“Beyond the Great Story” of War and Revolution

Abstract

This essay looks at the ways our understanding of the Russian revolution was conditioned by contemporary narratives of progress and change, and how these narratives and the “historical imaginations” that created them also influenced later tellings of the “great story.” In this way it attempts to reposition the grave problems Russia faced especially after 1914 in terms of the actual and proposed solutions offered by historical actors, and evaluates their effectiveness as well as their relation especially to the evolving meanings of revolution. In the process, it emphasizes the subjective aspects of problems like scarcity and personal loss, and how these might not have been amenable to the rational logics of state administration.