As the spectre of foreign invasion loomed over revolutionary Russia, Vladimir Lenin made the momentous decision on 12 March 1918 to shift the capital from Petrograd (St. Petersburg) to Moscow, a move driven by both strategic and symbolic imperatives.
Petrograd, perilously close to the western front and vulnerable to potential incursions from German forces amid World War I, was deemed untenable as the nerve centre of Bolshevik power.
Moscow, with its more defensible inland position and historical gravitas, became the new seat of government, solidifying its status as the heart of Soviet rule.
This relocation marked a crucial step in Lenin’s consolidation of power, as he sought to safeguard the revolution from external threats while fortifying the Bolsheviks’ grip over the fractured nation.
