Timeline of Russian history

This is a timeline of Russian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Russia and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Russia. See also the list of leaders of Russia.

Dates before 31 January 1918, when the Bolshevik government adopted the Gregorian calendar, are given in the Old Style Julian calendar.

Centuries: 9th · 10th · 11th · 12th · 13th · 14th · 15th · 16th · 17th · 18th · 19th · 20th · 21st · See also · Further reading

9th century

862Rurik came to rule in Novgorod, establishing the Rurikid Dynasty.
882Oleg of Novgorod conquered Kiev and moved the capital there.

10th century

YearDateEvent
907Rus'-Byzantine War (907): Oleg led an army to the walls of Constantinople.
Rus'-Byzantine War (907): A Rus'-Byzantine Treaty allowed Rus' merchants to enter the city under guard.
912Oleg died and was succeeded by Igor, who was Rurik's son.
941MayRus'-Byzantine War (941): A Rus' army landed at Bithynia.
SeptemberRus'-Byzantine War (941): The Byzantines destroyed the Rus' fleet.
945Rus'-Byzantine War (941): Another Rus'-Byzantine Treaty was signed. Rus' renounced some Byzantine territories.
Igor died; his wife Olga became regent of Kievan Rus' for their son, Sviatoslav I.
963Olga's regency ended.
965Sviatoslav conquered Khazaria.
968Siege of Kiev (968): The Pechenegs besieged Kiev. A Rus' created the illusion of a much larger army, and frightened them away.
9698 JulySviatoslav moved the capital from Kiev to Pereyaslavets in Bulgaria.
971The Byzantine Empire captured Pereyaslavets. The capital moved back to Kiev.
972Sviatoslav was killed by the Pechenegs during an expedition on their territory. His son Yaropolk I succeeded him.
980Yaropolk was betrayed and murdered by his brother Vladimir I, The Great, who succeeded him as Prince of Kiev.
981Vladimir conquered Red Ruthenia from the Poles.
988Christianization of Kievan Rus': Vladimir destroyed the pagan idols of Kiev and urged the city's inhabitants to baptize themselves in the Dnieper River.

11th century

YearDateEvent
1015Vladimir died. He was succeeded by Sviatopolk I, who may have been his biological son by the rape of Yaropolk's wife. Sviatopolk ordered the murder of three of Vladimir's younger sons.
1016Yaroslav I, another of Sviatopolk's brothers, led an army against him and defeated him, forcing him to flee to Poland.
1017Yaroslav issued the first Russian code of law, the Russkaya Pravda.
1018Polish Expedition to Kiev: Sviatopolk led the Polish army into Rus'. Red Ruthenia returned to Polish possession.
14 AugustPolish Expedition to Kiev: The Polish army captured Kiev; Yaroslav fled to Novgorod.
1019Yaroslav defeated Sviatopolk and returned to the princedom of Kiev. He granted autonomy to Novgorod as a reward for her prior loyalty. Sviatopolk died.
1030Yaroslav reconquered Red Ruthenia from the Poles.
104330 FebruaryRus'-Byzantine War (1043): Yaroslav led an unsuccessful naval raid on Constantinople. According to the peace settlement, Yaroslav's son Vsevolod I married a daughter of the Byzantine emperor Constantine Monomachos.
1054Yaroslav died. He was succeeded by his oldest son, Iziaslav I.
1068Iziaslav was overthrown in a popular uprising and forced to flee to Poland.
1069Iziaslav led the Polish army back into Kiev and reestablished himself on the throne.
1073Two of Iziaslav's brothers, Sviatoslav II and Vsevolod I, overthrew him; the former became prince of Kiev.
107627 DecemberSviatoslav died. Vsevolod I succeeded him, but traded the princedom of Kiev to Iziaslav in exchange for Chernigov.
1078Iziaslav died. The throne of Kiev went to Vsevolod.
109313 AprilVsevolod died. Kiev and Chernigov went to Iziaslav's illegitimate son, Sviatopolk II.
26 MayBattle of the Stugna River: Rus' forces attacked the Cumans at the Stugna River and were defeated.

12th century

YearDateEvent
111316 AprilSviatopolk died. He was succeeded by Vsevolod's son, his cousin, Vladimir II Monomakh.
112519 MayVladimir died. His oldest son, Mstislav I, succeeded him.
113214 AprilMstislav died. His brother Yaropolk II followed him as prince of Kiev.
1136Novgorod expelled the prince appointed for them by Kiev and vastly circumscribed the authority of the office.
113918 FebruaryYaropolk died. His younger brother Viacheslav followed him, but in March Viacheslav was overthrown by his cousin, prince of Chernigov, Vsevolod.
11461 AugustVsevolod died. His brother Igor followed him as a ruler of Kiev. Citizens of Kiev required him to depose old boyars of Vsevolod. Igor swore to fulfill their request, but then reconsidered to do it. Citizens of Kiev considered that oath-breaker is not a legitimate ruler anymore and chose to summon prince Iziaslav of Pereyaslavl to be a new prince of Kiev.
13 AugustIziaslav overthrow Igor. A brother of Igor, Sviatoslav, prince of Novgorod-Seversk asked prince of Rostov-Suzdal Yuri Dolgorukiy for help in realising Igor from captivity.
1147The first reference to Moscow when Yuri Dolgorukiy called upon Sviatoslav of Novgorod-Seversk to "come to me, brother, to Moscow".
1149Yuri Dolgorukiy captured Kiev. Iziaslav escaped.
1150With assistance of chorniye klobuky Iziaslav kicked away Yuri from Kiev. After some time, with help of Volodimirko of Galych, Yuri took Kiev again.
1151Hungarian king Géza II helped Iziaslav to return Kiev. Yuri escaped
115413 NovemberIziaslav II died. His brother, prince of Smolensk Rostislav was summoned to become a new prince of Kiev.
1155Yuri Dolgorukiy expelled Rostislav with assistance of prince of Chernigov.
1157Yuri I was intoxicated and died. Iziaslav of Chernigov became prince of Kiev.
1159Iziaslav of Chernigov was overthrown by princes of Galych and Volyn. Allies called Rostislav to be prince of Kiev again.
1167Rostislav died. His nephew, Mstislav of Volyn, became new ruler of Kiev.
1169Andrey Bogolyubsky, the elder son of Yuri Dolgorukiy, prince of new strong principality of Vladimir-Suzdal attacked and plundered Kiev. A majority of Russian princes recognized him as a new grand prince. Unlike previous grand princes Andrey I did not move his residence to Kiev, instead remaining in Vladimir. Andrey appointed his brother Gleb as prince of Kiev. From this time, Kiev stopped being the center of Russian lands. The political and cultural center was moved to Vladimir. New princes of Kiev became dependent on the grand princes of Vladimir-Suzdal

13th century

YearDateEvent
1223Battle of the Kalka River: The warriors of Rus' first encountered the Mongol armies of Genghis Khan.
1227Boyar intrigues forced Mstislav, the prince of Novgorod, to give the throne to his son-in-law Andrew II of Hungary.
1236Alexander Nevsky was summoned by the Novgorodians to become Grand Prince of Novgorod and, as their military leader, to defend their northwest lands from Swedish and German invaders.
1237DecemberMongol invasion of Rus: Batu Khan set fire to Moscow and slaughtered and enslaved its civilian inhabitants.
124015 JulyBattle of the Neva: The Novgorodian army defeated a Swedish invasion force at the confluence of the Izhora and Neva Rivers.
12425 AprilBattle of the Ice: The army of Novgorod defeated the invading Teutonic Knights on the frozen surface of Lake Peipus.
126314 NovemberNevsky died. His appanages were divided within his family; his youngest son Daniel became the first Prince of Moscow. His younger brother Yaroslav of Tver had become the Grand Prince of Tver and of Vladimir and had appointed deputies to run the Principality of Moscow during Daniel's minority.

14th century

YearDateEvent
13035 MarchDaniel died. His oldest son Yury succeeded him as Prince of Moscow.
1317Yury married the sister of Uzbeg Khan who was Mongolian prince. Uzbeg deposed the Grand Prince of Vladimir and appointed Yury to that office.
1322Dmitriy the Terrible Eyes, the son of the last Grand Prince of Vladimir, convinced Uzbeg Khan that Yury had been stealing from the khan's tribute money. He was reappointed to the princedom of Vladimir.
132521 NovemberYury was murdered by Dmitriy. His younger brother Ivan I Kalita succeeded him.
132715 AugustThe ambassador of the Golden Horde of Mongolian Empire was trapped and burned alive during an uprising in the Grand Duchy of Tver.
1328Ivan led a Horde army against the Grand Prince of Tver, also the Grand Prince of Vladimir. Ivan was allowed to replace him in the latter office.
134031 MarchIvan died. His son Simeon succeeded him both as Grand Prince of Moscow and as Grand Prince of Vladimir
1353Simeon died. His younger brother Ivan II, The Fair, succeeded him as Grand Prince of Moscow.
135913 NovemberIvan died. His son, Dmitri Donskoi, succeeded him.
13808 SeptemberBattle of Kulikovo: A Muscovite force defeated a significantly larger Blue Horde army of Mongolia at Kulikovo Field.
1382The Mongol khan Tokhtamysh reasserted his power by looting and burning Moscow.
138919 MayDmitri died. The throne fell to his son, Vasili I.

15th century

YearDateEvent
1425FebruaryVasili I died. His son Vasili II, succeeded him as Grand Prince of Moscow; his wife Sophia became regent. His younger brother, Yury Dmitrievich of Zvenigorod, also issued a claim to the throne.
1430Yury appealed to the khan of the Golden Horde to support his claim to the throne. Vasili II retained the Duchy of Moscow, but Yury was given the Duchy of Dmitrov.
1432Muscovite Civil War: Vasili II led an army to capture Dmitrov. His army was defeated and he was forced to flee to Kolomna. Yury arrived in Moscow and declared himself the Grand Prince. Vasili II was pardoned and made mayor of Kolomna.
1433Muscovite Civil War: The exodus of Muscovite boyars to Vasili II's court in Kolomna persuaded Yury to return Moscow to his nephew and move to Galich.
1434Muscovite Civil War: Vasily II burned Galich.
16 MarchMuscovite Civil War: The army of Yury Dmitrievich defeated the army of Vasily II. The latter fled to Nizhny Novgorod.
1 AprilMuscovite Civil War: Yury arrived in Moscow and again declared himself the Grand Prince.
5 JulyYury died. His oldest son Vasily the Squint, succeeded him as Grand Prince.
1435Muscovite Civil War: Yury's second son, Dmitry Shemyaka, allied himself with Vasily II. Vasily the Squint was expelled from the Kremlin and blinded. Vasili II returned to the throne of the Grand Prince.
1438Russo-Kazan Wars: The khan of the recently established Khanate of Kazan led an army towards Moscow.
14457 JulyBattle of Suzdal: The Russian army suffered a great defeat at the hands of the Tatars of Kazan. Vasili II was taken prisoner; operation of the government fell to Dmitry Shemyaka.
DecemberMuscovite Civil War: Vasili II was ransomed back to Muscovy.
1446Muscovite Civil War: Shemyaka had Vasili II blinded and exiled to Uglich, and had himself declared the Grand Prince.
1450Muscovite Civil War: The boyars of Moscow expelled Shemyaka from the Kremlin and recalled Vasili II to the throne.
1452Muscovite Civil War: Shemyaka was forced to flee to the Novgorod Republic.
1453Shemyaka was poisoned by Muscovite agents.
146227 MarchVasili II died. His son Ivan III, The Great, succeeded him as Grand Prince.
1463Grand Duchy of Moscow annexed the Duchy of Yaroslavl.
147114 JulyBattle of Shelon: A Muscovite army defeated a numerically superior Novgorodian force.
1474Grand Duchy of Moscow annexed the Rostov Duchy.
1476Ivan stopped paying tribute to the Great Horde.
147814 JanuaryThe Novgorod Republic surrendered to the authority of Moscow.
148011 NovemberGreat stand on the Ugra river: Ivan's forces deterred Akhmat Khan of the Great Horde from invading Muscovy.
1485Ivan annexed the Grand Duchy of Tver.
1497Ivan issued a legal code, the Sudebnik, which standardized the Muscovite law, expanded the role of the criminal justice system, and limited the ability of the serfs to leave their masters.

