Timeline Of Russian History

Date

Event

1934

The security functions of the OGPU were transferred to the NKVD.

The USSR joined the League of Nations. With this, Russia signaled its position of power internationally, yet the League was “already discredited by its failure to resist unprovoked aggression.”

Kirov was assassinated. He was murdered by a young party member, Leonid Nikolaev, and connection with Stalin has not been proven. However, there is evidence that he was allowed access to Kirov in the knowledge he was a potential assassin.

1935

The press introduced “Stakhanovite” labour. They chose a Donbass coalminer, Aleksei Stakhanov, as a model for the Soviet worker. He was reported to have hewn 102 tons, rather than his quota of 7, in a single shift. This was the beginning of focus on individual achievements, and some achievers earned enough to even afford a car.

1936

The “Stalin Constitution” was promulgated

1937

The Soviet Army was purged

Mass terror began after Ezhov became the head of NKVD. Eight military leaders, including Tukhachevsky, were arrested and executed

1938

The USSR was excluded from the Munich Conference.

A new decree required the teaching of Russian in all non-Russian schools

Beria succeeded Yezhov as head of the NKVD.

1939

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed. In full, the Treaty of Nonaggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, this lasted until Operation Barbarossa

The Red Army defeated the Japanese at Khalkin-Gol in Mongolia

The Red Army occupied eastern Poland (western Belorussia and western Ukraine).

The Red Army began its winter war with Finland

1940

The Soviet Union annexed the Baltic Republics and Bessarabia.

Unjustifiable absence from work was made a criminal offense.

Trotsky was assassinated. Ramón Mercader attacked Trotsky in his home in Mexico with an ice axe, working for Stalin. Trotsky was never formally rehabilitated.

Fees were introduced for higher and upper secondary education.

1941

The Nazis initiated Operation Barbarossa. This was the codename for the invasion of Soviet Russia, the invasion that arguably resulted in the defeat of Germany at the hands of the Soviet Union.

September

The Siege of Leningrad began.The victory over the siege was an important symbol of the Soviet to resist. It would last until January 18, 1944.

Kiev fell.

The United States and Great Britain agreed to deliver war supplies to the USSR.

October

Moscow was threatened and partially evacuated. Stalin remained in the city

During December and January, the German army was thrown back from Moscow.

1942

The USSR, the United States, and Great Britain conclude an alliance on the basis of the Atlantic Charter.

June

The German Army launched a major offensive in Ukraine.

îñü Áåðëèí-Ðèì-Òîêèî (êîàëèöèÿ íàöèñòñêîé Ãåðìàíèè, ôàøèñòñêîé Èòàëèè è ìèëèòàðèñòñêîé ßïîíèè)

August

The Battle of Stalingrad began between the Axis powers (coalition of Germany, Italy and Japan) and the USSR. Victory at the battle of Stalingrad marked the turn of the tide in favour of the Soviet Union in World War II. It was reputedly the largest, and bloodiest, battle in history.

November

The Soviets began Operation Uranus. This encirclement of German forces cut off more than 250,000 Axis soldiers for 4 days.

1943

Peoples were deported from the north Caucasus and Crimea through 1944.

The Comintern was dissolved.

July

The Battle of Kursk, famously the largest tank battle in history, was initiated as a blitzkrieg by German forces. The Soviet defense, however, launched an effective counter-offensive.

November

The Teheran Conference began. Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill met to, most importantly, plan the final strategy for the war against Nazi Germany. It succeeded the Cairo Conference, and was succeeded first by the Yalta Conference (February 1945), then the Potsdam Conference (July-August 1945).

1944

The Red Army drove into Poland.

1945

USSR entered war with Japan.

February

The Yalta conference was held.

April

During the Battle of Berlin, one of the final battles of World War II, massive Soviet forces invaded Berlin from the east. It saw the suicide of Adolf Hitler and the unconditional surrender of Germany

May 9

Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally

July

The Potsdam Conference began. The leaders of the main victors of World War I - the Soviet Union, The United Kingdom, and the United States - met to agree on how to administer the unconditional surrender of Germany – agreeing on demilitarisation, denazification, democratization, and decartelization (transition to a free market) as their aims.

