History of Leningrad

Leningrad, formerly St. Petersburg, capital of the Russian Empire, was one of the initial targets of the German invasion of June 1941. It was the original capital of Russia. Shortly after the communist revolution of 1917, the city was renamed Petrograd in an attempt to remove the czarist links implied by its name.

The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress, and was named after apostle Saint Peter. Peter the Great moved the royal family and government from Moscow to this city, wanting to create a "window to the west".

For two centuries (1712–1918) it was the capital of the Russian Empire. The city is remembered for Revolutions of 1917 and its fierce defense while besieged during World War II.

When the world was at war with Germany in 1914, the Imperial Government in Russia changed St Petersburg's name to Petrograd. This was mainly due to the fact that Russia wanted to separate themselves from any German sounding name.

The chief architect of the revolution was the leader of the Bolshevik Party, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, who changed his name to Vladimir Lenin.

Five days after Lenin’s death on January 26, 1924, Petrograd’s name was changed to “Leningrad” to honor the late Marxist leader.

After the communist regime in the USSR fell, the city once again took its original name, St. Petersburg, in 1991.

Dropping Lenin's name meant abandoning the legacy of the Russian revolutionary leader. Communists fiercely opposed the change, but the Orthodox Church supported the idea.
History of Leningrad

Leningrad during World War II