This is intended to be as complete a timeline on Russia as can possibly be done. Russia was in the beginning a place for the Vikings to stop for the winter before heading back to their home. They were trading with the Byzantine Romans in Constantinople. The native people of Russia were then known as the Rus.
860: Novgorod the first Russian city is founded.
Late 930's: A Rus "prince" Oleg captures the city of Tmutorokan, which is then being held by a rival tribe known as the Khazar. The Governor of Khazar learns of this and captures several Byzantine cities on the Crimea killing many Rus. Oleg comes out to do battle and is defeated and forced to surrender. This is a major victory over the Rus.
965: Khazar is defeated by the Kiev tribe.
988: Orthodox Christianity is brought to Russia by St. Vladimir when he marries a Byzantine Princess.
1147: Prince Yuri Dolgoruky founds Moscow. He is a ruler of the Rus tribe in the northeast. He builds the Kremlin, which stands for fortress along the Moscow River.
1169: The City of Kiev is sacked and burned.
1223: The First Mongol Invasion led by Genghis Khan fails.
1237-1242: Batu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan, invaded Russia
1240: Alexander Nevsky, a Novgorod prince, defeats the Swedes. Two years later he will defeat the German Teutonic Knights who are trying to invade Russia.
1326: The capital is moved from Vladimir to Moscow.
1362: Kiev is taken by the kings of Lithuania.
1439: The Council of Florence reunites the Eastern and Western Christian Church. Russia denies that this has happened and in 1448 declares themselves the final church.
1478: Ivan III makes Novgorod part of Russia.
1480: The Mongols cease to rule Russia as Ivan III takes over and is proclaimed The Great.
1493: A major fire destroys the capital of Moscow. Ivan III proclaims that no more buildings will be built of wood.
1497: Ivan III passes Russia's first law code: The Sudebnik.
1510: The area of Pskov is made part of Russia
1517-1519: First books printed in Russian.
1533: Ivan IV succeeds to the throne at the age of three. Until 1547 he rules under the regency of his mother and nobles. During this time his best friend Maliuta Skuratov starts the Streltsy and Oprichniki, which are respectfully Russia's first army and secret police.
Jan 16, 1547: Ivan IV has himself crowned Russian Czar in Moscow. This is the first time the title is used.
1553: Russia is "opened" to trade with London.
1565-1572: Ivan IV fights a long campaign against the city of Novgorod killing many people in a series of pogroms.
1571: Moscow is burned by the Crimean Tartars.
1581: Poland invades Russia and Russia invades Siberia.
1582: In a fit of rage Ivan IV kills his son.
Aug 10, 1582: Russia and Poland end their war. In the treaty Russia loses access to the Baltic and gives Livonia and Estonia to Poland.
1584: Ivan IV dies and is succeed by his weak-minded son, Fyodor I. Fyodor's brother in law, Boris Godunov, keeps control of the army.
1585: The city of Archangelsk is founded.
Feb 17, 1598: Godunov is elected Czar in place of Fyodor. This starts the so-called "Time of Troubles" in which nobles fought a civil war for the throne.
1610-1612: Moscow is occupied by the Poles.
1611-1617: Novgorod is occupied by the Swedes.
Feb 22, 1613: A Russian Nobleman named Mikhail Romanov is elected Czar over Russia, which ends the Time of Troubles. The Romanov's will rule Russia until 1917.
1617: Russia makes peace with the Swedes and loses all access to the Baltic.
1645: Mikhail Romanov dies and is replaced by his son, Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov.
1649: The practice of serfdom is started in Russia. Also Alexei passes his code of law: Ulozhenie
1654: the Ukraine becomes part of Russia.
1667: Kiev, White Russia, and Smolensk become part of Russia.
1676: Alexei dies and passes the throne to his son, Fedor III.
1682: After the death of Fedor with no heirs there is a power struggle. Emerging is the boyar Sophia who takes over as Regent with Ivan V and Peter I next in line.
1684: Sophia starts persecution of Jews and Pagans.
1689: Peter I takes over as Czar.
1695: The Russian navy is formed.
July 18, 1696: Peter I takes the fortress of Azov from the Turks allowing Russia access to the Black Sea.
1697: Kamchatka is made part of Russia.