1947

The Truman doctrine signalled the beginning of the Cold War.

The Marshall Plan was launched by the United States. This was the plan for reconstruction of Europe after World War II. Stalin saw it as a threat, and did not allow the participation of any areas under his control.

September

The Cominform was established. The Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties was to coordinate Communist parties under Soviet control, and as such, was effectively a tool for Soviet foreign policy.

1948

The Soviets began the Berlin Blockade. During this, the Soviet Union blocked rail and road access to West Berlin.

The Prague coup completed Communist domination of central and eastern Europe.

1949

East European Communist parties were purged.

April

NATO was formed. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was created for the reason that if the USSR and its allies launched an attack against any of its members, all members would come to its aid.

August 29

The Soviets conducted their first successful test of the atom bomb. The first test, named First Lightning, or Joe 1 by the United States, was a replica of the American Fat Man, led to the Soviet Union having nuclear weaponry of equal capability to the United States, as part of the Cold War.

1950

Korean 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."

Korean War: The North Korean army launched a 135,000 man surprise assault across the 38th parallel.

1953

Doctors' Plot: An 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.

March

Stalin died.

Malenkov succeeded Stalin as Premier and First Secretary of the Communist Party.

Khrushchev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

June

Uprising 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.

Beria was arrested at a special meeting of the Presidium. He was executed six months later.

1955

Khrushchev and Tito issued the Belgrade declaration, which declared that "different forms of Socialist development are solely the concern of the individual countries."

1956

At 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.

November

Revolution in Hungary: A Soviet invasion, involving infantry, artillery, airstrikes, and some 6,000 tanks entered Budapest. 2,500 Hungarians were killed in the ensuing battle. 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.

December

Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro and his followers landed in Cuba.

1957

Led 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.A week later the 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.

1961

Bay of Pigs Invasion: After a U.S. bombing run against the Cuban air force, a group of 1,500 armed exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs on the southern coast. As the invasion faltered, President John F. Kennedy called off the airstrikes. Bay of Pigs Invasion: Castro announced that all the invaders had been defeated.

August

Construction began on the Berlin Wall

December

In a nationally broadcast speech, Castro declared he was a Marxist-Leninist and that Cuba was going to adopt Communism.

1962

Cuban Missile Crisis: The first consignment of Soviet missiles was unloaded in Havana.

October 22-28

Cuban 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.

Cuban 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. The second demand was  that U.S. missiles be withdrawn from Turkey.
Kennedy privately agreed to all conditions..

Cuban Missile Crisis: Khrushchev announced that he had ordered the removal of the Soviet missiles in Cuba.

1964

Khrushchev'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.

1979-1989

The Soviet war in Afghanistan.

1985

The reformist Mikhail Gorbachev was elected the next General Secretary of CPSU with just one vote more than the hardliner Viktor Grishin.

1991

Following the failed coup of August 1991 (Soviet coup attempt of 1991), the Central Committee was dissolved as was the Communist Party itself.

1992

Boris Yeltsin was elected to be the President of Russia.

1993

The Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 began.

2000

Russian presidential election, 2000: Putin was elected president with 53 percent of the vote.

2002

Moscow theater hostage crisis: Chechen rebels seized the House of Culture theater in Moscow, taking approximately 700 theater goers hostage, and demanded an immediate Russian troops withdrawal from Chechnya.
The police pumped anesthetic into the building, then stormed it from every entrance. The subsequent gunfight left 42 terrorists and 120 hostages dead.

2003

Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested at Novosibirsk airport on charges of tax evasion.

2004

Russian presidential election, 2004: Putin won re-election to the presidency for a second term, earning 71 percent of the vote.

Beslan school hostage crisis: A group Chechen terrorists took 1300 adults and children hostage at School in Beslan. At one in the afternoon, following the sound of explosions, Russian police and soldiers stormed the school. The ensuing battle left 344 civilians and 31 of 32 hostage-takers dead.

2005

October 2005 Nalchik attack: A large group of Islamic militants 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.