Autumn 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, during which the Bolsheviks overthrew the last Russian autocrat, Nicholas II. The course of development of Russia and the whole world has changed. A fundamentally new system appeared, denying the foundations of capitalism. There is a cultural institution in Moscow, the name and content of which brings the viewer back to those turbulent times. This is the Museum of the Revolution on Tverskaya-Yamskaya, 21. Since 1998, it has been the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia (hereinafter, for brevity, the Museum of the Revolution).
Armored car and Kozyavka
In the October poem "Good" the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote: "Which are temporary! Get off! Your time is up!" The uninitiated think: "The Museum of the October Revolution, located in an old mansion, tells only about the storming of the Winter Palace, the volley of the Aurora, Lenin's armored car." This is not entirely true. The we alth of diverse expositions that tell about the economic and socio-political development of Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the priorities of modern Russia, and the continuity of generations is striking. Visitors notefriendliness and professionalism of the guides. Tour guides do not tend to embellish the ideas of socialism. They just tell how it all happened.
Weapons, clothes, printing presses, the interior of a restaurant where grandparents used to go, a stuffed dog Boat that flew into space - thirty halls of an unrealistically fascinating journey into the past. There is an opinion: the period of the modern history of the country that has sunk into oblivion looks weighty, visible, but not rude. Children like to watch filmstrips, and parents like to be nostalgic. Café-Museum is popular with products now referred to as “natural, let alone…”, candy made from a 40-year-old recipe.
Noticeable building
Most visitors leave with the intention of recommending to friends to visit the Museum of the Revolution. In Moscow, on Tverskaya, they felt good: informative, no fuss and vulgarity. By the way, there is a hall that tells about the fate of the building itself. It was built in the 18th century. Quite well preserved outside and inside. I saw different owners and visitors. The owner of the old estate was the poet, playwright Mikhail Kheraskov (earlier information has also been preserved), who sold it to the count, Major General Lev Razumovsky.
The main building (the main house) was erected under Catherine the Great (1777-1780). Later, Adam Menelas, well-known among the architects of the time, added additional wings. The estate came out in a style characteristic of mature classicism. The invasion of Napoleon's army did not spare the beauty. perestroikaentrusted to the architect Domenico Gilardi. By the way, there is another museum. On Revolution Square (Moscow), he opens his doors to everyone who is interested in learning about the Patriotic War of 1812. But back to the topic. When Razumovsky died, the widow handed over the architectural heritage to her brother Nikolai Vyazemsky. Nikolai Grigorievich ceded the buildings to the Moscow English Club (1831). Until 1917, men of noble origin held social gatherings there. At one time, randomly overgrown commercial buildings covered a beautiful facade (you had to wander in search of an entrance).
New palace life
The history of the Museum of the Revolution began shortly after the fiery events of October. It was decided to form funds of materials on the Russian liberation movement, to comprehensively study the accumulated information. In its residual form (in small areas), the club operated as early as the beginning of 1918. But the past gave way to the future. New decrees, decisions came in a stream. The very first order issued by the Commission for the Protection of Monuments of Art and Antiquities under the People's Commissariat of Education concerned the preservation of the architectural appearance of the estate given over to a cultural institution. The outlets that once treacherously grew up in front of the palace were demolished. The façade gleamed with grandeur again.
The halls of the English Club “sounded” differently: the Museum of Old Moscow now worked here. The first exhibition in the institution named after the revolution opened in November 1922 and was called "Red Moscow". Vladimir Gilyarovsky, a writer of the capital, said that the opening took place at six in the evening. Turned on the electricity. In the hallsfor several years standing without heating, as if warmer. The visitors of the new model were completely different from the previous inhabitants: in military overcoats, leather jackets, coats, they busily walked around the recent "kingdom of idleness".
We have no other way, there is a stop in the commune
The people proudly admired the red flags and formidable weapons of the uprising, hung on the ancient marble walls. The old portrait room was decorated with paintings and photographs of the heroes of the “ten days that shook the world” (this is how the American journalist John Reed described the events). Among the guests were women (which could not be the case when the English club).
Everyone was happy that there was a new museum. There was a lot of revolution in the showcases and thematic corners: soldiers, sailors, the birth of a new world! Many recognized each other in combat photographs. The collected storage units became the basis of the exposition of the Historical and Revolutionary Museum of Moscow. In 1924, the institution became the State Museum of the Revolution. The first leader Sergei Mitskevich is a well-known personality. Russian revolutionary, master of the journalistic genre, historian, professor at Moscow University. Organizer of the Moscow Workers' Union.
