zemstvo
and Municipal Council organizations.
September 3: Duma prorogued.
September: Zimmerwald Conference of anti-war socialists.
November: Central Workers’ Group formed.
November: Zemgor created.
1916
January 20: Goremykin replaced as Chairman of Council of Ministers by Stürmer (Shtiurmer).
March 13: Polivanov dismissed as Minister of War; replaced by Shuvaev.
April: Kiental conference of anti-war socialists.
May 22/June 4: Brusilov offensive opens.
September 18: Protopopov Acting Minister of the Interior; promoted to Minister of the Interior in December.
October 22–24: Conference of Kadet Party decides on strategy of confrontation at forthcoming Duma session.
November 1: Duma reconvenes; Miliukov address implies treason in high places.
November 8–10: Dismissal of Stürmer.
November 19: A. F. Trepov, appointed Chairman of Council of Ministers, appeals to Duma for cooperation.
December 17: Murder of Rasputin.
December 18: Nicholas leaves Mogilev for Tsarskoe Selo.
December 27: Trepov dismissed, replaced by Golitsyn.
1917
January 27: Protopopov arrests Workers’ Group.
February 14: Duma reconvened.
February 22: Nicholas departs for Mogilev.
February 23: Demonstrations in Petrograd in connection with International Women’s Day.
February 24: More demonstrations in Petrograd.
February 25: Demonstrations turn violent; Nicholas orders them suppressed by force.
February 26: Petrograd under military occupation; unit of Volynskii Regiment fires on crowd, killing forty; company of Pavlovskii Regiment mutinies in protest.
Night of February 26–27: Pavlovskii Regiment troops hold all-night meeting, vote to disobey orders to fire on civilians.
February 27: Most of Petrograd in the hands of mutinous garrison; burning of government buildings; Nicholas orders General Ivanov to proceed to Petrograd with special troops to quell disorders; Mensheviks call for elections to Soviet; in the evening, organizing meeting of Petrograd Soviet.
February 28: Early morning, Nicholas departs for Tsarskoe Selo; Duma Council of Elders meets, forms Provisional Committee; throughout Petrograd, factory and garrison units elect representatives to the Soviet; first plenary session of Soviet. Disturbances spread to Moscow.
Night of February 28–March 1: Imperial train stopped, diverted to Pskov.
March 1: Ispolkom drafts nine-point program to serve as basis of agreement with Duma Provisional Committee; issues Order No. 1. In the evening, Nicholas arrives in Pskov, agrees on urging of General Alekseev to formation of Duma ministry and orders General Ivanov to abort his mission. Formation of Moscow Soviet.
Night of March 1–2: Duma and Soviet representatives reach agreement on basis of eight-point program. In Mogilev, General Ruzskii has telegraphic conversation with Duma chairman, Rodzianko.
March 2: Provisional Government formed under chairmanship of G. E. Lvov; Alekseev communicates with front commanders; Nicholas agrees to abdicate in favor of son; Shulgin and Guchkov depart for Pskov; Nicholas talks with Court physician about Tsarevich, tells Shulgin and Guchkov he has decided to abdicate in favor of brother Michael, signs abdication manifesto. Ukrainian Rada (Soviet) formed in Kiev.
March 3: Provisional Government meets with Michael, persuades him to reject crown.
March 4: Nicholas’s abdication manifesto and Michael’s renunciation of throne made public. Provisional Government abolishes Police Department.
March 5: Provisional Government dismisses all governors and their deputies.
March 7: Ispolkom forms “Contact Commission” to oversee Provisional Government.
March 8: Nicholas bids farewell to army officers, departs for Tsarskoe Selo under arrest.
March 9: United States recognizes Provisional Government.
March 18: Ispolkom rules that every socialist party is entitled to three representatives.
March 22: Miliukov defines Russia’s war aims.
March 25: Provisional Government introduces state monopoly on grain trade.
Late March: Britain withdraws offer to grant Imperial family asylum.
April 3: Lenin arrives in Petrograd.
April 4: Lenin’s “April Theses.”
April 21: First Bolshevik demonstrations in Petrograd and Moscow.
April 26: Provisional Government concedes its inability to maintain order.
April 28: Bolsheviks organize Red Guard.
