ABSTRACT
Tsar Nicholas 1 (1825-1855) 1825 Dec. Decembrist Re1l0lt: aristocratic rebels exploit confusion over the dynastic succession to Alexander I to stage an attempted revolution in St Petersburg, but are shot down by the new Tsar Nicholas I
1826-1828 Russian-Persian War
1827 Russia seizes Erivan (in Armenia) from Persia 1828 Feb. Peace of Turkmenchai: Russia acquires more of 'Armenia' from Ottomans and more of 'Azerbaidzhan' from Persia Apr. Russia declares war on Ottoman Empire in support of Greece Ort. Russians take Varna and defeat Ottoman army
1829 Sep. Treaty of Adrianople: Russia formally acquires territory south of the Caucasus mountain range (,Armenia' and 'Azerbaidzhan') from Ottoman Empire
1830 Nov. Polish Uprising expels Russians from Warsaw
1831 Sep. Polish Uprising finally suppressed by Russian army
1832 Constitution of 'Congress Poland' abrogated by Nicholas I as punishment for Polish Uprising
Sep. Nicholas I and Metternich sign reactionary Milnchengriitz Agreement pledging mutual aid against internal threat Oct. Agreement of Berlin: Russia, Austria and Prussia reaffirm the interventionist Troppau Protocol of 1820
1841 Jut. Straits Convention: Russia has to agree to closure of Dardanelles to all but Ottoman warships (a strategic reversal of the advantageous 1833 Treaty) 1848 Jul. Russians invade Danubian Principalities to suppress revolts
1853 Russia annexes Khiva (in central Asia) Apr. Russia declares its protectorship over Christian subjects in the Ottoman Empire Jul. Russia invades Danubian Principalities
1854 Mar. France and Britain declare war on Russia Sep. French and British forces land in Crimea Nov. French and British armies defeat Russians at Inkerman
1857 Russia annexes Mingrelia in Trans-Caucasia
1861-1874 The Emancipation of the Serfs initiates a complex package of fundamental reforms sponsored by Alexander II to modernise Russian society
and secure the Great Power status of the Russian Empire without prejudicing the autocratic authority of tsarism 1861-1864 Second Polish Uprising eventually suppressed after military and political measures by Russia (and Prussia) 1864 Russia annexes Abkhazia in Trans-Caucasia
1865 Russia annexes Tashkent in central Asia
1866 Relations between Russia and Papacy broken off (over Russian suppression of the Roman Catholic Poles after 1863) 1867 Mar. Russia sells Alaska to U.S.A. Jul. Russia establishes Governor-Generalship of Turkestan. Slavonic Ethnographic Exhibition in Moscow boosts Pan-Slavist sentiment in Russia and eastern Europe
1868 Russia occupies Samarkand in central Asia
1877 Mar. London Protocol: Russia and other Great Powers demand reforms from Ottoman Empire Apr. Russia invades Ottoman Empire to protect fellow Slavs Dec. Strategically-crucial Ottoman fort of Plevna falls to Russians
1878 Jan. Adrianople falls to Russians, leading to armistice Mar. Treaty of San Stephano: Russia imposes settlement stipulating a 'Big Bulgaria' as a Russian client-state and Russian territorial gains from the Ottoman Empire in Trans-Caucasia (notably Kars) Jul. Congress of Berlin thwarts Russian imperialist strategy, reducing the size of Bulgaria and limiting Russian territorial gains to the recovery of Bessarabia
1879+ Campaign of Russian terrorist group Narodnaya Volya: ('People's Will') to kill Alexander II
1881 Mar. Alexander II assassinated by Narodnaya Volya
Mar.+ Alexander III institutes a new hard, repressive regime. Pogroms against Jews in southern Russia, who are blamed for the assassination of 'Tsar-Liberator' Alexander II. Russia annexes Ashkhabad in central Asia
1893 Dec. Russian-French military convention comes into effect, identifYing new 'Entente' alliance of Russia and France against Germany and AustriaHungary
National chronologies
1904-1905 Russo}apanese War over Manchuria 1905 'Revolution of 1905' forces concessions from Nicholas II towards nonRussian nationalities, including the (temporary) suspension of recent Russification measures, Despite tsarist fears of a 'Romanov 1848', the non-Russians generally neglect to exploit the situation to their own nationalist advantage Sep. Treaty of Portsmouth, New Hampshire ends Russojapanese War Oct. 'October Manifesto' concedes an elected imperial parliament (Duma) 1906 Apr. New 'Fundamental Laws' establish an ostensibly constitutional 'Duma Monarchy' May-Jul. (First) Duma convenes, and is dissolved by Nicholas II for oppositional intransigence
