Russia grapples with problem of marking revolution’s centenary
They played key roles in the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution that triggered a civil war that killed millions, devastated Russia and redrew its borders. A century later, their descendants say these historic wounds have not healed.
As Russia approaches the centenary of the uprising, it has struggled to come to terms with the legacy of those who remade the nation.
The Kremlin is avoiding any official commemoration of the anniversary, tiptoeing around the event that remains polarising for many and could draw unwelcome parallels with the present.
Alexis Rodzianko, whose great-grandfather was the speaker of the pre-revolutionary Russian parliament and pushed Czar Nicholas II to abdicate but later regretted it, believes the revolution was a calamity that threw Russia backward.
“Any evolutionary development would have been better than what happened,” said Mr Rodzianko, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia. “The main lesson I certainly would hope is that Russia never tries that again.”
He said the revolution and the civil war, combined with the devastation of the Second World War and the overall legacy of the Soviet system, eroded Russia’s potential and left its economy a fraction of what it could have been.
A similar view is held by Vyacheslav Nikonov, a Kremlin-connected MP whose grandfather Vyacheslav Molotov played an important role in staging the Bolshevik power grab on 7 November, 1917, and served as a member of the Communist leadership for four decades.
He describes the revolution as “one of the greatest tragedies of Russian history”. The anniversary presents a dilemma for President Vladimir Putin. While he has been critical of revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin, Mr Putin cannot denounce the event that gave birth to the Soviet Union and is still revered by many of his supporters.
But Mr Putin, a KGB veteran, disdains any popular uprisings, and he certainly would not praise the revolution, which destroyed the Russian empire.
Mr Rodzianko said: “The last thing the Kremlin needs is another revolution. The last thing Russia needs is another revolution. And celebrating the revolution saying: ‘Hey, what a great thing,’ is a little bit encouraging what they don’t want, and so they are definitely confused.”
He believes the befuddled attitude to the anniversary reflects a national trauma that still hurts to this day.