The further into socialism
The Museum of the Revolution in Moscow widely covered the subject of mass demonstrations of peasants against the noble-landlord state (notably: their leaders Stepan Razin and Emelyan Pugachev were born in the village of Zimoveyskaya-on-Don with a difference of a hundred years). It was possible to expand personal knowledge aboutthe Decembrist movement, Narodnaya Volya, to understand the "wilds" of the events of the Russian revolutions, the civil war. These were the oldest exhibits that the Museum of the Revolution had.
Moscow understood that the gradually accumulating experience of building socialism needed to be systematized and actively popularized. Since 1927, the thematic framework has expanded. For decades in a row, the world of developing (and then developed) socialism attracted not only citizens of the Soviet Union, but also foreign guests.
Repin's gift
Individual statesmen, large delegations from capitalist, socialist, developing countries, writers, artists, sculptors, theatrical figures, "workers of all countries" considered it their duty to visit the Museum of the Revolution. Some guests did not come empty-handed. So the exposition was replenished with paintings “January 9”, “Red Funeral” and others imbued with a rebellious spirit. They were presented by the famous painter Ilya Repin.
Loving citizens of the USSR and friendly countries brought gifts to the leader of the state, Joseph Stalin. Many of them had a touch of ideology: a telephone in the form of a globe, a telephone receiver-hammer, a watch decorated with a small gold T-34 tank. The gift exhibition operated from the 39th to the 55th years of the 20th century. An unusual assortment is popular with viewers today. In 1941, the museum was already among the undisputed leaders among such institutions. The funds totaled one million items. Branches opened.
Shared best practices
The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) made drastic adjustments to the scientific and educational activities of the museum. The revolution did not happen, just the lion's share of the funds went deep into the rear. The number of employees was cut almost three times. But the work didn't stop. In July 1941, visitors were offered an exhibition that tells about the struggle of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders. Both the head center and the branches met and saw off tourists throughout the war years.
The enemy was rushing towards Moscow. Museum workers resisted him in the way they could: telling people about the heroism of Soviet soldiers. The visitor statistics says: the number of visitors for 1942 is 423.5 thousand people.
There was an open-air exposition (guns, mortars and other equipment of the Red Army and enemy trophies). They returned to the usual rhythm of work in 1944. There was a partial re-profiling: materials reflecting the features of the revolutionary liberation movement were dispersed. Some "left" to the GAU (Main Archival Administration), others - to the State Historical Museum, popularly known as the Museum of the Revolution on Red Square, and others - gratefully received by the Library of Foreign Literature. The sender himself focused on studying the ideological trend known as the Russian Social Democratic. It was also necessary to understand the intricacies of development inherent in a society of justice, freedom and equality.
Approachedobjectivity
It is known that once some of the names worthy of memory were in disgrace: the exaggeration of the significance of the contribution of Joseph Dzhugashvili (Stalin) to the country's achievements flourished. In 1959, after the famous XX Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the crowned personality was debunked. Excursion texts have become bolder, more objective. Those who visited the institution at the very beginning of the 1960s remember: a huge amount of exhibits was exhibited, telling about the development of he althcare and education. The visitors learned how, in the conditions of industrial growth, they protect the environment, what is happening in the "culture" industry, how many times the well-being of Soviet citizens has increased.
In 1968, another renaming took place: the inscription "Central Museum of the Revolution of the USSR" appeared on the signboard. The following year, he was granted the right to conduct scientific research. For the first time, the high status of a scientific research institute was assigned to an institution-custodian of the heritage of the centuries. The solid level of activity was evaluated by awards of the state level. The laboratory of museology was opened (1984), which began research into the history of museum work in the Soviet Union.
Is there life outside of ideology?
The socio-political processes of the country of the mid-1980s interrupted the "continuity of generations." A new interpretation of the past, a retreat from the intended path to communism, and other modern trends prompted the rejection of ideologization and propaganda. Special vaults have been opened for public viewing.
In 1998 the MuseumThe Revolution radically rebuilt the exposition. GCMSIR has become a major scientific and methodological center, hosting delegates of thematic meetings, conducting scientific and practical classes. Museum workers from all over the country come here to expand their experience. All interested individuals and legal entities can count on receiving methodological recommendations and professional training.
