Hello and welcome to the History Hour podcast from the BBC World Service with me Max Pearson,

bringing the past to life with those who were there.

This week, the son of a murdered pro-democracy activist in post-communist Russia.

She was one of the very prominent speakers,

and that is when she became popular Soviet Union-wide

because the Congress was fully televised. It was an unbelievable breath of fresh air.

Plus the hunt for Radavan Karajich and the artist who had himself shot in the 1970s.

He said, are you ready?

He said yes, and then he pulled the trigger.

That's all coming up later in the podcast, but we're going to begin in Sudan, a vast country in the heart of Africa with a population of more than 45 million.

A country currently racked by political tension with ongoing protests against a military coup last month.

At least 20 people have been killed in clashes with the security forces.

But could these civilian demonstrators force the military to hand over power? Well, there is a precedent in Sudan from

the 1960s, and Alex Last is here to tell us about it, Alex. Yes, Max, well, given the recent history

in Sudan, I thought we should really go back to 1964 and the first time

Sudanese civilians brought down a military regime.

And to be honest, I've been racking my brains about this and maybe you can correct me, but

I think it's probably one of the first times in modern history where civilian protests did force the military to give up power.

What happened in Sudan in 1964 became known as the October Revolution and it's inspired songs and

Sudanese poetry but perhaps most importantly it served as an inspiration for

civilian protesters ever since in Sudan and indeed

Sudanese people have brought down military regimes in 85 and 2019. So to tell

...