16th century

YearDateEvent
150529 OctoberIvan died. He was succeeded as Grand Duke of Muscovy by his son, Vasili III.
1507Russo-Crimean Wars: The Crimean Khanate raided the Muscovite towns of Belyov and Kozelsk.
1510With the approval of most of the local nobility, Vasili arrived in the Pskov Republic and declared it dissolved.
1517The last Grand Prince of the Ryazan Principality was captured and imprisoned in Moscow.
15333 DecemberVasili died; his son Ivan IV, The Terrible, succeeded him. His wife Elena Glinskaya became regent.
15384 AprilGlinskaya died. She was succeeded as regent by Prince Vasily Nemoy.
154716 JanuaryAn elaborate ceremony crowned Ivan the first Tsar of Russia.
155222 AugustSiege of Kazan (1552): Russian armed forces arrived at Kazan.
2 OctoberSiege of Kazan (1552): The Russian army breached the walls of Kazan.
13 OctoberSiege of Kazan (1552): The civilian population of Kazan was massacred, the city occupied.
1553–1554First book printed in Russia, the Narrow-typed Gospel Book.
1556Russia conquered and annexed the Astrakhan Khanate.
1558Livonian War: Ivan demanded a back-breaking tribute from the Bishopric of Dorpat. The Bishop sent diplomats to Moscow to renegotiate the amount; Ivan expelled them and invaded and occupied the Bishopric.
15602 AugustBattle of Ergeme: Ivan's army crushed the forces of the Livonian Order.
156128 NovemberLivonian War: The Livonian Order agreed to the Union of Wilno, under which the Livonian Confederation was partitioned between Lithuania, Sweden and Denmark. Lithuania and Sweden sent troops to liberate their new territories from Russian possession.
1565FebruaryIvan established the Oprichnina, a territory ruled directly by the tsar.
15691 JulyThe Union of Lublin was signed. Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were merged into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth; Poland began aiding Lithuania in its war against Russia.
1572The Oprichnina was abolished.
158116 NovemberIvan killed his oldest son.
158215 JanuaryLivonian War: The Peace of Jam Zapolski ended Polish–Lithuanian participation in the war. Russia gave up its claims to Livonia and the city of Polatsk.
23 OctoberBattle of Chuvash Cape: Russian soldiers dispersed the armed forces of the Siberia Khanate from its capital, Qashliq.
1583Livonian War: The war was ended with the Treaty of Plussa. Narva and the Gulf of Finland coast went to Sweden.
158418 MarchIvan died. The throne fell to his intellectually disabled son Feodor I; his son-in-law Boris Godunov took de facto charge of government.
159018 JanuaryRusso-Swedish War (1590–1595): The Treaty of Plussa expired. Russian troops laid siege to Narva.
25 FebruaryRusso-Swedish War (1590–1595): A Swedish governor on the disputed territory surrendered to Russians.
159115 MayDimitry Ivanovich, Ivan the Terrible's youngest son, died in exile from a stab wound to the throat. Long-regarded as murdered by agents of Boris Godunov, more recently scholars have begun to defend the theory that Dimitry's death was self-inflicted during an epileptic seizure.
159518 MayRusso-Swedish War (1590–1595): The Treaty of Tyavzino was signed. Ingria went to Russia.
15987 JanuaryFeodor I died with no children giving a start to Time of Troubles
21 FebruaryA zemsky sobor elected Godunov the first non-Rurikid tsar of Russia.

17th century

YearDateEvent
1601–03Devastating famine, that undermined Boris's authority.
1604OctoberFalse Dmitriy I, a man claiming to be the deceased Dmitriy Ivanovich, son of Ivan IV, invaded Russia with help of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
160513 AprilBoris died. His son Feodor II was pronounced tsar.
1 JuneA group of boyars defected in support of False Dmitriy, seized control of the Kremlin, and arrested Feodor.
20 JuneFalse Dmitriy and his army arrived in Moscow. Feodor and his mother were strangled.
21 JulyFalse Dmitriy was crowned tsar.
16068 MayFalse Dmitriy married a Catholic, Marina Mniszech, inflaming suspicions that he meant to convert Russia to Catholicism.
17 MayConservative boyars led by Vasili Shuisky stormed the Kremlin and shot False Dmitriy to death during his escape.
19 MayShuisky's allies declared him Tsar Vasili IV.
1607False Dmitriy II, another claimant to the identity of Dmitriy Ivanovich, obtained financial and military support from a group of Polish magnates
160928 FebruaryVasili Shuisky ceded border territory to Sweden in exchange for military aid against the government of False Dmitriy II; around this time Smolensk got besieged
SeptemberPolish–Muscovite War (1609–1618): The Polish king Sigismund III led an army into Russia;
16104 JulyBattle of Klushino: Seven thousand Polish cavalrymen defeated a vastly superior Russian force at Klushino.
19 JulyVasili was overthrown. A group of nobles, the Seven Boyars, replaced him at the head of the government.
27 JulyPolish–Russian War (1609–1618): A truce was established. The boyars promised to recognize Sigismund's son and heir Władysław as tsar, conditional on severe limits to his power and his conversion to Orthodoxy.
AugustPolish–Russian War (1609–1618): Sigismund rejected the boyars' conditions.
DecemberHermogenes, the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, urged the Muscovite people to rise against the Poles.
11 DecemberFalse Dmitriy II was shot and beheaded by one of his entourage.
16121 NovemberPolish–Russian War (1609–1618): Muscovite populace rising against the Poles recaptured the Kremlin.
1613Ingrian War: Sweden invaded Russia.
21 FebruaryA zemsky sobor elected Michael Romanov, a grandson of Ivan the Terrible's brother-in-law, the tsar of Russia.
161727 FebruaryIngrian War: The Treaty of Stolbovo ended the war. Kexholm, Ingria, Estonia and Livonia went to Sweden.
161811 DecemberPolish–Russian War (1609–1618): The Truce of Deulino ended the war. Russia ceded the city of Smolensk and the Czernihów Voivodeship to Poland.
161913 FebruaryFeodor Romanov, Michael's father, was released from Polish prison and allowed to return to Moscow.
1632OctoberSmolensk War: With the expiration of the Truce of Deulino, a Russian army was sent to lay siege to Smolensk.
16341 MarchSmolensk War: The Russian army, surrounded, was forced to surrender.
14 JuneSmolensk War: The Treaty of Polyanovka was signed, ending the war. Poland retained Smolensk, but Władysław renounced his claim to the Russian throne.
164513 JulyMichael died. His son, Alexis, succeeded him.
164825 JanuaryKhmelnytsky Uprising: A Polish szlachta, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, leads the Cossacks of the Zaporizhian Sich against the Polish Crown.
1 JuneSalt Riot: Upset over the introduction of a salt tax, the townspeople launched a rebellion in Moscow.
11 JuneSalt Riot: A group of nobles demanded a zemsky sobor on behalf of the rebellion.
3 JulySalt Riot: Many of the rebellion's leaders were executed.
25 DecemberKhmelnytsky Uprising: Khmelnytsky entered the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.
1649JanuaryA zemsky sobor ratified a new legal code, the Sobornoye Ulozheniye.
1653Raskol: Nikon, the Patriarch of Moscow, reformed Russian liturgy to align with the rituals of the Greek Church.
1654JanuaryKhmelnytsky Uprising: Under the Treaty of Pereyaslav, Left-bank Ukraine, the territory of the Zaporozhian Host, allies itself with Russia.
March–AprilRaskol: Nikon arranges a church council, which decides to correct Russian divine service books using ancient Greek and Slavic manuscripts.
JulyRusso-Polish War (1654–1667): The Russian army invaded Poland.
1655Swedish Deluge: Sweden invaded the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
3 JulyRusso-Polish War (1654–1667): Russian army captured Vilnius.
25 JulySwedish Deluge: The voivode of Poznań surrendered to the Swedish invaders.
2 NovemberRussia negotiated a ceasefire with Poland.
1656JulyRusso–Swedish War (1656–1658): Russian reserves invaded Ingria.
165826 FebruaryDano-Swedish War (1657–1658): The Treaty of Roskilde ended Sweden's war with Denmark, allowing her to shift her troops to the eastern conflicts.
10 JulyRaskol: Patriarch Nikon leaves Moscow.
16 SeptemberRusso-Polish War (1654–1667): The Treaty of Hadiach established a military alliance between Poland and the Zaporozhian Host, and promised the creation of a Commonwealth of three nations: Poland, Lithuania and Rus'.
28 DecemberRusso–Swedish War (1656–1658): The Treaty of Valiesar established a peace. The conquered Ingrian territories were ceded to Russia for three years.
166023 AprilSwedish Deluge: The Treaty of Oliva ended the conflict between Poland and Sweden.
1661Russo-Polish War (1654–1667): Polish forces recaptured Vilnius.
1 JulyThe Treaty of Valiesar expired. Russia returned Ingria to the Swedish Empire by the Treaty of Cardis.
166225 JulyCopper Riot: In the early morning, a group of Muscovites marched to Kolomenskoye and demanded punishment for the government ministers who had debased Russia's copper currency. On their arrival, they were countered by the military; a thousand were hanged or drowned. The rest were exiled.
1665Lubomirski's Rokosz: A Polish nobleman launched a rokosz (rebellion) against the king.
The pro-Turkish Cossack noble Petro Doroshenko defeated his pro-Russian adversaries in the Right-bank Ukraine.
1666April–MayRaskol: Great Moscow Synod deposed Nikon from the patriarchy. The Old Believers were anathematized.
166730 JanuaryRusso-Polish War (1654–1667): The Treaty of Andrusovo ended the war between Poland and Russia without Cossack representation. Poland agreed to cede the Smoleńsk and Czernihów Voivodships and acknowledged Russian control over the Left-bank Ukraine.
1669Doroshenko signed a treaty that recognized his state as a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire.
1670The Cossack Stenka Razin began a rebellion against the Russian government.
1671Razin was captured, tortured, and quartered in Red Square on the Lobnoye Mesto.
1674The Cossacks of the Right-bank Ukraine elected the pro-Russian Ivan Samoylovych, Hetman of the Left-bank Ukraine, to replace Doroshenko and become the Hetman of a unified Ukraine.
1676Russo-Turkish War (1676–1681): The Ottoman army joined Doroshenko's forces in an attack on the Left-bank city of Chyhyryn.
29 JanuaryAlexis died. His son Feodor III became tsar.
1 FebruaryRaskol: The 8-year-long siege of Solovki ended.
1680Russo-Crimean Wars: The Crimean invasions of Russia ended.
16813 JanuaryRusso-Turkish War (1676–1681): The war ended with the Treaty of Bakhchisarai. The Russo-Turkish border was settled at the Dnieper River.
1682JanuaryFeodor III abolished the mestnichestvo, an ancient, un-meritocratic system of making political appointments.
14 AprilRaskol: Avvakum, the most prominent leader of the Old Believer movement, was burned at the stake.
27 AprilFeodor died with no children. Peter I, Alexis's son by his second wife Natalia Naryshkina, was declared tsar. His mother became regent.
17 MayMoscow Uprising of 1682: Streltsy regiments belonging to the faction of Alexis's first wife, Maria Miloslavskaya, took over the Kremlin, executed Naryshkina's brothers, and declared Miloslavskaya's invalid son Ivan V the "senior tsar," with Peter remaining on the throne as the junior. Miloslavskaya's oldest daughter Sophia Alekseyevna became regent.
1687MayCrimean campaigns: Russian army launched an invasion against an Ottoman vassal, the Crimean Khanate.
17 JuneCrimean campaigns: Faced with a burned steppe incapable of feeding their horses, Russians turned back.
1689JuneFyodor Shaklovity, the head of the Streltsy Department, persuaded Sophia to proclaim herself tsarina and attempted to ignite a new rebellion in her support. The streltsy instead defected in support of Peter.
11 OctoberShaklovity was executed.
169629 JanuaryIvan V died.
23 AprilSecond Azov campaign: Russian army began its deployment to an important Ottoman fortress, Azov.
27 MaySecond Azov campaign: Russian navy arrived at the sea and blockaded Azov.
19 JulySecond Azov campaign: The Ottoman garrison surrendered.
16986 JuneStreltsy Uprising: Approximately four thousand streltsy overthrew their commanders and headed to Moscow, where they meant to demand the enthroning of the exiled Sophia Alekseyevna.
18 JuneStreltsy Uprising: The rebels were defeated.
170019 AugustGreat Northern War: Russia declared war on Sweden.
16 OctoberAdrian, the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, died. Peter prevented the election of a successor.