1697-1698: Peter I visits France. During his absence a boyar named Streltsy tries to take over but is crushed.
1700: The Great Northern War with Sweden begins.
1703: St. Petersburg is founded. Russia's first newspaper starts printing.
1713: the capital is moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
1718: Russia starts a poll tax and a university system.
1721: Russia and Sweden sign the treaty of Nystad by which Russia gets Livonia, Estonia, Karelia, and Ingria. The first postal service is established.
1724: Peter makes a Table of Ranks for the nobility.
1725: Peter I dies and is succeeded by his second wife Catherine I.
1725-1729: Russia sends out an Arctic expedition.
1727: Peter II, Peter I grandson, takes the throne.
1730: Anna Ivanova, daughter of Peter I co-ruler Ivan V becomes czar.
1734: the Russians take Danzig in Poland.
1740: At the death of Anna her niece's son, Ivan VI becomes Czar at the age of 1 year. He was overthrown in 1741 and exiled to Siberia where he would be murdered in 1764.
1741: The Russian second Arctic expedition discovers Alaska. Elizabeth Romanov, the daughter of Peter I, takes the throne in a bloodless coup.
1744: Russia abolishes capital punishment
1745: England, Austria, Saxony, and the Netherlands declare war on Russia. Russia destroys the Prussian Army and in 1760 joins forces with Austria to invade Berlin.
1746: Purchase of serfs by non-nobles is abolished.
1761: Elizabeth dies and is replaced by Anna's son Peter III.
1762: Peter III of Russia is murdered by his wife Catherine II who takes over.
1764: All lands owned by the Church not having churches on them are taken.
1770: The Russian Navy destroys the Ottoman Navy at the battle of Chesme.
1772: Poland is divided between Russia and Prussia.
1773: Russia sign's a treaty with the Ottoman's, which brings them land on the Mediterranean and official protective status of the Orthodox Church.
1773-1775: A Cossack named Pugachev claiming to be Peter III leads a revolt against Catherine II. He is eventually arrested and beheaded and the Cossacks are scattered.
1781-1786: The Ukraine is made part of Russia.
1783: The Crimea is taken by the Russians.
1784: Russia establishes their first colony in Alaska.
1787-1792: The Ottoman Empire again declares war against Russia. After losing an invasion bid they quickly make peace.
1792: Russia invades Poland. A treaty gives most of Poland to Russia.
1794: Russia signs an alliance pact with the British and Austrians against Revolutionary France.
1796: Catherine II dies and is succeeded by her son Paul I.
1799: The Russians put colonies into California.
1801: Paul I is murdered and succeeded by his son Alexander I. Sale of Serfs without land is permitted. The eastern part of Georgia becomes part of Russia.
1805: Russia joins a new alliance against France. The same year she is defeated in battle by Napoleon.
1806: Russia defeats French forces at the battle of Pultusk.
1809: Finland breaks free of Sweden and becomes part of Russia.
1812: Napoleon I invades Russia. The Victorious Napoleon enters Moscow in September only to find it set on fire around him by the retreating army. He spends a month there before leaving for France in October.
1813: Alexander I chases Napoleon back to Paris entering Warsaw, Berlin, and finally Paris in 1814.
1815: Russia is recognized as a world power at the Treaty of Venus and joins the Holy Allegiance.
1816-1819: Serfdom is abolished in the Baltic provinces.
1824: Russia signs a treaty with Britain giving the English all her North American colonies except Alaska.
1825: Alexander I dies and is succeeded by his youngest brother Nicholas I.
1830-1831: A polish revolution breaks out. It ends in a stalemate.
1833: A new Code of Laws is made.
1838: Russia gets its first railroad. It goes from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoe Selo.
May 14, 1851: Russia opens a second railroad from St. Petersburg to Moscow.
1854-1856: The Crimea War in which Russia tried to take more of the Crimea. It ends with Russia losing.
1855: Nicholas I kills himself and is succeeded by his son Alexander II.
1858-1860: Russia acquires from China the provinces of Amur and Maritime. They also add the Caucuses to Russia.
February 19, 1861: Alexander II frees all the serfs in Russia.
1863-1865: Alexander II starts reforms in the law and education systems.
1864-1885: Russia starts a conquest of Central Asia.