Early April: All-Russian Consultation of Soviets convenes in Petrograd, constitutes All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets (VTsIK or CEC).
May 1: CEC allows members to join Provisional Government.
Night of May 4–5: Formation of Coalition government under Lvov, with Kerensky Minister of War; six socialists enter cabinet.
May: Trotsky returns to Russia from New York.
June 3: First All-Russian Congress of Soviets opens.
June 10: Under CEC pressure, Bolsheviks give up idea of putsch.
June 16: Beginning of Russian offensive against Austria.
June 29: Lenin flees to Finland, where he remains until morning of July 4.
July 1: Provisional Government orders arrest of leading Bolsheviks.
July 2–3: Mutiny of 1st Machine Gun Regiment in Petrograd.
July 4: Bolshevik putsch quelled by release of information about Lenin’s dealings with the Germans.
July 5: Lenin and Zinoviev go into hiding, first in Petrograd, then (July 9) in the countryside near the capital, and finally (September) Lenin goes to Finland.
July 11: Kerensky Prime Minister.
July 18: Kornilov appointed Commander in Chief.
End of July: Sixth Congress of Bolshevik Party in Petrograd.
July 31: Nicholas and family depart for Tobolsk.
August 9: Provisional Government schedules elections to Constituent Assembly for November 12 and its convocation for November 28.
August 14: Moscow State Conference opens: Kornilov accorded tumultuous reception.
August 20–21: Russians abandon Riga to the Germans.
August 22: V. N. Lvov meets with Kerensky.
August 22–24: Savinkov in Mogilev, transmits to Kornilov Kerensky’s instructions.
August 24–25: Lvov sees Kornilov.
August 26: Lvov conveys to Kerensky Kornilov’s alleged “ultimatum”; Kerensky’s wire conversation with Kornilov; Lvov placed under arrest.
Night of August 26–27: Kerensky secures dictatorial powers from cabinet, dismisses Kornilov.
August 27: Kornilov pronounced traitor; Kornilov mutinies, calls on armed forces to follow him.
August 30: Provisional Government orders release of Bolsheviks still in prison for the July putsch.
September 10: Opening of Bolshevik-sponsored Third Regional Congress of Soviets in Finland.
September 12 and 14: Lenin writes Central Committee that time is ripe for a power seizure.
September 25: Bolsheviks win majority in Workers’ Section of Petrograd Soviet; Trotsky elected chairman of Soviet.
September 26: CEC, under Bolshevik pressure, agrees to convene Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets on October 20.
September 28–October 8: Germans occupy islands in the Gulf of Riga, threatening Petrograd.
September 29: Lenin’s third letter to Central Committee on power seizure.
October 4: Provisional Government discusses evacuation of Petrograd.
October 9: CEC, on Menshevik motion, votes to form military organization to defend capital (soon renamed Military-Revolutionary Committee).
October 10: Critical nighttime meeting of Bolshevik Central Committee in Petrograd, with Lenin present, votes in favor of armed power seizure.
October 11: Opening of Bolshevik-sponsored Congress of Soviets of the Northern Region i
n Petrograd; forms “Northern Regional Committee,” which issues invitations to Second Congress of Soviets.
October 16: Soviet approves creation of Military-Revolutionary Committee (Milrevkom).
October 17: CEC postpones Second Congress of Soviets to October 25.
October 20: Milrevkom dispatches “commissars” to military units in and near Petrograd.
October 21: Milrevkom convenes meeting of regimental committees, has it pass innocuous resolution, which it presents to Military Staff as calling for its countersignature on any orders issued to troops. Demand is rejected.
October 22: Milrevkom declares Military Staff to be “counterrevolutionary.”
October 23–24: Milrevkom carries on deceptive negotiations with Military Staff.
October 24: Units loyal to the government occupy key points in Petrograd, shut down Bolshevik newspapers; Bolsheviks react, take over much of Petrograd.
Night of October 24–25: Kerensky requests help from the front; Lenin, in disguise, makes his way to Smolnyi, where Bolshevik-sponsored Second Congress of Soviets is about to meet; Bolsheviks, using Milrevkom, complete occupation of the capital.
