Throughout the 19th century, and even into the 20th Century, Western Europe still thought of Russia as backwards and imperialistic. And the Russian people were seen in no better terms.            

In part because he wanted his country to be seen in a better light, Tsar Alexander ll worked hard to modernize and reform Russia. Alexander ruled Russia until he was assassinated in 1881. He freed the serfs, introduced limited democracy, and built factories across the country. But much of his work was undone by his son Alexander lll, who succeeded him after his he was assassinated.

After Alexander lll’s rule ended, conditions for the serfs and the poor only worsened. Under the rule of the Tsar Nicholas II, the serfs had practically no rights and lived in utter poverty. Most serfs were almost slaves to their Russian lords.

In 1905, in the same year that Russia lost two major naval battles to Japanese fleets during the Russo-Japanese war, the serfs and workers of Russia began to rebel. Demonstrators in St. Petersburg were met with violence as government troops opened fire on 200,000 striking workers. This day became known as “Bloody Sunday.”

This violent episode marked a turning point in Russian history, and helped to trigger even more revolts across the Russian empire. Soon after Bloody Sunday, there was a mass execution of anti-government activists. Over a 1,000 strikers were sent into exile. The first Russian Revolution had come to an end.

When World War I began in 1914, life in Russia became even more difficult. The Russian railroads stopped carrying items such as food and fuel into the cities. With no supplies, the economy began to collapse. This caused even more unrest and starving workers to revolt once more.

In early of 1917, the Russian Revolution began to gain momentum. Russian troops who were tired of fighting the Germans at the front, joined ranks with rioters who were marching in the streets of Russia’s large cities. On February 28, the Tsar’s troops surrendered and Nicholas II of Russia abdicated the throne. He was soon captured by demonstrators in St. Petersburg. In 1918 he, his wife, and their five children were executed by the Bolsheviks.

After the rebellion, Alexander Kerensky took control of a newly formed provisional government. The provisional government was supposed to be an open forum in which the views of Russian people would be fairly represented. But Russia was still doing badly in the war, the economy was struggling, and food and fuel were still scarce. For these and other reasons, Kerensky soon lost his power. In what is commonly known as the October revolution, the Bolsheviks took control of Russia.

The former exiled leader of the first Russian revolution, Valdimir Llyich Ulyanor or simply known as Lenin, led the Bolsheviks in an assault on the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. This event is now known as the “bloodless coup.”

With Lenin in control, things improved for Russia. First the capital was moved from St Petersburg to Moscow, then Lenin made peace with Germany and split the country into large estates before giving most of the land to the serfs.

In 1918, civil war once more broke out. The Bolsheviks army, known as the red communist army, fought the anti-communist white Russians or White Guard Volunteer Army. As the civil war progressed, the Latvian regiments proved essential for the Bolsheviks (now called the Communists) victory. Allied troops from the United States and Britain, as well as Japanese troops, joined the fight on the white army’s side.

In 1921 the civil war finally ended in victory for the red army. The allied troops withdrew from Russia. The empire was then renamed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) the following year.

Sources: [The Encyclopedia of World History; National Geographic Atlas of World History]