March 30, 1867: Russia sells Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million.
1873: The terrorist organization To the People is formed.
1877-1878: The Russian-Ottoman war breaks out. This war would end with a victory for Russia giving Russia influence over: Serbia, Romania, Bosnia, Bulgaria.
1881: Czar Alexander II is assassinated by a bomb thrown by To the People. His son Alexander III takes over.
1884: The University system is put under a strong reactionary reform due to the assassination of Alexander II.
1891: The Trans-Siberian railroad is started.
1893: Russia and France become allies.
1894: the last Czar Nicholas II takes over for his father upon the latter's death.
1895: Russia, France, and Germany force Japan to return Liao-dong peninsula to China. That same year Mormon missionaries come to Russia.
1896: Czar Nicholas II makes a state visit to France and lays down a cornerstone to the first Russian battleship called Alexander III.
1900: Russia invades Manchuria during the Boxer Rebellion.
1901: Japan asks Russia to leave China.
1902: U.S. Secretary of State John Hay protests Russia for being in China. Along with France, Russia acknowledges the protest but does nothing.
1903: Czar Nicholas II declares freedom of Religion in Russia. That same year V. I. Lenin's party splits into two parts with the Bolsheviks following him and the Mensheviks arguing for a less stringent view of Marx. Also that year a Russian monk named Rasputin comes to St. Petersburg claiming to have seen the Virgin Mary who gave him his powers. The Zionist movement also starts in Russia that year.
1904-1905: The Russo-Japanese War.
Jan 9, 1905: On what is to become known as Bloody Sunday, Russian Orthodox Father George Gapon leads some 20,000 troops into St. Petersburg. They march on the Winter Palace to present their grievances to Nicholas II. Russian troops panic and fire into the crowd killing hundreds. This leads to the Revolution of 1905 in which government officials were attacked, peasants seized private estates, and workers strikes paralyze the country. Finally Nicholas II agrees to the demand of adopting a constitution and allowing a parliament called the Duma which meets for the first time in 1906.
1906: Peter Stoylpin is elected first prime minister of the Russian Duma a post he would hold until he was executed in 1911.
1907: There are only 15,000 Jews left in the country after a series of pogroms. Also that year Nicholas II dissolves the Duma. The Duma ignores him and continues to meet. The Triple Entente of Russia, France, and England is formed.
1911: Stoylpin resigns as Prime Minister. A few months later he is assassinated at the Kiev opera house in front of Nicholas II. He dies four days later.
1911-1913: the Balkan Wars.
1914: In March Russia raised its army from 460,000 to 1,700,000. That July Russia states that it would support and protect Serbia against Austria. In August, Germany and Austria-Hungry declare war on Russia. A few days later Russia wins a small battle against Germany at Gumbinnen. Then in November, the Germans tried to invade Russia getting as far as Warsaw, Poland before calling it off. The Russians have lost 90,000 to the Germans 35,000. Also that year Russia declared war on Turkey.
1915: This year sees bad losses for the Russians as the Germans march ever closer to Russia proper. By the end of the year Russia has lost 190,000. Nicholas II takes personal command at the front.
December 16, 1916: The Russian "monk" Rasputin who has become close to the Czar's family due to his ability to heal the heir to the throne is murdered by Russian nobles. He is poisoned by cyanide, stabbed, shot, beaten, thrown out of a second story window, beaten once more, shot once more, and thrown into the Neva River where instead of drowning at first he bashes his head on the ice in his struggle to escape death then finally drowns. Later his body will be dug up and set on fire to ensure that he is truly dead.
March 8, 1917: Russia's "February Revolution"(based on the Old Style Calendar) begins with Russian troops refusing to fight.
March 16, 1917: Czar Nicholas II abdicates the throne. He refuses to let his son Alexis rule since he is sickly. The family is taken prisoner to Petrograd before being moved later in the year to Siberia.
March 22, 1917: Alexander Kerensky forms a republic and takes office as Prime Minister. He is recognized by the United States.
April 16, 1917: After years in exile, Lenin returns to Russia to begin the Bolshevik Revolution.
June 17, 1917: Russia attacks Germany again after months of ceasefire.
July 20, 1917: Alexander Kerensky becomes primer of Russia. Russia is declared a republic.