Morning of October 25: Kerensky escapes from Winter Palace to front in quest of military support; Lenin, in name of Milrevkom, declares the Provisional Government deposed, passage of power to soviets.
October 25: Unsuccessful attempts by Bolsheviks to capture Winter Palace, where government ministers await relief by loyal troops; in the afternoon, Trotsky opens Extraordinary Session of Petrograd Soviet; Lenin makes first public appearance since July 4; in Moscow, on Bolshevik motion, Soviet forms Military-Revolutionary Committee.
October 26: Troops of Moscow Milrevkom seize the Kremlin.
Night of October 25–26: Winter Palace falls, ministers arrested; Bolsheviks open Second Congress of Soviets.
Evening of October 26: Congress of Soviets passes Lenin’s decrees on Land and on Peace; authorizes formation of new Provisional Government: Council of People’s Commissars (Sovnarkom) with Lenin as chairman (Prime Minister); new, Bolshevik-dominated CEC appointed.
October 27: Second Congress of Soviets adjourns; opposition press outlawed (Press Decree).
October 28: Pro-government troops recapture Moscow Kremlin.
October 29: Union of Railroad Employees gives Bolsheviks ultimatum to broaden party composition of government; Kamenev agrees. Government announces it will issue laws without prior approval of Soviet Central Executive Committee. Union of Government Employees declares strike.
October 30: Clash between Cossacks and pro-Bolshevik sailors and Red Guards near Pulkovo; Cossacks withdraw. Union of Railroad Employees demands Bolsheviks quit government.
October 31–November 2: Fighting in Moscow, which ends with surrender of pro-government troops.
November 1–2: Bolshevik Central Committee rejects Union of Railroad Employees’ demands; Kamenev and four other commissars resign to protest Lenin’s refusal to compromise on broadening cabinet.
November 4: Critical encounter between Lenin and Trotsky and Central Executive Committee of Soviets: by manipulating vote, Sovnarkom obtains formal authority to legislate by decree.
November 9: Bolsheviks transmit their Peace Decree to Allied representatives, whose governments reject the call for an immediate armistice.
November 12: Elections to Constituent Assembly begin in Petrograd; they continue throughout unoccupied Russia until the end of the month. Socialists-Revolutionaries gain largest number of votes.
November 14: Bank employees refuse Sovnarkom’s requests for money.
November 15: First regular meeting of Bolshevik Sovnarkom.
November 17: Bolshevik troops break into State Bank, remove 5 million rubles.
November 20/December 3: Armistice negotiations begin at Brest-Litovsk; Soviet delegation headed by Ioffe.
November 22: Decree dissolving most courts and the legal profession; creation of Revolutionary Tribunals.
November 22–23: Establishment of Union for the Defense of the Constituent Assembly.
November 23/December 6: Russians and Central Powers agree on armistice.
November 26: Peasants’ Congress convenes in Petrograd.
November 28: Rump meeting of Constituent Assembly.
December: Supreme Council of the National Economy (VSNKh) created.
December 4: Bolsheviks and Left SRs break up Peasants’ Congress.
December 7: Cheka established.
December 9–10: Bolsheviks reach accord with Left SRs; Left SRs enter Sovnarkom and Cheka.
December 15/28: Brest talks adjourn.
December 27/January 9: Brest talks resume; Trotsky heads Russian delegation.
December 30/January 12: Central Powers recognize Rada as government of the Ukraine.
Late December: Generals Alekseev and Kornilov found Volunteer Army.
1918
January 1: Attempt on Lenin’s life.
January 5/18: One-day session of Constituent Assembly; demonstration in its support fired upon and dispersed. Workers’ “plenipotentiaries” hold first meeting; Trotsky returns from Brest to Petrograd.
January 6: Constituent Assembly closed.
January 8: Opening of Bolshevik-sponsored Third Congress of Soviets; it passes “Declaration of the Rights of the Toiling and Exploited Masses” and proclaims Soviet Russian Republic.
January 15/28: Trotsky returns to Brest, talks resume.
January 21: Soviet Russia repudiates foreign and domestic debts.
January 28: Rada proclaims Ukrainian independence.
February 9: Central Powers sign separate peace with Ukraine; Kaiser orders German delegation at Brest to give Russians ultimatum.
