History of Russia: Exhibition “Revolution in Russia. 1917-1922” opened in the Museum of Political History of Russia in St. Petersburg

October 23, 2015 the Museum of Political History of Russia (St. Petersburg) held a grand opening of the exhibition "Revolution in Russia. 1917-1922."

The new exhibition highlights the crucial events in the history of Russia of the 20^th century: the February uprising and the October armed coup in Petrograd in 1917, and the Civil War of 1918-1922.

Leaflets and posters, awards and weapons, photos, documents and newsreels of the time represent the tragedy of the Russian population, caught in the epicenter of the armed struggle of various political forces. Many unique exhibits were delivered to the Museum of Revolution (at present, the Museum of Political History of Russia) founded in 1919 directly by the participants in the events. For example, a gold watch of N. Podvoisky, which he looked at to check the start time of seizure of the Winter Palace. Modern design and interactive technology have created a special environment to encourage visitors to emotional perception of historical events.

The first section of the exhibition tells about the fall of the Russian monarchy as a result of the events of February 1917 and the attempt to establish a democratic state system. A mass demonstration, which began in Petrograd on February 23, 1917 grew into an uprising a few days after, ending with the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne. Authentic exhibits of the time tell about the occurrence of the two sources of power - the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ deputies and the Provisional Government, which began to compete with each other, eventually multiplying anarchy and chaos.

The dominant feature of this hall is a symbolic figure of a soldier, reminding of the World War I, in which Russia was involved, and of the fact that it was the soldiers of the Petrograd garrison - "peasants in soldiers' uniforms" – who became the driving force of the uprising. Letters of an ordinary soldier P. Slesarev make us feel the atmosphere of those days. This part of the exhibition is completed with a complex dedicated to the solemn burial of the victims of the February Revolution on the Champ de Mars March 23, 1917.

The continuation of the museum's presentation of the events of 1917 were the memorial halls located on the first floor of the mansion of M. Kshesinskaia, "A Working Room of Lenin" and "Secretariat of the Central Committee and the Petersburg Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (b)", which recreate the atmosphere of the period, when the rooms housed V. Lenin and the Bolshevik headquarters from March to July 1917.