Sazonov, Sergei Dmitrievich: Russian statesman. Foreign Minister 1910-16.
Sacked at behest of Empress. Backed Whites. Died in exile 1927.
Semyonov, Grigory Ivanovich: Socialist Revolutionary terrorist and assassin.
Organised Fanny Kaplan's attempt to kill Lenin.
Shulgin, Vasily Vitalievich: Conservative member of Duma. Helped
persuade Tsar to abdicate March 1917. Backed Whites, went into exile, but after
imprisonment died in USSR 1976.
Soloviev, Boris: Son in Law of Rasputin. In Siberia, 1917, took valuables from imperial family to help them escape, apparently as a confidence trick. Died in exile 1926.
Savinkov, Boris Victorovich: Revolutionary and terrorist. Deputy War Minister to Kornilov July-August 1917. Planned assassination of Bolshevik leadership 1918. Killed, Moscow 1925.
Stalin, Joseph Vissarionovich: Top Bolshevik leader. Initially resisted Lenin's radical approach in April 1917, but quickly fell into line. After Lenin's death, 1924, manoeuvred himself into total control of USSR, and forced principal rival, Trotsky, into exile. Bloody, totalitarian dictator. Died 1953. Stolypin, Pyotr Arkadievich: Russian statesman. Highly effective administrator. Appointed Prime minister 1906. Ruthless in suppression of disorder. Fixed franchise to ensure Duma support for his ambitious programme of reform, but lost support of Tsar. Assassinated, Kiev 1911. Sukhomlinov, Vladimir Alexandrovich: General. Minister of War 1909-15. Sacked for military failure. Charged with treason March 1916 but released at demand of Rasputin and Empress, badly damaging reputation of regime.
Sverdlov, Yakov Mikhailovich: Leading Bolshevik. Close to Lenin. Deeply involved in decisions to close Constituent Assembly, sign Brest-Litovsk treaty and execute imperial family. Died 1919.
Tikhon (Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin): Patriarch of the Russian Church November 1917. Initially stood up to Bolshevik regime, for example over murder of imperial family, but came to take more conciliatory line. Protested at seizure of church property. Arrested 1922-3, and deposed. Died 1924. Trotsky, Lev Davidovich: Bolshevik leader second only to Lenin in gaining and holding power. Played key role in October 1917 as Chairman of Petrograd Soviet. Led Red army to victory in Civil War. Endorsed and facilitated red terror. But outmanoeuvred by Stalin in power struggle after Lenin's death. Exiled 1929. Murdered 1940.
Veniamin (Vasily Pavlovich Kazansky): Metropolitan of Petrograd. Resisted state seizure of church property 1922. Tried as a counterrevolutionary and shot.
Vrangel, Pyotr, Nikolaevich: General. Led White army in Southern Russia. Disagreed sharply with fellow general Denikin. After defeat went into exile 1920. Died (perhaps poisoned) 1928.
Vyrubova, Anna Alexandrovna: Lady in waiting and probably closest confidante of Empress. Adherent of Rasputin and go-between between him and Alexandra. Arrested after revolution. Escaped to Finland. Died 1964. Witte, Sergei Yulyevich: Count and key policymaker. Built trans-Siberian railway. Prime minister 1903-6. Negotiated end to Russo-Japanese war. Persuaded Tsar to accept political reform, including establishment of Duma, after Bloody Sunday. Resigned after losing trust of Tsar. Died 1915. Yudenich, Nikolai Nikolaevich: General. Leader of White forces in NW Russia. Nearly took Petrograd before defeat in October 1919. Caught trying to escape with army funds. Died in exile.
Yusupov, Felix Felixovich: Prince. Rich, dissipated and married to Tsar's niece. Organised murder of Rasputin, December 1916. Despite wish of Empress that he be shot, merely confined to his estate. After revolution went into exile. Zinoviev, Grigory Yevseevich: Leading Bolshevik. Opposed decision to seize power in October 1917, and sought coalition with non-Bolshevik socialists. Nevertheless held senior roles in early Soviet Union. Eventually opposed Stalin. Shot 1936.
contributors
Dominic Lieven is a Senior Research Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, a Fellow of the British Academy and author of Beyond the Flame: Empire, War and the End of Tsarist Russia. His book Russia against Napoleon won the Wolfson Prize for History.
Simon Dixon is Sir Bernard Pares Professor of Russian History at UCL Chairman of the Literary Committee of the Russian Booker Prize. His critically acclaimed biography Catherine the Great was shortlisted for the Longman/ History Today Book of the Year Award.
Douglas Smith is an award-winning historian and translator, and the author of five books on Russia, including Former People: The Last Days of the Russian Aristocracy and Rasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs.
Donald Crawford was for twenty years the publisher of Parliamentary Brief. He is the author of several books on Tsarist Russia, including Michael & Natasha (co-authored with his wife Rosemary Crawford and soon to become a film by Russian director Andrei Kravchuk) and The Last Tsar: Emperor Michael II.
Sean McMeekin is a Professor of History at Bard College. He is the author of several acclaimed works of history, including The Ottoman Endgame, which won the Arthur Goodzeit Book Award, and The Russian Origins of the First World War, which won the Norman B. Tomlinson Jr. Book Prize.
Richard Pipes is one of the world's best known historians of the Russian Revolution. He was Baird Professor of History at Harvard University and served as National Security Council adviser on Soviet and East European affairs.
Orlando Figes is Professor of History at Birkbeck, and the award-winning author of eight books, including the Wolfson Prize-winning A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924. His work has been translated into thirty-two languages.
Edvard Radzinsky is a Russian playwright, screenwriter, TV presenter and history writer. His books available in English include The Last Tsar and Stalin:
The First In-Depth Biography Based on Explosive Documents from Russia's Secret Archives.
Martin Sixsmith was the BBC's Moscow correspondent during the collapse of the Soviet Union, and is the author of several books, including the Sunday Times bestseller Russia: A 1,000-Year Chronicle of the Wild East and Philomena, the basis for the critically acclaimed movie of the same name.
Evan Mawdsley was Professor of International History at the University of Glasgow and is the author of several books, including The Russian Civil War.
Erik Landis is a Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, and Senior Lecturer in Modern European History at Oxford Brookes. He is the author of Bandits and Partisans: The Antonov Movement in the Russian Civil War.
Catriona Kelly is Professor of Russian at the University of Oxford. She has published widely on Russian history, including St Petersburg: Shadows of the Past and Socialist Churches. She has also published translations of Mayakovsky, Tsvetaeva and others and reviews for the TLS and Guardian.