Stalin's Soviet Union (1924–1953)

1. Stalin becomes Communist Party General Secretary

   Apr 3, 1922Labels: Joseph Stalin, Communist Party

   • Britannica
   • Britannica USSR

2. USSR formally created by union treaty

   Dec 30, 1922Labels: Union Treaty, USSR

   • Treaty USSR
   • Britannica USSR

3. Lenin dies, succession struggle intensifies

   Jan 21, 1924Labels: Vladimir Lenin, Succession struggle

   • Britannica Lenin
   • History com

4. Stalin announces First Five-Year Plan

   Oct 1, 1928Labels: First Five-Year, Joseph Stalin

   • Five Year Plans
   • Britannica USSR

5. Collectivization drive begins nationwide

   Jan 1, 1929Labels: Collectivization, Kulaks

   • Britannica Holodomor
   • Britannica USSR

6. Gulag system officially established

   Apr 25, 1930Labels: Gulag, OGPU

   • Gulag
   • Britannica USSR

7. Holodomor famine peaks in Soviet Ukraine

   May 1, 1933Labels: Holodomor, Soviet Ukraine

   • Britannica Holodomor
   • Holodomor

8. Kirov assassinated, repression accelerates

   Dec 1, 1934Labels: Sergei Kirov, Leningrad Party

   • Britannica Kirov
   • Kirov

9. Great Purge enters main phase

   Aug 19, 1936Labels: Great Purge, Show trials

   • Britannica Purge
   • Great Purge

10. Stalin Constitution adopted

    Dec 5, 1936Labels: 1936 Constitution, Soviet state

    • 1936 Constitution
    • Britannica USSR

11. NKVD Order 00447 launches mass operations

    Jul 30, 1937Labels: NKVD Order, Troikas

    • Order 00447
    • Great Purge

12. Soviet Union invades eastern Poland

    Sep 17, 1939Labels: Molotov Ribbentrop, Eastern Poland

    • Britannica Poland
    • Soviet Poland

13. Winter War begins with invasion of Finland

    Nov 30, 1939Labels: Winter War, Finland

    • Britannica Winter War
    • Winter War

14. Germany launches Operation Barbarossa

    Jun 22, 1941Labels: Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany

    • Britannica Barbarossa
    • History com

15. State Defense Committee (GKO) established

    Jun 30, 1941Labels: State Defense, GKO

    • GKO
    • Britannica USSR

16. Battle of Stalingrad ends in Soviet victory

    Feb 2, 1943Labels: Battle of, Red Army

    • Britannica Stalingrad
    • Stalingrad

17. Yalta Conference shapes postwar settlement

    Feb 4, 1945Labels: Yalta Conference, Allied leaders

    • Yalta
    • Britannica Yalta

18. Stalin dies, ending Stalin-era rule

    Mar 5, 1953Labels: Joseph Stalin, Death

    • Britannica Stalin
    • History com

19. Beria arrested in leadership power struggle

    Jun 26, 1953Labels: Lavrentiy Beria, Soviet leadership

    • Beria
    • Britannica Beria