November 6, 1917: The "October Revolution" led by Lenin and Trotsky takes power in Petrograd.
November 7, 1917: The Government of Kerensky falls. Kerensky flees to France and then the United States where he dies sometime in the 1970's. Lenin takes over as premier.
December of 1917: The Cheka is formed and Germany and Russia sign a new ceasefire
Feb 5, 1918: the Russians declare the separation of church and stateMarch 3, 1918: The Russians sign the peace treaty of Brest-Litovisk with Germany and Austria which ends their participation in the war. They have lost 1,7000,000 men
March 5, 1918: The capital of Russia is moved to Moscow. British troops land at Murmansk
April 1918: Japanese troops land at Vladivostok.
June 1918: The committee of the village poor and the nationalization of industry begins.
July 16, 1918: Czar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandria, their 5 children, and 4 servants are shot to death under orders from Lenin.
August 2, 1918: American troops land at Vladivostok and Archangelsk.
November 11, 1918: World War I ends. The Soviets declare that the treaty of Brest-Litovisk is null and void.
Late November 1918: French troops land at Odessa and British troops land at Batum.
Jan 24, 1919: All remaining family members of the Romanov's are murdered if they have not yet escaped.
October 1919: Allied troops leave Russia.
January 1920: The Allied blockade is lifted.
November 1920: The Russian Civil War ends.
January 1921: New Economic Policy begins. This policy had the State keep all heavy industry, banking, and transportation but gave private shops, restaurants, and small scale manufacturing to individuals with the provision that only family members could work there. A system of graduated taxes was established and the state owned all the land. Education was free at all levels but it was mixed book and physical education. Censorship of books and newspapers was established. All churches were destroyed and the nuns and priests were sent to labor camps. The Jewish population was allowed to keep speaking Yiddish but they had no synagogues and had to live in Jewish areas as farmers.
April 1922: Cheka was replaced by the OGPU. Lenin has a stroke due to an assassination attempt. He will have another stroke in 1923.
Dec 30, 1922: Lenin declares that Russia is now known as The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or USSR. Germany is the first to recognize her. In 1924 Great Britain, Italy, and France recognize the country.
Jan 21, 1924: Lenin dies from complications of an assassination attempt a few years before. His death opens a power struggle between Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky. Stalin is on a committee with Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev, and Bukharin called the Politburo. . By 1928, Stalin will have assumed complete power. Lenin's body would be mummified and laid in a marble tomb in Red Square where it still lies today.
Jan 24, 1924: The City of St. Petersburg is renamed Leningrad in honor of Lenin. It would change its name back to St. Petersburg in 1991.
1925: Russia takes over Outer Mongolia and also establishes the official news agency of Russia called TASS.
1926: Trotsky, Zinoviev, and Kamenev are expelled from the Politburo.
Nov 12, 1927: Trotsky and his followers are expelled from the Communist Party as Stalin seizes control of the country.
1928: The first five year plan: Soviet Steel production is set for 10 million tons, blast furnaces were to be constructed or modernized, and factories were to be built.
1929: Trotsky is deported out of the country and Bukharin is kicked out of the Politburo. Also collectivization and industrialization is begun.
1931: The Bible is declared illegal to own or publish.
1932: The Soviets sign non-aggression pacts with Finland and France.
1933: The United States recognizes the Soviet Union. In a weird twist of fate, Harpo Marx becomes the first entertainer allowed in.
1934: The League of Nations allows the USSR a seat, the Second Five Year Plan: steel is to be raised to 17 million tons a year and cement, coal, and oil were to be produced, and all Jews are moved to Birobidzhan. Also the first purge begins.
1935: Collective farming is started.
1936: Russia signs a treaty with China against Japan. On December 5, a constitution is issued in the USSR even though Stalin still holds all the power.
April 18, 1937: Leon Trotsky safe in Mexico City calls for Stalin to be removed from power. This sets Stalin off and he starts the first massive purge. The purge kills army officers, empties all prison camps, sends more people to the camps, and orders killed all official census counters when they reveal that the population of the USSR is decreasing. All in all 14,000,000 were killed in the purges which would last two years. Many Americans who are visiting the country are killed also. Trotsky would be murdered in 1940 by order of Stalin.
