The Bolshevik Revolution

1917
	23 February	The February revolution begins in Petrograd.
	2 March	Tsar Nicholas II abdicates and the provisional government is formed.
	21-25 October	The October Revolution begins in Petrograd.
	November	Soviet rule is established in Petrograd, Donbass, Moscow, Baku, the Urals, and the Volga region.
	3 December	The supreme commander of the Russian Army, General Dekhonin, is shot.
	7 December	The Cheka (political police force) is formed. Felix Dzerzhinsky is its commander.
	23 December	England and France divide Russia into separate spheres of influence. France will control Ukraine and Crimea. Britain will control Caucasus.
1918
	1-2 January	Reported German peace terms cause worries in Russia and denounced as annexationist. Litvinov is appointed the Bolshevik Plenipotentiary in London. Central Committee of the Soviets meets to receive reports of Peace agreements.
	4 January	Bolshevik government recognizes the independence of Finland.
	5 January	Turkey communicates peace terms to Russia.
	7 January	Trotski and Soviet peace delegates return to Brest-Litovsk and continue negotiations.
	9 January	Bolsheviks issue appeal for volunteers to march against "Bourgeoisie of the world."
	12-14 January	Russo-German peace conference adjourns. Estonian government declares independence. Germans warn Russians that their negotiations have reached their limit. Attempted assassination of V.I. Lenin in Petrograd.
	15 January	The Red Army is formed Bolsheviks issue a 24 hour ultimatum to Rumania. King of Romania is ordered to be arrested by Bolsheviks.
	18 January	Bolsheviks send another ultimatum to Romania demanding passage of troops. Germans refuse to withdraw troops from Russia. Constituent Assembly meets in Petrograd and denounces Bolsheviks. The assembly is forcibly dissolved by Bolsheviks the next day.
	21 January	Germany announces peace agreement with Ukraine.
	23 January	Riots and anarchy in Moscow. Congress of the Soviets meets in Petrograd. Japanese warn Russia that they will intervene in Eastern Asia if they deem it necessary.
	25 January	Fighting between Red Army and Rumanians at Galatz.
	26-27 January	Ukraine declares independence. Provisional Siberian Government elected at Tomsk. Bolshevik government breaks off negotiations with Rumania.
	28 January	Heavy fighting between Ukrainians and Red Army at Lutsk. Rumanian emissaries ordered to leave Petrograd. Civil war in Finland.
	1 February	Central Powers recognize Ukraine Republic as a independent state.
	4 February	General Kaledin relinquishes leadership of Cossacks to General Alexeiev. Cossacks then march towards Moscow with army of 30,000 men to stop Bolsheviks.
	5-6 February	First Duma of the Independent Siberian Republic is opened. Bolshevik campaign against Orthodox Church encounters oppostion.
	8 February	French media allege that Lenin and Trotski are being paid by the Germans.
	10 February	Trotski declares that although there is no formal peace, Russia is no longer at war with the Central powers. Order is given to demobilize the Russian army. Russia is officially out of the war.
	13 February	Red forces defeat General Alexeiev. General Kaledin commits suicide.
	18-19 February	German army crosses River Dvina. Armistice with Russia ends. A second German army moves into Ukraine against Bolsheviks. Russians evacuate Armenia. Southern Finland is controlled by Red forces. General Mannerheim gathers his army in the North. Germans soon occupy Dvinsk and Lutsk. They advance front from Riga to Volhynia. They enter Estonia and press towards Reval and Petrograd. Bolsheviks formally declare that they will sign Brest-Litovsk treaty.
	20 February	Germans continue advance to Reval, Petrograd, Moscow, and Kiev. They meet little resistance and soon occupy Minsk and Hapsal. They also reach Finland and reinforce White Guard forces under Mannerheim. Germans soon within 60 miles of Reval.
	23 February	The Red Guards and Red Army battle the Germans at Pskov and Narva.
	24 February	Russians accept German peace terms. Red forces occupy the capital of Don Cossack territory - Novocherkask.
	25 February	Reval and Pskov occupied by Germans. In Ukraine the Germans takethe temporary capital of that republic - Zhitomir.
