|[L2 201]1500s Ivan the Terrible retakes southern Russia from the Mongols. His capture of Kazan and Astrakhan opens the way to Siberia.
|1574 Ivan allows the Stroganov family to raise a private army to annex the Tartar Khanate of Sibir. He grants them a 20-year lease over the lands east of the Kama River to the Tobol River.
|[L2 202][I 008]1581 November 5 The leader of the Stroganov's Cossack army, Yermak Timofeyevich, advances far into the Khanate of Sibir and raises the Russian flag over its capital Kashlyk.
|1648 The earliest mention of exile to Siberia in Russian legal documents.
|[L2 203]1649 Yerofei Khabarov, a Russian merchant, leads an expedition to the Amur River basin. His conquests of the local tribes bring an appeal to the [G 12 / Manchus] of China to repel his advances. The Russians are gradually beaten back.
|1689 The Treaty of Nerchinsk establishes the Sino-Russian border in the Far East, and the Russians are forced out of Manchuria and the Amur region.
|1728 The Dane, Vitus Bering (the Bering Strait is named after him), undertakes the first scientific survey of Siberia.
|[L2 204]1753 The death penalty is replaced by exile to hard labor in Siberia to overcome the labor shortage in the mines. The steady flow of criminals, political exiles and adventurers leads to the evolution of the first route through Siberia, the Great Siberian Post Road or 'Trakt.'
|1836 Tsar Nicholas I's private rail line from St Petersburg to Tsarkoye Selo (Pushkin) is the first railway built in Russia. The main cities in European Russia are linked up by rail over the next 30 years.
|[P 002]1857 The American, Perry McDonough Collins, is the first to propose a steam railway through Siberia. His submission is turned down by the government.
|1858 Count Muravyev-Amurski presents the first Russian proposal for a Siberian rail link from De Kastri Bay to Sofisk, but is rejected.
After traveling throughout Siberia, the Englishman, Thomas Duff, [V 003]suggests a line of carriages pulled by horses, found wild in Siberia, to connect Perm with the Pacific. This is also not accepted.
[I 002]Britons Morison, Sleigh, and Horn offer to construct a steam railway from Nizhni Novgorod to the Strait of Tartary. They too are turned down.
|1858 May 29 The Treaty of Aigun negotiated by Count Muravyev-Amurski with China cedes the Amur region to Russia and grants reciprocal navigation rights along the river.
|1860 November 15 The Treaty of Peking recognizes land east of the Ussuri River as Russian territory. Vladivostok is established as a port in this new province.
|1875 With the Treaty of St Petersburg, Japan exchanges Sakhalin Island for the Kurile Islands with Russia.
The Minister for Ways of Communication, Posyet, advocates a trunk line from Russia to the Far East and is turned down.
|1878 European rail lines are extended over the Urals from Perm to Ekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk).
|1885 Siberian Governors-General, Count Alexis Ignatyev and Baron Korff, press for a railway from Tomsk to Sretensk and from Vladivostok to the Ussuri River.
|[L2 205][I 004]1886 Tsar Alexander III gives the Trans-Siberian project official sanction.
|1887 - 9 Topographical surveys are undertaken from Tomsk to Sretensk, as well as in the Vladivostok area.
|[L2 206]1891 Ministerial agreement on the railway |February 24 project is reached. Tsar Alexander entrusts the direction of the railway's construction to his son, the Tsarevich Nicholas (later Tsar Nicholas II).
|1891 May 3 After completing a state visit to Japan, Nicholas lays the foundation stone for the station at Vladivostok
[L2 301][M 003]and ceremonially fills a wheelbarrow to start the railway's Ussuri Line.
|[L2 207]1892 The railway has sound financial backing with the appointment of Count Sergei Witte as Finance Minister.
A committee of the Trans-Siberian is appointed and headed by Nicholas.
|[L2 302][M 014]1892 July Construction of the West Siberian Line (Chelyabinsk to the west bank of the River Ob) begins.
|[L2 303][M 003]1893 July Work commences on the Mid-Siberian Line (east bank of the River Ob to Irkutsk).
|1894 Nicholas II becomes Tsar of Russia.
