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1825
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The Decembrists, a secretive organization dedicated to the
overthrow of the Russian monarchy, attempts to spark a revolution in Russia. The
effort fails, and many members are arrested.
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1848
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Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto is completed in Brussels,
Belgium. The pamphlet became the defining document of a revolutionary new idea:
the political and social system called communism.
Liberal revolutions in France and Germany create a climate of instability
throughout Europe.
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1853
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Seeking to increase its influence in the Middle East and to gain a
southern port city, Russia attacks Turkey. The 3-year Crimean War follows,
during which the Russians are badly defeated through the combined efforts of
France, Britain, and Turkey.
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1860's
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The "narodnikis," a populist movement sparks short-lived peasant
rebellions in Russia. The pressure applied by the narodnikis contributes to the
emancipation of the serfs.
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1861
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Russia's government declares the emancipation of the serfs. Russian
peasants are freed from their formal bonds of servitude. The policy does little
to remove the peasants' heavy burdens of poverty and back-breaking labor.
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1864
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Marx organizes the First Communist Internationale in London, England.
Its governing council directs the modest growth of communism in the coming
years.
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1870
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Vladimir Lenin is born in Simbirsk, Russia.
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1879
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Future rivals to Lenin, Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin are born, the
former in the Ukraine, the latter in the Russian territory called Georgia.
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1881
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Revolutionary sentiment continues to build in Russia, as dissatisfaction
with the political system and general conditions within the nation culminates
with the assassination of Czar Alexander II.
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1883
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Karl Marx dies.
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1904
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Russo-Japanese War begins. A conflict over competing territorial
interest in the Far East, Russia loses badly, duplicating their poor performance
in the Crimean War of 1853-1856. Russia's economy is crippled by the expensive
war effort, and many citizens are driven deeper in poverty.
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1905
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"Bloody Sunday." Protestors gather at the Winter Palace in St.
Petersburg--home to the Czar--to demand changes in the government and the
alleviation of hunger and poverty in the nation. Royal troops fire into the
crowd, killing many.
Arrival of the mystical peasant Rasputin in the royal court. Believed to have
prophetic and healing powers, the dangerously unstable Rasputin soon comes to
dominate court appointments and decisions.
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1914
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Revolutinary Gavrilo Princip assassinates Austrian head of state Franz
Ferdinand, sparking World War I. Russia's entry into the war strains its already
outmoded and inefficient economy, creating catastrophic food shortages and
widespread poverty.
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1917
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"The February Revolution," growing out of violent street protests
against the war and the poverty it contributed to, finally topples Czar Nicholas
II. With the Czar gone, both the Provisional Government and the communist
soviets make claims to power.
The October Revolution--Bolshevik troops, at the behest of Vladimir Lenin
advance on the Provisional Government headquarters at the Winter Palace. A
bloodless coup brings the soviets to power, and marks the start of the communist
era.
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1918
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Leon Trotsky signs a peace treaty with Germany and Austria-Hungary at
Brest-Litovsk, Poland, ending Russian involvement in World War I. The treaty is
not favorable to Russia; it passes a great deal of land to the enemy, and
demands huge "reparations fees" be paid.
Civil war begins in Russia. "White" forces, intent on removing the soviets
from power, battle the "Red" forces of communist Russia, under the leadership of
Leon Trotsky. Trostsky's skillful execution of the three-year war effort results
in the maintenance of communist authority.
Valdimir Lenin orders the beginning of the "Red Terror," a systematic
campaign during which the communist police and army forces round up and
execute suspected opponents.
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1921
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Lenin announces the New Economic Policy, which allows for limited
private ownership of land and business. Lenin calls it a necessary "breathing
space" before true communism can prevail.
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1922
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USSR is formally established. It is a federation of Russian states
united under the communist system.
Joseph Stalin is named Secretary-General, a powerful position in the
communist hierarchy. His ability to make appointments to other positions of
power gains him many important allies.
Lenin suffers paralyzing strokes, which remove him from a position of
leadership.
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1924
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Lenin dies. In the ensuing struggle for power, Joseph Stalin adroitly
out-maneuvers Leon Trotsky, and assumes full command of the USSR. He immediately
begins the process of isolating Trotsky within the party.
