15. Russian history: Modernizing Russia.

14. Russian history: Hunt for top job.

13. Russian history: New head, new hopes.

12. Russian history: Healing wounds of wild 90s.

11. Russian history: Russia after the Soviet Union.

10. Russian history: Glasnost and perestroika times.

9. Russian history: Warming up during the Cold War.
Despite the unprecedented devastation, the Soviet Union emerged from WW2 as an acknowledged superpower. By the end of the war, “Uncle Joe”, as Stalin was nicknamed by the Western media, had cultivated a productive relationship with the United States. But the wartime alliance didn’t last. In 1946, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill warned of an “iron curtain” as Stalin was turning most of eastern and central Europe into Soviet satellite states.

8. Russian history: The Great Patriotic War.
The outbreak of the Second World War found the Soviet Union unprepared for the conflict ahead. Political purges had stripped the army of many of its experienced leaders while industrial production was slow in adapting to military needs. Having signed a non-aggression pact with Germany in 1939, Hitler’s invasion of June 1941 caught the USSR by surprise. By the end of the year, the Germans had seized most of the Soviet Union’s western territory and surrounded Leningrad.

7. Russian history: Uncle Joe at the wheel.
Rise of Stalin. After Lenin’s death, the Communist Party was torn apart by a bitter power struggle. Joseph Stalin emerged victorious and went on to rule the Soviet Union for a quarter of a century, becoming one of the most powerful and murderous dictators in history. Iosif Dzhugashvili was born on 18 December 1879 in Georgia, then part of the Russian empire. He studied at a theological seminary and had some success as a poet, publishing some of his verse in local newspapers.

6. Russian history: The Soviet saint.
Lenin’s “different path”. A political genius, a German spy, a poor economist – the architect of the Soviet state left a controversial legacy. Vladimir Ulyanov was born in the town of Simbirsk on the Volga River on 22 April 1870. When he was 17 his elder brother Alexander was hanged for taking part in a failed plot against Tsar Alexander III. According to the Soviet version of history, it was the turning point in Lenin’s life. He decided a different strategy was needed to get rid of the monarchy. His phrase “We will follow a different path” was widely popularized in the Soviet Union. Nowadays, pronounced with a good deal of irony, the aphorism means you want to do things differently from your colleagues and predecessors to get better results.