18th century

YearDateEvent
170327 MayFoundation of Saint Petersburg.
17078 OctoberBulavin Rebellion: A small band of Don Cossacks killed a noble searching their territory for tax fugitives.
17087 JulyBulavin Rebellion: After a series of devastating military reversals, Bulavin was shot by his former followers.
18 DecemberAn imperial decree divided Russia into eight guberniyas (governorates).
170928 JuneBattle of Poltava: A decisive Russian military victory over the Swedes at Poltava marked the turning point of the war, the end of Cossack independence and the dawn of the Russian Empire.
171014 OctoberThe Russian guberniyas were divided into lots according to noble population.
20 NovemberRusso-Turkish War (1710–1711): Charles XII of Sweden persuaded the Ottoman sultan to declare war on Russia.
171122 FebruaryGovernment reform of Peter I: Peter established the Governing Senate to pass laws in his absence.
21 JulyRusso-Turkish War (1710–1711): Peace was concluded with the Treaty of the Pruth. Russia returned Azov to the Ottoman Empire and demolished the town of Taganrog.
17138 MayThe Russian capital was moved from Moscow to Saint Petersburg.
17 JulyThe Riga Governorate was established on the conquered territory of Livonia.
The territory of the Smolensk Governorate was divided between the Moscow and Riga Governorates.
171415 JanuaryThe northwestern territory of the Kazan Governorate was transferred to the newly established Nizhny Novgorod Governorate.
171511 OctoberPeter demanded that his son, the tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, endorse his reforms or renounce his right to the throne.
1716Alexei fled to Vienna to avoid military service.
171722 NovemberThe Astrakhan Governorate was formed on the southern lands of Kazan Governorate.
The territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was reincorporated into the Kazan Governorate.
12 DecemberGovernment reform of Peter I: Peter established collegia, government ministries that superseded the prikazy.
171831 JanuaryAlexei returned to Moscow under a promise he would not be harmed.
18 FebruaryAfter torture, Alexei publicly renounced the throne and implicated a number of reactionaries in a conspiracy to overthrow his father.
13 JuneAlexei was put on trial for treason.
26 JuneAlexei died after torture in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
171929 MayLots were abolished; the guberniyas were divided instead into provinces, each governed and taxed under a preexisting elected office (the Voyevoda). Provinces were further divided into districts, replacing the old uyezds. The district commissars were to be elected by local gentry.
The Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was reestablished.
The Reval Governorate was established on the conquered territory of Estonia.
172125 JanuaryPeter established the Holy Synod, a body of ten clergymen chaired by a secular official, that was to head the Russian Orthodox Church in lieu of the Patriarch of Moscow.
30 AugustGreat Northern War: The Treaty of Nystad ended the war. Sweden ceded Estonia, Livonia and Ingria to Russia.
22 OctoberPeter was declared Emperor.
1722Peter introduced the Table of Ranks, which granted the privileges of nobility based on state service.
JulyRusso-Persian War (1722–1723): A Russian military expedition sailed in support of the independence of two Christian kingdoms, Kartli and Armenia.
172312 SeptemberRusso-Persian War (1722–1723): The Persian shah signed a peace treaty ceding the cities of Derbent and Baku and the provinces of Shirvan, Guilan, Mazandaran and Astrabad to the Russian Empire.
172528 JanuaryPeter died of urinary problems. He failed to name a successor; one of Peter's closest advisers, Aleksandr Menshikov, convinced the Imperial Guard to declare in favor of Peter's wife Catherine I.
1726The Smolensk Governorate was reestablished.
8 FebruaryCatherine established an advisory body, the Supreme Privy Council.
1727Catherine established the Belgorod and Novgorod Governorates and adjusted the borders of several others. Districts were abolished; uyezds were reestablished.
17 MayCatherine died.
18 MayAccording to Catherine's wishes the eleven-year-old Peter II, the son of Alexei Petrovich and grandson of Peter the Great, became emperor. The Supreme Privy Council was to hold power during his minority.
9 SeptemberThe conservative members of the Supreme Privy Council expelled its most powerful member, the liberal Menshikov.
173030 JanuaryPeter died of smallpox.
1 FebruaryThe Supreme Privy Council offered the throne to Anna Ivanovna, the daughter of Ivan V, on the conditions that the Council retain the powers of war and peace and taxation, among others, and that she never marry or appoint an heir.
4 MarchAnna tore up the terms of her accession and dissolved the Supreme Privy Council.
173620 MayRusso-Turkish War (1735–1739): The Russian army captured the Ottoman fortifications at Perekop.
19 JuneRusso-Turkish War (1735–1739): The Russians captured Azov.
1737JulyRusso-Turkish War (1735–1739): Austria joined the war on the Russian side.
173921 AugustRusso-Turkish War (1735–1739): Austria agreed by the Treaty of Belgrade to end its participation in the war.
18 SeptemberRusso-Turkish War (1735–1739): The Treaty of Nissa ended the war. Russia gave up its claims on Crimea and Moldavia and its navy was barred from the Black Sea.
174017 OctoberAnna died of kidney disease. She left the throne to her adopted infant son, Ivan VI.
18 OctoberAnna's lover, Ernst Johann von Biron, was declared regent.
8 NovemberBiron was arrested on the orders of his rival, the Count Burkhard Christoph von Munnich. Ivan's biological mother, Anna Leopoldovna, replaced Biron as regent.
17418 AugustRusso-Swedish War (1741–1743): Sweden declared war on Russia.
25 NovemberElizabeth, the youngest daughter of Peter the Great, led the Preobrazhensky regiment to the Winter Palace to overthrow the regency of Anna Leopoldovna and install herself as empress.
2 DecemberIvan was imprisoned in the Daugavgriva fortress.
17424 SeptemberRusso-Swedish War (1741–1743): Encircled by the Russians at Helsinki, the Swedish army surrendered.
17437 AugustRusso-Swedish War (1741–1743): The Treaty of Åbo was signed, ending the war. Russia relinquished most of the conquered territory, keeping only the lands east of the Kymi River. In exchange Adolf Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, the uncle of the Russian heir to the throne, was to become King of Sweden.
1744The Vyborg Governorate was established on conquered Swedish territories.
1755Mikhail Lomonosov and Count Ivan Shuvalov founded the University of Moscow.
175629 AugustSeven Years' War: The Kingdom of Prussia invaded the Austrian protectorate of Saxony.
17571 MayDiplomatic Revolution: Under the Second Treaty of Versailles, Russia joined the Franco-Austrian military alliance.
17 MaySeven Years' War: Russian troops entered the war.
176125 DecemberMiracle of the House of Brandenburg: Elizabeth died. Her nephew, Peter III, became emperor.
17625 MaySeven Years' War: The Treaty of Saint Petersburg ended Russian participation in the war at no territorial gain.
17 JulyPeter was overthrown by the Imperial Guard and replaced with his wife, Catherine II, The Great, on her orders.
17645 JulyA group of soldiers attempted to release the imprisoned Ivan VI; he was murdered.
176710 AugustThe Instruction of Catherine the Great is issued to the Legislative Commission.[1]
13 OctoberRepnin Sejm: Four Polish senators who opposed the policies of the Russian ambassador Nicholas Repnin were arrested by Russian troops and imprisoned in Kaluga.
176827 FebruaryRepnin Sejm: Delegates of the Sejm adopted a treaty ensuring future Russian influence in Polish internal politics.
29 FebruaryPolish nobles established the Bar Confederation in order to end Russian influence in their country.
25 SeptemberRusso-Turkish War (1768–1774): The Ottoman sultan declared war on Russia.
177115 SeptemberPlague Riot: A crowd of rioters entered Red Square, broke into the Kremlin and destroyed the Chudov Monastery.
17 SeptemberPlague Riot: The army suppressed the riot.
17725 AugustThe first partition of Poland was announced. Poland lost 30% of its territory, which was divided between Prussia, Austria, and Russia.
1773Pugachev's Rebellion: The army of the Cossack Yemelyan Pugachev attacked and occupied Samara.
18 SeptemberA confederated sejm was forced to ratify the first partition of Poland.
177421 JulyRusso-Turkish War (1768–1774): The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was signed. The portion of the Yedisan region east of the Southern Bug river, the Kabarda region in the Caucasus, and several Crimean ports, went to Russia. The Crimean Khanate received independence from the Ottoman Empire, which also declared Russia the protector of Christians on its territory.
14 SeptemberPugachev's Rebellion: Upset with the rebellion's bleak outlook, Pugachev's officers delivered him to the Russians.
17838 AprilThe Crimean Khanate was incorporated into the Russian Empire.
24 JulyThreatened by the Persian and Ottoman Empires, the kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti signed the Treaty of Georgievsk under which it became a Russian protectorate.
1788Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792): The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia and imprisoned her ambassador.
27 JuneRusso-Swedish War (1788–1790): The Swedish army playacted a skirmish between themselves and the Russians.
6 JulyBattle of Hogland: The Russian navy dispersed a Swedish invasion fleet near Hogland in the Gulf of Finland.
6 OctoberGreat Sejm: A confederated sejm was called to restore the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
179014 AugustRusso-Swedish War (1788–1790): The Treaty of Värälä ended the war, with no changes in territory.
17913 MayGreat Sejm: Poland's Constitution of 3 May was ratified in secret. The new constitution abolished the liberum veto, reducing the power of the nobles and limiting Russia's ability to influence Polish internal politics.
23 DecemberCatherine established the Pale of Settlement, an area in European Russia into which Russian Jews were transported.
17929 JanuaryRusso-Turkish War (1787–1792): The Treaty of Jassy was signed, ending the war. The Russian border in Yedisan was extended to the Dniester river.
18 MayPolish–Russian War of 1792: The army of the Targowica Confederation, which opposed the liberal Polish Constitution of 3 May, invaded Poland.
179323 JanuaryPolish–Russian War of 1792: The second partition of Poland left the country with one-third of its 1772 population.
23 NovemberGrodno Sejm: The last sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ratified the second partition.
179424 MarchKościuszko Uprising: An announcement by Tadeusz Kościuszko sparked a nationalist uprising in Poland.
4 NovemberBattle of Praga: Russian troops captured the Praga borough of Warsaw and massacred its civilian population.
5 NovemberKościuszko Uprising: The uprising ended with the Russian occupation of Warsaw.
179511 SeptemberBattle of Krtsanisi: The Persian army demolished the armed forces of Kartl-Kakheti.
24 OctoberThe third partition of Poland divided up the remainder of its territory.
1796AprilPersian Expedition of 1796: Catherine launched a military expedition to punish Persia for its incursion into the Russian protectorate of Kartl-Kakheti.
5 NovemberCatherine suffered a stroke in the bathtub.
6 NovemberCatherine died. The throne fell to her son, Paul I.

