Lomonosov Moscow State University hosts international conference 'Centennial of Russian Revolution of 1917'

Lomonosov Moscow State University is holding the first day of the international scientific conference titled 'The Centennial of the Russian Revolution of 1917'. The conference will continue until 31 March.the Department of History of MSU

The conference was organized by the Departments of History and Political Science of MSU, the Institute of History, the Department of Political Science of the St. Petersburg State University, the Russian Historical Society, the Russian Society of Political Scientists, the Faculty of History and Philology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the State Historical Museum of Russia, the Moscow State Pedagogical University, the Faculty of the Humanities and Arts of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Institute of History of NAS of Belarus and Mogilev State A. Kuleshov University. The Moscow House of Nationalities is also involved in organizing the conference.

The program committee of the conference is headed by the rector of Moscow State University, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Sadovnichy.

Chairman of the Organizing Committee is the member of RAS, scientific director of the IEA RAS, Academician-Secretary of the Department of Historical and Philological Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences, member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences Valery Tishkov.

The first plenary session will be addressed by Viktor Sadovnichy, Valery Tishkov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, the Federation Council member Viktor Kondrashin, Doctor of Economics, Chairman of the Russian Historical Society Sergey Naryshkin, the rector of the Moscow State University of International Relations, Academician, Anatoly Torkunov, the scientific director of the Institute of World history of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician Aleksandr Chubarian, doctor of historical sciences, professor, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education and Science, Vyacheslav Nikonov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, as well as Director of the Institute of Russian History, Yuri Petrov.

The member of the Council of the Federation Committee on Science, Education, Culture, senator Viktor Kondrashin, read out the welcome address of the Speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, Valentina Matviyenko, on the occasion of the opening of the international scientific conference titled 'The Centennial of the Russian Revolution of 1917', which stressed that the initiative of Lomonosov Moscow State University to hold such a large-scale scientific forum is very significant.

"There is a whole range of topical issues concerning this revolutionary epoch on the agenda of your conference. As never before, it is important to preserve the connection of times, careful and respectful attitude to all periods of our history. It is necessary to give an objective assessment of complex and contradictory events of a hundred years ago, without allowing their distortion," the greeting says.

"The memory of the revolution of 1917 and its role in the fate of the Russian state should help us draw the right lessons from the past. Our common duty is to protect the historical truth. This is the guarantee of friendship, good-neighborliness and mutual respect. I am convinced that holding the conference will help solve this most important task," Valentina Matvienko wrote.

A hundred years ago there was a revolution in Russia which divided the history of our country into "before" and "after" and had a significant impact on world events, the rector of Moscow State University, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Sadovnichy, said addressing the event.

"Today, just like 100 years ago, disputes over the significance, results and consequences of the revolution continue till nowadays. They are being conducted on the widest public venues as well - it is a clear indication that we are still at the beginning of the path of understanding the lessons of this historic event," Victor Sadovnichy noted, adding that it is necessary to look impartially and comprehensively on the events that happened 100 years ago.

"Vladimir Putin in his December message to the Federal Assembly said that our society needs an objective, honest, profound analysis of these events. Of course, it sets the task of raising the problem of studying the Russian revolution to a qualitatively new level," the rector of Moscow State University noted.

Of course, the Russian revolution of 1917, on the one hand, needs to be placed on a par with similar historical events in other countries. But, at the same time, it is a unique phenomenon, since nowhere in the world there was such a large-scale social upheaval," the scientist stressed.

"How many revolutions were there in 1917, one or two? What did the 1917 Russian Revolution give to our country, and what did the country lose? Even today,100 years later, it is hardly possible to give an unambiguous and definitive answer. We should not only comprehend this period of our history, but also to accept it with all the tragedies and victories," Viktor Sadovnichy concluded.