	27 February	Ukraine Soviet accepts German terms and signs treaty. Japanese propose military action in Siberia.
	28 February	Russians return to Brest-Litovsk. Germans continue to advance in Ukraine. Armed Pripet flotilla is captured. Austrians invade Ukraine.
	2-4 March	Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is signed with Germany. Russia loses Finland, Ukraine, Georgia, Poland, and the Baltic States. Germans continue advance into Ukraine and capture Kiev. Germans claim capture of 63,000 men and 2,600 artillery pieces in recent invasion.
	10-15 March	Germans and Austrians advance to and capture Odessa. Germans continue actions in Finland. British government defends the idea of Japanese intervention in Asian Russia.
	14 March	Council of the Soviets ratifies Brest-Litovsk treaty.
	29 March	Japanese say that Russian situation is worsening and they may take action soon. Turks ratify peace with Russia and Ukraine.
	31 March	Russians and Romanians agree on Bessarabia.
	2 April	Siberia is reported to be dominated by Bolsheviks. Reports also state the German and Austrian prisoners are being rearmed.
	3-6 April	Allies prepare to safeguard the Murmansk railway. Germans land 30,000 troops at Hango in Finland. White Guards capture Tammerfors. Germans capture Ekaterinoslav in Ukraine. Japanese Marines land at Vladivostok followed by a British detachment.
	7-8 April	Red forces evacuate Helsingfors. Russia issues protest over German forces in Finland. Germans respond by demanding disarmament of Russian fleet.
	10 April	Red Army forces fire on Japanese in Vladivostok.
	16 April	Renewed fighting between Red Army and White forces under General Kornilov. Ukrainian government protests union of Bessarabia and Rumania.
	19 April	Germans occupy two stations of primary Sevastopol rail line.
	23-25 April	Western Finnish White Army reaches Russian frontier. In Manchuria Cossacks under Col Semenov defeat 300 armed Hungarian prisoners. Germans forces meet with Finnish forces north of Helsingfors. Germans near Sevastopol.
	28 April	Rumors that a counter-revolution is about to take place.
	6-7 July	Red Latvian rifle regiments suppress an uprising in Moscow.
	17 July	Tsar Nikolas II and his family are executed by Bolsheviks in Ekaterinberg.
	30 August	V.I. Lenin is the target of an attempted assassination.
	5 September	The 'Red Terror' begins.
	6th September	The Revolutionary Military Soviet of the Republic (RMSR) is established as the ruling body of the armed forces.
1919
	2 January	Bolshevik forces advance on Reval and Riga. Continued fighting in the Ukraine.
	4 January	Riga falls to Bolshevik forces.
	7-8 January	British squadron leaves the Baltic. British forces are sent to the Caucasus. Turks completely evacuate the Caucasus.
	11 January	Polish forces relieve Lemberg.
	13 January	Bolsheviks begin moving on Poland. General Kolchak remains in command of Siberian forces, but French General Janin directs operations.
	16 January	Western Allies defeat Bolsheviks in battle for Merv.
	19-25 January	Red Army forces attack Archangel front near Shenkursk only 180 miles south of Archangel. Allies withdraw.
	22-23 January	Allied forces sent to Poland. Trotski and Lenin disagree on the direction the revolution is to take.
	27 January	General Russki and other hostages are murdered at Piatigorsk.
	29 January	Allies withdraw again on Archangel front.
	3-9 February	General Denikin routs Red Army forces in the North Caucasus. White Army takes 31,000 prisoners.
	12 February	Continued fighting in Arkangel region.
	14 February	Red Army invades Estonia.
	20 February	Western Allies defeat Red Army on Murmansk front.
	1-9 March	Fighting 140 miles southeast of Arkangel. Allies withdraw one mile.
	9 March	Attempted assassination of Trotsky.
	15 March	Red Army is defeated in Urals, Estonia, and Kurland. Fighting in Nikolaiev, near Odessa.
	17 March	French and Allies evacuating Odessa as Red Army advances.
	21 March	Soviet government in Hungary.
	24 March	Romanian forces defeat Bolshevik forces along the Dniester River.
	30 March	Lenin offers alliance to Germany with Hungary to fight the Allies and Poland.
	31 March	Red Army is again repulsed as they attack the Arkangel front. Bolshevik revolt in Murmansk is suppressed by General Maynard.
