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Emancipation of the Serfs
In 1861 serfdom, the system which tied the Russian peasants irrevocably to their landlords, was abolished at the Tsar’s imperial command. -
The Zemstvos
Established in 1864 to provide social and economic services, it became a significant liberal influence within imperial Russia. Zemstvos existed on two levels, the uyezd (canton) and the province; the uyezd assemblies, composed of delegates representing the individual landed proprietors and the peasant village communes, elected the provincial assemblies. Each assembly appointed an executive board and hired professional experts to carry out its functions. -
Pogrom
Pogrom is a Russian word meaning “to wreak havoc, to demolish violently.” Historically, the term refers to violent attacks by local non-Jewish populations on Jews in the Russian Empire and in other countries. As a descriptive term, “pogrom” came into common usage with extensive anti-Jewish riots that swept Ukraine and southern Russia in 1881-1884, following the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. -
The Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was a military conflict in which a victorious Japan forced Russia to abandon its expansionist policy in the Far East, becoming the first Asian power in modern times to defeat a European power. -
Revolution of 1905
The Russian Revolution of 1905 was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire, some of which was directed at the government. It included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies. -
The Duma
Initiated as a result of the 1905 revolution, the Duma was established by Tsar Nicholas II in his October Manifesto, which promised that it would be a representative assembly and that its approval would be necessary for the enactment of legislation. -
The Assassination in Sarajevo
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand was seen as the immediate cause of World War 1 -
World War I
The Russians lost so many people during World War I. About 1,700,000 people were killed and about 4,900,000 were injured. -
The March Revolution in Petrograd
In March, growing civil unrest, coupled with chronic food shortages, erupted into open revolt, forcing the abdication of Nicholas II, the last Russian czar. -
November Coup D’État
Led by Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin, leftist revolutionaries launch a nearly bloodless coup d’État against Russia’s ineffectual Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks and their allies occupied government buildings and other strategic locations in the Russian capital of Petrograd and within two days had formed a new government with Lenin as its head. Bolshevik Russia, later renamed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was the world’s first Marxist state. -
The Cheka
The first secret police, called the Cheka, was established in December 1917 as a temporary institution to be abolished once Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks had consolidated their power. -
"Peace, Land, and Bread"
Peace would mean an end to the war with its terrible casualties. Bread would mean relief from the ubiquitous hunger. Land would mean the prospect of self-sufficiency for the peasant population. In the end, none of these promises were kept, although Russia did withdraw from World War I through the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in March 1918. -
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on March 3rd, 1918 between the new Bolshevik government of Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire), that ended Russia's participation in World War I. -
The Assassination of Czar Nicholas II and His Family
In Yekaterinburg, Russia, Czar Nicholas II and his family are executed by the Bolsheviks, bringing an end to the three-century-old Romanov dynasty. -
Versailles Treaty
The Treaty of Versailles was the peace settlement signed after World War One had ended in 1918 and in the shadow of the Russian Revolution and other events in Russia. The treaty was signed at the vast Versailles Palace near Paris – hence its title – between Germany and the Allies. The three most important politicians there were David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson.
