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Czar Alexander III dies after a sudden illness and his son, Nicholas II, becomes the ruler of Russia
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Lenin is arrested, kept in solitary confinement for 13 months, and then exiled to Siberia for three years.
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Nicholas II crowned czar of Russia
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The Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) meeting in which the Party splits into two factions: Mensheviks ("minority") and Bolsheviks ("majority")
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After having four girls, Czarina Alexandra gives birth to a son, Alexei.
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Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg begins the 1905 Russian Revolution, The October Manifesto, issued by Czar Nicholas II, brings an end to the 1905 Russian Revolution by promising civil liberties and an elected parliament (Duma).
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A constitution (the Fundamental Laws of 1906) is created, reflecting the promises made in the October Manifesto.
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World War I begins
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Czar Nicholas II assumes supreme command of the Russian Army.
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Rasputin is murdered
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The February Revolution begins with strikes, demonstrations, and mutinies in Petrograd (also called the March Revolution if following the Gregorian calendar).
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Czar Nicholas II abdicates and includes his son. The following day, Nicholas' brother, Mikhail announced his refusal to accept the throne. Provisional Government formed
Lenin returns from exile and arrives in Petrograd via a sealed train -
The July Days begin in Petrograd with spontaneous protests against the Provisional Government; after the Bolsheviks unsuccessfully try to direct these protests into a coup, Lenin is forced into hiding.
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Alexander Kerensky becomes Prime Minister of the Provisional Government.
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The Kornilov Affair, a failed coup by General Lavr Kornilov, commander of the Russian Army
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The October Revolution - the Bolsheviks take over Petrograd (also called the November Revolution if following the Gregorian calendar)
The Winter Palace, the last holdout of the Provisional Government, is taken by the Bolsheviks; the Council of People's Commissars (abbreviated as Sovnarkom), led by Lenin, is now in control of Russia -
The new Bolshevik government converts Russia from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar turning February 1 into February 14
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The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, between Germany and Russia, is signed and takes Russia out of World War I
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The Bolshevik Party changes its name to the Communist Party
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The capital of Russia is changed from St. Petersburg to Moscow
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Russian civil war begins
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Czar Nicholas II and his family are executed
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An assassination attempt leaves Lenin seriously wounded
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Russian civil war ends
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Stalin is appointed General Secretary
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Lenin suffers first stroke
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Lenin suffers second stroke and retires from politics
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The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) established
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Lenin dies; Stalin will become his successor
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Stalin publicly attacks Trotsky for being unfaithful to "Leninism."
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Birth of Stalin's third child, Svetlana
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At the Fifteenth Party Congress, Stalin attacks the "United Opposition" of Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Trotsky.
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Kamenev and Zinoviev expelled from the Party; Trotsky expelled and sent to Central Asia.
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Stalin begins assault on Bukharin
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·Bukharin removed from the Politburo
·Stalin announces "liquidation of the kulaks as a class"; collectivization begins in earnest. -
Terrible famine across the Soviet Union; millions die
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Suicide of Nadezhda
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Murder, by Stalin's agents, of Sergei Kirov. Beginning of "Great Terror," which continues until 1938.
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·Zinoviev, Kamenev, and others are arrested, accused of complicity in Kirov's assassination.
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First "Show Trial." Zinoviev, Kamenev, and their allies confess and are executed.
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·Purge of the army begins, top generals are tried and executed
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·At Eighteenth Party Congress, Stalin announces end of the Great Terror.
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Trotsky assassinated, by Stalin's agents, in Mexico City.
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Battle of Stalingrad. Germans are defeated, marking the turning point in the war.
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Hitler commits suicide in bombed-out Berlin, ending war in Europe. Red Army controls all of Eastern Europe.
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United States uses atomic bomb against Japan, bringing an end to the war in the Pacific.
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Communists seize power in Czechoslovakia, cementing Soviet control of Eastern Europe.
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Soviets explode their first atomic bomb.
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Stalin celebrates his seventieth birthday.
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Sino-Soviet Treaty signed
Korean War -
Announcement of Jewish "Doctors' Plot" against Stalin, plans for new wave of terror.
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Death of Stalin
