1845 A new Criminal Code is drafted at the order of Nicholas I; dis-
sent is narrowly defined.1848 M. V. Petrashevskiy and his circle are arrested and tried for trea-
son for engaging in sedition under Code of 1845. Most are sentenced to
death but pardoned by the tsar at the last moment. All receive sentence
of exile.1863 4 April: Dmitry Karakazov attempts to assassinate Tsar Alek-
sandr II.
1870–1875 Populist (Narodnichestvo) opposition grows in intellec-
tual circles but lacks support among the peasantry; interest in revolution
grows among students. The Third Section arrests and exiles numerous
revolutionaries but none are executed.1881 13 March: Narodnaya Volya assassinate Tsar Aleksandr II.
Shortly thereafter theOkrannoye Otdelenie(Okhrana) is created within
the MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs) to protect the tsar and regime
from subversion.1904 Russo–Japanese War begins with Japanese surprise attack on
Russian fleet at Port Arthur.1905 January: Imperial troops fire on peasants peacefully demon-
strating at the tsar’s palace in St. Petersburg. (Demonstration was or-
ganized by Father Georgi Gapon, a Russian Orthodox priest in the pay
of the Okhrana.) The incident sparks massive urban and rural violence.
1914 August: Russia declares war on Austria; World War I on the
Eastern Front is a military, political, and social disaster for the Ro-
manov regime.1917 March: Riots become revolution in St. Petersburg. Nicholas II
abdicates, ending Romanov dynasty. Provisional Government of liberal
and socialist parties assumes power. Spring: The German General Staff
finances the return of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin to Petrograd.
7 November: “October” Revolution establishes Bolshevik power and
sparks civil war. 20 December: Soviet leader Lenin establishes Cheka.
1918 16–27 July: Cheka execution squad murders the Romanov fam-
ily. 30 August: The attempted assassination of Vladimir Lenin is used
by Cheka chief Feliks Dzerzhinsky to institute a massive Red Terror.xiv •CHRONOLOGY06-313 (00) FM.qxd 7/27/06 7:53 AM Page xiv