19th century

YearDateEvent
18018 JanuaryPaul authorized the incorporation of Kartl-Kakheti into the Russian empire.
11 MarchPaul was killed in his bed.
23 MarchPaul's son, Alexander I, ascended to the throne.
1802Alexander established the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD).
1804Russo-Persian War (1804–1813): Russian forces attacked the Persian settlement of Üçkilise.
1805The Ottoman Empire dismissed the pro-Russian hospodars of its vassal states, Wallachia and Moldavia.
26 DecemberWar of the Third Coalition: The Treaty of Pressburg ceded Austrian possessions in Dalmatia to France.
1806OctoberTo counter the French presence in Dalmatia, Russia invaded Wallachia and Moldavia.
27 DecemberRusso-Turkish War (1806–1812): The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia.
180714 JuneBattle of Friedland: The Russian army suffered a defeat against the French, suffering twenty thousand dead.
7 JulyThe Treaty of Tilsit was signed. Alexander agreed to evacuate Wallachia and Moldavia and ceded the Ionian Islands and Cattaro to the French. The treaty ended Russia's conflict with France; Napoleon promised to aid Russia in conflicts with the Ottoman Empire.
16 NovemberAlexander demanded that Sweden close the Baltic Sea to British warships.
180821 FebruaryFinnish War: Russian troops crossed the Swedish border and captured Hämeenlinna.
180929 MarchDiet of Porvoo: The four Estates of Finland swore allegiance to the Russian crown.
17 SeptemberFinnish War: The Treaty of Fredrikshamn was signed, ending the war and ceding Finland to the Russian Empire.
1810The first military settlement was established near Klimovichi.
1 JanuaryAlexander established the State Council, which received the executive powers of the Governing Senate.
20 FebruaryThe Russian government proclaimed the deposition of Solomon II from the throne of Imereti.
181127 MarchRegional military companies were merged into the Internal Guard.
181228 MayRusso-Turkish War (1806–1812): The Treaty of Bucharest ended the war and transferred Bessarabia to Russia.
24 JuneFrench invasion of Russia (1812): The French army crossed the Neman River into Russia.
14 SeptemberFrench invasion of Russia (1812): The French army entered a deserted Moscow, the high-water mark of their invasion.
14 DecemberFrench invasion of Russia (1812): The last French troops were forced off of Russian territory.
181324 OctoberRusso-Persian War (1804–1813): According to the Treaty of Gulistan, the Persian Empire ceded its Transcaucasian territories to Russia.
18159 JuneCongress of Vienna: The territory of the Duchy of Warsaw was divided between Prussia, Russia, and three newly established states: the Grand Duchy of Posen, the Free City of Kraków and Congress Poland. The latter was a constitutional monarchy with Alexander as its king.
182519 NovemberAlexander died of typhus. The army swore allegiance to his oldest brother, the Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich. Constantine, however, following Alexander's choice of successor, swore allegiance to his younger brother, Nicholas I.
12 DecemberUnder pressure from Constantine, Nicholas published Alexander's succession manifesto.
14 DecemberDecembrist revolt: Three thousand soldiers gathered at the Senate Square in Saint Petersburg, and declared their loyalty to Constantine and to the idea of a Russian constitution. When talk failed, the tsarist army dispersed the demonstrators with artillery, killing at least sixty.
1826An imperial decree established the Second Section of His Majesty's Own Chancery, concerned with codifying and publishing the law, and the Third Section, which operated as the Empire's secret police.
JulyNicholas established the office of Chief of Gendarmes, in charge of the Gendarmerie units of the Internal Guard.
16 JulyRusso-Persian War (1826–1828): The Persian army invaded the Russian-owned Talysh Khanate.
182821 FebruaryRusso-Persian War (1826–1828) Facing the possibility of a Russian conquest of Tehran, Persia signed the Treaty of Turkmenchay.
MayThe Russian army occupied Wallachia.
JuneRusso-Turkish War (1828–1829): The Russian armed forces crossed into Dobruja, an Ottoman territory.
182914 SeptemberRusso-Turkish War (1828–1829): The Treaty of Adrianople was signed, ceding the eastern shore of the Black Sea and the mouth of the Danube to the Russians.
183029 NovemberNovember Uprising: A group of Polish nationalists attacked Belweder Palace, the seat of the Governor-General.
183125 JanuaryNovember Uprising: An act of the Sejm dethroned Nicholas from the Polish crown.
29 JanuaryNovember Uprising: A new government took office in Poland.
4 FebruaryNovember Uprising: Russian troops crossed the Polish border.
SeptemberBattle of Warsaw (1831): The Russian army captured Warsaw, ending the November Uprising.
1836The Gendarmerie of the Internal Guard was spun off as the Special Corps of Gendarmes.
1852DecemberThe Ottoman sultan confirmed the supremacy of France and the Catholic Church over Christians in the Holy Land.
18533 JulyRussia invaded the Ottoman provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia.
4 OctoberCrimean War: The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia.
185428 MarchCrimean War: Britain and France declared war on Russia.
AugustCrimean War: In order to prevent the Austrian Empire entering the war, Russia evacuated Wallachia and Moldavia.
185518 FebruaryNicholas died. His son, Alexander II, became emperor.
185630 MarchCrimean War: The Treaty of Paris was signed, officially ending the war. The Black Sea was demilitarized. Russia lost territory it had been granted at the mouth of the Danube, abandoned claims to protect Turkish Christians, and lost its influence over the Danubian Principalities.
1857The last military settlements were disbanded.
185828 MayThe Treaty of Aigun was signed, pushing the Russo-Chinese border east to the Amur river; Tariff Act reduces import tax.
186018 OctoberThe Convention of Peking transferred the Ussuri krai from China to Russia.
18613 MarchEmancipation reform of 1861: Alexander issued a manifesto emancipating the serfs; Student Protests against the Tsar.
186322 JanuaryJanuary Uprising: An anti-Imperial uprising began in Poland; girls allowed into secondary schools and standard curriculum set.
18641 JanuaryZemstva were established for the local self-government of Russian citizens.
1 MayThe Russian army began an incursion into the Khanate of Kokand.
21 MayCaucasian War: Alexander declared the war over.
5 AugustJanuary Uprising: Romuald Traugutt, the dictator of the rebellion, was hanged.
20 NovemberJudicial reform of Alexander II: A royal decree introduced new laws unifying and liberalizing the Russian judiciary.
186517 JuneThe Russian army captured Tashkent
1867The conquered territories of Central Asia became a separate Guberniya, the Russian Turkestan.
30 MarchAlaska purchase: Russia agreed to the sale of Alaska to the United States of America.
1868The Khanate of Kokand became a Russian vassal state.
1870More vocational subjects taught to girls in schools
1873The Narodnik rebellion began.
The Emirate of Bukhara became a Russian protectorate.
18 MayKhiva was captured by Russian troops.
12 AugustA peace treaty was signed that established the Khanate of Khiva as a quasi-independent Russian protectorate.
1876MarchThe Khanate of Kokand was incorporated into the Russian Empire.
20 AprilApril Uprising: Bulgarian nationalists attacked the Ottoman police headquarters in Oborishte.
MayAlexander signed the Ems Ukaz, banning the use of the Ukrainian language in print.
8 JulyA secret treaty prepared for the division of the Balkans between Russia and Austria-Hungary, depending on the outcome of local revolutionary movements.
6 DecemberKazan demonstration: A political demonstration in front of the Kazan Cathedral in Saint Petersburg marked the appearance of the revolutionary group Land and Liberty.
1877FebruaryThe Trial of the 193 occurred, punishing the participants of the Narodnik rebellion.
24 AprilRusso-Turkish War (1877–1878): Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire.
18783 MarchRusso-Turkish War (1877–1878): The Treaty of San Stephano was signed, concluding the war and transferring Northern Dobruja and some Caucasian territories into Russian hands. Several Slavic states, Montenegro, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria, received independence or autonomy.
13 JulyCongress of Berlin: The Treaty of Berlin, imposed on Russia by the West, divided Bulgaria into Eastern Rumelia and the Principality of Bulgaria.
1879AugustLand and Liberty split into the moderate Black Repartition and the radical terrorist group People's Will.
18806 AugustThe Special Corps of Gendarmes and the Third Section were disbanded; their functions and most capable officers were transferred to the new Department of State Police under the MVD.
1881Constitution proposed, Alexander II agrees to it but doesn't get a chance to sign it
10 MarchAlexander II was assassinated by Ignacy Hryniewiecki of the People's Will. His son, Alexander III, becomes emperor.
21 SeptemberPersia officially recognized Russia's annexation of Khwarazm in the Treaty of Akhal.
1882Alexander III introduces factory inspections and restricts working hours for women and children
3 MayAlexander III introduced the May Laws, which expelled Russian Jews from rural areas and small towns and severely restricted their access to education
1883Peasant Land Bank set up
189012 JuneAn imperial decree subordinated the zemstva to the authority of the appointed regional governors.
1891Severe famine affects almost half of Russia's provinces
1892Witte's Great Spurt increases industrial growth; women banned from mines and children under 12 banned from working in factories
18941 NovemberAlexander III dies. His son Nicholas II succeeds him as emperor.
18981 MarchThe Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) held its first Party Congress.
190016 July onwardIn response to a local trade blockade, Russia invades and occupies the Sixty-Four Villages East of the Heilongjiang River. All 30,000 Qing Dynasty citizens are expelled from their homes and driven across the Amur River, where most drown.
6 FebruaryAs part of the Russification of Finland, Nicholas issues the Language Manifesto of 1900, making Russian the official language of Finnish administration.

