* January: The Bolsheviks dissolve the Constituent Assembly, sealing the fate of the fledgling Russian democracy.
* March: The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is signed between Russia and Germany, ending Russia's participation in World War I and ceding vast amounts of territory to Germany and its allies.
* July: The Bolsheviks launch a Red Terror campaign against their political opponents.
* September: The White Army, led by Admiral Alexander Kolchak, launches an offensive against the Bolsheviks.
1919
* January: The Red Army, led by Leon Trotsky, launches a counter-offensive against the White Army.
* March: The Bolsheviks establish the Third International, or Comintern, a communist organization dedicated to promoting world revolution.
* May: The White Army captures Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan.
* June: The Red Army captures Perm.
* August: The White Army captures Omsk, the capital of Siberia.
* September: The Red Army captures Kazan.
1920
* January: The White Army captures Rostov-on-Don.
* February: The Red Army captures Novocherkassk, the capital of the Don Cossack Host.
* March: The Red Army captures Ekaterinodar, the capital of the Kuban Cossack Host.
* April: The Red Army captures Crimea.
* May: The White Army launches its last major offensive, the Kuban-Novorossiysk Offensive.
* June: The White Army is defeated at the Battle of the Dnieper River.
* November: The White Army is officially defeated.
1921
* March: The Kronstadt Rebellion is suppressed by the Red Army.
* May: The New Economic Policy is introduced by Lenin, relaxing some of the restrictions on private enterprise.
* October: The famine in Russia begins, killing millions of people.
