102.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” - George Santayana

Putin makes a very apt comparison to 1917, without, perhaps, learning much from it. Nicholas II’s downfall actually began in 1905 with the less than successful Russo- Japanese War, even though it did expand the empire and acquired a warm water port, Vladisvostok. Remember, most of Russia’s coastlines are frozen for a good part of the year, except, when it was part of the empire, the Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea. Even then the USSR and then the Russian Federation, had to traverse Western/NATO allies to gain access to the open sea. The acquisition of a year-round accessible port has been a motivator for Russia for decades (see the southward invasion of Afghanistan in 1980, with the goal of eventually taking over the Persian Gulf.).

Internal disarray and a costly war lead to the fall of Nicholas II. One form of autocracy was replaced by another in 1917 and the dismantlement of the Soviet state gave way eventually to another in the form of oligarchy. This is Putin’s legacy. And like others before him, he has not heeded history very successful.