Armed coup, organized by the Bolsheviks in the autumn 1917, that marked the beginning of Soviet power is most commonly associated with St. Petersburg (then called Petrograd).

However, not everyone knows that Moscow was the place of long and heavy fighting in those days. The Bolsheviks fired at the Kremlin and many central buildings, real battles were fought in the streets, hundreds of people were killed.

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Tags: Moscow city

Immediately after the October Revolution, the Soviet government took control of the fashion. In general, the changes occurred mostly in women’s fashion. Clothing was unpretentious, simpler than in the days of the Russian Empire. The woman was to look like as a citizen (“tovarisch”), who can “build” socialism.

However, during the Khrushchev thaw (late 1950s – 1960s), due to more openness in Soviet society, the western style in fashion began to spread. This catalog, published by Leningrad fashion house (Saint Petersburg today) in 1957, gives an idea of this time. Pictures by visualhistory

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Tags: Saint Petersburg city · Soviet past

The pioneer camps in the USSR were educational and health institutions for pioneers of the Soviet Union Pioneer Organization named after Lenin and schoolchildren (7 to 15 years) organized usually during the school holidays by trade unions, the Communist Youth League, economic organizations, collective farms, and so on.

About 40,000 suburban pioneer camps for 10 million children were open in the USSR. The following unique photos were collected in pioneer camps that had been abandoned after the collapse of the USSR by Denis Spirin

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Tags: Soviet past

There is a widespread belief that Stalin’s Soviet Union was a country almost completely closed to foreigners. However, advertising of “Intourist” (organization responsible for foreign tourism in the USSR) created in 1930ies, gives somewhat different look at the issue.

The country was in desperate need of foreign currency for industrialization, so all the ways to lure wealthy foreign tourists to the USSR were used. And it was not just about the major cities – Moscow and Leningrad.

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Tags: posters · propaganda · Soviet past

In the archives of Russia there are a lot of unique photographs. There are high-quality color photographs of the USSR before and during the Second World War.

For example, here are the photos of athletic parade in Stalingrad in May 1945 (author – Mark Redkin). The Battle of Stalingrad is considered the largest land battle of the Second World War and the key battle on the Eastern Front.

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Tags: Volgograd city

September 2, the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino was held in Moskovskaya oblast. Military-historical reenactment of the battle scenes took place on the field to the west of the village of Borodino. The battle involved cavalry, infantry and artillery.

The entire 2012 Russia marks the 200th anniversary of the Patriotic War 1812, a special place is given to the largest battle of the war happened near Borodino village. In France, the battle is called the battle of the Moscow River. Photos by Alexander Lipilin

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Tags: Moskovskaya oblast

The second part of the beautiful color photos of the Russian Empire captured by Sergey Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky in the beginning of the 20th century.
First part of the photos.

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Tags: Russian Empire

Sergey Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky – Russian photographer, chemist, inventor, publisher, educator, and social activist. He made a significant contribution to the development of photography and cinematography. He was also a pioneer of color photography in Russia.

Prokudin-Gorsky captured in color photographs the Russian Empire of his day; its culture, history, and modernization.

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Tags: Russian Empire

One billion rubles (1,000,000,000 rubles) was a banknote used in the Caucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic in the period of hyperinflation of the early 1920’s.

Nominal value in figures and words, and warning labels are depicted on the obverse of the banknote.

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The sale of Alaska was a deal between the governments of the Russian Empire and the North American United States. In 1867, Russia for 7.2 million USD (about 108 million USD in 2009), sold its territories in North America (total area 1,518,800 square km or 586,412 square miles).

At the time of the sale the entire population in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands was about 2,500 Russian and approximately 60,000 American Indians and Eskimos. At the beginning of the 19th century Alaska brought income from the fur trade.

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