I wrote last year about how the Soviet launch of Sputnik in October 1957 affected my life.  As I introduced the topic, I said that the month of October seems to hold a special place in Russian history.  I noted the Bolshevik Revolution, the launch of Sputnik, Khrushchev’s shoe-pounding at the United Nations, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the attempted overthrow of Yeltsin. 

 Clearly, the defining event for Russia in the 20th Century was the October Revolution [Октябрьская революция] of 1917.  Bolshevik forces took over the Winter Palace in what was then Petrograd (later Leningrad; now St. Petersburg) on October 25 (Julian calendar).  Earlier, in February of the same year, Tsar Nicholas II was deposed and the 300-year-old Imperial Russia of the Romanovs came to an end.  The October Revolution led to the creation of the Soviet Union, which rose to superpower status. 

 (Younger Americans will recall the 1990 movie, Hunt for Red October, starring Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin, involving a Russian submarine named in honor of the Bolshevik rise to power.)

 After WWII (The Great Patriotic War), it quickly became apparent that the former allies were headed for conflict.  As noted in my article last year, the appearance of Sputnik in the skies in October 1957 solidified US resolve not to be overtaken by the “Red Menace.”  Sputnik spurred the US to engage the Soviet Union in a dramatic conflict for missile and space supremacy that was to continue for more than four decades.  Some would argue that the arms race is not yet completely over.

 Three years after Sputnik jolted the American psyche, fears of the Soviets seemed to be confirmed when, on October 11, 1960, Nikita Khrushchev pounded his shoe on his desk at the United Nations and declared, “We will bury you.”  Whatever it meant in Russian culture to take off one’s shoe in public and pound it on a table while talking about burying an adversary, it seemed so bizarre to Westerners as to confirm suspicions that the Soviet Union was indeed a hostile state run by a crazy man (or at least an out-of-control buffoon) determined to destroy Western society.  If they had doubts before, many Americans were now convinced that military conflict was inevitable and that it was likely to be nuclear.  Some believed the US should strike first, arguing that if the Soviets struck first, the US would not be able to strike back.  US/Soviet policy came to be dominated by the concept of Mutual Assured Destruction, aptly known by the acronym MAD.

 The Cuban Missile Crisis consumed most of the world’s oxygen the last two weeks of October 1962 as the USA and Russian seemed ready to plunge into nuclear war.  I was then living in a Washington suburb.  My son was eight months old at the time and I thought there was at least a fifty percent chance that I’d never get to see him grow up.  I admit to wondering over the years if my fears had been excessive.  Then, years later, in a news interview, I heard Robert McNamara, US Secretary of Defense in October 1962, say that at that time he feared a Soviet nuclear attack on Washington.

 After decades of MAD, the Soviet Union collapsed and the world changed.  But life was still not stable in Russia.  On October 4, 1993, a group of powerful politicians and military leaders attempted to overthrow Russia’s first president, Boris Yeltsin, in what some have called a constitutional crisis.  Yeltsin had disbanded the legislature, although the existing constitution did not give him that power.  Yeltsin claimed to base his decision on a referendum in April 1993.  The legislature pushed back, impeaching Yeltsin and naming Aleksandr Rutskoy acting president.  Demonstrators gathered in large numbers at the Russian White House.  On Sunday, 3 October, protestors occupied the mayor's offices and attempted to take over the Ostankino television centre.  Many in and outside of Russia wondered if we were seeing the first stage of another revolution.  On October 4, Yeltsin ordered the Army to open fire on the White House and arrest resistance leaders.  Key military commanders threw their weight behind Yeltsin and carried out his orders, ending the crisis.  Some reports suggest that fewer than 200 died; others say the figure is closer to 2000.    

 As I write this, another Russian/American conflict is being played out.  US President Obama announced on September 17 that the US is dropping plans to set up missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic.  The action has brought praise from Russia, though some Americans believe that Obama is selling out to an adversary.  By the time this article is printed, it will be interesting to see if October 2009 takes its place as another significant time in Russian history.  Perhaps this one will be positive for Russian/American relations.

 Stay tuned!