1938-1941: the third five-year plan
1939: Collective farms are ordered to work so many days.
Aug 23, 1939: Germany and Russia sign the Moltov-Ribbentrop Pact, which allows Germany to invade Poland and the USSR to invade Finland. They also agree to let the USSR divide Poland and have influence over Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Bessarabia.
September 17, 1939: The Soviet Union invades Poland more then two weeks after Germany. Within a week they have occupied eastern Poland and have lost 737 dead.
September 27, 1939: Germany occupies Warsaw, Poland and the war seems to be at an end. The same day Russia and Germany sign a new pact, which allows Germany to have more of Poland in exchange to Russia being allowed to put troops in Estonia and Latvia.
November 10, 1939-March 13, 1940: The Soviet Union invades and defeats Finland In return they are dropped from the League of Nations.
May 6, 1941: Stalin declares himself Primer of Russia and replaces his foreign secretary Vyacheslav M. Molotov.
June 22, 1941: Germany invades Russia in violation of their pact. It is the largest invasion in the history of the World.
June 24, 1941: US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt promises aid to the USSR. Finland declares war on the USSR.
July 13, 1941: Britain and the USSR become official allies. Germany has reached the Dniper River and taken 410,000 POW's.
August 21-September 26, 1941: Kiev falls to the German Army and the German Army takes over 665,000 POW's. This will cut off the Crimea Peninsula from the rest of the country. During this time Britain and the USSR enter Iran and open up a supply route.
September 4, 1941- January 1942: The Siege of Leningrad. The Soviet Union will lose at least a million civilians from starvation and disease.
October 2, 1941: Germany starts a drive on Moscow.
December 2, 1941: Only 25 miles away from Moscow, Germany is forced to stop due to temperatures of 40 below zero.
April 8, 1942: The Russians manage to open a railroad to Leningrad.
May 12, 1942: In its first major offensive, the Soviet Army manages to free Kharkov in the Ukraine from Germany only to lose it and 250,000 men a few days later.
June 11, 1942: The United States and the USSR sign an agreement to aid the Soviet Army.
June 28, 1942: The German army starts an offensive to take the oil fields in the Caucuses and the city of Stalingrad.
August 23, 1942: Germany surrounds Stalingrad and sets up a siege.
November 22, 1942: The Soviet Army surrounds the German Army around Stalingrad.
Jan 11, 1943: The USSR demands the German Army surrender in Stalingrad only to be refused. The USSR lifts the siege of Leningrad.
Jan 31, 1943: The German Sixth Army surrenders to the Soviet's.
November 28, 1943: The Allies meet in Tehran, Iran to map out strategy for the war.
Jan 4, 1944: The Soviet Army crosses the former Poland border and starts their drive to Germany. Finland refuses to consider an armistice.
October 18, 1944: The Soviet Union invades Czechoslovakia.
January 17, 1945: The Soviet Army liberates Warsaw, Poland. Two days later they free Lodz, Krakow, and Tarnow.
January 27, 1945: The Soviets stumble upon Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
February 4-12, 1945: The Allies meet at Yalta in the Ukraine.
March 30, 1945: The Soviet's invade Austria.
April 11, 1945: The Soviet Army reaches the outskirts of Berlin and loses 3,000 men in a bloody attack.
April 23, 1945: The Soviet Army fights it's way into Berlin.
May 2, 1945: The Soviet's announce the fall of Berlin after 12 days of house-to-house fighting.
August 2, 1945: The Allies meet one last time at Potsdam to discuss postwar Europe.
August 8, 1945: The USSR declares war against Japan and 14 days later invades Japan held China.
September 8, 1945: Korea is divided between the United States and USSR.
1946-1951: Fourth five year plan
January 23, 1948: The Soviets refuse the UN entrance into North Korea to supervise elections.
June 7, 1948: Czechoslovakia falls to Soviet puppet dictatorship.
June 24, 1948: The Berlin Blockade begins when the Soviets cut off all access to East Germany. The United States starts to drop supplies into Berlin.
July 2, 1948: Molotov renounces all aid from the Marshal Plan for the USSR and Soviet Puppet States. The USSR would start Comecon or the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. It does not have the same success as the Marshall Plan. Yugoslavia refuses to sign up for Comecon.
