Weave together the many narratives of world history with our highly curated and expanding selection of diverse, fascinating resources designed to showcase the breadth and richness of Earth's story, from the earliest traces of human civilization to the dramatic developments of contemporary cultures.
Hours of research by our editors, distilled into minutes of clarity.
This quiz asks about property rights, women’s suffrage, and church–state separation to reveal whether your views align most with the Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, Anarchists, or the ultra-nationalist Black Hundreds.
The USSR’s gulag system imprisoned millions in harsh, often deadly conditions from the 1930s to the 1950s. This resource features an interactive map that shows the locations of individual camps and includes stories of those who were imprisoned.
This interactive webpage charts the USSR’s final years—from Gorbachev’s rise to the 1991 dissolution—using infographics, key quotes, and profiles of prominent political figures to explain how the Soviet state unraveled, and Russia emerged in its place.
Throughout the Cold War, the superpowers amassed enormous nuclear arsenals, each seeking a strategic advantage. Periodic arms-control agreements—such as SALT and START—slowed the buildup but never fully ended the rivalry, which repeatedly pushed the world toward potential catastrophe.
Beginning with Lenin’s return to Russia from Germany in 1917 and ending with Gorbachev’s resignation on December 25, 1991, this timeline outlines the significant domestic and foreign policy developments that led to the rise and fall of the Soviet Union.
In 1917, mass unrest, war exhaustion, and economic collapse overthrew the Romanov monarchy, enabling the Bolsheviks to seize control. The revolution dismantled imperial Russia and set the foundation for the creation of the Soviet Union.
Ruling from the mid-1920s to 1953, Joseph Stalin reshaped the Soviet Union with forced collectivization, crash industrial growth, and widespread terror. His policies modernized the economy but caused mass famine, purges, and the deaths of millions.
This Investopedia article explains how command economies work, which countries have used them, and why even market-based nations like the US sometimes adopt tools such as rationing or price controls during wartime or national emergencies.
Lenin argued that capitalism concentrated power in a small ruling class, and only transferring authority to industrial workers could eliminate exploitation and class hierarchy. This five-minute explainer outlines how he envisioned that revolutionary shift.
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From 1613 to 1917, 18 Romanovs—including Peter and Catherine the Great—governed the vast Russian Empire. Their dynasty ended abruptly in 1917 when Nicholas II abdicated amid wartime shortages and revolutionary unrest, marking the end of imperial Russia.
