June 25, 1918 - Headline Russia

Another quiet day for Mary, but amidst the multiple headlines of major advances and victories of the Allies over the Axis powers on several fronts, there is news from Russia about the revolution and turmoil in progress there.  This from the front page of the Evening Public Herald:

Another headline from The Philadelphia Inquirer reads: "Russian People Would Welcome U.S. Intervention, Overthrow of Bolsheviki Would Again Make Nation War Factor, Present Rulers Enslaving Subjects More Than Kaiser Could".

This timeline is from the British Library.  Note that Russia did not convert to the Gregorian calendar until February 1918, before that using the Julian calendar.  Gregorian calendar dates are first, Julian calendar in brackets. 

1917

February Revolution: 8–16 March (23 February – 3 March) 1917

A series of public protests begin in Petrograd, which last for eight days and eventually result in abolition of the monarchy in Russia. The total number of killed and injured in clashes with the police and government troops in Petrograd is estimated around 1,300 people.
8 March (23 February) 1917: On International Women’s Day, demonstrators and striking workers – many of whom are women – take to the streets to protest against food shortages and the war. Two days later, the strikes spread across Petrograd.

15 (2) March 1917: Tsar Nicholas II abdicates and also removes his son from the succession. The following day Nicholas’ brother Mikhail announces his refusal to accept the throne. A Provisional Government is formed to replace the tsarist government, with Prince Lvov becoming the leader.

April 1917

Lenin returns from exile, travelling to Petrograd in a sealed train from Switzerland via Germany and Finland.

1 May (18 April) 1917

The Milyukov note: A telegram sent to the Allied Powers by Foreign Minister Pavel Milyukov states the Provisional Government’s intention to continue the war. The note is leaked, resulting in protests and increased support for the Bolsheviks.
Following this, Milyukov resigns and members of the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks join the Provisional Government.

June Offensive: 1 July (18 June) 1917

Russian minister of war Alexander Kerensky launches an offensive against Austria-Hungary forces in Galicia.

Although the Russian effort is initially successful, the soldiers soon refuse to leave their trenches and fight due to low morale caused by the Revolution. Soldiers’ committees debate orders and encourage soldiers to disobey officers. Many soldiers return home to take part in redistribution of land.
The offensive collapses four days later and Russian troops have to respond to the Austrians’ and Germans’ counteroffensive.

July Days: 16–20 (3–7) July 1917

The July Days, a series of spontaneous armed anti-government demonstrations of industrial workers and soldiers, begin in Petrograd. Lvov resigns as leader of the Provisional Government, with Alexander Kerensky taking over and crushing the demonstrations. In the same month, the death penalty is reintroduced and women are granted the right to vote and hold office.
Kerensky issues the arrest of Lenin, who goes into hiding. The printing offices of the Bolshevik newspaper Pravda – the headquarters of the Bolshevik Central Committee – are raided, with many Bolshevik leaders arrested.
The aborted uprising results in Soviets losing their control over the Provisional Government, signifying the end of the ‘Dual Power’ situation. This is seen by many as the point of no return for the peaceful development of the Revolution.

Kornilov affair: 9 September (22–27 August) 1917

The Kornilov affair: A failed coup by General Kornilov, commander of the Russian army, takes place, when he orders troops towards Petrograd to counter the threat of the Bolsheviks.
Prime Minister Kerensky presents Kornilov’s actions as an attempted right wing coup.
While the affair is short lived, it secures power for the Bolsheviks among Petrograd’s working classes, workers and soldiers, and crushes the credibility of a coalition Provisional Government between socialists and liberals due to the Kadets (Constitutional Democrats) and even Kerensky himself being implicated in the affair.

14 (1) September 1917

Russia is officially declared a republic.

October Revolution: 7–8 November (25–26 October) 1917

7 November (25) 1917: The Bolsheviks seize control of Petrograd.

8 November (26 October) 1917: The Bolsheviks take control of the Winter Palace, the last remaining holdout of the Provisional Government.
8 November (26 October) 1917: The Decrees on Land (proclaiming abolition of private property and the redistribution of the land amongst the peasantry), and Peace (proposing an immediate withdrawal of Russia from the First World War), are issued by the new Bolshevik government. Subsequent workers’ decrees outline measures for an eight-hour working day, minimum wage and the running of factories. The death penalty is abolished once again.

9 November (27 October) 1917

The Decree on the Press, the first Bolshevik censorship decree, abolishes the ‘bourgeois’ press.

25 (12) November 1917

Elections to the Constituent Assembly take place. The Socialist Revolutionaries win the largest number of seats, while the Bolsheviks win less than one-quarter of the vote.

December 1917

Each person receives 1/4 pound of bread per day. Bread and flour are still being sold openly, but for extortionate prices.

15 (2) December 1917

An armistice between Russia and the Central Powers is signed, and fighting stops.

1918–1924

18–19 (5–6) January 1918

The Constituent Assembly meets but is dissolved by the Bolsheviks.

28 (15) January 1918

The Council of People’s Commissars (Sovnarkom) issues a decree forming the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army.

14 February 1918

Russia adopts the Western (Gregorian) calendar.

Brest-Litovsk Treaty: 3 March 1918

Russia ends its participation in the First World War. Bolshevik Russia loses one-third of the old empire’s population, one-third of its railway network, half its industry, three-quarters of its supplies of iron ore, nine-tenths of its coal resources and much of its food supplies.

8 March 1918

At the 7th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, the Bolsheviks change the name of their party to the Russian Communist Party. The Russian capital is also moved from Petrograd to Moscow this year.

10 July 1918

The first constitution of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic grants equal rights to men and women.

16–17 July 1918

Tsar Nicholas II and his family are executed by the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg.

11 August 1918

Lenin sends a telegram to communists in Penza, Central Russia, complaining about uprisings in the area and calling for the public execution of 100 kulaks (wealthy peasants).

30 August 1918

Beginning of ‘Red Terror’: An assassination attempt on Lenin by the Socialist Revolutionary Fanny Kaplan leaves him seriously wounded. The attempt, together with the murder of Uritskii, sparks a period of mass arrests and executions known as the ‘Red Terror’.