1905- Russia suffers humiliating defeat to Japan in Russo-Japanese War. First Russian Revolution occurs. Tsar (king) promises he will transition Russia from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy with an elected Parliament. There are Parliamentary elections but the Tsar soon ignores them and dissolves the Duma (Parliament).
1914- Russia joins World War 1 on the side of the Allied Powers, fights against Germany on the Eastern Front. After three years, things are going poorly. Russia isn 't necessarily in danger of losing, but the stalemate has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, the army is poorly equipped and going out to fight on the front line is basically a death sentence, and conditions at home are truly awful. There
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This fuels discontent. Two factions of socialists seem to be the most popular parties among the Russian people, the Socialist Revolutionary Party and the Bolsheviks, but neither have much power in the Provisional government. There are constant strikes by starving workers and further mutinies by soldiers and sailors in the Russian military.
1917- October Revolution (actually occurred in November). Bolsheviks topple the Provisional government and seize power. They institute a new state supposed to be based around unions of workers ' councils. They immediately negotiate a peace with Germany in the Treaty of Brest-Livotsk which includes massive land concessions.
1918- Russian Civil War begins. The two main factions here are the Reds (the Bolsheviks) and the Whites (Liberals who supported the Provisional government as well as various reactionaries and monarchists who want to reverse the revolution). The Civil War is deadly and destructive and lasts until 1923. Various other groups and countries also fought in this war, some on the side of the Reds, some on the side of the Whites, as well as independent forces, like the anarchists who formed the Black Army in Ukraine which fought alongside the Reds to defeat the Whites before then being turned on and crushed by the