November 30, 1948: Official production of weapons grade plutonium begins in the Urals.
May 12, 1949: the Soviet Blockade of Berlin ends.
September 22, 1949: The Soviet Union explodes its first Atomic Bomb.
February 15, 1950: Stalin recognizes Communist China and signs a mutual pact defense treaty with Mao.
February 12, 1953: The Soviet Union breaks off relations with Israel.
March 5, 1953: Stalin dies in his sleep. Malenkov and Khrushchev hold dual power.
August 12, 1953: The Soviets test a Hydrogen Bomb.
December 31, 1953: In a bloodless coup, Khrushchev takes over power sending the four members of the Politburo to the Gulag in Siberia.
1954: The Russians expose ground troops to a nuclear test and the KGB is born.
May 14, 1955: The Soviet Union and seven other Communist bloc countries sign the Warsaw Pact as an answer to NATO.
June 29, 1955: The Soviet Army sends tanks into Poland to put down anti-communist demonstrations.
July 21, 1955: Khrushchev and Eisenhower meet in Geneva, Switzerland.
February 25, 1956: At the 20th Communist Party Congress, Khrushchev denounces Stalin.
1956: Russia crushes uprisings in Poland and Hungary.
August 26, 1957: The Soviet Union tests an intercontinental ballistic missile.
October 4, 1957: The Space Age begins when the Soviet Union launches Sputnik the first man made satellite.
November 3, 1957: The Soviet Union sends Sputnik 2 into orbit. On board her is a dog named Lakia.
January 6, 1958: The Soviet Union cuts back its armed forces by 300,000 due to budget problems.
March 31, 1958: The Soviet Union calls for an end to all atomic tests.
May 15, 1958: Sputnik III, the first space laboratory is launched into space.
1959-1965: The Seven-Year Plan
July 24, 1959: Vice President Richard Nixon visits Moscow and engages in a kitchen debate with Khrushchev.
September 12-14, 1959: The Soviets launch a man made probe to the moon.
September 15-28, 1959: Khrushchev visits the United States. There he sees Los Angels where he is denied entry to Disneyland, New York where he bangs his shoe on the desk at the United Nations, and Camp David where he and Eisenhower hold talks.
May 16, 1960: The Soviet Union walks out of a Big Four meeting in Paris due to Francis Gary Powers being shot down in his U-2 over Russia.
July 8, 1960: Francis Gary Powers is charged with Espionage. He would be found guilty on August 17 and sentenced to prison.
April 12, 1961: Yuri Gagrin becomes the first man into space.
April 14, 1961: The Soviet Union makes its first television broadcast
August 13-14, 1961: Because of the many escapes that have been made from East Germany to West Germany, the Berlin Wall is built.
Oct 30, 1961: The Soviet Union tests a hydrogen bomb estimated at 58 megatons. That same day Stalin's body is removed from Lenin's tomb and reburied in the wall of the Kremlin.
Nov 30, 1961: The Soviets veto a UN seat for Kuwait, which pleases Iraq.
February 10, 1962: The Soviet Union exchanges Frances Gary Powers.
March 17, 1962: Moscow asks the United States to pull out of South Vietnam.
August 5, 1962: The Soviet Union sets off a 40-megaton nuclear bomb.
October 16-29, 1962: The Cuban Missile Crises. The United States discovered that the Cubans had put nuclear missiles in Cuba. Kennedy orders a group called EXCOMM to form ideas what to do. When confronted about it the Soviets lie to Kennedy. Kennedy then decided to blockade the island until the Soviets pulled the missiles out and announced this to the nation on October 22. The Soviets pulled the ships carrying nuclear materials to Cuba back to the USSR and then asks Kennedy to pull the United States missiles out of Turkey in return for them pulling them out of Cuba. The world narrowly avoids World War III.
June 16-19, 1963: Russia sends the first women into space.
June 20, 1963: The Soviet Union and The United States agree to set up a hotline so that events like the Cuban Missile Crises cannot happen again. It goes into operation on August 30, 1963.
July 25-August 5, 1963: The United States and the USSR sign a treaty banning nuclear tests.
October 12, 1964: The first three-man crew is launched into space by Russia.
October 15, 1964: Khrushchev is removed from office and replaced by Brezhnev.
