UDC

94(47).084.1+94(47).084.2:930

Authors

Vladislav I. Goldin
Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov;
nab. Severnoy Dviny 17, Arkhangelsk, 163002, Russian Federation; e-mail: v.i.goldin@yandex.ru

Abstract

This article analyses the discussions, trends and results of the Russian and foreign research on the main problems of the 1917 revolutionary process in Russia during the century that followed. Contemporary literature on the Russian Revolution presents a whole range of political views, opinions and judgments, as well as numerous interpretations and evaluations. Opposite judgments and rigid discussions produced such terms as the war of interpretations and intellectual wars in social and political essays as well as in academic literature. The author points out and characterizes the new trends in criticism of the revolutionary process in Russia that have become widespread in recent years. Further, the article dwells on the current debate between the “optimists” and “pessimists” on the development of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century and on the origins and causes of the 1917 revolutions in Russia. The author describes the evolution of the views on the February Revolution over the last years and decades and points out its modern interpretations. The causes, nature, and alternative developments of the 1917 revolutionary process in Russia are analysed, as well as current discussions about the October Revolution, its significance for the fates of Russia and the world in the 20th century. The paper points out that the Russian Revolution is studied by contemporary scholars in different chronological contexts. The author investigates the relationship between the revolutionary process in Russia and the subsequent construction of socialism, analyses the results, problems and achievements of the Soviet era of development, as well as causes for the collapse of the USSR. These issues are considered in comparison with the current situation in Russia. In addition, the fates of socialism in the modern world and the historical lessons of the Russian revolutionary process are covered here.

Keywords

year of 1917 in Russia, Russian Revolution, February Revolution, October Revolution, revolutionary process, dissolution of the Soviet Union, centenary of the Revolution

References

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