20th century

YearDateEvent
1901The Socialist-Revolutionary Party was founded.
30 JuneRussification of Finland: The Military Service Act incorporated the Finnish and Russian armies.
1902Russification of Finland: Nikolai Bobrikov, the Governor-General of Finland, was given the power to dismiss opponents of Russification from the Finnish government.
190320 MarchRussification of Finland: The office of the Governor-General was given dictatorial powers.
6 AprilKishinev pogrom: A three-day pogrom began, which would leave forty-seven Jews dead.
17 NovemberAt the second congress of the RSDLP, the party split into two factions: the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, and the less radical Mensheviks.
19048 FebruaryRusso-Japanese War: Japan launched a surprise torpedo attack on the Russian navy at Port Arthur.
19053 JanuaryRussian Revolution of 1905: A strike began at the Putilov Works in St. Petersburg.
9 JanuaryBloody Sunday (1905): Peaceful demonstrators arrived at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg to present a petition to the emperor, leading was a priest named Georgi Gapon. The Imperial Guard fired on the crowd, killing around 200 and wounding 800.
27–28 MayRusso-Japanese War: The Russian Baltic Fleet was practically destroyed in the Battle of Tsushima, effectively ending the Russo-Japanese War in Japan's favour.
28 MayRussian Revolution of 1905: The first soviet was formed in the midst of a textile strike in Ivanovo-Voznesensk.
14 JuneRussian Revolution of 1905: A mutiny occurred aboard the battleship Potemkin.
25 JuneRussian Revolution of 1905: The Potemkin sailors defected to Romania.
5 SeptemberRusso-Japanese War: The Treaty of Portsmouth was signed, ceding some Russian property and territory to Japan and ending the war.
17 OctoberRussian Revolution of 1905: Nicholas signed the October Manifesto, expanding civil liberties and establishing and empowering the first State Duma of the Russian Empire.
1906March1906 Russian legislative election: The first free elections to the Duma gave majorities to liberal and socialist parties.
23 AprilThe Fundamental Laws were issued, reaffirming the autocratic supremacy of the emperor.
The First Duma was called.
21 JulyThe First Duma was dissolved.
23 JulyThe Constitutional Democratic party (Kadets) issued the Vyborg Manifesto, calling on the Russian people to evade taxes and the draft. All signatories to the Manifesto lost their right to hold office in the Duma.
9 NovemberA decree by Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin signaled the start of the Stolypin reform, intended to replace the obshchina with a more progressive, capitalist form of agriculture.
19079 FebruaryThe secret police units of the MVD Department of State Police were unified under the authority of the new Okhrana.
20 FebruaryThe Second Duma began. The Kadets dropped seats, benefiting the RSDLP and the Socialist-Revolutionary Party.
3 JuneThe Second Duma was dissolved.
Nicholas changed the electoral law and gave greater electoral value to the votes of nobility and landowners.
1 NovemberThe Third Duma began.
19124 AprilLena goldfields massacre: The Russian army fired on a crowd of striking miners, killing 150.
9 JuneThe Third Duma ended.
15 NovemberThe Fourth Duma was called.
191428 JuneAssassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip of the Bosnian separatist group Young Bosnia.
23 JulyWorld War I: Austria-Hungary issued the July Ultimatum to Serbia, demanding, among other things, the right to participate in the investigation into the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, which Serbia refused.
28 JulyWorld War I: Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
30 JulyWorld War I: Russia mobilized its army to defend Serbia.
1 AugustWorld War I: Germany declared war on Russia in defense of Austria-Hungary.
19152 MayGorlice-Tarnów Offensive: The German army launched an offensive across the length of the Eastern Front.
4 AugustGorlice-Tarnów Offensive: Germany conquered Warsaw.
19 SeptemberGorlice-Tarnów Offensive: German forces captured Vilnius.
191625 JuneBasmachi Revolt: Nicholas issued a decree ordering the conscription of Central Asians.
5 NovemberBy the Act of 5 November, the German government established the nominally independent Kingdom of Poland.
16 DecemberRoyal adviser Grigori Rasputin was murdered by a group of nobles in the house of Prince Felix Yussupov.
191722 FebruaryFebruary Revolution: The workers at the Putilov Plant in Petrograd went on strike.
23 FebruaryFebruary Revolution: A series of demonstrations were held, demanding the end of the Russian autocracy and the end of Russian participation in World War I.
25 FebruaryFebruary Revolution: A battalion of soldiers was sent to Petrograd to end the uprising.
26 FebruaryFebruary Revolution: Nicholas ordered the dissolution of the Fourth Duma. The Duma ignored his order and decreed the establishment of a Provisional Government with Georgy L'vov as Prime Minister.
27 FebruaryFebruary Revolution: The soldiers sent to suppress the protestors defected and joined them. It started off as the "National Women's day" then, after two days, the women convinced the soldiers to join their revolution due to the fact that they were women and the soldiers did not want to kill them. On top of this, the Cossacks did not try to stop the protestors. Menshevik leaders were freed from the Peter and Paul Fortress and founded the Petrograd Soviet.
2 MarchFebruary Revolution: Nicholas abdicated.
17 MarchA legislative council, the Tsentralna Rada, was founded in Ukraine.
30 MarchThe Provisional Government established the autonomous province of Estonia and scheduled elections to an Estonian legislative body, the Maapäev.
3 AprilCommunist leader Vladimir Lenin returns to Petrograd after a 10-year exile from Russia and begins to rebuild his power as leader of the Bolsheviks.
10 MayThe Rumcherod, the Soviet government of southwestern Ukraine and Bessarabia, was established.
23 JuneThe Tsentralna Rada ratified Ukrainian autonomy.
3 JulyJuly Days: A spontaneous pro-soviet demonstration occurred on the streets of Petrograd.
6 JulyJuly Days: The rebellion was put down. The Provisional Government ordered the arrest of Bolshevik leaders.
14 JulyThe Maapäev took office.
21 JulyAlexander Kerensky succeeded L'vov as Prime Minister.
27 AugustKornilov Affair: General Lavr Kornilov ordered an army corps to Petrograd to destroy the soviets.
29 AugustKornilov Affair: The Provisional Government armed tens of thousands of Red Guards to defend Petrograd.
31 AugustKornilov Affair: Kornilov was arrested.
4 SeptemberUnder public pressure, Bolshevik leaders were released from prison.
23 OctoberEstonian Bolsheviks under Jaan Anvelt captured the capital, Tallinn.
25 OctoberOctober Revolution: Soldiers directed by the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet captured the Winter Palace, ending the power of the Russian Provisional Government.
The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets convened. Menshevik and moderate SR representatives walked out to protest the October Revolution. The Congress established and elected the Sovnarkom, and Lenin its first chairman, to run the country between sessions.
26 OctoberThe Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets issued the Decree on Peace, promising an end to Russian participation in World War I, and the Decree on Land, approving the expropriation of land from the nobility.
21 NovemberThe Moldavian legislature, the Sfatul Țării, held its first meeting.
5 DecemberA local nationalist group, the Alash Orda, established an autonomous government in Kazakhstan.
6 DecemberThe Finnish parliament issued a declaration of independence.
7 DecemberThe Cheka was established.
12 DecemberA Muslim republic, the Idel-Ural State, was established in central Russia.
25 DecemberUkrainian Bolsheviks established the Soviet Ukrainian Republic in Kharkiv.
27 DecemberRussian Civil War: The counterrevolutionary Volunteer Army was established.
191812 JanuaryThe Tsentralna Rada declared the independence of the Ukrainian People's Republic.
14 JanuaryThe Rumcherod declared itself the supreme power in Bessarabia.
15 JanuaryA decree of the Sovnarkom established the Red Army.
16 JanuaryThe Romanian army occupied Kishinev and evicted the Rumcherod.
24 JanuaryThe Moldavian Democratic Republic declared its independence from Russia.
28 JanuaryThe Transcaucasian parliament held its first meeting.
18 FebruaryThe Red Army conquered Kiev.
23 FebruaryMass conscription to the Red Army began in Moscow and Petrograd.
24 FebruaryThe Red Army retreated from Estonia in the face of the German armed forces.
3 MarchSoviet Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, ending its participation in World War I, relinquishing Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine, and ceding to the Ottoman Empire all territory captured in the Russo-Turkish War.
6 MarchAllied intervention in the Russian Civil War: Two hundred British marines arrived at Murmansk.
25 MarchThe Belarusian National Republic was established by its German occupiers.
AprilThe Idel-Ural State was occupied and dissolved by the Red Army.
30 AprilThe Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) was established on the territory of the defunct Russian Turkestan.
26 MayRussian Civil War: The Czecho-Slovak Legions began its revolt against the Bolshevik government.
28 MayArmenia and Azerbaijan declared their mutual independence.
8 JuneRussian Civil War: An anti-Bolshevik government, the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly, was established in Samara under the protection of the Czecho-Slovak Legions
28 JuneA decree by the Central Executive Committee made war communism, under which all industry and food distribution was nationalized, the economic policy of the Soviet state.
29 JuneRussian Civil War: The Provisional Government of Autonomous Siberia was established in Vladivostok.
JulyThe Idel-Ural State was restored by the Czecho-Slovak Legions.
JulyMakhno declared his opposition to the Hetmanate regime by some operations in the southeastern Ukraine.
10 JulyThe Russian Constitution of 1918 was adopted by the Fifth All-Russian Congress of Soviets. The legislative power was transferred from the Sovnarkom to the Central Executive Committee, which also received the power to pass constitutional amendments.
17 JulyNicholas and the rest of the royal family were executed on direct orders from Lenin.
30 AugustAfter giving a speech at a Moscow factory, Lenin was shot twice by SR Fanny Kaplan, but survived.
3 SeptemberRed Terror: Izvestia called on the Russian people to "crush the hydra of counterrevolution with massive terror."
23 SeptemberRussian Civil War: A meeting in Ufa established a unified anti-Bolshevik government, the Ufa Directorate.
NovemberMakhnovists established an anarchist society run by peasants and workers in Ukraine, in the territory of Berdiansk, Donetsk, Oleksandrivsk and Katerynoslav.
11 NovemberWorld War I: An armistice treaty was signed, ending the war.
17 NovemberTwo Latvian political parties founded a provisional legislature, the People's Council of Latvia.
18 NovemberA military coup overthrew the Ufa Directorate and established its war minister, Aleksandr Kolchak, as dictator.
19 NovemberThe Maapäev returned to power in Estonia.
22 NovemberEstonian War of Independence: The Russian Red Army invaded Estonia.
24 NovemberBéla Kun, a friend of Lenin, founded the Hungarian Communist Party.
29 NovemberEstonian War of Independence: The Red Army captured the Estonian town of Narva. Local Bolsheviks reestablished the Anvelt government as the Commune of the Working People of Estonia.
DecemberThe Idel-Ural State was again occupied and dissolved by the Red Army.
8 DecemberThe Communist Party of Lithuania established a revolutionary government in Vilnius.
19191 JanuaryLocal Bolsheviks established the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR).
3 JanuaryLatvian War of Independence: The Red Army invaded Latvia.
5 JanuaryThe Red Army occupied Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, in support of the local Communist government.
The Red Army captured Minsk and pronounced it the capital of the Byelorussian SSR.
16 JanuaryThe Orgburo was established to oversee the membership and organization of the Communist Party.
14 FebruaryPolish–Soviet War: The Polish army attacked Soviet forces occupying the town of Biaroza.
27 FebruaryLithuania was absorbed into the Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.
4 MarchThe First Congress of the Comintern began in Moscow.
The White Army launches a Spring Offensive against the Red Army.
21 MarchSeeking a military alliance with Russia against the French, the Hungarian Social Democrats merged with the Communist Party, released Kun from prison and appointed him Commissar for Foreign Affairs. Kun dismissed the president and proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic.
25 MarchThe Eighth Party Congress reinstituted the Politburo as the central governing body of the Communist Party.
16 AprilThe Romanian army invaded Hungary.
21 AprilPolish–Soviet War: The Polish army consolidated its control of Vilnius.
28 AprilThe Red Army Counteroffensive in the Eastern front begins.
29 AprilThe White Army Spring offensive ends.
30 MayAn anti-Communist Hungarian government headed by Gyula Károlyi was established in Szeged.
16 JuneHungarian occupiers established the Slovak Soviet Republic.
JulyThe Red Army Counteroffensive ends.
7 JulyThe Czechoslovak army reoccupied its territory and dissolved the Slovak Soviet Republic.
JulyRed Army detachments numbering some 40,000 troops in Crimea mutinied and deposed their commanders; many set out to join Makhno's anarchist Black Army
1 AugustThreatened by the approach of the Romanian army, Kun fled to Austria.
14 AugustThe Romanian army left the Hungarian capital, Budapest. Admiral Miklós Horthy stepped into the power vacuum with the army of the Károlyi government.
25 AugustPolish–Soviet War: After its total occupation by Polish forces, the Lithuanian-Byelorussian SSR was dissolved.
14 NovemberGreat Siberian Ice March:Admiral Kolchak's Army starts retreating from Omsk to Chita
19202 FebruaryEstonian War of Independence: Soviet Russia signed the Treaty of Tartu, renouncing all claims on Estonian territory.
An insurgency in the Khanate of Khiva forced the abdication of the Khan.
7 FebruaryRussian Civil War: Kolchak was executed by a Bolshevik military tribunal.
FebruaryThe Makhnovshchina was inundated with Red troops, including the 42nd Rifle Division and the Latvian & Estonian Red Division – in total at least 20,000 soldiers. The insurgents disarmed the 10,000-strong Estonian Division in Huliaipole.
26 MarchRussian Civil War: The Volunteer Army evacuated to the Crimea to join the army of Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel.
25 AprilThe Russian Eleventh Army invaded the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.
26 AprilThe Khorezm People's Soviet Republic was established on the territory of the defunct Khanate of Khiva.
28 AprilWith the Azerbaijani capital Baku under Eleventh Army occupation, the parliament agreed to transfer power to the Communist government of the Azerbaijan SSR.
12 JuneSoviet Russia recognized Lithuanian independence.
8 JulyPolish–Soviet War: The Galician Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) was established in Ternopil.
11 AugustLatvian War of Independence: The Treaty of Riga was signed. Soviet Russia renounced all claims on Latvian territory.
13 AugustBattle of Warsaw: The battle began with a Bolsheviks' attack across the Vistula.
26 AugustThe Bolsheviks defeated the government of the Alash Orda and established the Kyrgyz ASSR (1920–1925)
31 AugustBattle of Warsaw: The total defeat of the Russian Fourth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Armies marked the end of the battle.
2 SeptemberThe Red Army attacked Bukhara, the capital of the Emirate of Bukhara.
21 SeptemberPolish–Soviet War: The Polish army occupied Galicia and ended the rule of the Galician SSR.
