Note on Transliteration and Calendars

Calendars

Until February 1918 Russia used the Julian rather than the Gregorian calendar, with the effect that the Russian calendar was twelve days behind the Western calendar in the nineteenth century, and thirteen days behind at the beginning of the twentieth century. When referring to events in Russia prior to February 1918, I have given both dates, in the form 1 (13) March 1881; 25 October (7 November) 1917. When referring to events elsewhere, I have always given the ‘new-style’ Western date. If only one date appears, it can be assumed that it is the date according to the Gregorian calendar.

Transliteration

Russian names for places and people used in this book are transliterated according to a simplified version of the Library of Congress system: omitting diacritical marks and, for the most part, using the single letter ‘y’ in place of LC’s recommended ‘ii’ combination.

Personal Names

For the ease of the English reader, individuals will usually be referred to using the names by which they are most commonly known, for example Lenin as opposed to Ulyanov, Trotsky rather than Bronstein etc.