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There were an estimated 7-12 million casualties during the war, mostly civilians. The Russian Civil War has been talked about by some as the greatest national catastrophe that Europe had ever seen. Many pro-independence movements emerged after the break-up of the Russian Empire and fought in the war.

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Various historians have cited Lenin's proposal to appoint Trotsky as a Vice-Chairman of the Soviet Union as evidence that he intended Trotsky to be his successor as head of government.

Then on 20 August 1940, Mercader was alone with Trotsky in his study under the pretext of showing the older man a document. Mercader struck Trotsky from behind and mortally wounded him on the head with an ice axe while he was looking at the document.

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The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire, 1206–1368, which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastation as one of the deadliest episodes in history.

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On May 8, 1945, people flooded the streets, waved banners and all but mauled American troops in hugs as the Allies marked the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany's armed forces.

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The Soviet Union fell December 26, 1991. The soviet hammer and sickle flag lowered for the last time over the Kremlin, and after they were replaced by the Russian tricolor.

e thenarlier in the day, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned his post as president of the Soviet Union, leaving Boris Yeltsin as president of the newly independent Russian state.