25 SeptemberMakhno's Black Army suddenly turned from south to east, attacking the main forces of General Denikin's army.
26 SeptemberMakhnovists routed elements of the white Volunteer Army in the Battle of Peregonovka, Uman (Ukraine).
8 OctoberThe Bukharan People's Soviet Republic was established.
14 NovemberRussian Civil War: Wrangel fled Russia.
29 NovemberThe Eleventh Army entered Armenia.
1 DecemberThe Armenian Prime Minister ceded control of the country to the invading Communists.
192116 FebruaryRed Army invasion of Georgia: The Eleventh Army crossed into Georgia.
22 FebruaryGosplan, the economic planning committee of the Soviet Union, was created by a decree of the Sovnarkom.
25 FebruaryRed Army invasion of Georgia: The Eleventh Army captured Tbilisi and announced the formation of the Georgian SSR.
28 FebruaryKronstadt rebellion: The crews of the battleships Petropavlovsk and Sevastopol, harbored at Kronstadt, published a list of demands on the government.
16 March Treaty of Moscow is signed between Grand National Assembly of Turkey and Russian SFSR.
17 MarchKronstadt rebellion: After over a week of fighting, government troops pacified Kronstadt.
21 MarchA decree of the Tenth Party Congress replaced war communism with the more liberal New Economic Policy.
18 MarchPolish–Soviet War: Poland and Soviet Russia signed the Peace of Riga, ending the war. The disputed territories were divided between Poland, Russia and the newly reestablished Ukrainian and Byelorussian SSRs.
JulyThe Red Army captured Ulan Bator, the Mongolian capital.
13 JulyRussian famine of 1921: The writer Maxim Gorky brought world attention to the looming famine.
AugustNestor Makhno's headquarters staff and several Black Army subordinate commanders were arrested and executed on the spot by a Red Army firing squad: the Makhnovist treaty delegation, still in Kharkiv, was also arrested and liquidated. Makhno's Black Army forces were defeated and dispersed by Red Army.
6 November East Karelian Uprising begins between Finnish and Karelian forces.
192223 FebruaryRussian famine of 1921: A decree published in Izvestia authorized the seizure of church valuables for famine relief.
12 MarchThe Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani SSRs were merged into the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (SFSR).
21 March East Karelian Uprising ends between Finnish and Karelian forces.
3 AprilThe Eleventh Communist Party Congress established the office of the General Secretary of the Communist Party and appointed Joseph Stalin to fill it.
16 MayTikhon, the Patriarch of Moscow, was put under house arrest.
4 AugustBasmachi Revolt: Enver Pasha was killed in Turkestan.
29 DecemberThe Treaty on the Creation of the USSR united its signatories, the Russian and Transcaucasian SFSRs and the Byelorussian and Ukrainian SSRs, under the power of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
19233 MayA council of the pro-government Living Church declared Tikhon an apostate and abolished the Patriarchate.
16 June Russian Civil War officially ends.
15 OctoberThe Declaration of 46 was written. The Declaration echoed earlier concerns expressed by Leon Trotsky, the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, that the Communist Party was insufficiently democratic.
192421 JanuaryLenin died.
31 JanuaryThe 1924 Soviet Constitution came into effect.
18 FebruaryThe Thirteenth Party Congress, led by Stalin, Comintern chairman Grigory Zinoviev and Politburo chairman Lev Kamenev, denounced Trotsky and his faction, the Left Opposition.
10 OctoberThe territory of the Khorezm SSR was incorporated into the Turkestan ASSR.
12 OctoberThe Moldavian ASSR was established in the Ukrainian SSR.
14 OctoberThe Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast was spun off of the Turkestan ASSR and incorporated into the Russian SFSR.
27 OctoberThe Uzbek SSR was spun out of the Turkestan ASSR.
25 NovemberThe Mongolian People's Republic was established.
27 NovemberThe Bukharan People's Soviet Republic was incorporated into the Uzbek SSR.
19256 JanuaryTrotsky was forced to resign his military offices.
19 FebruaryThe lands of the Karakalpaks became the Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast, an oblast of the Kyrgyz ASSR (1920–1925).
7 AprilTikhon died. The Communist government would not allow elections to the patriarchate to be held; Metropolitan Peter of Krutitsy became the Patriarchal locum tenens according to his will.
19 AprilThe Kyrgyz ASSR (1920–1925) was renamed the Kazakh ASSR.
13 MayThe Uzbek SSR joined the Soviet Union.
The remainder of the Turkestan ASSR became the Turkmen SSR.
10 DecemberPeter of Krutitsy was arrested. Sergius of Nizhny Novgorod, whom he had named to succeed him, took the title of Deputy Patriarchal locum tenens.
23 DecemberThe Fourteenth Party Congress endorsed the leadership of Stalin and his rightist ally Nikolai Bukharin, soundly defeating the New Opposition faction of Kamenev and Zinoviev.
192611 FebruaryThe Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast was reorganized into the Kyrgyz ASSR (1926–1936).
23 OctoberTrotsky was expelled from the Politburo.
192725 FebruaryArticle 58 of the RFSR Penal Code revised the penalties for counterrevolutionary activity.
29 JulySergius affirmed the loyalty of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Soviet government.
12 NovemberTrotsky and Zinoviev were expelled from the Communist Party.
2 DecemberThe Fifteenth Party Congress expelled the remainder of the United Opposition from the Party.
19287 MarchShakhty Trial: Police arrested a group of engineers in the town of Shakhty and accused them of conspiring to sabotage the Soviet economy.
1 OctoberFirst five-year plan: Stalin announced the beginning of state industrialisation of the Soviet economy.
192917 NovemberBukharin was expelled from the Politburo.
Collectivisation in the USSR: A Central Committee resolution began the collectivisation of Soviet agriculture.
5 DecemberThe Tajik ASSR of the Uzbek SSR became the Tajik SSR.
193015 AprilThe Gulag was officially established.
20 JulyThe Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast was transferred to the Russian SFSR.
193220 MarchThe Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast became the Karakalpak ASSR.
7 AugustCollectivisation in the USSR: The Central Executive Committee and the Sovnarkom issued the Decree about the Protection of Socialist Property, under which any theft of public property was punishable by death.
11 SeptemberHolodomor: Stalin sent a letter to a Politburo ally, Lazar Kaganovich, demanding the subjection of the Ukrainian SSR.
27 DecemberA decree by the Central Executive Committee and the Sovnarkom established a passport system in the Soviet Union.
31 DecemberFirst Five-Year Plan: It was announced that the plan had been fulfilled.
193322 JanuaryHolodomor: Police were instructed to prevent Ukrainian peasants from leaving their homes in search of food.
19348 FebruaryElections to the Central Committee at the Seventeenth Party Congress revealed Sergey Kirov, the chief of the Leningrad Party, to be the most popular member.
10 JulyThe Main Directorate of State Security (GUGB) was established under the NKVD as a successor to the OGPU.
1 DecemberKirov was murdered by Leonid Nikolaev, possibly at the behest of Stalin.
193531 AugustAleksei Grigorievich Stakhanov was reported to have mined over one hundred tons of coal in a single shift, sowing the seeds of the Stakhanovite movement.
193619 AugustMoscow Trials: The Trial of the Sixteen, in which Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev were the primary defendants, began.
25 AugustMoscow Trials: The defendants in the Trial of the Sixteen were executed.
5 DecemberThe Stalin Constitution came into effect. The Central Executive Committee was renamed the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.
The Kyrgyz ASSR (1926–1936) became a Union-level republic, the Kyrgyz SSR.
The Kazakh ASSR became the Kazakh SSR.
The territory of the Karakalpak ASSR was incorporated into the Uzbek SSR.
193723 JanuaryMoscow Trials: The Second Trial began.
30 JanuaryMoscow Trials: The Second Trial ended. Of seventeen defendants, all but four were sentenced to death.
22 MayCase of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization: Mikhail Tukhachevsky, a Marshal of the Soviet Union and hero of the Russian Civil War, was arrested.
12 JuneCase of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization: Tukhachevsky was executed, with eight other military leaders.
30 JulyGreat Purge: NKVD Order № 00447 was issued. The order established a new judicial method, the NKVD troika, and set nationwide quotas for the execution and enslavement of "anti-Soviet elements."
11 AugustPolish operation of the NKVD: The NKVD chief signed Order № 00485, classifying all potential Polish nationalists as enemies of the state.
15 AugustGreat Purge: NKVD Order № 00486 made relatives of accused traitors subject to imprisonment in labor camps.
10 OctoberPeter of Krutitsy was executed in solitary confinement.
1938A new decree required the teaching of Russian in all non-Russian schools.
2 MarchTrial of the Twenty One: The third Moscow Trial, at which Bukharin was the primary defendant, began.
15 MarchTrial of the Twenty One: The defendants were executed.
29 JulyBattle of Lake Khasan: The armed forces of Japanese Manchukuo attacked the Soviet military at Lake Khasan.
31 AugustBattle of Lake Khasan: The battle ended in a Japanese defeat.
193923 AugustThe Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was signed, promising mutual non-aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and agreeing to a division of much of Europe between those two countries.
17 SeptemberSoviet invasion of Poland: The Red Army invaded Poland.
22 OctoberElections were held to the Supreme Soviets of the Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union.
26 NovemberShelling of Mainila: The Red Army shelled the Russian village of Mainila and blamed the Finns for invented casualties.
30 NovemberWinter War: The Soviet army attacked Finland.
1 DecemberWinter War: The Soviet Union established the Finnish Democratic Republic in the border town of Terijoki.
194029 JanuaryWinter War: The Soviet Union recognized the Finnish government as the legitimate government of Finland, thereby abandoning the Finnish Democratic Republic, and informed the Finnish government that the Soviets were willing to negotiate peace.
5 MarchKatyn massacre: The Politburo signed an order to execute 27,500 imprisoned Polish nationals.
12 MarchWinter War: The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed, ending the war. Finland ceded 9% of its territory to the Soviet Union, leading to the evacuation of Finnish Karelia. The Soviet attempt to conquer Finland failed.
31 MarchThe Karelian ASSR merged with the Finnish Democratic Republic into the Karelo-Finnish SSR.
15 JuneThe Red Army occupied Lithuania.
17 JuneThe Red Army occupied Estonia and Latvia.
28 JuneSoviet occupation of Bessarabia: Bessarabia and northern Bukovina were occupied by the Soviet Union.
21 JulyLithuania became the Lithuanian SSR; Latvia became the Latvian SSR.
2 AugustThe Moldavian ASSR became the Moldavian SSR, with much of its territory on the former Bessarabia and Bukovina. The old territory of the Moldavian ASSR remained in the Ukrainian SSR.
3 AugustThe Lithuanian SSR was accepted into the Soviet Union.
5 AugustThe Latvian SSR was annexed by the Soviet Union.
6 AugustEstonia became the Estonian SSR and was incorporated into the Soviet Union.
21 AugustTrotsky is assassinated by Ramón Mercader on Stalin's orders.
194113 AprilSoviet-Japanese Border Wars: A Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact was signed.
22 JuneOperation Barbarossa: Three million Axis soldiers invaded the Soviet Union.
25 JuneContinuation War: The Soviet Union launched a major air offensive against Finnish targets.
28 JuneOperation Barbarossa: The Germans captured Minsk.
27 JulyOperation Barbarossa: The German and Romanian armies entered Kishinev.
21 AugustAnglo-Soviet invasion of Iran: Three Soviet armies invaded Iran from the north.
8 SeptemberSiege of Leningrad: The German army cut the last land tie to Leningrad.
19 SeptemberOperation Barbarossa: Kiev fell to the Germans.
2 OctoberBattle of Moscow: Three German armies began an advance on Moscow.
20 NovemberSiege of Leningrad: The first food was carried into Leningrad across the Road of Life on the frozen Lake Ladoga.
5 DecemberBattle of Moscow: The Soviet army launched a counterattack from Kalinin.
19427 JanuaryBattle of Moscow: The Soviet counteroffensive ended between sixty and one-hundred fifty miles from Moscow.
21 AugustBattle of Stalingrad: The German Luftwaffe began a bombing raid against Stalingrad.
19 NovemberOperation Uranus: The Soviet army began a pincer movement against the German forces besieging Stalingrad.
22 NovemberOperation Uranus: The German Sixth Army was surrounded.
194312 JanuaryOperation Spark (1943): The Soviet army launched a military offensive to break the Siege of Leningrad.
18 JanuaryOperation Spark (1943): The meeting of the Leningrad and Volkhov Front units opened a land corridor to Leningrad.
2 FebruaryBattle of Stalingrad: The German Sixth Army surrendered.
15 MayThe Comintern was dissolved.
8 SeptemberStalin allowed a church council, which unanimously elected Sergius to the Patriarchate of Moscow.
6 NovemberThe Russians recaptured Kiev.
19446 JanuaryThe Red Army crossed into Poland.
27 JanuarySiege of Leningrad: The last German forces were expelled from the city.
15 MaySergius died.
31 AugustSoviet occupation of Romania: The Red Army captured Bucharest.
12 SeptemberRomania signed an armistice with the Allies, placing itself under the command of an Allied Commission led by Marshal of the Soviet Union Rodion Malinovsky.
19 SeptemberContinuation War: The Moscow Armistice was signed, ending the war at roughly the prewar borders.
21 SeptemberSoviet and Czechoslovak partisan armed forces entered German-occupied Czechoslovakia.
14 NovemberThe Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia was established in Prague.
194517 JanuaryThe Soviet Union captured Warsaw.
18 JanuaryThe Soviet Union captured Budapest.
2 FebruaryAlexius I was elected Patriarch of Moscow.
11 FebruaryThe Soviet Union gained the right to Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands at the Yalta Conference
20 AprilBattle of Berlin: The Soviet army began shelling Berlin.
2 MayBattle of Berlin: The defenders of Berlin surrendered to the Soviet Union.
9 MayThe Soviet army captured Prague.
18 JuneTrial of the Sixteen: Leaders of the Polish Secret State were tried in the Soviet Union for collaboration.
21 JuneTrial of the Sixteen: The defendants were sentenced.
16 AugustInvasion of Manchuria: Soviet armed forces landed on Sakhalin.
18 AugustInvasion of Manchuria: Soviet amphibious forces landed in Korea.
20 AugustInvasion of Manchuria: The Soviet Union captured Changchun, the capital of Manchukuo.
NovemberThe Soviet Union established the Azerbaijan People's Government in Iranian Azerbaijan.
194622 JanuaryThe Soviet-backed Kurdish Republic of Mahabad declared its independence from Iran.
2 MarchIran crisis: British troops withdrew from Iran. The Soviet Union violated its prior agreement and remained.
10 MarchThe Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was liquidated by a rump synod in L'viv and driven underground.
9 MayIran crisis: The Soviet Union withdrew from Iran.
19475 OctoberThe Cominform was established in order to coordinate Communist parties under Soviet control.
194824 JuneBerlin Blockade: The Soviet Union blocked rail and road access to West Berlin.
25 JuneBerlin Blockade: The commander of the American occupation zone ordered an airlift of supplies into West Berlin.
28 JuneYugoslavia was expelled from the Cominform.
9 SeptemberThe Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established.
194911 MayBerlin Blockade: The Soviets lifted the blockade.
