ABSTRACT
The centenary of the Russian Revolution has been celebrated not with a bang, but a whimper. Its most important consequence was its role in the defeat of Nazism and Fascism in Europe. Historical memorialization comes from many sources but there are two of overwhelming importance. The key point to take from this for our discussion is that the state and the hegemonic culture flowing from it, even as it changes, can affect historical memory in a big way. Self-representation sprang up everywhere, most astonishingly in the military where ordinary soldiers set up committees and, before the initial dust of the February Revolution had settled, were emboldened to begin electing their own officers, a policy too radical even for the Petrograd soviet which quickly called a halt to it. The social models are in some ways reminiscent of the most imaginative architectural projects of the time which have long been admired but few of which were built.
