1914: Russia enters World War I against Germany and Austria-Hungary, enduring several crushing defeats.

1917:The Russian Revolution refers to two revolutions. In March, starving rioters joined by the army overthrow the Romanov czars who ruled Russia for over three hundred years. In October, a second revolution led by Lenin put the Bolsheviks in power.

1918-20: Russia pulls out of World War I.

1932-34: Famine results from agricultural collectivization (communal farming); the government conceals this from the outside world so that no international aid can come to alleviate the situation. Cannibalism is rampant in the countryside and starving villagers attack nearby villages for food. Roughly 10 to 15 million people perish in the famine and the epidemics that follow.

1929-38: Stalin purges the party of his enemies and supposed enemies; by 1937, he begins to purge the Red Army, resulting in millions of citizens being arrested and sentenced to...