29 AugustJoe 1: The Soviet atomic bomb project culminated in a successful test detonation.
1 OctoberChinese Civil War: Mao Zedong proclaims the establishment of the People's Republic of China, with the Soviet Union recognized it the next day.
195030 JanuaryKorean War: Regarding a mass invasion of the South, Stalin wrote to his ambassador to North Korea: "Tell him [Kim] that I am ready to help him in this matter."
25 JuneKorean War: The North Korean army launched a 135,000-man surprise assault across the 38th parallel.
1 NovemberKorean War: Soviet-piloted MiG-15s first crossed the Yalu River and attacked American planes.
195220 NovemberPrague Trials: A series of show trials purged the Czech Communist Party of Jews and insufficiently orthodox Stalinists.
195313 JanuaryAn article in Pravda accused some of the nation's most prominent doctors – particularly Jews – of participating in a vast conspiracy to poison top Soviet leaders.
1 MarchAfter an all-night dinner with party members Lavrenty Beria, Nikolai Bulganin, Nikita Khrushchev and Georgy Malenkov, Stalin suffered a paralyzing stroke.
5 MarchStalin died.
6 MarchMalenkov succeeded Stalin as Premier and First Secretary of the Communist Party.
14 MarchKhrushchev became First Secretary.
3 AprilThe Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party officially acquitted those arrested in connection with the so-called "doctors' plot".
16 JuneUprising of 1953 in East Germany: In response to a 10 percent increase in work quotas, between 60 and 80 construction workers went on strike in East Berlin. Their numbers quickly swelled and a general strike and protests were called for the next day.
17 JuneUprising of 1953 in East Germany: 100,000 protestors gathered at dawn, demanding the reinstatement of old work quotas and, later, the resignation of the East German government. At noon German police trapped many of the demonstrators in an open square; Soviet tanks fired on the crowd, killing hundreds and ending the protest.
26 JuneBeria was arrested at a special meeting of the Presidium.
27 JulyKorean War: An armistice was signed, ending the conflict.
7 SeptemberKhrushchev was confirmed as head of the Central Committee.
195416 MayKengir Uprising: Prisoners at a Gulag adjacent to the Kazakh village of Kengir occupied the camp's service yard.
25 JuneKengir Uprising: The prison camp at Kengir was invaded and subdued by Soviet troops and tanks.
19552 JuneKhrushchev and Tito issued the Belgrade declaration, which declared that "different forms of Socialist development are solely the concern of the individual countries."
195625 FebruaryAt a closed session of the 20th Party Congress, Khrushchev read the "Secret Speech," On the Personality Cult and its Consequences, denouncing the actions of his predecessor Stalin. The speech weakened the hand of the Stalinists in the Soviet government.
17 AprilThe Cominform was officially dissolved.
28 JunePoznań 1956 protests: Poles upset with the slow pace of destalinization turned to protests, and then to violent riots.
29 JunePoznań 1956 protests: Konstantin Rokossovsky, the Polish minister of defense, ordered the military in to end the riots. At least 74 civilians were killed.
16 JulyThe Karelo-Finnish SSR became the Karelian ASSR of the Russian SFSR.
19 OctoberThe liberal Władysław Gomułka was elected leader of the Polish Communist party.
23 October1956 Hungarian Revolution: A small pro-Gomułka demonstration in Budapest expanded into a 100,000 head protest. The protestors marched on Parliament; when they were fired on by the Hungarian Security Police, they turned violent and began to arm themselves. An emergency meeting of the Central Committee appointed the reformist Imre Nagy Prime Minister.
31 October1956 Hungarian Revolution: Hungary under Nagy withdrew from the Warsaw Pact.
4 November1956 Hungarian Revolution: A Soviet invasion, involving infantry, artillery, airstrikes, and some 6,000 tanks entered Budapest. 2,500 Hungarians were killed in the ensuing battle.
8 November1956 Hungarian Revolution: Pro-Soviet János Kádár announced the formation of a new "Revolutionary Worker-Peasant Government," with himself as Prime Minister and leader of the Communist Party.
195718 JuneLed by the Stalinist Anti-Party Group, the Presidium voted to depose Khrushchev as First Secretary. The Presidium reversed its vote under pressure from Khrushchev and the defense minister and deferred the decision to a later meeting of the full Central Committee.
29 JuneA Central Committee vote affirmed Khrushchev as First Secretary and deposed Anti-Party Group members Molotov, Kaganovich, and Malenkov from the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee.
4 OctoberSputnik was launched at 7:28 pm
195827 MarchKhrushchev replaced Bulganin as Premier of the Soviet Union.
19591 JanuaryCuban Revolution: Revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro overthrow Fulgencio Batista.
196016 AprilSino-Soviet Split: A Chinese Communist Party newspaper accused the Soviet leadership of "revisionism."
16 JulySino-Soviet Split: Moscow recalled thousands of Soviet advisers from China and ended economic and military aid.
196112 AprilYuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space.
13 AugustConstruction began on the Berlin Wall.
19622 JuneNovocherkassk massacre: Soviet workers gathered in the town square of Novocherkassk to protest an increase in food prices and work quotas. Shots were fired at the rioters, killing 25 and injuring 87 people.
16 OctoberCuban Missile Crisis: President Kennedy is shown aerial photos from U-2 surveillance flights showing missile bases in Cuba. The thirteen days marking the most dangerous period of the Cuban Missile Crisis begin.
22 OctoberCuban Missile Crisis: Kennedy announced that any nuclear missile attack from Cuba would be regarded as an attack by the Soviet Union, and that the island would be placed under "quarantine" to prevent further weapons shipments.
26 OctoberCuban Missile Crisis: The Soviet Union offered to withdraw the missiles in return for a U.S. guarantee not to invade Cuba or support any invasion.
28 OctoberCuban Missile Crisis: Khrushchev announced that he had ordered the removal of the Soviet missiles in Cuba.
196414 OctoberKhrushchev's rivals in the party deposed him at a Central Committee meeting. Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin assumed power as First Secretary and Premier, respectively.
19677 FebruarySino-Soviet split: The Chinese government announced that it could no longer guarantee the safety of Soviet diplomats outside the embassy building.
10 JuneThe Soviet Union severed diplomatic relations with Israel. see Soviet Union and the Arab-Israeli conflict
19685 JanuaryPrague Spring: The liberal Alexander Dubček was appointed to succeed Antonín Novotný as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
5 AprilPrague Spring: The Czech Communist Party published their Action Programme. This document guaranteed a number of new freedoms including free speech, travel, debate and association.
20 AugustPrague Spring: Between 200,000 and 600,000 Warsaw Pact troops crossed the Czechoslovakian border.
21 AugustPrague Spring: Leading KSČ liberals – including Dubček – were arrested, flown to Moscow and forced to repeal the reforms of the Prague Spring. They agreed to the presence of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia.
19692 MarchSino-Soviet border conflict: A Soviet patrol came into armed conflict with Chinese forces on Zhenbao Island.
197327 JanuaryVietnam War: The Paris Peace Accords pledged the signatory parties to "respect the independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Vietnam as recognized by the 1954 Geneva Agreements on Vietnam," and promised a complete withdrawal of United States forces from Vietnam and Laos.
197530 AprilVietnam War: People's Army of Vietnam overrun and capitulate the city of Saigon, capital of South Vietnam.
19777 OctoberBrezhnev Constitution adopted. The Communist Party was proclaimed "the leading and guiding force of the Soviet society".
197828 AprilSaur Revolution: Military units loyal to the PDPA assaulted the Afghan Presidential palace, killing President Mohammed Daoud Khan.
1 MaySaur Revolution: The PDPA installed its leader, Nur Muhammad Taraki, as President of Afghanistan.
JulyA rebellion against the new Afghan government began with an uprising in Nuristan.
5 DecemberA treaty was signed that permitted deployment of the Soviet military at the Afghan government's request.
197914 SeptemberTaraki was murdered by supporters of Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin.
24 DecemberSoviet–Afghan War: Fearing the collapse of the Amin regime, the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan.
27 DecemberOperation Storm-333: Soviet troops occupied major governmental, military and media buildings in Kabul, including the Tajbeg Presidential Palace, and executed Prime Minister Amin.
198022 JanuaryAndrei Sakharov is exiled without charges to the closed industrial city of Gorky for opposing the invasion of Afghanistan.
6 FebruaryThe United States announces its planned boycott of the Moscow Olympics because of the invasion of Afghanistan.
19 July – 3 August1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow.
198225 JanuarySuslov died after a severe stroke.
10 NovemberBrezhnev died of a heart attack.
12 NovemberYuri Andropov was elected General Secretary of the CPSU.
19831 SeptemberSouth Korean Boeing 747 was shot down by the Soviet Air Forces
19849 FebruaryAndropov died after a lengthy kidney disease and was succeeded as General Secretary by Konstantin Chernenko.
8 MayChernenko announces a Soviet-bloc boycott of the Los Angeles-held Summer Olympics, citing security concerns for its athletes.
198510 MarchChernenko died of emphysema.
11 MarchThe Politburo unanimously supported Mikhail Gorbachev as General Secretary of the Communist Party.
7 MayGorbachev launches an anti-alcohol campaign by decree of the Council of Ministers "On measures to overcome alcoholism".
198814 AprilSoviet–Afghan War: The Soviet government signed the Geneva Accords, which included a timetable for withdrawing their armed forces.
13 AprilSinging Revolution: The Popular Front of Estonia was founded.
3 JuneSinging Revolution: The liberalization movement Sąjūdis was founded in Lithuania.
9 OctoberSinging Revolution: The Popular Front of Latvia was founded.
15 NovemberSoviet Union and the Arab-Israeli conflict: The Soviet Union recognizes the independence of the State of Palestine declared by the Palestine Liberation Organization.
7 DecemberAn earthquake destroyed the city of Spitak in Northern Armenia.
198915 FebruarySoviet–Afghan War: The last Soviet troops left the country.
23 AugustSinging Revolution: Two million people joined hands to form the Baltic Way across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to demonstrate for independence.
9 NovemberThe East German government loosened restrictions on travel into the West, effecting the end of the Berlin Wall.
28 NovemberVelvet Revolution: The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announced the end of its monopoly on political power.
1 DecemberMikhail Gorbachev meets with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.
7 DecemberSinging Revolution: The Lithuanian parliament ended the political monopoly of the Communist Party of Lithuania.
25 DecemberRomanian Revolution of 1989: Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife, Elena, were captured in the countryside and executed.
199011 MarchSinging Revolution: The Lithuanian government declared its independence from the Soviet Union.
18 MarchSinging Revolution: Elections to the Latvian Supreme Soviet gave the majority of seats to a pro-independence coalition, led by the Popular Front of Latvia.
12 JuneThe First Congress of People's Deputies of Russia issued the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
21 AugustGagauzia conflict: The Gagauz declared a new soviet republic on Moldavian soil.
199111 JanuaryJanuary Events: Soviet troops violently seized important buildings in cities throughout Lithuania.
17 MarchA referendum on the future of the Soviet Union was held, with nearly 70% of voters supporting the renewed Union of Sovereign States
12 June1991 Russian presidential election: Boris Yeltsin was elected to the presidency of the Russian SFSR.
19 AugustSoviet coup attempt of 1991: A group of high-ranking officials calling themselves the State Emergency Committee announced that Gennady Yanayev was to replace Gorbachev as President of the Soviet Union.
20 AugustThe Estonian government declared its independence.
21 AugustThe government of Latvia declared its independence.
Soviet coup attempt of 1991: The military refused State Emergency Committee orders to take the capital. The leaders of the coup were arrested.
24 AugustThe Ukrainian parliament adopted the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine.
27 AugustMoldova declared independence.
31 AugustThe Republic of Kyrgyzstan declared independence.
6 SeptemberThe Soviet Union recognized the independence of the Baltic states.
Militants belonging to the separatist All-National Congress of the Chechen People (NCChP) stormed a session of the Supreme Soviet of the Chechen-Ingush ASSR. NCChP leader Dzhokhar Dudaev was appointed to the presidency.
18 OctoberSoviet Union and the Arab-Israeli conflict: The Soviet Union restores full relations with Israel.
27 OctoberA national referendum confirmed the Dudaev presidency. Dudaev unilaterally declared the independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.
8 DecemberThe leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine signed the Belavezha Accords, dissolving the Soviet Union.
26 DecemberThe Supreme Soviet confirmed the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
19922 JanuaryCentralized price controls have been canceled. "Liberalization of prices" started.
31 MarchTreaty of Federation signed by the representatives of the Russian federal government and regional authorities.
1 OctoberVoucher privatization begins.
31 Oct–4 NovOssetian–Ingush Conflict over the eastern parts of the autonomous republic of North Ossetia
199321 SeptemberRussian constitutional crisis of 1993: Yeltsin announced the dissolution of the Russian legislature. The legislature, in turn, responded by impeaching Yeltsin and declaring Aleksandr Rutskoy the new President of the Russian Federation.
4 OctoberRussian constitutional crisis of 1993: The army occupied the parliament building and arrested a number of its leaders.
12 DecemberRussian constitutional crisis of 1993: A new 5th Russian constitution was approved by referendum, vastly increasing the power of the presidency.
19942 AugustFirst Chechen War: The leader of the Russian-backed Provisional Council of the Chechen Republic announced his intention to overthrow the Dudaev government.
11 DecemberFirst Chechen War: Russian troops entered Chechnya.
19963 July1996 Russian presidential election: Yeltsin narrowly defeated his Communist challenger, Gennady Zyuganov.
30 AugustFirst Chechen War: The Khasav-Yurt Accord was signed, signaling the end of the war.
19997 AugustDagestan War: A Chechnya-based militia invaded the Russian republic of Dagestan in support of local separatists.
16 AugustThe State Duma confirmed the appointment of Vladimir Putin as Prime Minister of Russia.
23 AugustDagestan War: The militias began their retreat back into Chechnya.
26 AugustSecond Chechen War: The militia that had invaded Dagestan was bombed inside Chechnya.
SeptemberSecond Chechen War: Russian apartment bombings
2 OctoberSecond Chechen War: Russian ground troops entered Chechnya.
8 DecemberThe treaty of creation of the Union of Russia and Belarus was signed.
31 DecemberBoris Yeltsin resigned as President of the Russian Federation. Prime Minister Putin became acting president.
200026 March2000 Russian presidential election: Putin was elected President of Russia with 53 percent of the vote.
12 AugustRussian submarine Kursk explosion: An explosion disabled the Russian submarine K-141 Kursk.

