| Yes, yes, we know it's November. But on October 25, 1917 (Russian calendar, November 7 in the Western calendar) a revolution took place in Petrograd (St Petersburg up to 1914, then Petrograd until 1924 when it became Leningrad, only to become St Petersburg again in 1991), then the capital of the Russian Empire. It followed the February Revolution of 1917 which overthrew the rule of Tsar Nicholas II. Russian and Soviet historians refer to this event as the Great October Socialist Revolution. Whatever views one might have of these events, there is no denying they represented a major shift in the way the world works. It was the catalyst that led eventually to the destruction of colonialism - although it's not unnoticed that colonialism is once again on the rise, with the difference being that the colonies belong to corporations rather than countries. We present here a short video to allow readers to bone up on the history of the times, followed by the brilliant documentary created by a Soviet team lead by Sergei Eisenstein entitled Ten Days that Shook the World. With thanks to Axis of Logic columnist Arturo Rosales for suggesting this. - prh, ed
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