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1928
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Stalin announces the first Five Year Plan, an ambitious attempt to make
Russia a modern industrial state. Stalin exhorts his "comrades" throughout the
Soviet Union to work harder than they ever have, so that Soviet Russia can
prosper as a beacon of hope to workers everywhere.
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1930-1933
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Rise of fascist Adolph Hitler in Germany.
Stalin proposes the second Five Year Plan, which again emphasizes the rapid
growth of Soviet Industry. By the end of the second Five Year Plan, Soviet
Russia is a formidable world power.
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1934
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The beginning of the "Great Purges" and "show trials" under Stalin.
These public accusations and forced confessions were followed by quick trials
and executions or imprisonment. Between 2-7 million people suspected of
opposition to Stalin are executed; many more are sentenced to years of hard
labor in the Gulags--cruel Soviet labor camps.
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1939
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German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact: a secret agreement between Joseph
Stalin and Adolph Hitler which carved Eastern Europe into German and Soviet
spheres of influence. The pact also guaranteed that neither country would oppose
or attack the other, in perpetuity.
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1941
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Adolph Hitler begins "Operation Barbarossa," the full-frontal assault on
the Soviet Union, in defiance of the Non-Aggression Treaty of 1939. Hitler moves
quickly into Russia, straining his supply lines and trapping his troops deep
within Russia as winter approached. The bitter winter that followed sapped
German troop strength, and they began to retreat under a withering new
counter-assault by the Russians.
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1945
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World War II in Europe ends.
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1950
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The Korean conflict begins.
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1953
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Stalin dies. Nikita Khrushchev takes power, and soon denounces the
excesses of the Stalin era. Korean conflict ends.
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1957
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Sputnik. The Soviet Union launches the first man-made satellite to orbit
the earth.
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1958
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The United States launches the National Aeronautics Space
Administration. The Space Race is in full gear.
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1959
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Leftist forces under Fidel Castro overthrow the government of Fulgencio
Batista in Cuba.
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1960
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The U-2 Spy Plane Affair. An American high-altitude spy plane is shot
down over the Soviet Union. After the Soviets capture pilot Gary Francis Powers,
the U.S. recants earlier assertions that the plane was on a weather research
mission.
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1961
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The United States rejects proposals by Khrushchev to make Berlin a "free
city" with access controlled by East Germany. Communist authorities construct
Berlin Wall to prevent East Germans from fleeing to West Berlin.
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1962
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Cuban Missile Crisis. After the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, the Soviet
Union installs nuclear missiles in Cuba capable of reaching most of the
continental United States. When U-2 Spy planes confirm their existence,
President Kennedy orders a naval blockade of Cuba until the Soviet Union agrees
to remove the missiles. This was one of the most dangerous confrontations of the
Cold War.
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1964
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Gulf on Tonkin Resolution. North Vietnamese patrol boats fire on the USS
Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin. U.S. Congress grants President Johnson authority
to send U.S. troops into Vietnam.
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1967
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Six Day War. Israel launches an attack seizing the Sinai and the Gaza
Strip from Egypt, the West Bank and Jerusalem from Jordan and the Golan Heights
from Syria. The Soviet Union accuses the United States of encouraging Israeli
aggression.
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1972
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Nixon visits China. Nixon becomes the first U.S. President to visit
China. The rapprochement changes the balance of power with the Soviet Union.
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1973
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Vietnam Peace Agreement. The United States, North Vietnam, South Vietnam
and the Viet Cong sign the Paris Peace treaty, establishing a cease-fire and a
60-day window for the removal of all U.S. troops. Saigon falls in April, 1975.
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1975
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The communist Khmer Rouge takes power in Cambodia. Under the regime of
Pol Pot, as many as 3 million Cambodians die between 1975 and 1979.
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1979
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In December, 100,000 Soviet troops invade Afghanistan as communist
Babrak Kamal seizes control of the government. U.S.-backed Muslim guerilla
fighters wage a costly war against the Soviets for nearly a decade before the
Soviet troops withdraw in 1988.
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1980
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In August, electrician Lech Welesa leads massive strikes at the Lenin
shipyards in Gdansk, Poland. The strikes soon spread to other cities and form
the core of the Solidarity movement. The communist government concedes to worker
demands, recognizing their right to form unions and strike.
