The Russian revolution: Timeline
3 March (19 February) 1861
Tsar Alexander II passes the Emancipation Edict, ending serfdom in
Russia (but keeps peasants tied to the land through continuing labour
obligations).
17 (5) February 1880
Failed attempt (no. 5) to assassinate Tsar Alexander II by blowing up
his palace dining room kills 11 and wounds 56. The Tsar survives through being
late to dinner.
13 (1) March 1881
Tsar Alexander II is assassinated by a member of the radical group
People’s Will. He is succeeded by his son, Alexander III, who enacts
anti-terrorism measures that curb civil rights and freedom of the press.
1882
Pogroms against Jews spread across the Russian Empire, leading to mass
emigration of the Jewish population.
1891–1892
Famine in Russia kills between 375,000 and 400,000 and affects millions
more.
1 November (20 October)
1894
Tsar Alexander III dies after a sudden illness; his son Nicholas
(Nicholas II) assumes the throne.
December 1895
Lenin, future leader of the Bolsheviks, is arrested to be kept in
solitary confinement for 13 months and then exiled to Siberia.
The Khodynka
Tragedy: 30 May 1896
A stampede in Moscow occurs during festivities following Nicholas II’s
coronation, as crowds, worried that the supplies of free souvenirs would run
out, rushed for the stalls to get them. This results in the deaths of over
1,300 people.
1905 Revolution and Bloody
Sunday: January 1905 –
June 1907
The two year period starting with Bloody Sunday and subsequent civil
unrest, and ending with the Coup of June 1907.
January 1905:
Bloody Sunday – Troops and police open fire on
a peaceful demonstration outside the Winter Palace and elsewhere in St
Petersburg, killing and injuring around 1,000 people. The liberal press blames
Nicholas II.
June 1905:
Sailors mutiny on the battleship Potemkin, part of the Black
Sea Fleet. The mutiny triggers riots in Odessa, which are quashed by troops on
the Tsar’s orders.
October 1905:
October Manifesto – Tsar Nicholas II issues
the October Manifesto, promising civil liberties (such as freedom of speech)
and an elected parliament (Duma). As a result, restrictions are implemented on
the absolute power of the Russian monarch, and a de facto constitution (the
Fundamental Laws of 1906) is issued.
16 June 1907
:Coup of June 1907, which led to
the dissolution of the Second State Durma of the Russian Empire, the
arrest of some its members and a fundamental change in the Russian electoral
law.
1 August 1914:
Germany declares war on Russia, with Russia
entering the First World War.
August 1914:
St Petersburg is renamed Petrograd to make it sound
less German.
17 December 1916
Grigorii Rasputin, the controversial ‘holy man’ and close friend of Tsar
Nicholas II’s family, is murdered after several failed attempts.
February
Revolution: 23 February – 3 March 1917
A series of public protests begin in Petrograd, which last for eight
days and eventually result in abolition of the monarchy in Russia. The total
number of killed and injured in clashes with the police and government troops
in Petrograd is estimated around 1,300 people.
23 February 1917:
On International Women’s Day, demonstrators
and striking workers – many of whom are women – take to the streets to protest
against food shortages and the war. Two days later, the strikes spread across
Petrograd.
2 March 1917:
Tsar Nicholas II abdicates and also removes his son
from the succession. The following day Nicholas’ brother Mikhail announces his
refusal to accept the throne. A Provisional Government is formed to replace the
tsarist government, with Prince Lvov becoming the leader. The animals overthrowing Mr jones
April 1917
Lenin returns from exile, travelling to Petrograd in a sealed train from
Switzerland via Germany and Finland.
18 April 1917
The Milyukov note: A telegram sent to the Allied Powers by Foreign
Minister Pavel Milyukov states the Provisional Government’s intention to
continue the war. The note is leaked, resulting in protests and increased
support for the Bolsheviks.
Following this, Milyukov resigns and members of the Socialist
Revolutionaries and Mensheviks join the Provisional Government.
June
Offensive: 18 June 1917
Russian minister of war Alexander Karensky launches an offensive against
Austria-Hungary forces in Galicia.
Although the Russian effort is initially successful, the soldiers soon
refuse to leave their trenches and fight due to low morale caused by the
Revolution. Soldiers’ committees debate orders and encourage soldiers to
disobey officers. Many soldiers return home to take part in redistribution of
land.
The offensive collapses four days later and Russian troops have to
respond to the Austrians’ and Germans’ counteroffensive.
July Days: 3–7 July 1917
The July Days, a series of spontaneous armed anti-government
demonstrations of industrial workers and soldiers, begin in Petrograd. Lvov
resigns as leader of the Provisional Government, with Alexander
Kerensky taking over and crushing the demonstrations. In the same month, the
death penalty is reintroduced and women are granted the right to vote and hold
office.
