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However, the Bolsheviks fared badly in elections, with only a quarter of voters supporting them, mostly in the cities. To maintain control, the Bolsheviks launched the "Red Terror", a campaign of arrests and executions. In March 1918, Russia withdrew from the war, losing vast amounts of territory from its old empire.

In the meantime, Tsar Nicholas, his wife and their five children were exiled to distant parts of the empire. In July 1918 they were all brutally shot and killed by Soviet guards.

In 1920, the better organised and led Bolshevik’s Red Army won a two year civil war between the Bolsheviks and those against the revolution. After the war, the New Economic Policy was introduced, allowing a partial and controlled return to capitalism, in an attempt to kick-start the declining economy. In December 1922, Russia, along with most of the old tsarist empire was renamed the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR). It would be known by this name for 69 years.