Russian Revolution, October 1917. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Ulyanov - 1870-1924). Undated Communist poster.

Russia

Hammer and sickle on a red flag

Why did the Soviet Union adopt the hammer and sickle, and how did it become a symbol of communist revolution?

Josef Stalin: the paranoid dictator who forged the Soviet Union into a superpower

A German soldier seeks cover from the Soviet artillery fire in a field. In the background, smoke rises from the hitting grenades. (Photo by Alamy)

Operation Bagration 1944: the perfect victory on the Eastern Front. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

From the USA's 'good war' to Britain's 'great hurrah': how is D-Day remembered around the world?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ewan Macgregor in 'A Gentleman in Moscow' and the Hotel Metropol in Moscow

The incredible real history of A Gentleman in Moscow’s Hotel Metropol

Lenin's body lying in state in 1924

The death of Lenin, a century on: the long afterlife of Russia’s pre-emiment revolutionary

Gulag inmates were not simply imprisoned, but forced to carry out hard labour. (Photo by Getty Images)

The founding and fall of the USSR. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, seen in 1975, would have been the leading candidate to be the first person to step on the Moon had the Soviets landed before the US (Photo by Space Frontiers/Getty Images)

What if...The Soviets had landed on the Moon first and won the Space Race?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Japanese soldiers and sailors disembark at Vladivostok, 22 August 1918. Of all the foreign interventions into the Russian civil war, the one from Japan was by far the largest, growing to 70,000 troops. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Britain’s Russian fiasco: Allied intervention in the Russian civil war. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Soldiers in the Crimean War

Your ultimate guide to the Crimean War

ConspiracyDid Anastasia survive the massacre of the Romanovs?

The hammer and sickle, seen held aloft by the figures in this Soviet-era statue, symbolised unity between the working class and the peasantry

When and why did the Soviet Union fall? Your history guide to the USSR

Episode 4The road to resolution. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Episode 3Dangerous days. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Mikhail Gorbachev as seen in a 1995 portrait. His leadership saw the Soviet Union undergo dramatic reform, leading to its dissolution in 1991 (Photo by Dana Gluckstein / mptvimages / eyevine)

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as a Cold War hero or a failed idealist: the historians' verdict. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

On Havana waterfront, Cuban soldiers wait by anti-aircraft artillery, after receiving warning of an invasion from the United States

Max Hastings"If the Americans had bombed Cuba in 1962, escalation would have been almost inevitable". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Afghan fighters on top of a destroyed Soviet helicopter, 1980 (Photo by Alain Dejean/Sygma via Getty Images)

War without end: conflict in Afghanistan, from the Cold War Soviet invasion to the Taliban. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Russian men called up to fight attend a ceremony to mark their departure

Russia-Ukraine conflictHow the latest developments echo the Second World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A missionary preaches to the Native Americans of Massachusetts, c1650. By now, colonists were imposing their values on the indigenous population, encouraging them to dress like the English – and worship the English God. (Photo by Ian Tyas/Keystone/Getty Images)

Britain's nuclear fearsHow has the UK prepared for Armageddon?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The USSR showcases its military might at the 1961 annual May Day parade in Red Square, Moscow. (Photo by Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images)

Nuclear fall-out: how the USA & USSR became bitter enemies

Russia’s national past: unpicking history from propaganda. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Victims of the February Revolution are carried through the Field of Mars in Petrograd

Russia's Civil WarWhy the 1917 uprisings descended into disaster. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Troops engaged in street fighting in the battle of Stalingrad,1942 (Photo from akg-images)

Second World War

The battle of Stalingrad: a German officer's account of WW2's bloodiest battle

East German leader Willi Stoph greets West German chancellor Willy Brandt at Erfurt. (Getty images)

Cold War summits: how USA & USSR leaders worked to end the conflict. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev together

What brought a thaw in the Cold War?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Second World War allies Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin (left to right) at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. East and west would soon become bitter rivals, however

The Cold War: 9 key questions

George C Marshall, architect of the Marshall Plan, which pledged billions of dollars to help rebuild war-torn Europe

What was the Marshall Plan?

Stalin’s library: inside the mind of a dictator. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Antony Beevor on the Russian revolution. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

American citizens Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, following their arrest by the FBI 1950. They were convicted of passing infomation to the Soviets and executed in 1953

The secrets and lies of Cold War spies