The fall of
Czar Nicholas II and rise of the
communist party is usually referred to as the Russian Revolution or the
Bolshevik Revolution, however, there were several distinct
revolutionary events that actually took place.
Russian Revolution of 1905:
Workers went on
strike after the Czar's
troops slaughtered a crowd of workers (led by a
priest) marching to
petition the Czar (known as "
Bloody Sunday"). The striking workers wrung out concessions from the Czar in the form of an elected assembly (the
Duma).
Russian February Revolution of 1917: Workers went on
strike,
soldiers refused to disperse them. The Czar disbanded the Duma, but the Duma refused, and
insurgents took over the
capital, forcing the Czar to abdicate, and putting in place a
provisional government led by the Duma and
Aleksandr Kerensky.
Russian October Revolution of 1917: Russian
Bolsheviks, led by
Lenin and backed by
Germany, staged a
coup d'etat, engineered by
Leon Trotsky.
Russian Civil War of 1918-20: The
Communists (
Reds) fought against a loose
coalition of anti-communists (
Whites). The reds won, but
Russia was left
ruined by the
aftermath.