Story Highlights
- Historical event:
- 12. March 1918
- Petrograd (St. Petersburg) was the capital of Russia for around 200 years, but on this day the Bolsheviks moved the capital to Moscow, which was easier to defend.
On this day in 1918 Moscow became the capital of Russia following a decision by the Soviet leadership. This took place only a few months after the October Revolution, and the decision was in good part conditioned by the fact that Moscow was more defensible than the previous capital – Petrograd.
Namely, Petrograd (St. Petersburg) had been the Russian capital for around 200 years (more precisely, it was Emperor Peter the Great who transferred the capital from Moscow to the newly-founded St. Petersburg on the sea coast).
At the time when the capital was transferred from Petrograd to Moscow, the Bolsheviks had already introduced the Gregorian calendar in Russia (in February the same year). In this way, the Bolsheviks brought their date in line with the Western world’s.
Let us mention that the USSR did not yet exist at that time, since it was founded only in 1922. Of course, with the founding of the USSR, Moscow also became its capital. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moscow, of course, became the capital of the Russian Federation.
