Faces of the Revolution

Whether monarch or Bolshevik, meet the major players of the Russian Revolution

Tsar Nicholas II

Nicholas II was the last emperor of Russia and also a devotee of cinema, which he popularised in his homeland. A reluctant tsar, when he first came to throne, Nicholas presided over the collapse of the once almighty Russian Empire. In the end, he paid the ultimate price for his failure.

Vladimir Lenin

Lenin whitewashed his past to up his working-class cred. He championed socialism but was less fond of music, which he flatly refused to listen to. This highly divisive figure championed the Red Terror, which mercilessly swept aside his opponents, but fell victim to a stroke in 1924.

Tsarina Alexandra

Alexandra Feodorovna was wife of Nicholas II and mother of his five children. This granddaughter of Queen Victoria adored the colour mauve and had her boudoir entirely decorated in a bespoke mauve silk that was imported from Paris. This room can still be seen today at the Alexander Palace.

Joseph Stalin

Uncle Joe rose from humble beginnings to rule the Soviet Union for just shy of 30 years, yet still found time to indulge his love of John Wayne’s Westerns. Stalin used any means necessary to hold onto power and by the time of his death in 1953, millions had died under his regime.

Leon Trotsky

Trotsky considered himself to be a world-class chess player but that didn’t help him when he tried to outwit Stalin. One a major figure in the Communist Party, he was exiled and written out of party history. Yet Trotsky was only silenced when an assassin buried an icepick in his skull.