1917-2017: Lessons of the past hundred years

Abstract

The panel discussion «1917-2017 years: the history lessons of the last century», which was held on January 13, 2017 in the framework of the Gaidar Forum is presented in the review. It was attended by famous Russian and foreign historians, economists, sociologists. The origins of the 1917 revolution, its causes, acting persons and lessons were the main topic. It was emphasized that the revolution is always a deep wound to the nation, a scar that remains for a long time. An urgent task of today is to contribute to the larger consolidation of views on the evaluation of the revolution in the society. There are different approaches to the assessment of the revolution: it is sometimes considered as a complete violation of all the rules, as an act of general insanity, and sometimes - as a true «golden age» of the break-through in the future, the liberation from all the superficial, mossy, dying. There are particularly important topics in the study of the revolution. These include, in particular, the situation in the Russian economy, class contradictions and confrontations, the course of the First World War, the fall of the tsarist regime. The following research topics require a new level, as the role of the Liberals, Bolsheviks in the process. The speeches of the panelists were dedicated to these and some other issues.