St. Petersburg, one of the main tourist destinations in Russia tour at present, has gone through one of the most unstable periods in its history in the 20th century. For St. Petersburg, this century has been marked by many historical events in which the fate of a nation was changing. Russia first witnessed two revolutions in the early 20th century. The February Revolution, which failed, and the October Revolution, which was accompanied by more careful planning and the use of the February Revolution's mistakes, led to the victory of the Bolsheviks. Leningrad suffered a historic shock during the events of Stalin's "Great Purge." It was less than a few years after the "Great Purge" activities that World War II marked the most prolonged military siege of a city in history for Leningrad. From the 1950s until the end of the 20th century, many people took over the leadership of the Soviet Union, each of which marked different historical events for Russia and St. Petersburg. You can visit our weblog for information about this historical period of St. Petersburg and its previous eras, or visit the historical museums of St. Petersburg during your travel to Russia.
Although during Brezhnev's leadership in the Soviet Union, he again denied all the relative freedoms that Khrushchev had brought to Russia. During his administration, Russia suffered an economic and social recession that eventually led to an increase in the use of smuggled goods by the Russian people. The Brezhnev era was one of the most stable periods in St. Petersburg's history in the 20th century. During Brezhnev's presidency, Russia achieved many international concessions and was mostly successful in foreign policy. However, the recession hit the Russian economy hard, and even today, the vast gap between Russia and the West is quite visible. On the other hand, the resumption of censorship and social repression during the Brezhnev era, just after Khrushchev promised more freedom to the Russian people, left most people in a state of distrust of the Soviet government. You can learn more about this period when visiting the Museum of Political History during your trip to St. Petersburg.
In less than four years, three different people took over the Soviet Union leadership when Leonid Brezhnev, who had become addicted to sleeping pills, died of a heart attack at the age of 74. At first, Yuri Andropov, the 68-year-old former head of the KGB, became president of the Soviet Union, who died in 1984. He was succeeded by 72-year-old Konstantin Chernenko, who passed away in 1986. Surprisingly, the 54-year-old anonymous Mikhail Gorbachev took over the Soviet leadership. One of his first acts was the promise of freedom of information and enlightenment. His other fundamental commitment was to rebuild the ruined Soviet political, economic, and social system. His reckless remarks at a meeting of the Communist Party of Leningrad broadcast on national television were shocking to the Russian people. Unlike his former counterparts, Gorbachev spoke of the Soviet systematic problems and promised to rectify past mistakes. That speech angered other prominent members of the Communist Party.
Contrary to many people's beliefs, Gorbachev pursued most of his words. Less than a few months after Gorbachev came to power, Russian society, and especially St. Petersburg, was flooded with a wealth of information, including new political, literary, and news articles that had previously been criminalized, or in the least case, massive fines would be paid by the person who possessed such things. People lined the streets in front of newsstands, and newspapers were usually sold out very quickly. Even Russian national television began broadcasting programs that had previously been completely banned. Many social and political critique circles were formed in various cities, including St. Petersburg, which had previously led to the imprisonment or execution of those present. Of course, this period was also auspicious for the Russian tourism industry. It caused many foreign tourists who had no plans to visit Russia until then, to register in the Russia tour programs and to visit different cities of this country; St. Petersburg tour was one of the favorite programs at that time. In general, the Russian people suddenly entered an open and transparent environment from severe information suffocation, which was unimaginable before Gorbachev. That, of course, led to the collapse of the general order of society. Numerous protests erupted across the country after the liberation of the information in Russia. Economically, the country was in crisis. That is why an extremist group from the Communist Party decided to take advantage of the situation.
In 1991, a group called the Gang of Eight, which included several high-ranking political hardliners, placed Gorbachev under house arrest during his trip to the Crimea, and by declaring that Gorbachev was ill and unable to govern the Soviet Union, they took power. The group stripped most of the freedoms granted to the people under the Gorbachev government, believing that by banning demonstrations in Russia, they could complete their coup. However, the presence of people like Boris Yeltsin in Moscow, who climbed a tank in front of Moscow's White House, called on the people to confront the coup plotters. The new mayor of Leningrad, Anatoly Sobchak, who invited the people of Leningrad to the Palace Square to protest against the people who had planned a coup against the current government as well as the presence of other prominent people in other Russian cities, a nationwide demonstration took place in Russia, which ultimately led to the defeat of the coup and the arrest of all members of the Gang of Eight in less than a few hours. Although the coup failed, it ended Gorbachev's tenure in the Soviet government and eventually led to protests and demonstrations until the complete collapse of the Soviet Union.
One of the most historical events after the collapse of the Soviet Union in Leningrad was the vote to rename the city for the third time in the 20th century, when most of the city's population voted to return the name of the city to St. Petersburg. This beautiful city, which today is one of the main tourist destinations on tour to Russia, was renamed Petrograd once in the last years of the reign of Nicholas II and again after Lenin's death, the first leader of the Soviet government, to Leningrad. Of course, some places in the city that bore Leningrad's name in their title, such as the Leningrad Zoo, which was very popular among the people, retained their name. You can visit the Leningrad Zoo, one of the tourist attractions of the St. Petersburg tour in Russia, as a family activity during your travel to Russia.
This historical period was also the time of establishing one of the most famous literary and memorial museums on the Russia tour. The Anna Akhmatova Literary and Memorial Museum was established in 1989 in St. Petersburg. The museum is one of the most popular places for tourists to get acquainted with Russian literature in the 20th century, which is why many tourists visit it during their tour to St. Petersburg. The museum locates in the fountain house or Sheremetev Palace.
Another historical event during this period was the reopening of churches and the restoration of church buildings to the Russian Orthodox Church. Of course, this happened over the years, and it did not happen all at once. You can find more information about that event on the pages of various churches in St. Petersburg and Moscow on our weblog. We also provide Russia tour services and useful information about how to travel to Russia on our blog, which is provided free of charge to visitors of the Star Travel Group's website.
