| 1914 |
Russia entered World War I on the side of Britain and France |
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| 1917 |
February Revolution - Tsar Nicholas II abdicated, the Provisional Government took over |
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| 1917 |
October Revolution - Bolsheviks (Communists) led by Lenin took control of Russia |
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| 1918 |
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ended fighting between Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary) |
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| 1922 |
Stalin became secretary-general of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
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| 1924 |
Lenin died |
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| 1929 |
Stalin became undisputed leader of the USSR. Policy of collectivisation began. |
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| 1932 |
Famine gripped the countryside |
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| 1933 |
Belamor Canal completed |
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| 1934 |
Sergey Kirov, Stalin’s rival, murdered |
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| 1935 |
Stakhanovite movement began |
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| 1939 |
Nazi-Soviet Pact |
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| 1940 |
Stalin had his former rival, Leon Trotsky, murdered in Mexico |
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| 1941 |
Germany attacked the USSR |
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| 1942 |
German attack on Stalingrad was unsuccessful and was a turning point in the war |
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| 1945 |
World War 2 ended |
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| 1949 |
USSR tested its atomic bomb |
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| 1953 |
Stalin died |
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