March 18 at 19:00 Lecture "Intervention and the Civil War: in the Ring of Fronts"

On March 18, 2026, a lecture will be given by the General Director of the State Museum of Political History, Sergey Evgenyevich Rybakov, on the topic "Intervention and the Civil War: in the Ring of Fronts".

S.E. Rybakov is a historian, social philosopher, Doctor of Philosophical Sciences.

The Civil War of 1918–1922 split Russia into Reds and Whites (in reality there were more opposing sides). This tragic period of our history, when brother turned against brother and son against father, has always—and still does—provoke many debates both among specialist historians and among the general public.

As a result of these complex events, radical changes occurred in our country's life: in 1922 a new state emerged—the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Socialism was established over one-sixth of the Earth's landmass, and world history took on an entirely new course, changed forever.

This is the second, concluding lecture of a mini-series dedicated to foreign intervention and the Civil War in Russia. The first lecture examined the outbreak of the Civil War and its initial period in 1918. The second lecture will be devoted to the course of foreign intervention and the Civil War in 1919–1922.

During the first lecture we will, relying on historical facts and analyzing actual events, attempt together to understand how things really were and to find answers to the following questions:

1. How does the second period of the Civil War differ from the first?
2. When does the second period begin, with which events is its beginning associated, and what are its characteristics and features?
3. What was the role of foreign military intervention in the outbreak and expansion of the Civil War in Russia? What did the intervening powers want?
4. Who started the Civil War, and who escalated it?
5. Who were the "Reds" and the "Whites", what did each side want? How did it happen that some revolutionaries fought other revolutionaries? What groups made up the armies of the "Reds" and the "Whites"?
6. What role did nationalist movements play in the Civil War?
7. What did the Civil War mean for the ordinary person, and who were the "Reds" and the "Whites" to them?
8. Why did the "Reds" win the Civil War?
9. Did the "Whites" have any chance? What would the country have been like if they had won?
10. When did the Civil War and foreign intervention end?

Come to the Museum of Political History of Russia to receive exclusive information, learn something new and unexpected, and join a discussion on interesting and topical subjects.

When: March 18 (Wednesday)
Time: 19:00
Where: Kuybysheva St., 2–4

State Museum of Political History of Russia

Museum in the historic center of St. Petersburg is an interesting and diverse museum complex dedicated to events and tragedies that took place in Russia. It includes two Art Nouveau architectural monu ...

Sankt-Peterburg, ulitsa Kuybysheva, 2-4