Key dates

Question 1

1894

Answer 1

IST NOVEMBER Tsar Alexander III dies, Nicholas II ascends to the throne, becomes Tsar of Russia

Question 2

1904

Answer 2

8 February, Russo-Japanese War begins, Japan launches a surprise attack on the Russian fleet in Port Arthur

Question 3

1905

Answer 3

January 22nd, Bloody Sunday, Father Georgey Gapon leads unarmed protesters to the Winter Palace
27-28 May, Battle of Tsushima. The Russian Baltic Fleet takes eight months to arrive and is destroyed by Japan
5 September- Treaty of Portsmouth, Russia signs peace treaty with Japan
17 October- October Manifesto, Nicholas II grants civil liberties and agrees to create a legislature, state duma

Question 4

1906

Answer 4

23 April, Fundamental Laws issued reaffirming the Tsar’s autocratic authority over the Duma, limiting its power.
21 July First Duma dissolved
9 November, Stolypin’s reforms begin

Question 5

1907

Answer 5

Second Duma dissolved
31 August Anglo Russian Convention signed, Britian and Russia settle their central Asian rivalries, (Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet), marking the end of the “Great Game”.

Question 6

1912

Answer 6

Lena Goldfields massacre- Imperial troops fire on striking goldmines in Siberia killing 150

Question 7

1914

Answer 7

World War One begins as Germany declares war on Russia on 30 July

Question 8

1916

Answer 8

30 September Rasputin murdered

Question 9

1917 FEBRUARY REVOLUTION

Answer 9

18 February: strike began at the Putilov factories in Petrograd
23rd February: International Womens Day
25 February: a general strike began
26 February: desertion of Petrograd garrison all but a few thousand of the 150,000 had deserted
27 February: breakaway members of the Duna formed a Provisional Committee. Petrograd Soviet formed.
28 February: Nicholas II prevented from returning to Petrograd
2 March: Provisional Committee declared itself a Provisional Government. Tsar signed n abdication decree.
3 March: Provisional Government declared a revolution had taken place.
4 March: tsar’s abdication publicly proclaimed

Question 10

1917- INBETWEEN

Answer 10

3 April Lenin returns from exile
July- July days
27 August Kornilov Affair

Question 11

1917- OCTOBER REVOLUTION

Answer 11

September 25: Bolsheviks gained a majority in the Petrograd Soviet
October 9: Petrograd soviet set up Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC)
October 11: Kamenev and Zinoviev publicly opposed the idea of an uprising
October 23: Kerensky moved to close down Pravda and Izvestiya. Lenin instructed the Bolsheviks to begin the rising against Kerensky’s government
October 24: First session of the Congress of Soviets
October 24-25: Bolsheviks took control of Petrograd
October 25-26: Kerensky fled from Petrograd after failing to raise troops. Bolsheviks seized the Winter Palace
October 26: Bolsheviks established Sovnarkom
October 27: Lenin claimed power in the name of the Congress of Soviets

Question 12

1917- POST REVOLUTION

Answer 12

October 1917: Decree on peace
November Decree on land and Decree on Workers control
November- Stalin becomes Peoples Commissar of Nationalities
7 December Cheka established

Question 13

1918

Answer 13

5 January- Constituent Assembly dissolved
3 March- Treaty of Brest Litovsk
17 July- Execution of the Tsar and family
July- Forced grain requisition began
September- Red terror began after an assassination attempt on Lenin
18 November 1918: Admiral Kolchak seizes power

Question 14

1919

Answer 14

March- Comintern established
March- Bolshevik party renamed Communist party
Stalin became Laision officer between Politburo and Orgburo

Question 15

1920

Answer 15

February- Stalin becomes Head of Workers and peasants inspectorate
2 February 1920: Treaty of Tartu – Soviet Russia and Estonia end their war by treaty, with Russia renouncing any claims on Estonian territory.
April 1920- Invading Red Army driven from Poland

Question 16

1921

Answer 16

18 March 1921: Treaty of Riga – Soviet Russia and Poland sign a peace treaty ending the Polish–Soviet War; western Ukraine and western Belarus go to Poland
March Kronstadt Rising
March 21 Introduction of New Economic Policy

Question 17

1922

Answer 17

3rd April- Stalin becomes General Secretary of the Communist party
16 April 1922: Treaty of Rapallo – The USSR and Germany sign a treaty in Rapallo, Italy, reestablishing diplomatic relations, canceling mutual debts and expanding economic/military ties.
30 December 1922: USSR founded – The Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian and Transcaucasian Soviet republics unite under the 1922 Treaty on the Creation of the USSR.

