Over a million demonstrators gather for a parade organised by Trotsky to show peacefully-minded Soviet forces are prepared to defend what has been achieved. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 7th November 1917

Russian Marxist theorist and Jewish revolutionary Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) attends a parade in Red Square, Moscow, as Lenin reviews his troops. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images). 1918

Disabled soldiers on parade during the Communists Red Week in Red Square. The banner reads “Marching From October to the Next, We Shall Reach the World's October”. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). Circa 1924

Russian children waving flags during May Day celebrations in Red Square, Moscow. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 1st May 1924

A procession through Moscow's Red Square to celebrate the annual May Day holiday. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 1st May 1929

A display by more than 40,000 young people, belonging to various athletic clubs of the USSR republics, in Red Square, Moscow. Members of the “Locomotive” sports club are parading in star formation. (Photo by London Express/Getty Images). 1st May 1937

Heavy artillery on parade during a review of the Moscow Garrison troops during the May Day celebrations in Red Square, passing posters of Lenin and Stalin. (Photo by N. Sitnikov/Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 1st May 1947

A communist May Day parade outside the parliament buildings, Vienna, 1st May 1950. On the right is a large portrait of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The Soviet Army marching during May Day celebrations. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 1954

The People's Army with a Russian T-34 tank parading in East Berlin at a May Day military parade. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). May 1958

Russian communist leaders led by Joseph Stalin (1879–1953) saluting the May Day Parade in Red Square, Moscow. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). May 1952

Romanians celebrating May Day in Bucharest. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1955

A military parade through Red Square in Moscow, to commemorated the 42nd anniversary of the October Revolution, November 1959. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

May Day parade. Moscow, Russia. May 1958 (Photo by Howard Sochurek/Life)

May Day parade. Moscow, Russia. May 1960 (Photo by Carl Mydans/Life)

Crowds gathered in Red Square, Moscow, to welcome home Russian cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, and Valery Bykovsky, who has been in space for longer than any other cosmonaut. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images). 24th June 1963

An anti-missile tank during the Russian Revolution parade at Red Square, Moscow. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images). 11th November 1963

May Day parade. Moscow, Russia. May 1963 (Photo by Stan Wayman/Life)

Anti-missile rockets passing through Red Square, Moscow, during a Russian Revolution celebration parade. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images). November 1964

A Russian Intercontinental Missile crossing Red Square during the military parade in Moscow marking the 20th Anniversary of the end of the war in Europe. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images). May 1965

Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) at the Lenin Mausoleum in Red Square, Moscow. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). May 1964

Mao Tse-Tung (Mao Zedong) (1893–1976) at a Red Guard rally in Peking. His followers wave their “Little Red Books” at him as he passes. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 1966

Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung, accompanied by his second-in-command Lin Biao (1907–1971), passes along the ranks of revolutionaries during a rally in Tiananmen Square, Peking (Beijing), 1966. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Over a million Red Guards, carrying flags and a huge statue of Chairman Mao, at the 1st of October celebrations in Beijing. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 12th October 1966

Missiles being driven through the Moscow streets during a parade to celebrate the 51st anniversary of the Russian revolution. (Photo by Vassily Yegorov/Central Press/Getty Images). November 1968

A parade of young Russian sportsmen during the Mayday celebrations in Red Square, Moscow. This years event did not contain any display of weaponry. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images). 1st May 1969

High angle view of anti-aircraft missiles on parade as they are led past Lenin's Tomb en route to the saluting base in Red Square to celebrate the 52nd anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, November, 1969. (Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)

Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) and fellow Politburo members, left to right, Nikolai V. Podgorny (1903–1983), Brezhnev, Alexei N. Kosygin (1904–1980), Mikhail A. Suslov (1902–1982), and others watching the Bolshevik anniversary parade in Red Square, Moscow, as the snow falls on Lenin's tomb. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Pro-Vietnam/anti US posters on display during a May Day parade in Moscow. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). Circa 1970

Weapons on display in a military parade to mark the anniversary of the Cuban Revolution of 1956. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 2nd December 1976

Missiles passing a poster of Lenin in Red Square, Moscow, during the 61st Anniversary of the Russian Revolution celebrations. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). November 1978