Orlando Figes author of *The Story of Russia.*

In this episode we talk to Orlando Figes one of the world’s leading authorities on Russian history. We talk about Vladimir Putin’s use of the past as a political weapon, about the historical roots of the war in Ukraine and then we begin our usual tour of the past.

The year Figes takes us back to is 1917. This was the year that revolution came to Russia. ‘It is hard to think of an event, or series of events’, Figes writes, ‘that has affected the history of the past one hundred years more profoundly.’

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History hangs heavily over Russia. Last year the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine was signalled by the publication of Putin’s essay On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians, and day after day the Russian people are reminded of the glories of their past: the defeat of the Mongols, victory against Napoleon Bonaparte and, biggest of all, the triumph over Nazism in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-5.

These are the stories that predominate. But what of the Russian Revolution of 1917? In the opinion of today’s guest Orlando Figes, ‘It is hard to think of an event, or series of events, that has affected the history of the past one hundred years more profoundly than the Russian Revolution of 1917.’ And yet a few years ago the centenary of this event passed almost without acknowledgement.

1917, as Figes points out in this episode, is problematic for Putin. It is not a very usable past because the story it encapsulates – of a suppressed population rising up against their autocratic rulers and the collapse of an empire – is not one that he necessarily wants to encourage.

The revolution, however, is not one that can be avoided by historians.

1917 was a tumultuous year in Russia. It began with a sense of despair. The war was going badly against the Germans. At home the violent death of the loathed court favourite Rasputin seemed darkly portentious. That winter was desperately cold. In February 1917 a series of bread riots began in frozen Petrograd (St Petersburg) that grew in size and force as the month wore on.

By March, isolated and terrified for the safety of his family, Tsar Nicolas II, a member of the Romanov dynasty who had ruled over Russia for centuries, was forced to abdicate. By the time he had done so, Petrograd had fallen and was filled with revolutionary spirit. The soldiers had seized the streets, around 1,500 people were dead in Petrograd alone, and what the future held, no one knew.

The February Revolution, Figes points out, was an unusual event. Most of the political leaders – those like Lenin and Trotsky – were abroad. The fighting was led by often undirected crowds on the street. In March the feeling was of a job only half done. The Tsar had gone but what was the future to be?

In the Tauride Palace various political factions sought to gain control. The socialists, who wanted to bring Russia into line with the young democracies of Western Europe battled for power with an assortment of others. These tussles would continue throughout the summer and it was only in October that the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, ultimately triumphed.

In this episode Figes guides us through this year. We visit the Tauride Palace, the seat of the Duma and citadel of democracy; the Kshesinskaya Mansion and the Smolnyi Institute to see figures like Alexander Kerensky and Vladimir Lenin. As Figes points out, the course of events was very far from certain. Occasionally individuals glimpsed power only to let it slip through their fingers. At other times, however, they were far more ruthless.

Although often marginalised in the curriculum today, the effects of the revolution can still be felt in today’s Russia. Echoes of it can be glimpsed in Putin’s surveillance state, in the conspiratorial and terror methods that are often deployed to destroy political opponents. ‘As I warned in the final sentence to A People’s Tragedy’, Figes recently wrote, ‘‘The ghosts of 1917 have not been laid to rest.’’

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Orlando Figes’ new book, The Story of Russia, is out now.

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Show notes

Scene One: March 1917. Tauride Palace in Petrograd (St Petersburg).

Scene Two: 3-4 July 1917. Kshesinskaya Mansion in Petrograd.

Scene Three: 25 October 1917. Smolnyi Institute in Petrograd.

Memento: Grand Duke Michael's abdication manifesto

People/Social

Presenter: Peter Moore

Guest: Orlando Figes

Production: Maria Nolan

Theme music: ‘Love Token’ from the album ‘This Is Us’ By Slava and Leonard Grigoryan

Podcast partner: Ace Cultural Tours

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About Orlando Figes

Orlando Figes is a British academic and author, whose specialist area is Russian history. Figes is the author of the seminal work on the Russian Revolution, A People’s Tragedy, and Natasha’s Dance, a cultural history of Russia.