Russia 1917: Why Did the Romanov Dynasty Collapse and the Bolsheviks Come to Power? • Donald J. Raleigh (CSEEES Director)

In celebration of World on Fire in Flames of Blood: Narratives of the Russian Revolution, an exhibition inspired by the André Savine Collection (January 21 – May 14, 2017), CSEEES Director Donald J. Raleigh will deliver the talk “Russia 1917: Why Did the Romanov Dynasty Collapse and the Bolsheviks Come to Power?” He will provide an overview of the long- and short-term causes of the February Revolution of 1917 that toppled 300 years of Romanov rule, the social polarization that unfolded afterward, aggravated by the consequences of an unpopular war, and the reasons why the Bolsheviks came to power and held on to it.

5:30 PM Reception and viewing, Melba Remig Saltarelli Exhibit Room

6 PM Public Lecture by Dr. Donald J. Raleigh, Pleasants Family Assembly Room, Wilson Library

One hundred years after 1917, the Russian Revolution continues to puzzle, inspire, and horrify. Its offspring empire, the Soviet Union, dominated world politics for much of the 20th century, while its communist legacy continues to shape the affairs of the region as well as international relations. This exhibition brings together the voices of the victors, the losers, the victims, the observers, and those caught in the middle of the Revolution and the ensuing Civil War. Through official propaganda, eyewitness accounts, refugee publications, and literary representations, the exhibition offers glimpses into the chaotic events that changed world history. Items for the exhibition are drawn chiefly from the André Savine Collection of materials relating to Russian emigration, part of the Rare Books Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill.