'Better than history at school! Eye-opening & weirdly timely’: Twitter reacts to #1917LIVE

RT’s #1917LIVE re-enactment of the Russian Revolution has just witnessed Vladimir Lenin’s return home. As the Bolshevik takeover draws nearer, the events and characters gain in complexity, thanks in no small part to you, the project’s growing user base.

This would not have been possible without our many loyal readers inhabiting fascinating real-life characters as we march onwards.

This self-contained world has taken on a life of its own over the past four months, attracting project from near and far. Giving people a window into Russian history that goes beyond your typical history class has always been the aim. 

[Historical characters tell us how they lived through the Russian Revolution on #1917LIVE]

Even we, the creators, are often surprised by the humorous exchanges taking place between key historical figures – Russian, French, German – something that could never have happened in real-life 1917. One can only imagine all the tensions that could have been diffused with Twitter at the dawn of the 20th century.

READ MORE: #1917LIVE: 5 times Vladimir Lenin broke character while tweeting on trending hashtags

The country exploded in revolt in March, 1917 and to the great surprise of many, the centuries-old Russian monarchy was toppled. By April, the gloves were really off. Rallies, insubordination and open violence stretched from the central city of Samara all the way to our sailors stationed at Helsingfors, present-day Helsinki.

[The most entertaining thing on Twitter for the coming months]

Vladimir Lenin’s timely (untimely – if you’re the @ProvisionalGovernment) return spelled doom for social-democratic elites whose admirable philosophy and promise of reform never amounted to much, save for political bickering.

One-upmanship was the name of the game in April, as the Provisional Government and the rival Soviets duked it out on the political arena – a period known as the Dual Rule. The latter was intent on keeping Russia’s promise to its Entente allies, France and Britain. The Soviets – representing the soldiers, peasants and workers, opposed the plan, sowing social upheaval until Lenin’s return.

READ MORE: #1917LIVE: Real-time Lenin tracker

Their trump card was the overwhelming popular support that the social-democrat Alexander Kerensky and his cohorts never mustered. In April, we see just how risky the Provisional Government’s move to rule with just bureaucracy as its only tool.

The leader of the Bolshevik party Vladimir Lenin charted an entirely different course – one of building a global Socialist Revolution based on the key tenets of Marxism, starting at home. Lenin is forever known to history as a master manipulator with an ability to hypnotize people into rising up against seemingly insurmountable odds. His April Theses had laid the foundation for continuing this struggle for power at home.

READ MORE: #1917LIVE: Lenin talks socialist revolution in 'real-time Q&A' on Twitter

Plenty more developments are to follow in May, including the return of Leon Trotsky – Lenin’s closest ‘frienemy’.
Anyone is free to get involved in the project by creating a historic Twitter profile and tweeting under hashtag #1917CROWD. 

RT hopes the project’s fans and ‘characters’ will stay with us through thick and thin, until we bring the Russian Revolution to its roaring October crescendo!