February 17–18: Disputes among Bolsheviks about German peace demands; Lenin secures barest majority for their acceptance.
February 18: German and Austrian troops resume offensive against Russia.
February 21: Trotsky requests French military help.
February 21–22: Lenin’s decree “The Socialist Fatherland in Danger!” authorizes summary execution of opponents.
February 23: German ultimatum arrives with fresh territorial demands.
February 24–25: Germans occupy Dorpat, Revel, and Borisov.
March 1: Russian delegation returns to Brest; two days later signs German text of the peace treaty.
Early March: Bolshevik government transfers to Moscow.
March 5: Murmansk Soviet requests and receives from Moscow authorization to have Allies land troops to protect it.
March 6–8: Seventh Congress of Bolshevik Party.
March: People’s Courts introduced.
March 9: First Allied contingent lands in Murmansk.
March 14: Soviet Congress ratifies Brest Treaty; Left SRs leave Sovnarkom.
Night of March 10–11: Lenin moves to Moscow.
March 16: Grand dukes ordered to register with Cheka; subsequently exiled to the Urals.
April 4: First Japanese landings in Vladivostok.
April 13: Kornilov killed by stray shell; General Denikin assumes command of Volunteer Army.
April: Soviet Russia and Germany exchange diplomatic missions.
April 20: Decree outlawing purchase and leasing of industrial and commercial enterprises; all securities and bonds to be registered with government.
April 22: Transcaucasian Federation proclaims independence.
April 26: Nicholas, wife, and one daughter depart under guard from Tobolsk for Ekaterinburg; they arrive there April 30 and are imprisoned.
May 1: Inheritance abolished.
May 8–9: Sovnarkom decides to launch assault on the rural areas.
May 9: Bolsheviks fire on worker demonstrators at Kolpino.
May 13: Declaration of war on “peasant bourgeoisie” in decree giving Commissar of Supply extraordinary powers.
May 14: Altercation between Czech Legion and Magyar POWs in Cheliabinsk.
May 20: Decree creating “food supply detachment
s.”
May 22: Czech Legion refuses to surrender arms; Trotsky orders it disarmed by force. Czech rebellion begins.
May 26: Transcaucasian Federation falls apart into independent republics of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
May–June: Elections to urban soviets in Russia; Bolsheviks lose majorities in all cities, reimpose them by force.
Early June: British landings at Archangel.
June 8: Czechs occupy Samara, following which Committee of the Constituent Assembly (Komuch) formed.
June 11: Decree ordering formation in the villages of Committees of the Poor (
kombedy
).
Night of June 12–13: Grand Duke Michael and companion murdered near Perm.
June 16: Introduction of capital punishment.
June 26: Council of Workers’ Plenipotentiaries calls for one-day political strike on July 2.
June 28: Kaiser Wilhelm II decides to continue support of Bolsheviks; Soviet Government orders large industrial enterprises nationalized.
Summer: Civil war in the countryside as peasants resist Bolshevik expropriations of grain.
July 1: Government of Western Siberia proclaimed in Omsk.
July 2: Unsuccessful anti-Bolshevik strike in Petrograd; probable date when Bolshevik leaders decide to execute ex-Tsar.
July 4: Fifth Congress of Soviets opens in Moscow; approves Soviet Constitution.
Night of July 5–6: Savinkov’s uprising at Iaroslavl, followed by risings at Murom and Rybinsk.
July 6: Murder of Mirbach followed by Left SR uprising in Moscow.
July 7: Latvian troops suppress Left SR rebellion.
Night of July 16–17: Murder of Nicholas II, family, and servants in Ekaterinburg.
July 17: Massacre at Alapaevsk of several grand dukes and their companions.
July 21: Savinkov’s forces surrender at Iaroslavl; massacre of 350 officers and civilians.
July 29: Compulsory military training introduced; officers of Imperial Army ordered to register.
August 1–2: Additional Allied forces land at Archangel and Murmansk; Bolsheviks request German help against Allies and the White (Volunteer) forces in the south.
August 6: Berlin recalls German Ambassador from Moscow, follows by closing embassy there.
August: Lenin calls on workers to exterminate “kulaks.”
August 24: Urban real estate nationalized.
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