Allied intervention lands at Arkhangelsk

The Bolshevik government signed a harsh peace treaty with the Central Powers, ceding or relinquishing extensive western territories and populations. The treaty fulfilled the promise to end Russia’s...

The Seventh Party Congress renamed the Bolshevik organization the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks). The change reflected the party’s claim to lead an international socialist transformation after...

The Soviet government transferred the capital from Petrograd to Moscow, citing military vulnerability and logistical concerns. The move shifted the state’s political center inland and placed Moscow at...

The Fifth All-Russian Congress adopted the constitution of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. It formally described a federation and placed power in soviets, while excluding “exploiting...

Nicholas II, his family and attendants were killed by Bolshevik authorities in Yekaterinburg as anti-Bolshevik forces approached. The killing ended the Romanov family’s immediate political claim but...

After assassination attempts and attacks on Soviet officials, the government announced the Red Terror, authorizing mass arrests, executions and hostage-taking against designated political opponents....

Twenty-six Baku Commune leaders were executed near Krasnovodsk after the fall of the commune and their transfer into the custody of forces associated with the Transcaspian Government and British...

The armistice between the Allies and Germany ended the main fighting in Western Europe and removed the immediate military basis for the Brest-Litovsk settlement. Former imperial territories faced...

Following Germany’s defeat, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee annulled the Brest-Litovsk treaty. The withdrawal of German forces reopened the struggle over Ukraine, the Baltic region and...

Delegates from socialist and communist organizations met in Moscow to establish the Communist International (Comintern). It presented anti-imperialist revolution and international worker solidarity as...