Plans for the proposed Amur Railway are abandoned because of difficult terrain and the high cost involved.
Japan assumes control over Korea.
|1894 September The Chelyabinsk-Omsk section of the West Siberian is completed.
|[L2 304][V 004]1895 Plans are stalled to route the Trans-Siberian around the south end of Lake Baikal by mountainous terrain. Instead, the railway committee approves construction of a ferry (named `Baikal') by an English firm.
[I 006]After becoming Minister of Ways of Communication, Prince Khilkov makes an inspection tour along the West and Mid-Siberian Lines. He orders a massive rebuilding program to make the Trans-Siberian safe.
[M 014]Work is launched on the Transbaikal Line from Mysovaya (Babushkin) to Sretensk.
|1895 April The Sino-Japanese War that began in 1894 ends with the Peace of Shimonoseki. The victorious Japanese are given Formosa, the Liaotung Peninsula and the Pescadore Islands. China is forced to recognize Korea's independence, but the Russians, together with the French and Germans, compel Japan to return the Liaotung Peninsula.
|1895 October Work finishes on the Omsk-Ob section of West Siberian.
|1896 Russia negotiates a secret alliance with China to construct a rail line (East Chinese Railway) through Manchuria to Vladivostok in exchange for a loan to help China pay its war indemnity to Japan.
|[M 003]1897 After nearly six years, the 476 miles of the Ussuri Line is finally complete. The first official train is driven down the line to Vladivostok at 10mph.
[P 010]A colossal wall of water sweeps away part of the Transbaikal Line, including hundreds of villages and tens of thousands of cattle. The railway is relaid in another location.
[L2 305]Work starts on the East Chinese Railway.
|[M 008][V 007]1898 The first stage of the Mid-Siberian (River Ob to Krasnoyarsk) reaches the west bank of the River Yenisei. The first train arrives in Irkutsk on August 16 when the second stage from Krasnoyarsk is finished. Another order is placed with the English for a smaller ferry (named `Angara') to serve the Lake Baikal crossing.
|1898 March China gives Russia a 25-year lease of the Liaotung Peninsula, including Port Arthur and Dairen. This angers Japan after it had been forced to give these up two years earlier.
|1899 100 million roubles are allocated to make repairs on the West and Mid-Siberian Lines.
|[M 014][I 007]1899 July Completion of a line to Port Baikal links Irkutsk with Lake Baikal. The ferry `Baikal' is assembled and launched without her 15 boilers.
|1900 The [G 05 / Boxer Rebellion] in China leads to destruction of much of the East Chinese Railway. Russian troops are sent into Manchuria to restore order and protect their interests. This provokes the Japanese who feel their interests in Korea are threatened.
[M 013][P 033]Completion of the Transbaikal Line joins Lake Baikal to the Shilka River.
|1900 April Regular ferry service commences across Lake Baikal. Passengers can travel to Irkutsk by train, cross Lake Baikal by ferry, resume the train to Sretensk, and then take a steamer down the Shilka to Khabarovsk.
|[L2 306][M 003]1901 Work begins on the Circumbaikal Loop to join Port Baikal and Mysovaya when it is found the two ferries can not manage increasing passenger traffic.[V 010][P 034]
|[M 003]1901 November 3 The East Chinese Railway opens to provisional traffic, connecting Manzhouli with Port Arthur via Harbin and Vladivostok.
|1904 February 8 The Japanese attack the Russian fleet at Port Arthur, starting the Russo- Japanese War. Troops and equipment sent east to supply the war against [V 008]Japan are delayed at Lake Baikal. The completion of the Circumbaikal Loop becomes a priority and it is finished within the year.
|[M 040]1905 May The Japanese defeat the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Battle of the Straits of Tsushima.
|[L2 208]1905 September The Treaty of Portsmouth crowns the American-mediated peace ending the Russo-Japanese War.
|[L2 307][M 012]1908 The Japanese threat to Russia's Far East interests revives plans for the Amur Line and work begins on its construction.
|1914 August 1 The Germans declare war on Russia and World War I begins.
|[N 001][M 012]1916 The Trans-Siberian is completed with the building of the bridge over the Amur River, the last gap in the Amur Line.
|1917 March 8 Tsar Nicholas II is overthrown with the February ([G 10 / Julian Calendar]) Revolution. A provisional government forms under Prince Lvov, an aristocrat and chairman of the All-Russian Union of Municipalities.