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1983
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Star Wars. President Ronald Reagan outlines his Strategic Defense
Initiative (SDI) or Star Wars, a space-based defensive shield that would use lasers
and other technology to destroy attacking missiles far above the Earth's
surface. Soviets accuse the U.S. of violating the 1972 anti-ballistic missile
treaty.
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1985
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Mikhail Gorbachev comes to power in the Soviet Union, ushering in an era of
economic reforms under "perestroika" and greater political freedoms under
"glasnost."
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1987
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INF Treaty. In December, Reagan and Gorbachev sign the Intermediate
Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in Washington, mandating the removal of more than
2,600 medium range missiles from Europe, eliminating an entire class of Soviet
SS-20 and U.S. Cruise and Pershing II missiles.
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1989
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Berlin Wall Falls. Gorbachev renounces the Brezhnev Doctrine which
pledged to use Soviet force to protect its interests in Eastern Europe. In
September, Hungary opens its border with Austria, allowing East Germans to flee
West. After massive demonstrations in East Germany and Eastern Europe, the
Berlin Wall falls in November.
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1990
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German re-unification. The U.S., the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France
and East and West Germany agree to end the allied occupation of Germany. In October,
East and West Germany unite as one country under the name the Federal Republic
of Germany.
Iraqi forces invade Kuwait.
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1991
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American-led forces bomb Iraq and conduct a brief ground war, forcing
Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.
Soviet Union collapses. While vacationing in the Crimea, Gorbachev is ousted
in a coup by communist hard-liners in August. The coup soon falters as crowds
take to the streets in support of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who denounced
the coup. On December 25, Gorbachev officially resigns and the Soviet Union is
dissolved.
Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina declare independence from
Yugoslavia, triggering ethnic fighting between Croats, Muslims and Serbs. A year
later, all-out war breaks out in Bosnia.
U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace talks begin in Madrid, Spain, bringing
together representatives from Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. A
Palestinian delegation is included in the talks, but the PLO is barred from
formal participation.
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1992
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Serb forces massacre thousands of Bosnian Muslims and carry out "ethnic
cleansing" by expelling Muslims and other non-Serbs from areas under Bosnian
Serb control. Later that year, U.S. President George Bush warns the Serbs that
the United States will use force if the Serbs attack Kosovo.
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1993
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PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat shares a historic handshake with Israeli
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin at the White House as a peace treaty is signed. The
treaty comes after months of secret negotiations between Israel and the PLO
outside Oslo, Norway, and ended the Intifada uprising against Israeli occupation
of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
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1994
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Ethnic fighting in Rwanda led to the massacre of at least half a million
Tutsis and sent more than a million Hutus fleeing to Zaire, Tanzania, and
Burundi.
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1995
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Cease-fires ended the bloodshed in Bosnia and slowed the fighting in the
breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya.
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's two sons-in-law flee to Jordan and
reportedly disclose information regarding Iraq's chemical and biological weapons
arsenal. Later, the two return to Iraq and are killed by members of Hussein's
extended clan.
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1996
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September 3-4: U.S. launches missiles against Iraqi posts in southern
Iraq after Iraqi military ventures into Kurdish "safe haven."
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1997
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The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a small militant group, begins killing
Serb policemen and others who collaborate with the Serbs. They also establish
areas from which the Serbs are driven entirely.
The 32-year dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko crumbled under the challenge of
rebel leader Laurent Kabila, and the large sub-Saharan country of Zaire became
the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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1998
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Yugoslav President Slobodon Milosevic sends troops into the areas
controlled by the KLA, destroying property and killing 80 Kosovars, at least 30
of them women, children and elderly men. The killing provokes riots in Pristina,
the Kosovar capital, turns the conflict into a guerrilla war and raises again
the specter of ethnic cleansing by the Serbs.
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1999
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Unable to reach a peaceful settlement to the conflict, NATO launches
airstrikes on Kosovo. The United Nations' International Criminal Tribunal for
former Yugoslavia announces indictment of Milosevic as a war criminal. On June
3, the Serbian parliament approves the G-8's peace plan. Milosevic reportedly
also votes in favor of the plan.
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