In order to better understand an event, an overview is needed from the outset, with an emphasis on terms and key dates defining the whole subject. Below is a short chronology of the Russian Revolution, but also of the main actors who were crucial in the unfolding of one of the most important events in Russia’s history and of the First World War.
CHRONOLOGY
1914
August 1
The Russian Empire enters the war against Germany.
1916
The night of December 29 to December 3
Rasputin, a close advisor to the imperial family, is assassinated by a conspiracy led by Prince Felix Yusupov, a convinced monarchist, who wanted to free the Emperor from the influence of the mysterious monk.
1917
February 23
Women protest during Women’s Day. The workers in Viborg go on strike and started filling the streets of Petrograd.
February 26
Tsar Nicholas II orders the soldiers to shoot the crowd, but they refuse and join the demonstrators.
February 27
The protesters headed to the Tauride Palace, the headquarters of the Duma, and created the Soviet of Deputies and Workers of Petrograd. The so-called “dvoevlastie” or “Dual Power” was established, which meant that the power was shared between the two institutions.
March 1
The Petrograd Soviet Order No. 1 called on the soldiers to elect their own representatives for the council, as the army fell under the control of the Soviet.
March 2
Tsar Nicholas II is forced to abdicate. The first provisional government is created, led by Prince Georgy Lvov and supported by the Duma and by the newly established Petrograd Soviet.
March 6
The Provisional Government decided to continue the war alongside the Allies, wishing to stay in the fight until the end.
March 11
The Allies recognize the Provisional Government.
March 16
Tsar Michael II, brother of Nicholas II, abdicates.
March 20
Political and civic equality rights are introduced in Russia.
April 3
Lenin returns from his exile in Zurich. He formulates the April Theses: “All Power to the Soviets!”.
April 18th
Pavel Milyukov, Foreign Minister in the Provisional Government, reassures the Allies of Russia’s commitment to the war effort.
April 20-21
Soldiers and workers protest against the foreign policy promoted by the government.
May 5
The Socialists join the Provisional Government with Alexander Kerensky nominated as the Minister of War.
June 3
The first All-Russian Congress of Soviets.
June 18
Bolsheviks take to the streets. They accused both Kerensky and the “bourgeois-liberal” government of being enemies of the people.
July 3-4
Bloody demonstrations, which were mainly instigated by the Bolsheviks, take place in Petrograd.
July 5-6
Bolshevik leaders are arrested. Lenin runs away.
July 7
Prime Minister Lvov resigns. He is replaced by Kerensky.
August 26-30
The Kornilov putsch. The Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, General Lavr Kornilov, leads a coup against the Provisional Government, which fails. The Bolshevik cause is revived.
August 31
Members of the Russian Soviets endorse a Bolshevik resolution calling for the creation of a socialist government. The bourgeoisie is excluded.
September 25
The third government is formed with a Bolshevik majority. The Soviet Petrograd appoints Leon Trotsky as president.
10 October
The Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party approves an armed uprising.
October 20
The First meeting of the Revolutionary Military Committee in Petrograd.
October 25
The October Revolution. The siege of the Winter Palace. Kerensky flees.
October 26
The Right Socialist Revolutionary Party and the Mensheviks protest against the revolution. Local power is assigned to soldiers and workers. The death penalty is abolished. The Decrees on Peace and Land are issued. The Bolshevik Government appoints Lenin as president.
November 14
Germany accepts the negotiation of an armistice with Russia.
December 7
The creation of Cheka- The first Soviet secret police.
December 9
The peace talks in Brest-Litovsk begin.
1918
January 5
The Russian Constituent Assembly is dissolved. Germany presents the conditions for the conclusion of peace as an ultimatum.
January 15
The Red Army is set up.
February 18
The Bolsheviks accept the peace conditions.
March 3
The Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty between Germany and Soviet Russia is signed.
The Protagonists. Dictionary
The Whites
Anti-Bolshevik military and political forces opposed to the October Revolution. These were supporters of the monarchy; every Russian Tsar was called the White Tsar, hence the origin of their name.
The Bolsheviks
In Russian, the “majority”, formerly members of the Lenin led Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. After taking power in 1917, the extreme-left party changed its name to the Communist Party (the Bolsheviks). Until 1952, the party preserved the Bolshevik name, calling itself the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolshevik). The Bolsheviks supported the proletariat and the peasantry.
The Mensheviks
Translated as the “minority”, they supported the change of Russia through a bourgeois-democratic revolution. Their popularity diminished when some of their leaders defected to the Bolshevik side, like Leon Trotsky. After the Kronstadt rebellion of 1921, Menshevism was declared illegal.
The Soviets
Local councils of workers ever since the Tsarist period. Russian Marxists used them as a tool to fight the state, in 1917 frequently using the slogan “All Power to the Soviets”. Their importance in Russia grew exponentially after the overthrow of the Kerensky government, the parliaments being called “soviets” and the Supreme Soviet, established in 1922, being the largest legislative body of the USSR.
The ESERY
Members of the Revolutionary Socialist Party, set up at the beginning of the 20th century, with left-wing beliefs, but more moderate than the Bolsheviks. One of the most important members of the group was Alexander Kerensky. The party had its origins in the populist movement and was backed by peasants as they promoted a social-democratic policy.
The proletarians
From the latin “proles”, which, in a broader translation, means those poor people who have nothing but their children. The definition given by Marx would be: “the class of modern-day workers who, without their own means of production, have to sell their labour-power in order to live.”
The State Duma
Originating from the Russian “think”, the Duma represented in the past a consultative assembly of boyars. From 1711, Peter the Great dissolved this state power, but in 1905 Tsar Nicholas II was forced to reinstate it, thus guaranteeing the right to association. In a democratic state, the Duma plays the part of a lower house of a parliament.
The Cheka
The Soviet secret police between 1917-1922, the precursor of the KGB. The official name was the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage.
Autocracy
A form of government based on the concentration of absolute power in the hands of one man, the will of the people being minimized. The period of Tsarist domination was characterized by this, having as its basis: “Autocracy, orthodoxy, nationality”.
Translated by Laurențiu Dumitru Dologa