- Following a series of strikes, demonstrations, and military insurrections in Petrograd (St. Petersburg), thousands of Russian soldiers disobey orders to shoot on demonstrators.
- Tsar Nicholas II abdicates, making way for a Provisional Government.
October Revolution
- The Bolshevik Party, led by Vladimir Lenin, organizes an armed uprising against the Provisional Government and seizes control of key government buildings in Petrograd.
- The Bolshevik-led Red Army captures the Winter Palace and arrests members of the Provisional Government, including Prime Minister Alexander Kerensky.
- Lenin's government creates the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), becoming the first communist state.
Civil War
- Anti-Bolsheviks, including supporters of the deposed tsar, form a White Army to oppose the Red Army in a three-year civil war.
- The Red Army, led by Leon Trotsky, ultimately emerges victorious, consolidating the Bolsheviks' power.
New Economic Policy (NEP)
- In response to economic difficulties, Lenin introduces NEP, a temporary retreat from pure communist policies.
- NEP allows private enterprise and market mechanisms in some sectors of the economy, leading to a period of economic recovery.
1922-1924: Lenin's Death and the Struggle for Succession
- After Lenin's death, a power struggle unfolds between Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin.
- Stalin consolidates his power by eliminating his rivals and establishing himself as the undisputed leader of the Soviet Union.
Five-Year Plans
- Stalin launches a series of Five-Year Plans, ambitious economic development programs aimed at industrializing the Soviet Union.
- The plans achieved rapid industrial growth but at the expense of human suffering, including widespread forced labor and famines like the Ukrainian Holodomor.
Great Purge
- Stalin's purges were political campaigns that aimed to eliminate any potential opposition or dissent within the Communist Party and the Soviet Union.
- Millions were arrested, exiled, or executed during this period of terror, including many prominent figures.
World War II
- Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union in June 1941, marking the Soviet Union's entry into World War II.
- The Soviet Union suffers enormous casualties but plays a crucial role in the Allied victory over Germany.
Cold War
- Following the end of World War II, the US and the Soviet Union emerge as superpowers. The two nations engage in a global rivalry known as the Cold War.
- The two countries engage in proxy wars, ideological competition, and geopolitical disputes. The Cold War ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.