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

Russia

Catherine the Great: inoculation pioneer. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Peter Caddick-Adams

Peter Caddick-Adams on the laws of war“Russian politicians and military figures behind the awful events unfolding in Ukraine will, one day, be brought to justice”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration of a Soviet warship inside a Pepsi bottle

Q&AIs it true that Pepsi briefly owned Soviet warships?

Peter Caddick-Adams

Peter Caddick-Adams on generals killed in battle“Russian general casualties in Ukraine today are significantly higher than the Allied commitment in WW2”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Why the Ukraine conflict isn’t a new Cold War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

United States and Nato flags fly above US Air Force fighter jets in Lithuania

Is the future of Nato under threat?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Peter Caddick-Adams

Peter Caddick-Adams on the history of neutrality“As many nations found to their cost in the 20th century, declaring neutrality and it being respected are two different matters”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

President Bill Clinton laughs at Boris Yeltsin's joke during a joint news conference in Hyde Park, New York, October 1995

“We missed a precious window”: why did America and Russia squander an opportunity for peace in the 1990s?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Peter Caddick-Adams

Peter Caddick-Adams on the Russia-Ukraine war“The language, tactics, and weapons hark back to the 1940s”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Molotov cocktails, Ukraine

Q&AWhat is a Molotov cocktail?

Ukraine: the WW2 roots of today's conflict. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, US President Bill Clinton, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, and French President Jacques Chirac at the NATO Summit in May 1997

Nato, Russia, and the history of the post-WW2 tensions. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Two boys uncover a cache of food during Ukraine’s Holodomor famine, c1934

“Russia has always refused to let Ukraine go”: Keith Lowe on the long roots of today’s crisis. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Russian civil war, 1919

General History

Russia-Ukraine crisis: 9 milestone moments in history that explain today’s invasion

Has Russia always played by its own rules?

Has Russia always played by its own rules?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Cold war mind games. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin. (Getty Images)

First World War

Did a British agent murder Rasputin?

Soviet infantrymen charge in a counter offensive during the battle of Moscow, 1941.

The 1941 battle of Moscow: how successful was Operation Typhoon?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

How US-Russian relations fractured in the 1990s. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Russian empress Catherine the Great

Hypocrite, reactionary, usurper, sex maniac: is Catherine the Great's reputation justified?

How a ballerina survived the Gulag. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Soldiers disembark a landing craft with a battle on the beach beyond

How to win a 20th-century battle

In partnership with Gaijin War Thunder

John F Kennedy with US Army officials during the Cuban missile crisis

“We are eyeball to eyeball, and I think the other fellow just blinked”: how the Cuban Missile Crisis escalated. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Before Chernobyl: the secrets that paved the way for disaster. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Olympic history: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Are revolutions doomed to failure?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A colourised portrait of Anton Chekhov, from 1901

History heroWilliam Boyd chooses Anton Chekhov (1860–1904). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Uncovering the truth about WW2’s Katyn massacre. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

How close to nuclear war did the Cuban Missile Crisis get?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Happier days: The tsar and his family pose for a portrait in c1910, years before he was swept from power and murdered. Maria, Olga and Tatiana (left to right) are at the back. Alexandra and Nicholas are seated with Alexey at their feet. Anastasia is far right. (Photo by Getty Images)

The last days of the Romanovs: could George V have saved the family?