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Russian Revolution
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Vladimir Lenin stands in the foreground, gesturing with his right arm and holding a cap, as he addresses a large crowd gathered outside a grand building during the Russian Revolution of 1917. Historical map showing Russian expansion in Asia, with different colors representing territories acquired during specific periods and under various rulers from 1533 to 1894. The map highlights the original Russian territory in 1533 and subsequent acquisitions stretching eastward across Siberia to the Pacific Ocean, and southward toward Central Asia. Major cities, rivers, and neighboring countries are labeled for geographic context. Historical map of the Eastern Front during World War I from 1914 to 1918, showing the farthest Russian advance in 1914, the Gallipoli campaign in 1915, the front at the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917, and the farthest Austro-German advance in 1918. The map shows Eastern Europe, including Germany, Austria-Hungary, western Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, and northern Turkey, with key cities and front lines marked. Holy or unholy? Large crowd of demonstrators gathers in a snowy square in front of the Winter Palace in Petrograd during the Russian Revolution, with the palace filling the background. Russian Revolution Russian Revolution
What Caused the Russian Revolution?
Large crowd of men, women, and soldiers fills a street in front of the Duma building in Petrograd, Russia, with vehicles and the distant silhouette of Smione Monastery visible.
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Patrick Henry delivering his great speech before the Virginia Assembly, March 23rd, 1775, lithograph by Currier & Ives, 1876.
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Vladimir Lenin stands in the foreground, gesturing with his right arm and holding a cap, as he addresses a large crowd gathered outside a grand building during the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Lenin during the Russian Revolution, 1917.

Russian Revolution

Russian history [1917]
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•History

Russian Revolution, two revolutions in 1917, the first of which, in February (March, New Style), overthrew the imperial government and the second of which, in October (November), placed the Bolsheviks in power. (Read Leon Trotsky’s 1926 Britannica essay on Lenin.) Centuries of virtually unchecked Russian expansion in Asia ended with an embarrassing defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05). This military reverse shattered Russia’s dreams of establishing hegemony over the whole of Asia, but it also...

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