Russia

Alexander I: Emperor of Russia

Ian Young explains the many guises of Russia's Romanov ruler: in Napoleon’s caustic phrase, “the Talma of the North”; according to Chateaubriand, “a strong soul and a feeble character”; styled by Pushkin as, “the Sphinx who took his riddle with him to the grave”; Alexander began his life as a liberal visionary and ended it as an impassioned champion of the autocratic principle.

Mikhail Speransky

Michael Jenkins describes a reforming minister of genius and, according to Napoleon, ‘the only clear head in Russia’; Mikhail Speransky fell from power in the year 1812.

Lenin in London

Lionel Kochan describes how two of the most important of Russian Revolutionary Conferences were held in Edwardian London.

The Spanish Blue Division

For nearly three years, 45,000 Spanish soldiers served under German command on the Russian front. By Gerald R. Kleinfeld and Lewis A. Tambs.

Jacob Blumkin, 1892-1929

Rex Winsbury profiles a Soviet gunman and secret agent who assassinated the German Ambassador and was himself shot in 1929 after visiting Trotsky in exile.