One hundred years ago, in 1917, the Russian Revolution ended the monarchy. Tsar Nicholas II had to step down and the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin took control of the country. As a result, the Soviet Union evolved and became the biggest Communist country in the 20th century.
The centennial celebrations did not stir up a lot of publicity and Russian media did not report extensively on the topic. The Russian government under Vladimir Putin all but ignored the anniversary.
In contrast, thousands of Communist party members marched through downtown Moscow in honour of the Bolshevists, holding up flags of Lenin and Stalin.
During the Soviet era, November 7th was always a state holiday with military parades and a display of power on Red Square. It was stopped after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
Public opinion on the Russian Revolution is divided . While most citizens have a positive view of Lenin’s role in history they are opposed to the events that took place under Joseph Stalin’s authoritarian regime. On the other side, many Russians are proud of having won World War II and of the country’s military and scientific achievements.
Lenin’s legacy collapsed in 1991. After years of chaos and a massive gap between the rich and poor, stability returned in the new millennium. While many cities and towns still honour Lenin in some way, others, like St. Petersburg, have returned to pre-revolutionary names.
- achievement = something important or successful that you have done and can be proud of
- anniversary = a day on which something special happened years ago
- authoritarian regime = government that forces people to do what it wants and where the citizens cannot state their opinions
- Bolsheviks = group of people who supported the communist party at the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917
- centennial = day or year exactly 100 years after a special event
- century = a hundred years
- citizen = a person who lives in a country and has rights there
- collapse = break down; when something stops existing
- divided = split
- downtown = the centre of a city
- evolve = grow
- extensively = in detail, very much
- gap = big difference
- ignore = pay no attention to something
- in honour = to show how much you admire or respect someone
- legacy = here: what is left over from a certain period in history
- massive = very large
- millennium = the beginning of the next one thousand years
- monarchy = country in which a king, queen or another person rules
- oppose = to be against something
- parade = here: public celebration where soldiers and weapons move down the streets for the people to see
- pre-revolutionary = before the revolution
- publicity = attention that something gets from newspapers or TV
- public opinion = what the people on the streets think
- Red Square = large open area in the centre of Moscow
- scientific = about science
- stability = being in the same condition
- step down = give up power
- stir up = cause, lead to
- tsar = king of the Russian empire before 1917