1907 Feb.-Jun. Second Duma even more intransigent; dissolved Jun. Prime Minister Peter Stolypin alters electoral system to favour Russians over non-Russians (and landowners over proletariat) Aug. Russian-British Convention over division of spheres of interest in Persia, Mghanistan and Tibet effectively completes the Triple Entente of Russia, Frana and Britain
1908-1909 Bosnian Crisis: Russian and Pan-Slavist sentiments outraged by Austrian seizure of Bosnia-Herzegovina (and Austrian Foreign Minister Aehrenthal's deception of Russian Foreign Minister Izvolsky), pressuring tsarist government to adopt a more militant and interventionist stance in the Balkans
1910 Oct. Sergei Sazonov becomes Russian Foreign Minister (1910-1916) 1911 Sep. Stolypin assassinated in Kiev Opera House
1912 'Great Programme' of five-year overhaul and modernisation of Russian armed forces agreed and introduced
The First World War and the Fall ofTsaristIWssia (1914-1917) 1914 28 Jun. Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo 23 Jul. Austrian ultimatum to Serbia 24 Jul. Russia declares that it will defend Serbia against any attack from Austria-Hungary 25 Jul. Austria-Hungary mobilises against Serbia 26 Jul. Austro-Hungarian forces mobilise on frontier with Russia 28Jul. Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia 30 Jul. Russia declares general mobilisation 31Jul. Germany demands that Russia cease mobilisation 1 Aug. Germany declares war on Russia 5 Aug. Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia. Russians invade East Prussia; disastrously defeated at Battle of Tannenberg. Imperial capital of St Petersburg renamed Petrograd Sep. Declaration of London: Russia, France and Britain promise no separate peace with Germany. Russian-Rumanian agreement about Rumania's benevolent neutrality. Russians badly beaten at Battle of the Masurian Lakes Oct. Russians rally, forcing Germans and Austrians into retreat Nov. Ottoman Empire declares war on Russia
1915 Mar.+ Russian retreat before steady German-Austrian offensive Apr. Constantinople Agreements: Russia is promised Constantinople and the Straits at the end of the war by Britain and France Jun. Austro-Hungarian forces take Lemberg Aug. German forces capture and occupy Warsaw. A 'Progressive Bloc' of moderate parties forms in Fourth Duma to improve Russian war effort by deal with tsarist government Sep. German forces take Vilna. Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaievich replaced as Russian Commander-in-Chief by Tsar Nicholas II Nov. All Russian Poland and parts of Baltic provinces lost to German and Austro-Hungarian occupying forces
Russian offensive on Caucasian front against Ottoman Empire Russians capture Erzerum in Ottoman Armenia Russian 'Brusilov offensive' against Austrian-Hungarian front Russians capture Trebizond from Ottomans Russians capture Czernowitz from Austrians
National chronologies
Aug. Rumania joins Allies against Austria-Hungary Sep. Russian-Rumanian offensive against Austria-Hungary Oct.-Dec. Austrian-German-Bulgarian counter-offensive against Rumania
1917 Jan. Russians and Rumanians defeated at Focsani Feb. Collapsing standard of living in Petrograd prompts food riots and demonstrations Mar. Revolution in Petrograd: Tsar Nicholas II abdicates, and his chosen heir Grand Duke Michael declines the crown. Romanov dynasty and tsarist government come to an end
Revolutionary Russia (1917-1921)
1917 Mar. Provisional Government, headed by George Lvov, Paul Miliukov and other leading representatives of the Progressive Bloc, assumes 'caretaker' power until the convening of a democratically-elected Constituent Assembly. Rival Petrograd Soviet formed May Second Provisional Government, with Alexander Kerensky as Minister of War Jun. Kerensky launches Russian offensive Jui. Kerensky becomes Premier of Provisional Government. Russian offensive claims Tarnopol Aug. Russians recapture Czernowitz from Austrians Sep. Kerensky proclaims Russian Republic. German offensive captures Riga . Nov. Bolshevik Revolution in Petrograd: Provisional Government falls, replaced by Bolshevik government headed by Lenin and Trotsky. Trotsky negotiates immediate armistice on eastern front Dec. Hostilities suspended during Russian-German negotiations for a separate peace at Brest-Litovsk
1919 Mar. Komintern (or Third Communist International) founded in Moscow as Bolshevik-based international agency for promoting worldwide communist revolution