The Bolshevik leader, Lenin, returns from exile through German-held territory in a sealed train. He spreads disaffection among the Russian troops for an end to the war and for revolution.
|1917 July 25 War Minister, Alexander Kerensky, succeeds Lvov as prime minister and calls for continuing the war against Germany.
|1917 November 6 Perceiving the war weariness of the people, Lenin exploits a rift between Kerensky and his commander-in-chief, General Kornilov. Lenin has the [G 16 / Red Guards] seize the Winter Palace, seat of the provisional government. The [G 04 / Bolsheviks] form a new government.
|[L2 209]1917 December 5 Lenin arranges an armistice with Germany and Trotsky delays signing of the peace treaty for nine weeks.
Civil war begins in the Caucasus and southern Russia with a revolt of the Don [G 06 / Cossacks] led by General Kornilov.
With the help of Japanese troops and the [G 07 / Czech Legion], Admiral Kolchak, former commander of the Black Sea Fleet, establishes a [G 22 / White] government at Omsk. He exercises control over the central section of the Trans-Siberian for over a year.
|1918 March 3 After the Germans resume their advance deep into Russia, Lenin agrees to the German peace terms. The concluding Treaty of Brest-Litovsk surrenders Poland, the Baltic Provinces, the Ukraine, Finland and the Caucasus to Germany.
|1919 June 28 The Treaty of Versailles ends World War I and the Germans withdraw from Russia.
|1919 November Omsk is lost to the [G 04 / Bolsheviks].
|[V 011]1920 February Kolchak is captured by the Red Army and they execute him in Irkutsk. The Japanese hold Vladivostok until November 1922 when the victorious Bolsheviks exert control over what is now called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
|1924 January 21 Lenin dies and is succeeded by Stalin.
Great Britain establishes formal diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.
|[L2 210]1928 Stalin's first [G 08 / Five Year Plan] (1928-32) calls for the expansion of heavy industry and the Trans-Siberian is to play an important role. Repairs are made to the civil war damage and the railway is double-tracked.
|1931 September 18 An explosion on the South Manchuria Railway sets the pretext for the Japanese seizure of Mukden (Mukden Incident). Five months later the Japanese control all of Manchuria.
|1933 The Japanese government buys the East Chinese Railway for US$48 million.
The United States recognizes the Soviet government.
|1939 September 1 Germany and the Soviet Union launch an attack on Poland. World War II begins.
|[L2 211]1941 June 22 Germany invades the Soviet Union, taking Stalin completely by surprise. Subsequently, 1500 factories are dismantled and transported to Siberia. Siberian cities such as Novosibirsk grow dramatically.
|1945 The Baikal-Amur Magistral Line (BAM) is abandoned. Of the 400 miles of track laid since the 1930s, most of it is torn up to replace war-damaged lines in the western part of the country.
|1945 May 9 World War II ends in the European theater.
|1945 August 6 Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
|1945 August 8 The Soviets declare war on Japan and invade Manchuria and Korea; the Kurile Islands and Sakhalin are seized.
|1945 August 9 Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
|1945 September 2 Japan surrenders and World War II is officially ended.
|1952 The Soviet Union renounces all rights to Port Arthur, Dairen, and the East Chinese Railway. China regains full control over these possessions.
|1976 Work recommences on the BAM. Incentives are offered to recruit the 100,000 laborers necessary for its construction.
|1984 October The BAM is open for travel from Taishet to Komsomolsk-na-Amur, however, the line is still not complete.
|1989 June Leaking gas from a pipeline explodes beside the Trans-Siberian, between Ufa and Asha near Chelyabinsk, as two full trains pass by. More than 650 people perish in the world's worst rail disaster.
|1990 The first tourists ride part way along the BAM, but problems constructing the Severomuisk Tunnel are still preventing the railway's completion.
