Chronology

1894

Nicholas II succeeds Alexander III

1914

War breaks out against Germany

St. Petersburg is renamed Petrograd

1915

Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich is removed as Comannder in Chief

Nicholas II appoints himself Commander in Chief, leaves for the front

Alexandra’s power and role in the government grow rapidly

1916

Rasputin murdered by Yusupov and others December 16

1917

February: Massive demonstrations break out over food shortages

Riots turn into revolution and mutiny

Nicholas II abdicates February 28

The Provisional Government attempts to restore order

March 4: The Provisional Government forms:

• The Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry for the Investigation of Illegal Acts by Ministers and Other Responsible Persons of the Tsarist Regime
• The Thirteenth Section, charged with investigating the Dark Forces (all who knew Rasputin are incarcerated and interrogated)

August: The former imperial family is exiled to Siberia

October: Second Revolution breaks out as Lenin and Bolsheviks seize power

1918

Nicholas, Alexandra, and children are secretly executed July 16

1919

The report of the Thirteenth Section, nearly 500 pages long, vanishes

Maria Rasputin escapes from Russia

1920

Russian Civil War ends

1977

Maria Rasputin dies in Hollywood, California

1995

The entire report of the Thirteenth Section is auctioned at Sotheby’s in Paris