28 August, 2014: The State Russian Museum in St Petersburg has launched a new exhibition entitled “The First World War 1914-1918″, to showcase and commemorate Russian involvement in the war. This landmark exhibition, occurring at a time when ties between Russian and the West have become more strained than usual, provides an exemplary environment for a school tour. 

Top school travel companies providing school tour itineraries say students can take up the chance to not only explore the significance of the Great War during this centenary year, but also to do so from alternative points of view. This exhibition sheds light on the Russian contribution to the war which as for many years been obscured in history. 

Commemorating the Great War is a Recent Trend 

Historians say recognition and expression of the sacrifice made by more than 900,000 officers and soldiers has been superficial and difficult, and the nation was not even invited to share in the peace treaty following the war. This makes the current exhibition in the State Russian museum, and others at Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps, the Military Medicine Museum, the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Preserve, all the more significant, they claim. 

The State Russian Museum brings to the public the artistic endeavours of those painters and curators who battled in the front lines, along with the songs, waltzes and marches that followed the troops. In addition, the WW1-era films and photographs, and rare artworks such as the canvas by Vasily Shuchaev entitled “Regiment at the Emplacement Site”, portray how attitudes to the war changed over its course and after its end. 

Students, say representatives from school travel companies, should not miss this fresh recognition of Russia’s pivotal role in its “Forgotten War”. They say a school tour to Russia is an ideal way for students to learn about and value the impact of the First World War from a perspective that has almost been lost in the annals of history. 

About Equity School Travel: 

Equity School Travel offers educational trips worldwide, with a wide variety of subject matters. Find them at www.equity.co.uk 

For Media Contact:
One Jubilee Street
Brighton
East Sussex
BN1 1GE
0044 (0) 1273 648 248
[email protected]