Russian Revolution and the Rise of the Soviet Union

• The Russian Revolution took place in 1917.
• Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks led the Russian Revolution
• The Bolsheviks were a radical political party.
• The Russian Revolution was a rebellion against the monarchy of Czar Nicholas II.
• Czar Nicholas II deprived working-class people and peasants of working conditions, wages, food, and rights.
• Workers striking for better conditions turned into riots, fueled by citizens and army soldiers against the Czar.
• The Czar surrendered, and Vladimir Lenin led a new communist government.
• The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was composed of semi-autonomous republics.
• These republics were in eastern Europe and northern Asia.
• Russia was the largest of these republics.
• The USSR's goal was to spread communism and abolish capitalism.
• In theory, everyone had equal rights under communism.
• Under Joseph Stalin in the late 1920s, the government controlled resources and limited people's rights.
• The Soviet Union existed from 1922 to 1991.

Mongol Invasions

• 862: Kievan Rus, the first major East Slavic state, was founded and led by Oleg of Novgorod.
• Kiev became the capital 20 years later
• 980-1015: Prince Vladimir the Great converted from paganism to Orthodox Christianity and ruled the Rurik dynasty.
• Yaroslav the Wise, Vladimir's son, reigned from 1019-1054 and established a written code of law; Kiev became a center of culture.
• 1237-1240: Mongols invaded Kievan Rus, destroying Kiev and Moscow; the Khan of the Golden Horde ruled until 1480.
• 1480-1505: Ivan III, known as Ivan the Great, freed Russia from the Mongols and consolidated Muscovite rule.
• 1547-1584: Ivan IV, or Ivan the Terrible, became the first czar of Russia.
• Ivan IV expanded Muscovite territory into Siberia and instituted a reign of terror; he died in 1584.

Romanov Dynasty

• 1613: Mikhail Romanov became czar at age 16, ending unrest, famine, civil war and invasions, the Romanov dynasty would rule for three centuries.
• 1689-1725: Peter the Great ruled until his death, built St. Petersburg, modernized the military, founded the Russian navy, reorganized the government, introduced Western European culture, and made Russia a world power.
• 1762: Catherine II, or Catherine the Great, took power in a bloodless coup.
• Catherine II's reign was an era of enlightenment and extended Russia's borders.

1853-1980 Milestones

• 1853-1856: The Ottoman Empire, Britain, and France fought Russia and Czar Nicholas I in the Crimean War; Russia was crippled in its defeat.
• 1861: Czar Alexander II issued the Emancipation Reform, abolishing serfdom and allowing peasants to purchase land; he was assassinated in 1881.
• 1914: Russia entered WWI against Austria-Hungary in defense of Serbia.
• Nov. 6-7, 1917: Led by Vladimir Lenin, the Bolsheviks took power in the Russian Revolution, became the Communist Party, and ended the Romanov dynasty
• A Civil War broke out; Lenin's Red Army won and established the Soviet Union; Lenin ruled until 1924.
• 1929-1953: Joseph Stalin became dictator and industrialized Russia, his totalitarian rule included the Great Purge, killing at least 750,000 to eliminate opposition.
• 1939: WWII began; Russia invaded Poland, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland.
• Germany broke the pact in 1941 by invading Russia, which joined the Allies.
• The Russian army's win at Stalingrad was a turning point in ending the war.
• March 5, 1946: Winston Churchill declared that an "Iron Curtain has descended across the Continent," marking the start of the Cold War.
• 1949: The Soviets exploded a nuclear bomb, hastening the nuclear arms race.
• Oct. 4, 1957: The Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite.
• 1961: Soviet Yuri Gagarin became the first person to fly in space.
• October 1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis led Americans to fear nuclear war.
• Nikita Khrushchev agreed to remove missiles from Cuba, and John F. Kennedy agreed to not invade Cuba and remove U.S. missiles from Turkey.
• July-August 1980: The Moscow Summer Olympics were held; several countries, including the United States, boycotted the games in protest of the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.