Russian Revolution and Global Economic Crisis: 1904–1933

The Russian Revolution and the Rise of the USSR

• 1904–1905: Russo-Japanese War – Russia defeated; weakness of Tsarism exposed.
• 1905: Bloody Sunday – Peaceful protest crushed; break between Tsar and people.
• 1905: First Soviets created and Duma established (limited reforms).
• 1914: World War I – Economic collapse and military defeats.
• Feb 1917: February Revolution – "Peace, Bread and Land" strikes; Tsar Nicholas II abdicates.
• 1917: Provisional Government – Dual power with Soviets.
• April 1917: April Theses – Lenin calls for "All power to the Soviets."
• Oct 24–25, 1917: October Revolution – Bolsheviks seize Winter Palace; Kerensky overthrown.
• Oct 1917: Sovnarkom formed – Lenin introduces Peace Decree, Land Decree, nationalization, equality for women, and the Cheka.
• March 1918: Treaty of Brest-Litovsk – Russia leaves WWI.
• 1918–1921: Russian Civil War – Red Army vs. White Army; foreign intervention.
• July 1918: Execution of the Tsar and his family.
• 1921: NEP introduced – Mixed economy and recovery.
• 1922: Creation of the USSR.
• 1924: Death of Lenin.

Post-War Europe and the Global Economic Crisis

• 1919: Post–World War I period – Rise of nationalism, new states created, and League of Nations founded.
• 1919: Dissolution of the Second International – Split between socialists and communists.
• 1919–1924: Post-war economic crisis – War destruction, unemployment, social unrest, and the Spanish Flu.
• 1919: Weimar Republic proclaimed in Germany – Universal suffrage, women’s vote, and democratic constitution.
• 1923: German crisis – Treaty of Versailles reparations, French occupation of the Ruhr, and hyperinflation.
• 1924: US financial aid to Germany – Economic stabilization.
• 1925: Treaty of Locarno – Borders recognized; spirit of peace.
• 1926: Germany joins the League of Nations.
• 1920s: Roaring Twenties – Economic recovery, US becomes leading power, mass consumption, and the "American way of life."
• 1929: Overproduction and stock market speculation.
• Oct 24 & 29, 1929: Black Thursday and Black Tuesday – Wall Street Crash.
• 1929–1932: Great Depression – Bank failures, company closures, mass unemployment, and global spread of the crisis.
• 1933: Roosevelt’s New Deal – State intervention, public works, and social aid.
• 1930s: Different responses to the crisis – State intervention, currency devaluation in Britain, and militarism and imperialism in Japan.