Georgy Fedotov on the February Revolution of 1917

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УДК 94(470)

Aleksandr V. Antoshchenko,

Petrozavodsk State University, Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation

Georgy Fedotov on the February Revolution of 1917

Abstract

Well-known emigre historian and pressman Georgy Petrovich Fedotov was an eyewitness of the revolutionary events in the Russian capital in 1917, when he promoted the idea of protecting the social gains of the revolution. Considering the coup in October as a prologue to the catastrophe, he originally criticized the Provisional Government activities for legal fetishism, which opened a way to power for the Bolsheviks. Therefore, he saw the revolutionary events in October 1917 as a logical continuation of political and social processes that started in February. In late 1930s he changed his earlier assessment, focusing on symbolic and ideological meaning of the February Revolution as a hallmark of struggles for freedom and civil rights in Russia, and contraposed February to October. The published here text was written by Georgy Fedotov at the request of Viktor Frank, who was the head of the Radio BBC Russian department in 1950. It provides the historian’s final and most comprehensive assessment of the February revolution. It allows a researcher to trace up to the very end the evolution of his perception of the purport of the revolutionary events. In the foreword the publisher defines the reasons for changes in Fedotov’s views.

Keywords

Georgy Fedotov, February Revolution of 1917, liberty, Stalinism

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References

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About the author

Antoshchenko Aleksandr Vasilyevich, PhD in History, Petrozavodsk State University, Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation, +7-8142-771020, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Submitted 17.01.2017, published:

ANTOSHCHENKO, A. V. G. P. Fedotov o Fevral'skoi revolyutsii 1917 g. [Georgy Fedotov on the February Revolution of 1917. In Russ.] Vestnik arhivista / Herald of an archivist, 2017, no. 2, pp. 258-271.

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