21st century

YearDateEvent
2001 23 March Mir - the last national orbital station re-entered Earth's atmosphere.[2][3]
200223 OctoberMoscow theater hostage crisis: Chechen rebels seized the Dubrovka theater in Moscow, taking approximately 700 theatergoers hostage, and demanded an immediate Russian withdrawal from Chechnya.
26 OctoberMoscow theater hostage crisis: The police pumped anesthetic into the building, then stormed it from every entrance, executing all 42 terrorists. 120 hostages also died due to cumulative effects of intoxication, hunger and maltreatment by the terrorists.
2003September–OctoberRussia-Ukraine territorial dispute over Tuzla Island
25 OctoberYukos affair: Khodorkovsky arrested.
2004 January Russia–Belarus energy dispute
14 March2004 Russian presidential election: Putin won re-election to a second term, earning 71 percent of the vote.
24 August Russian aircraft bombings
1 SeptemberBeslan school hostage crisis: A group of Chechen terrorists took 1300 adults and children hostage at School Number One in Beslan.
3 SeptemberBeslan school hostage crisis: At one in the afternoon, following the sound of explosions, Russian police and soldiers stormed the school. The ensuing battle left 344 civilians, 31 of 32 hostage-takers and 10 police dead.
SeptemberVladimir Putin came up with an initiative to change the appointment procedure for governors, proposing to confirm them in office by decision of legislature from the candidates proposed by the President. Putin logically linked his initiative to the Beslan tragedy.
DecemberA bill to abolish direct gubernatorial elections was drafted and adopted.
200513 OctoberOctober 2005 Nalchik attack: A large group of terrorists assaulted and captured buildings throughout the city of Nalchik. By afternoon Russian soldiers surrounded and entered the city, forcing their enemies to retreat. Some 136 people were killed.
1 DecemberPerm Oblast and Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug merged into Perm Krai.
200615–17 July32nd G8 summit in St. Petersburg
200723 AprilBoris Yeltsin died of congestive heart failure.
20082 March2008 Russian presidential election: Deputy Prime minister Dmitry Medvedev won, earning 70.5 percent of the vote.
7 MayVladimir Putin becomes Prime minister
7–12 August2008 South Ossetia War: Russia revoked Georgia's attempts to reintegrate breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
31 December2008 Constitutional amendments extended the terms of the President and Parliament
2009January2009 Russia–Ukraine gas dispute
12–16 MayEurovision Song Contest 2009
17 AugustSayano-Shushenskaya power station accident
5 December"Lame Horse" nightclub fire
20108 AprilThe New START treaty, which would cut the nuclear arsenals of Russia and the United States by a third, was signed.
July–August2010 Russian wildfires
201127 MarchTime zones reform reduced its number from 11 to 9
4 December2011 Russian legislative election, that caused large protests against alleged vote fraud
20124 March2012 Russian presidential election: Vladimir Putin won, earning 63.6 percent of the vote.[4]
1 Junean Act came into force, which returns the direct election of Governors.
22 AugustRussia became a WTO member.
20136–17 July2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan
August–SeptemberRussian Far East and Northeastern China affected by heavy flooding on Amur river
20147–23 February2014 Winter Olympics
16 MarchAnnexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation: Referendum on the political status of Crimea
18 MarchAnnexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation: Putin and Crimean officials signed the Treaty on Accession of the Republic of Crimea to Russia.
26 October2011 time zones reform was canceled
20151 JanuaryThe Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union came into force.
30 SeptemberRussian military intervention in the Syrian civil war begins
31 OctoberAircraft bombing over Sinai
24 November 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown[5][6]
20168 September2016 Russian legislative election
19 DecemberAssassination of Andrei Karlov
2017 1–3 June St. Petersburg International Economic Forum[7]
17 June - 2 July 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup[8]
2018 18 March 2018 Russian presidential election[9]
25-26 March 2018 Kemerovo fire[10]
14 June–15 JulyThe 2018 FIFA World Cup was held in Russia.
Jun–Nov2018 Russian pension protests
15 October2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism
17 OctoberKerch Polytechnic College massacre
20198 September2019 Moscow City Duma election preceded by massive public protests in support of unregistered opposition candidates.
23-24 OctoberThe first (inaugural) Russia-Africa Summit is held at Sochi.
202015 January2020 Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly. Announcement of the constitutional reform. Resignation of the Cabinet.
1 July2020 Russian constitutional referendum
202224 FebruaryRussian invasion of Ukraine begins
30 SeptemberRussia annexes Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia from Ukraine.
2023 23–24 June Wagner Group rebellion

See also

Cities in Russia

Further reading

Published in the 19th century

  • Thomas Bartlett (1841). "Russia". New Tablet of Memory; or, Chronicle of Remarkable Events. London: Thomas Kelly.
  • George Henry Townsend (1867), "Russia", A Manual of Dates (2nd ed.), London: Frederick Warne & Co.
  • William Henry Overall, ed. (1870). "Russia". Dictionary of Chronology. London: William Tegg. hdl:2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t9m32q949 via Hathi Trust.
  • Louis Heilprin (1885). "Russia". Historical Reference Book...Chronological Dictionary of Universal History. New York: D. Appleton and Company. hdl:2027/wu.89097349187 via Hathi Trust.

Published in the 20th century

Published in the 21st century

References

  1. Encyclopædia Britannica: Instruction of Catherine the Great (https://www.britannica.com/event/Instruction-of-Catherine-the-Great)
  2. "Mir | Soviet-Russian space station". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  3. "Mir space station (27KS)". russianspaceweb.com. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  4. "Putin wins election as Russian president; opponents claim widespread fraud". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  5. "What Is A Fencer Su-24? What To Know About The Russian Plane Shot Down By Turkey". International Business Times. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  6. (www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. "Turkish F-16 fighter jets shoot down Russian warplane after 'airspace violation' | DW | 24.11.2015". DW.COM. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  7. "In Russia, France's Macron Tries His Next Charm Offensive On 'Cher Vladimir'". NPR.org. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  8. FIFA.com (19 December 2014). "Ethics: Executive Committee unanimously supports recommendation to publish report on 2018/2022 FIFA World Cup™ bidding process". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  9. "Explained: Russia's presidential election 2018". euronews. 17 March 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  10. "Russian shopping centre inferno kills 64". BBC News. 26 March 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
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