscow's policy of peaceful coexistence with the West. -
Stalin dies and is succeeded by Georgi Malenkov
Stalin dies and is succeeded by Georgi Malenkov as prime minister and by Nikita Khrushchev as first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.
