Russian Revolution centenary Follow

The British Library’s new Russian Revolution exhibition has some fantastic artefacts but a poor conclusion, writes Sarah Bates

As the centenary of the Russian Revolution progresses, shelves in bookshops are beginning to groan under the weight of books about 1917.

May Day 1917 saw massive celebrations in Russia—but tension was brewing against the provisional government

Joseph Stalin wrote to his Bolshevik party comrade Lev Kamenev in 1912, “I kiss you on the nose, Eskimo-fashion. Dammit! I miss you something awful. I miss you like hell, I swear. I have no one, not a soul to have a proper talk with, damn you.”

The internationalism of the Bolsheviks challenged the ideology of the war and posed a threat to the world’s capitalists

Workers flocked to join unions during the Russian Revolution—but as they grew bigger, so did their contradictions

A sharp argument within the Bolshevik party stopped it from supporting imperialist war—and helped push the revolution forward

Our rulers caricature the Bolsheviks who led the Russian Revolution because they are afraid of a repeat

Rapid capitalist development in Russian cities gave birth to a working class that dug the Tsar and capitalism’s grave

A century ago this week in Russia, the February Revolution ended an ancient dictatorship and began the quest for a new society

A mutiny by soldiers was key to forcing out the Tsar in Russia—and a mass revolt of ordinary people made their rebellion possible

Workers and soldiers spontaneously rose up against the Tsar many times—but it took organisation to carry this through to victory