March 18, 1965: Russia performs the first space walk.
1966-1970: Eighth Five-Year Plan
March 29, 1966: Brezhnev condemns the US policy in Vietnam.
January 27, 1967: 60 nation including Russia and the United States sign a treaty prohibiting the orbiting of nuclear missiles in space. This comes after Russia had managed to send a probe to the moon, Venus, and around the moon.
1968: New York to Moscow flights are started.
August 20, 1968: The Soviet Union sends tanks into Czechoslovakia to crush the "Prague Spring" movement of a more liberal government.
1969: China and Russia begin fighting on their border.
April 19, 1971: Russia launched its first space station.
September 11, 1971: Khrushchev dies.
1971-1975: Ninth five-year plan.
1972: Jews are restricted from leaving USSR.
February 1972: Nixon tours China giving collective heart attacks to the Soviet leadership.
April 10, 1972: Along with 70 other nations, the USA and USSR sign a treaty prohibiting biological weapons of mass destruction.
May 27, 1972: Nixon and Brezhnev sign SALT I, which reduces their nuclear arsenals. A year later the USSR will start production at 47 sights for biological weapons.
1974: Pepsi "invades" the Soviet Union.
July 15-19, 1975: The Apollo-Soyuz space mission takes place.
1976-1981: Tenth five-year plan
January 15, 1979: For a second time Russia uses its veto power in the United Nations when the UN asks Vietnam to leave Cambodia.
June 18, 1979: President Carter and Brezhnev sign SALT II which sets a limit on long-range bombers and missiles.
December 27, 1979: The Soviets invade Afghanistan and put a new puppet dictator in power with Soviet troops to back him up. Soviet losses are reported to be 15,000.
January 14, 1980: The UN votes 104-18 against the Soviets use of force in Afghanistan.
February 22, 1980: For the second time in history the United States beats Russia in a Gold medal Olympic hockey game.
June 22, 1980: The USSR announces that it will soon withdraw from Afghanistan. They fail to do so.
July 19-August 3, 1980: The Summer Olympics in Moscow. Many nations including the United States boycott due to Afghanistan.
1981-1985: eleventh five-year plan.
January 22, 1982: President Reagan refuses to meet with Soviet leaders about Arms control due to the Soviet Policy in Poland.
November 10, 1982: Brezhnev dies and the power passes to Yuri Andropov.
1983: A Korean airliner is shot down by Soviets and Reagan calls the USSR an "evil empire"
February 13, 1984: Yuri Andropov dies and is replaced by Konstantin Chernenko.
May 8, 1984: The USSR announces it will not participate in the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
March 10, 1985: Chernenko dies and is replaced by Mikhail Gorbachev. He starts an anti-alcohol program and calls for economic reforms called Perestroika.
November 19, 1985: President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev meet at Geneva.
February 19, 1986: The Mir Space Station is launched.
April 1986: The Chernobyl power plant accident.
October 11-12, 1986: President Reagan and Soviet President Gorbachev meet at Reykjavik, Iceland but fail to come to any agreements.
1986: Gorbachev cracks down on corruption.
May 28, 1987: A West German pilot named Mathias Rust evades Soviet Air control and lands his plane in Red Square. He will later be charged with espionage and sentenced to 4 years in prison.
November 24, 1987: The USSR and USA sign a treaty destroying short and medium range nuclear missiles.
December 7-10, 1987: Gorbachev comes to the United States to discuss Cold War matters.
1987: The USSR sends an embassy to Israel.
January 6, 1988: After 9 years of war, the USSR announced it would pull out its troops from Afghanistan. They had lost around 50,000 men.
May 29-June 1, 1988: President Reagan goes to Moscow for the first time to discuss destroying nuclear missiles.
September 30, 1988: Gorbachev fires all hard liners from his Politburo.
October 27, 1988: The Soviets admit to the world that they are $58,000,000,000 in debt.
December 6, 1988: Gorbachev comes to the United States for his second time to discuss matter with President-elect Bush.
January 1989: After a speech by Gorbachev promising independence to the Eastern bloc countries, Hungary allows freedom of assembly and association including to establishment of political parties and free elections. Moscow does not intervene.
February 1-4, 1989: The Soviets and Chinese meet to discuss matter after more then 30 years of hostility.
