Modern European History and Public & Popular History Seminar

Showcasing the Russian Revolution 100 years on: What to commemorate?

Panel debate with Dr Katya Rogatchevskaia & Dr Susan Reed (British Library), Dr Kristiane Janeke (German Historical Museum, Berlin), on Wednesday 3 May, 5pm, Knox Shaw Room, Sidney Sussex College

To commemorate the centenary of the Russian Revolution, the Public & Popular History Seminar and the Modern European History Research Seminar are joining forces to host a panel debate on public presentations of 1917, one of the most impactful historical events of the twentieth century (the "biggest flame in a world on fire", according to the British Library's exhibition advertisement).

This session will discuss the various forms of centenary commemoration, and discuss the relationship between museum exhibitions and their underlying interpretation of revolutionary events with academic treatments of the show "Liberty and Revolution: Russia 1917 Revisited" with the curator in charge of "1917. Revolution. Russia and Europe" at the German Historical Museum in Berlin and Swiss National Museum, and have asked one of the country's leading experts on Russian history to reflect on the changing resonance of the revolutionary anniversaries over the decades.