Kulak, (Russian: “fist”), in Russian and Soviet history, a wealthy or prosperous peasant, generally characterized as one who owned a relatively large farm and several head of cattle and horses and who was financially capable of employing hired labour and leasing land.

According to another myth, Rasputin’s defiance of death was such that the plotters had to drown him in icy water. But the autopsy said: “No evidence of drowning was found. Rasputin was already dead when he was thrown into the water.” Yusupov went into exile in Paris after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and lived to 80.

The situation climaxed with the October Revolution in 1917, a Bolshevik-led armed insurrection by workers and soldiers in Petrograd that successfully overthrew the Provisional Government, transferring all its authority to the Soviets. They soon relocated the national capital to Moscow.

Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee

The MRC was established to protect Petrograd and allowed socialists to infiltrate the army. Trotsky had superb organisational and improvisational skills. His position in the Soviet allowed him to create the Red Guard. This was a Bolshevik militia, formed from armed factory workers, soldiers and sailors.

The Centre, led by Imperial College London and King’s College London, is funded with two five-year grants of £5 million from the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research and was officially opened in June 2013.

White Terror is the name of several episodes of mass violence in history, carried out against socialists, revolutionaries, or other opponents by conservative or nationalist groups.