A special attitude toward history has always been characteristic of Russia. The country’s rich past, with its multitude of ambiguous events and problematic issues, makes Russian history a platform for discussions not only of the past, but of the present and the future as well. Historical events of various periods are constantly re-examined and updated, becoming tools for solving various issues of the present day.
The October Revolution can be considered one of the most important events in the 20th century history of Russia and the world. The revolution is a kind of eventsymbol. As a watershed, fate-changing occurrence, it is an integral part, irrespective of interpretation, of any offi cial narrative — and is an actively exploited object of public history. But at the same time, the image of October is far from unambiguous and is constantly reinterpreted.
This article is aimed at demonstrating the place of the October Revolution in the symbolic policy of the Russian Federation, revealing the main aspects of the commemoration of the event-symbol and demonstrating the main trends in this policy and the reasons behind them.
According to the author, it is diffi cult to deny that the October symbol is often used by representatives of the country’s political elite for purposes far from those of unbiased scholarly knowledge. One way or another, the symbol of the October Revolution organically fi ts into the concept of a great power, based on the continuity of the history of a great state.