Russian Revolution, October 1917. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Ulyanov - 1870-1924). Undated Communist poster.

Russia

German soldiers with a horse-drawn cart during the retreat from Ukraine in 1943. The idea of Teutonic efficiency was a triumph of Nazi spin, says James Holland. (Keystone/Getty Images)

The great misconceptions of the Second World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Battle on the Ice, fought between the men of Novgorod and the Teutonic Knights, was a landmark in European history, says Dominic Sandbrook. (Alamy)

A big day in history: Nevsky's Russians crush the Teutonic Knights. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

George Frederick Handel married opera's passion with the respectability of biblical texts, says Tim Blanning. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

10 milestones in the history of western music. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ye olde travel guide: Moscow 1937. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Russian queen Catherine the Great

In pictures: Catherine the Great

Moscow 1980: going to the games. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Cold War Olympic boycott. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Industrial might: Blenheim bombers in production in England, late 1939. The Allies’ combined industrial strength proved too much for the Axis. (Getty Images)

Second World War

The LibraryThe world in flames

The Flight of Bonaparte from the Battle of Krasnoi, 1815. Artist: Sutherland, Thomas (1785-1838)

How Napoleon was humbled. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Vasily Grossman with the Red Army in Schwerin, Germany, 1945. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

A war of words. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Operation Barbarossa, which began on 22 June 1941, saw more than three million German troops surge into the Soviet Union along a front of more than 1,000 miles. (Photo by Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Barbarossa and Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Does Russia need an iron fist?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration by Jonty Clark

Ye olde travel guide: St Petersburg 1725. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Communist sport: Cold War copycats. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Toilers of the deep: the lives of Edwardian deep sea fishermen

Anton Chekhov (1860–1904), pictured here c1895, is one of the most important figures in modern Russian literature. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

My history hero: Anton Chekhov (1860–1904). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The statue Worker and Kolkhoz Woman in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Getty Images)

Communist Moscow. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.