The Historiography of the October Revolution in America and Russia, 1918-2023: A Comparative Review

Abstract

This paper offers a comparative summary of the historiography of the October Revolution in both the United States and the USSR, as well as the Russian Federation. Ultimately, the author finds that the October Revolution was contested on political grounds from its very inception onwards. Across both sides of the iron curtain the event was used in propaganda. The onset of the Cold War further emphasized this political division. With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the historiography became much more international and open, but developments within Russia throughout the 2010s and 2020s have threatened this fragile state of affairs.