Question 18

1923

Answer 18

Between 1913 and 1925 the part set out to increase the number of proletarians in their ranks, this was the Lenin Enrolment

Question 19

1924

Answer 19

21 January 1924: Death of Lenin – Vladimir Lenin dies; his body is embalmed and displayed in Red Square. His death sparks a power struggle between Stalin, Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev and others.
27 January- Stalin speaks at Lenin funeral

Question 20

1925

Answer 20

by 1925 the Lenin Enrolment had increased the membership of the CPSU from 340,000 in 1922 to 600,000 by 1925.

Question 21

1927

Answer 21

12 November 1927: Trotsky and Zinoviev expelled – The party expels Leon Trotsky and Grigory Zinoviev, crushing the Left Opposition to Stalin.

Question 22

1928

Answer 22

Collectivisation began
7 March 1928: Shakhty Trial The regime puts several engineers on trial for “wrecking,” the first staged show trial of the Stalin era
1 October 1928: First Five-Year Plan launched – Stalin announces the drive to rapidly industrialize and collectivize agriculture; state control over the economy intensifies.

Question 23

1929

Answer 23

17 November 1929: Bukharin ousted – Stalin accuses Nikolai Bukharin and others of “right-wing” deviation; Bukharin is removed from the Politburo.
Stalin established as Vozhd

Question 24

1931

Answer 24

The Stalin enrolment

Question 25

1932

Answer 25

1932–1933: Famine (Holodomor) – Forced collectivization and grain requisitioning contribute to a catastrophic famine, especially in Ukraine, killing millions (the Holodomor). Start of the purges

Question 26

1933

Answer 26

Second Five Year Plan 1933-4 Stalins instruments of control created

Question 27

1934

Answer 27

1 December 1934: Assassination of Sergey Kirov – The popular Leningrad party chief Kirov is murdered (possibly on Stalin’s orders), giving Stalin a pretext to launch widespread purges.

Question 28

1935

Answer 28

1 December 1934: Assassination of Sergey Kirov – The popular Leningrad party chief Kirov is murdered (possibly on Stalin’s orders), giving Stalin a pretext to launch widespread purges. 1935-6 Post Kirov purges

Question 29

1936

Answer 29

August 1936: First Moscow Show Trial – Old Bolsheviks Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev are tried and executed (the “Trial of the Sixteen”).

Question 30

1936-9

Answer 30

The Great Purge

Question 31

1937

Answer 31

Great Purge intensifies – A second show trial in January convicts more “Trotskyists”; in June Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky and other Red Army leaders are executed. In July the NKVD’s Order No. 00447 sets mass execution quotas, triggering the peak of the purges. Purge of Armed Forces began

Question 32

1938

Answer 32

2–13 March 1938: Third1938 Moscow Show Trial – Nikolai Bukharin and other “Right Opposition” leaders are tried and executed (the “Trial of the Twenty-One”). Start of Third Five Year Plan 29 July 1938: Battle of Lake Khasan – Soviet and Japanese forces clash near the Manchurian border; the USSR repels the attack, temporarily easing Far Eastern tensions. Munich Agreement 1938-41- Spread of purges across USSR

Question 33

1939

Answer 33

23 August 1939: Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact – Nazi Germany and the USSR sign a non-aggression treaty, secretly agreeing to divide Eastern Europe into spheres of influence. 30 November 1939: Winter War begins – The USSR attacks Finland, demanding territory; unexpectedly fierce Finnish resistance prolongs the conflict. 1939-41- Nazi-Soviet Pact

Question 34

1940

Answer 34

5 March 1940: Katyn Massacre – Stalin authorizes the execution of ~22,000 Polish officers and intelligentsia held in Soviet camps. 12 March 1940: Moscow Peace Treaty – Finland signs peace with the USSR, ceding 9% of its territory (including Karelia); Soviet aims in Finland are only partially achieved. June–August 1940: Annexation of the Baltics and Bessarabia – Soviet forces occupy and annex Lithuania (15 June), Latvia (17 June) and Estonia (21 August), establishing them as Soviet Socialist Republics. The USSR also occupies Bessarabia and northern Bukovina from Romania (28 June) and creates the Moldavian SSR on 2 August.

Question 35

1941

Answer 35

1941-5- The Great Patriotic War 22 June 1941: Operation Barbarossa – Nazi Germany launches a massive invasion of the Soviet Union, opening the Eastern Front of World War II