Russia and the USSR 1905-1941

Bolshevik-Menshevik Split

Why did the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks split? A brief explanation.

Bloody Sunday

Causes and course of the Bloody Sunday massacre in St Petersburg

On the 22nd January 1905, the Bloody Sunday massacre took place in the Russian capital Saint Petersburg.

Attack on Port Arthur

What triggered the Russo-Japanese War? Overview of the attack on Port Arthur.

On the 8th February 1904, the Russian-controlled Port Arthur was attack by Japanese torpedos.

Mutiny on the battleship Potemkin

Russian mutiny on the battleship Potemkin

The crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin mutinied on the 27th June 1905, an uprising that was immortalized in Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 silent film.

First Russian Duma

The origins of the First Russian Empire’s State Duma

The Russian Empire’s State Duma met for the first time at the Taurida Palace in St. Petersburg on 27th April 1906.

Lenin reading Pravda

The origins of Pravda, the official newspaper of Communist Russia

Pravda, the official newspaper of what became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, was first published on 5 May 1912.

Causes of the Russian Revolution – The Eastern Front in WW1

An overview of the Eastern Front in the First World War, a cause of the Russian Bolshevik revolution in 1917.

the sealed train

Lenin and the ‘sealed train’ that returned him to Russia

Vladimir Lenin arrived in Russia after a decade of self-imposed exile.

Bolshevik Revolution

Brief overview of the Bolshevik Revolution

On the 7th November 1917, Red Guards entered the Winter Palace in St Petersburg in a defining event of the Bolshevik Revolution.

The Bolshevik Revolution

This excellent documentary presents the events of the 1917 Revolutions, with a particular focus on the actions of the Bolsheviks.