Russia key timeline

when did bukharin join bolsehvik faction

1906

when was the revolution that led to the downfall of the tsar and creation of provisional gov

february 1917

when was the revolution that led to the creation of sovnarkom

october 1917

when was the decree on land that gave peasants the right to seize land from nobility and church

october 1917

when was the decree of peace that committed the new gov to withdrawing from ww1 and seeking peace

1917

when were the workers decrees that established 8 hour max working day and minimum wage

november 1917

when was state capitalism introduced by lenin

april 1918

when did trotsky join bols

1917

when did yagoda join bols

1917

when were there 2.6 million industrial workers

1917

when were banks nationalised

1917

when was vesenka created to ensure factories were managed properly

december 1917

when did bukarin and lenin disagree over ending ww1

1918

when was the constituent assembly closed

january 1918

when was the constituent assembly formed

november 1917

when did the treaty of brest litovsk end participation in ww1

1918

when was war communism introduced forcing grain requisitioning, forbidding private trade/manufacturing and rationing food by the supply commissariat

june 1918

when was the civil war between reds (communists), whites (liberals, tsarists or those wanting military dictatorship) and greens (associated with left SRs or anarchist groups, fought for autonomy of local groups of peasants)

1918-21

when did famine in the countryside cause 6 million deaths

1920

when did the red army have 5 million soldiers

1920

when was the tambov uprising against war communism and the removal of mir which had become a genuine peasant organisation so 50,000 red army troops called to repress it and they burned villages

1920-21

when were there 1.2 million industrial workers

1921

when was the kronstadt mutiny where 15,000 sailors mutinied and trotsky ordered 50,000 soldiers to storm the naval base and 500 sailors were executed

1921

when did lenin first become ill

1921

when was the one party state introduced which banned other parties

1921

when was on party unity introduced banning factions within the party

1921

when did lenin and bukarin argue over introducing the nep

1921

when was nep introduced creating a mixed economy leading to political and economic stability and industrial growth despite contradicting ideology - created nepmen who were corrupt private traders

1921

when did the secret police become the ogpu

1922

when did lenin have his first stroke that left him unable to work

1922

when did zinoviev emerge as the frontrunner to lead the ussr

1923

when was the scissors crisis created by nep as agriculture recovered quickly but industry didn’t meaning the imbalance led to fall in price of food and rise in price of industrial goods opening a gap between farmers’ incomes and industrial prices (named by trotsky due to appearance on graph)

1923

when did lenin die

january 1924

when did stalin adpot socialism in one country

1924

when was the duumvirate formed by bukharin and stalin

1925

when was the triumvirate led by zinoviev, lenin, kamenev and stalin

1923-25

when was bukharin the most prominent figure in soviet gov

1925-28

when did trotsky leave the politburo

1927

when did stalin move from nep to collectivisation and industrialisation

1928

when was the command economy set up

1928

when was collectivisation

1928-41

when was 10.8 mil tons of grain procured from peasants under collectivisation

1928

when was the dnepier dam project killing between 20,000 and 100,000 people

1928

when was the first 5yp which focused on rapid industrialisation and collectivisation

1928-32

when were kulaks liquidated by de-kulakisation squads (though figes argues they never existed and were a made-up class as an excuse for stalin to purge)

1929-32

when was ryutin imprisoned for circulating a document criticising stalin’s policies

1932

when was the white sea canal project which used gulag labour and 250,000 died

1932

when was the holodomor (collectivisation led to famine in ukraine where 5 mil died)

1932-33

when did the chistka cleanse the party

1932-35

by what year had 22% of the party been removed by the chistka

1935

when did the ogpu become the nkvd

1933

when were 22.6 million tons of grain procured from peasants under collectivisation

1933

when was the second 5py which focused on heavy industry

1933-37

when did the congress of victors indicate stalin’s position was under threat when kirov received 1,225 votes compared to his own 927 (but kirov refused to stand as general secretary and vote kept secret)

february 1934

when was kirov murdered which was used as useful pretext for launching terror

december 1934

when was the nkvd led by yagoda

1934-36

when was the great terror

1934-37

when was the moscow metro consisting of an 11km line created with 13 stations allowing for peasant migration to cities and effective transport of goods introduced

1935

when was the trial of the 16 that led to the execution of zinoviev, kamenev and 14 of their supporters

1936

when was the new democratic constitution introduced that gave each citizen a vote, freedom of press, religion and organisation and guarantee of employment however only communist party candidates allowed to stand for election

1936

when was the nkvd led by yezhov the bloody dwarf

1936-38

when was the trial of the 17 that led to execution/imprisonment of 17 of trotsky’s former supporters

1937

when was the trial of the 21 that led to the execution of bukharin and many of his supporters

1938

when was yagoda removed, arrested and executed

1938

when was the third 5yp with a focus on armaments of war

1938-41

when was the nkvd led by beria

1938-53

when was yezhov the bloody dwarf arrested

1939

when was trotsky murdered with an ice pick in mexico

1940

when was 1/3 of gov spending on arms production

1940

when did the nkvd supervise the red army

1941

when was the state defence committee responsible for economic coordination and military production and defence during ww2

1942

when did stalin demand the politburo vote to expel molotov’s wife and molotov abstained from vote and later apologised to stalin for this disloyalty

1948

when did beria purge leningrad branch of party and 2,000 were imprisoned/exiled

1949

when was molotov’s wife imprisoned and he made no effort to stop this

1949

when was the mingrelian affair

1951

when was the doctor's’ plot which was stalin’s plan to arrest doctors accused of trying to assassinate him but in reality was a way to remove beria by attacking jewish doctors

1953

when was beria trialled and shot

1953

when did khrushchev and malenkov set up a special commission to review cases of political prisoners who’d been sent to gulags

1954

when was party membership at 6.9 million

1954

when did khrushchev introduce the virgin lands scheme where large areas of unused land should be farmed using a large labour force but was overall successful as land was unused for a reason as remote areas were unsitable for farming

1954

when were 4,620 out of 113.739 prisoners released as a result of the 1954 commission

1955

when had 35.9 million hectares of virgin land been put to use creating a good harvest

1956

when was khrushchev’s secret speech announcing destalinisation that was so shocking several had heart attacks

1956

when were 51,439 prisoners released as a result of the 1954 commission

june 1956

when was the hungarian revolution where the communist satellite state tried to break away from soviet control so they sent in army and repressed rebellion

1956

by what year had half of those executed by stalin been rehabilitated

1962

when was party membership at 11 million

1964

when did khrushchev retire

1964

in what years were only 2 people promoted to politburo

1964-71

in what years did 80-90% of central committee members retain their jobs following party congresses making ussr a gerontocracy

1966-71

when did article 6 of the constitution give party greater power as it established communists as sole legitimate political power in ussr

1977

when was the average age of the politburo 75 and average age of central committee was 62

1982

in what decade was the cotton affair resulting in millions of rouble being claimed for non-existent cotton that was exposed under gorbachev

1980s

when did brezhnev become soviet leader aged 68

1982

when did brezhnev die

1982

when did chernenko become leader mostly copying brezhnev

february 1984

when did chernenko die

march 1985

when was lenin in power

nov 1917 - jan 1924

when was stalin in power

1928-53

when was khrushchev in power

1953-64