	4-5 April	British becoming increasingly nervous about their Arkangel and Murmansk deployments. Soviet republic is established in Bavaria. Bolsheviks again attack Archangel front and are repulsed.
	8-9 April	Allies announce that they will pull out of Odessa. Red Army enters Crimea. A voluntary British relief force is sent to Arkangel.
	10-15 April	Red Army withdraws on the Ural front.
	11-12 April	Bavarian Soviet Republic is overthrown, but regains upper hand by the 13th. Red Army occupies Yalta in the Crimea.
	14 April	General Kolchak's Siberian army continues pushing west. Allies suffer setbacks in southern Russia.
	17 April	White Russian forces under Gen. Maynard rout Red Army at Lake Vigo. Allies refuse to send food aid to Russia until hostilities cease.
	19 April	British forces withdrawn from Caspian region, except for Krasnovodsk..
	21 April	Siberian army drives Red Army back to within 100 miles east of Kazan.
	23 April	Bolsheviks invade Bessarabia. Red Army again defeated on Archangel front by Western Allies.
	2 May	Red Army attacks Archangel and is repulsed.
	6-7 May	England and United States recognize independence of Finland.
	10 May	Red Army again attacks in Arkangel region and is defeated.
	13 May	General Yudenich leads his White Army toward Petrograd.
	15 May	General Kolchak's army falls back.
	19-20 May	Polish General Paderewski prepares to attack Ukraine. German army again occupies Riga.
	23-28 May	General Yudenich and his Estonian army close to within 30 miles of Petrograd.
	31 May	Bolshevik naval forces defeated by British near Kronstadt, they then withdraw from Gulf of Riga. Allies demand Germany remove its troops from Baltic region..
	3 June	Allied reinforcements reach Archangel.
	6 June	Finland declares war on Russia.
	8 June	General Denikin's army advances across southern Russia.
	22-25 June	Allies advance on northern Dvina river. Denikin's army moves to within 24 miles of Kharkov. Red Army is 20 miles from Perm and advances eastward of Ufa.
	27 June	Red Army abandons Kharkov.
	July	General Denikin's White Army advances on Moscow.
	31 July	General Sir H. Rawlinson is sent to Northern Russia to coordinate Allied withdrawal.
	10 August	Allied forces defeat Red Army on the northern Dvina river.
	30 August	Series of Allied successes in Northern Russia.
	27 September	British troops withdrawn from Archangel.
	October	General Yudenich attempts to take Petrograd and fails. His Northern Army is destroyed. This is followed by mass desertions in the Red Army.
	10 October	British forces withdrawn for Murmansk region.
	November	General Kolchak's White Army is forced out of the Urals
	14 November	The Red Army captures the city of Omsk.
1920
	February	Soviet government in Latvia collapses. The Red Army occupies Krasnovodsk - the primary White stronghold in Central Asia.
	March	Polish forces take Kiev. General Denikin loses Novorossiysk and Ekaterinodar to the Red Army and evacuates his forces to the Crimea.
	April	Polish and Ukrainian forces advance through Ukraine and Russia. Former Czarist General Brusilov calls to former Czarist officers to join the Red Army and fight the Poles. His plea is successful and more than 14,000 officers respond.
	17 August	Red Army forces are soundly defeated near Warsaw by Polish forces. The Bolshevik revolution has been stopped from advancing into Western Europe.
	November	Red Army forces capture the Crimea. General Wrangel evacuates his White Army to Turkey.
1921
	8-18 March	Kronstadt sailors rebellion. It is brutally repressed by Red forces.
	April	The Far Eastern Republic is formed.
1922
	8-18 March	White Guards withdraw to Manchuria. Japanese troops then evacuate Soviet Far East.
	October	The end of large scale military operations.
	30-31 December	The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is formed by the federation of previously independent republics.