Kerensky issues the arrest of Lenin, who goes into hiding. The printing
offices of the Bolshevik newspaper Pravda – the headquarters of the
Bolshevik Central Committee – are raided, with many Bolshevik leaders arrested.
The aborted uprising results in Soviets losing their control over the
Provisional Government, signifying the end of the ‘Dual Power’ situation. This
is seen by many as the point of no return for the peaceful development of the
Revolution. Battle of the cowshed.
Kornilov
affair: 22–27 August 1917
The Kornilov affair: A failed coup by General Kornilov, commander of the
Russian army, takes place, when he orders troops towards Petrograd to counter
the threat of the Bolsheviks.
Prime Minister Kerensky presents Kornilov’s actions as an attempted
right wing coup.
While the affair is short lived, it secures power for the Bolsheviks
among Petrograd’s working classes, workers and soldiers, and crushes the
credibility of a coalition Provisional Government between socialists and liberals
due to the Kadets (Constitutional Democrats) and even Kerensky himself being
implicated in the affair.
1 September 1917
Russia is officially declared a republic.
October
Revolution: 25–26 October 1917
7 November 1917:
The Bolsheviks seize control of Petrograd.
8 November 1917:
The Bolsheviks take control of the Winter
Palace, the last remaining holdout of the Provisional Government.
8 November 1917:
The Decrees on Land (proclaiming abolition
of private property and the redistribution of the land amongst the peasantry),
and Peace (proposing an immediate withdrawal of Russia from the First World
War), are issued by the new Bolshevik government. Subsequent workers’ decrees
outline measures for an eight-hour working day, minimum wage and the running of
factories. The death penalty is abolished once again.
9 November 1917
The Decree on the Press, the first Bolshevik censorship decree,
abolishes the ‘bourgeois’ press.
12 November 1917
Elections to the Constituent Assembly take place. The Socialist
Revolutionaries win the largest number of seats, while the Bolsheviks win less
than one-quarter of the vote.
December 1917
Each person receives 1/4 pound of bread per day. Bread and flour are
still being sold openly, but for extortionate prices.
2 December 1917
An armistice between Russia and the Central Powers is signed, and
fighting stops.
1918–1924
5–6 January 1918
The Constituent Assembly meets but is dissolved by the Bolsheviks.
15 January 1918
The Council of People’s Commissars (Sovnarkom) issues a decree forming
the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army.
14 February 1918
Russia adopts the Western (Gregorian) calendar.
Russia ends its participation in the First World War. Bolshevik Russia
loses one-third of the old empire’s population, one-third of its railway
network, half its industry, three-quarters of its supplies of iron ore,
nine-tenths of its coal resources and much of its food supplies.
Pigs encouging the animals to work hard on the fram.
8 March 1918
At the 7th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, the
Bolsheviks change the name of their party to the Russian Communist Party. The
Russian capital is also moved from Petrograd to Moscow this year.
10 July 1918
The first constitution of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet
Republic grants equal rights to men and women.
16–17 July 1918
Tsar Nicholas II and his family are executed by the Bolsheviks in
Yekaterinburg.
11 August 1918
Lenin sends a telegram to communists in Penza, Central Russia,
complaining about uprisings in the area and calling for the public execution of
100 kulaks (wealthy peasants).
30 August 1918
Beginning of ‘Red Terror’: An assassination attempt on Lenin by the
Socialist Revolutionary Fanny Kaplan leaves him seriously wounded. The attempt,
together with the murder of Uritskii, sparks a period of mass arrests and
executions known as the ‘Red Terror’.
March 1919
The Comintern (or Third International) is formed in Moscow, with the aim
of spreading revolution all over the world.
1920
Communist parties form across the world.
November 1920
The Red Army invades and occupies Crimea and the White Army is forced to
withdraw.
1921
By the beginning of 1921 the rouble has lost 96% of its pre-war value;
industrial production has fallen to 10% of its 1913 level. The population of
Petrograd has fallen from 2.5 million in 1917 to 600,000 in 1920.
March 1921
The Kronstadt mutiny, an unsuccessful uprising against the Bolsheviks,
takes place.
March 1921
End of ‘War Communism’ and the introduction of the ‘New Economic Policy’
(NEP).
3 April 1922
Stalin is appointed General Secretary of the Communist Party.
December 1922
Creation of the Soviet Union.
21 January 1924
Lenin dies, leading to a power struggle within the party. Stalin emerges
as Party leader. His rival Leon Trotsky is dismissed, then exiled and finally
murdered in 1940.
The different ideals between Snowball and Neapoleon is more apparent and
this leads to snowball being chased away by dogs.
Comments
Post a Comment