The Russian Revolution: Timeline By tdai Period: Feb 8, 1904 to Sep 5, 1905 Russo-Japanese War Jan 22, 1905 Bloody Sunday May 10, 1906 Creation of the Duma Aug 6, 1914 Russia enters WWI Mar 8, 1917 March Revolution begins Mar 15, 1917 Nicolas II abdicates the throne Apr 16, 1917 Lenin returns from exile in Germany Jul 21, 1917 Kerensky heads the provisional government Nov 7, 1917 Civil War begins Nov 8, 1917 Lenin takes power Dec 22, 1917 Russia pulls out of WWI (Brest-Litovsk) Jul 17, 1918 Assassination of Romanov family Oct 8, 1922 Trotsky wins Civil War Jan 8, 1924 Stalin comes to power Jan 21, 1927 Russia becomes a totalitarian state Period: Jan 8, 1936 to Jan 8, 1939 Great Purge Period: Jan 13, 1936 to Jan 13, 1939 Great Purge