March 26, 1989: the first free elections are held for the new Congress of People's Deputy's. Boris Yeltsin along with 1,500 others is elected leaving the Communist party only 500 seats.
April 2, 1989: Gorbachev goes to Cuba to meet Castro for the first time.
April 6, 1989: On his way back fro Cuba, Gorbachev visits Britain and hold talks with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
May 1989: Hungary pulls down its barbed wire fence with Austria. Thousands of East Germans pour into the country. Poland opens talks with Solidarity, which have been banned since 1980.
June 1989: Poland holds free elections.
September 10, 1989: Austria lets the East Germans in. In three days 13,000 have crossed.
October 1989: East Germany closes its border with Czechoslovakia, which is on the way to Hungary.
November 1989: 50,000 more East Germans have fled the country and thousands more protest on the city streets. On November 9th East Germany announces that it will give visas for visits to West Germany. When thousands show up the East German guards open the Wall and the people swarm through. Within hours the Wall is dismantled.
November 20,1989: thousands protest in Czechoslovakia demanding free election. In December free elections are allowed.
December 1, 1989: On his way to meet with President Bush, Gorbachev stops in Rome and meets Pope John Paul II paving the way for religious reform in Russia.
December 20, 1989: Romanian president Ceauscu is murdered after he orders his guards to open fire on a protest.
January 31, 1990: McDonalds "invades" Russia.
February 4, 1990: A protest in Moscow is not broken up for the first time in decades.
May 14, 1990: President Gorbachev denies that the Republics of Estonia and Latvia could breakaway from the USSR.
June 1990: The Soviet government ends censorship of the press.
June 12, 1991: Boris Yeltsin is elected president of the Russian parliament. Gorbachev remains head of the Communist party.
August 18, 1991: While on vacation in the Crimea, Gorbachev is put under house arrest by a gang of eight hardliners who have started a coup. They state that they want Gorbachev to sign over his powers so that reform could begin in the country and leave with the nuclear codes. When Yeltsin hears of this he barricades himself in the Parliament Building. The Gang announces that Gorbachev is ill and has given power to them.
August 19, 1991: The gang of eight has failed to cut any telephone lines in the city or arrested anyone in the opposition. Yeltsin goes out and makes a speech on a tank calling for mass demonstrations. Over a million Soviet citizens respond.
August 20, 1991: The Gang of eight tries to impose a curfew in Moscow, which fails. Crowds raise the Old Russian flag in Red Square. The coup leaders then send in tanks, which kill three people before retreating.
August 21, 1991: The Coup leaders try to flee but are arrested. Gorbachev is freed and flown to Moscow. Yeltsin declares that the Communist party is ended and suspends all party structure and seizes the party papers.
December 21, 1991: The USSR ceases to exist.
December 25, 1991: Gorbachev resigns as President of the country. Yeltsin takes over as President of Russia.
January 2, 1992: Yeltsin frees prices. The Ruble plummets and prices sky rocket.
March 31, 1992: The Russian Federation Treaty is signed by all former Soviet republics except Chechnya and Tarastan.
April 1, 1992: The West sends $42 billion to Russia in aid.
March 23, 1993: The Prime Minister calls for Yeltsin's impeachment.
September 21, 1993: President Yeltsin dissolves the Parliament and calls for new elections.
October 2-4, 1993: The house of Parliament is stormed by supporters of the prime minister. The Army saves the day when it comes down on the side of Yeltsin.
December 12, 1993: New Elections are held for the parliament.
January 11, 1994: The new government takes effect.
October 11, 1994: The Ruble crashes once again.
December 12, 1994: Russia invades Chechnya
June 16, 1996: Yeltsin and the leader of the communist party, Zyuganov, tie for president.
July 3, 1996: Yeltsin wins a second term.
December 1, 1996: Russian troops leave Chechnya
May 27, 1998: A massive sell off of Russian bonds, securities, and rubles begins.
August 1998: The Russian Financial Crises: The ruble is devalued, market is paralyzed by liquidity shortages, share prices plunge, and Russia defaults on her foreign loans.
May 13, 1999: Yeltsin has impeachment hearings due to firing several different advisers. Two days later the vote fails.
March 26, 2000: Putin becomes new president of the Russian Federation.
