-
Czar Nicholas II assumes supreme command of the Russian Army
By the middle of 1915 all of Russian Poland and Lithuania, and most of Latvia, were overrun by the German army. In the aftermath of The Great Retreat and the loss of the Kingdom of Poland, Nicholas assumed the role of commander-in-chief after dismissing his cousin, Nikolay Nikolayevich -
The February Russian Revolution
The Febuarty Revolution toppled the Russian monarchy and established a Provisional Government. On Thursday, February 23, 1917, women workers in Petrograd left their factories and entered the streets to protest. It was International Women's Day and the women of Russia were ready to be heard.
An estimated 90,000 women marched through the streets, shouting "Bread" and "Down With the Autocracy!" and "Stop the War! -
Petrograd Soviet established
The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies was the Soviet workers' council in Petrograd (modern-day St. Petersburg), Russia established as the representative body of the city's workers. -
Provisional government established and Nicholas II abdicates
Czar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate the throne by the Petrograd insurgents, and a provincial government is installed in his place.The intention of the provisional government was the organization of elections to the Russian Constituent Assembly and its convention. The government consisted of two composition at first as the Cadet coalition led by Prince Georgy L'vov and later as the Socialist coalition led by Alexander Kerensky. -
Lenin returns to Russia
Vladimir Lenin, leader of the revolutionary Bolshevik Party, returns to Petrograd after a decade of exile to take the reins of the Russian Revolution. He was banished because he was a dangerous radical socialist.Lenin was viewed as an extremist for two reasons: his initial support for and later his writings expanding on Marxist theory demonstrated an anti-Tsarist, anti-stateist stance that was antithetical to the very core of Tsardom.\ -
Kornilov Affairs
The Kornilov Affair happened in August 1917, when the new commander-in-chief of the army, Lavr Kornilov, perhaps at the Russian Premier, Kerensky's, suggestion, began to march his army on Petrograd.
Kerensky then panicked, realising that Kornilov probably wanted to oust the Provisional Government and replace them with a military dictatorship, he then asked the socialist dominated Petrograd Soviet to try to stop him. -
October Revolution
In October, a second Russian Revolution placed the Bolsheviks as the leaders of Russia, resulting in the creation of the world's first communist country. -
Bolsheviks were forced to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk by the Germans
This punitive treaty effectively handed over Finland, Poland, the Baltic provinces, Ukraine and Transcaucasia to the Central Powers, together with one-third of the old empire's population, one-third of its agricultural land and three-quarters of its industries. It removes Russia from world war I. -
Romanov family executed
In Yekaterinburg, Russia, Czar Nicholas II and his family are executed by the Bolsheviks, bringing an end to the three-century-old Romanov dynasty. The family was murdered because first, the Tsar or any of his family members could provide a beacon to rally support to the White cause. second, the Tsar or any of his family members if he was dead would be considered the legitimate ruler of Russia by the other European nations -
Russian Civil War
During the civil war thus unleashed by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk the Bolsheviks (Reds), who controlled Petrograd, Moscow and the central Russian heartland, soon found themselves surrounded by hostile forces (Whites) - made up of the more conservative elements in Russia - who launched a series of campaigns in 1919 that threatened to crush the revolution.
