Russia Tours

General  |  6 Days Itinerary  |  View Full Itinerary

The Russian Revolution and Stalinist Russia

In October 1917, much of the world was stunned when Russia was taken over by communists who were known as Bolsheviks. As World War One raged, an important ally had decided to pull out of the fray. This was not all. There had already been a revolution in the Russian Empire a few months earlier, in February, when a provisional government had taken control and forced the Tsar to abdicate. Why had this first revolution occurred? And why was it followed so soon by another? The Tsar’s family had ruled for over 300 years. What had gone wrong? Was it the fault of the Tsar’s autocracy or did the War play the key role? Were times changing anyway, with autocrats, in the West, being seen as unacceptable anachronisms?

Come and find out how Lenin and his Bolsheviks managed, against tremendous odds, to grab and keep power in one of the biggest countries in the world. Come and see the places where he worked and started the Revolution. Even with Russia denying their history in some respects, with statues and memorials removed, there are still many places and sites to visit. The mood of the past has gone but there are many reminders in the attitude of the people today as many struggle to manage.

Russia had lost up to 7 million men in World War One and this was followed by a bloody Civil War which probably, along with the resulting famine, killed another 7 million. Once Lenin was dead, Russia soon found itself at the mercy of a ruthless ruler, Stalin. He changed the official Russian ‘History’ to ‘prove’ he was right to impose austere, dictatorial rule. Millions died in his enforced changes to agriculture and as if that was not enough, millions more in the ‘Purges’ in the 1930s.

Sergeymila Fortress

By the time World War Two was unleashed, the Red Army was short of Generals and top military men as they had been condemned as enemies of the state. The Germans thought it would be possible to destroy the Russian forces, but their leaders had not perhaps reckoned on the determination or ferocity of Stalin to force the Russians to fight to the last man.

Also find out how the people of Leningrad (now St Petersburg again) suffered during World War Two, as the Germans laid siege to the city for nearly three years, thereby causing the death of well over one million of its population.

To look at Russian history, is to study a picture of incredible pain and suffering, especially in the 20th Century, but by no means just then. The numbers of people whose lives were cut short by political upheavals and war is horrendous beyond imagination.

Moscow and St Petersburg are the two main cities in Russia, so consequently, much of the history we study took place or was influenced from these famous arenas. We are sure that when you visit them, you will be moved and impressed by their scale and significance in an incredible story. It is impossible not to be fascinated by a country with such an dramatic history, whose destiny strongly influenced our own during the Cold War.