Images

A First World War (1914-18) Zeppelin airship, likely L50, leaving its hangar. During the war, Zeppelins were used by the German Army and Navy for reconnaissance and to bomb targets in enemy territory. Imperial War Museums, London.

A 1906 photograph of Leon Trotsky (1879-1940), a key member of the Petrograd Soviet, awaiting trial following the failed Russian Revolution of 1905.

A photograph of a meeting of the Petrograd Soviet (workers' council) in 1917.

This 1795 painting depicts the famous naval battle of the Glorious First of June (1794). In this battle, the British navy, under the command of Admiral Richard Howe defeated the French navy during the Revolutionary Wars. This painting captures...

A May 1917 photograph of Russian Menshevik revolutionaries in exile in Stockholm. Left to Right: Pavel Axelrod, Julius Martov and Alexander Martinov.

A 1914 photograph of the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924). Lenin led the Bolshevik faction of socialists in pre-revolution Russia and then seized power in November 1917, becoming head of the Soviet state.

A 1910 photograph of the Russian socialist and revolutionary Julius Martov (1873-1923) who led the Menshevik faction in pre-revolution Russia.

The first page of the first issue of the Russian political newspaper Pravda (May, 1912). Edited by socialists, the newspaper became the official mouthpiece of the Russian Bolshevik/Communist Party.

The first page of the first issue of the Russian political newspaper Iskra. December 1900. Edited by socialists, the newspaper became the official mouthpiece of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP).

A 1794 painting of Admiral Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe (1726-99), the famous British admiral who commanded the British Fleet during the Revolutionary War of 1776. Painting by John Singleton Copley. (Royal Museums Greenwich)