9-15 July 1917
- By Mark Sutcliffe
- •
- 15 Jul, 2017
- •
The city rose in tears and blood, in hunger and cold, in the
forced labour of myriads of the starved and beaten. Their bones lie buried deep
in the mud below. But their outraged spirits seem to live again in the
Petrograd workingmen of today – spirits powerful and avenging. The serfs of
Peter built the city; presently their descendants will be coming into their
own. It does not appear thus in midsummer 1917. The black shadow of reaction
hovers over them. But the Bolsheviks bide their time. History, they feel, is on
their side. Their ideas are working out in the villages, in the fleet and at
the front. To these places I now make my way.
(Albert Rhys Williams, Through the Russian Revolution, New York 1921)
9 July
It seemed as if the disaster of the July days had set the
Bolsheviks back years. Steklov was arrested. The authorities ransacked the
house of Anna Elizarova, Lenin’s sister [Lenin was in hiding in Finland]. They
took Kamenev on the 9th. By the late days of the month, Lunacharsky and Trotsky
had joined many of the Bolshevik leaders, and other activists, in Kresty
prison, where the guards stoked up the criminals against the ‘German spies’.
(China Miéville, October: The Story of the Russian Revolution, London 2017)
10 July
Tutor Piotr Petrov to Grand Duchess Olga, Nicholas II’s daughter
The good Lord has allowed me to live until Your name-day, my
dear unforgettable pupil, dearest Olga Nicolaevna! If the good fairies of the
stories really existed on this earth, I would ask them to bestow all the good
wishes , which only those fantastical creatures are able to grant! I, as You
are very well aware, am not a fairy, nevertheless from the depths of my heart
and affection for you, I want to wish you the one thing, which is more precious
than anything else on this earth: physical health and mental balance!
Everything else will follow. Goodbye until the next time! Please send my
respectful greetings to Mama, Papa, Alexei Nicolaevich and your sisters. May
God keep You! Your old P.V.P.
(Sergei Mironenko, A Lifelong Passion, London 1996)
11 July
Diary of Nicholas II
In the morning I went for a walk with Alexei. On our return,
I learnt of Kerensky’s arrival.
Memoir of Count Benckendorff
On the 11th July, at 11 o’clock in the morning, Kerensky
came to the Emperor to report that the situation in the town had become
alarming and he thought it would be more prudent for His Majesty and his family
to leave, and to settle in the interior of the country. He said that he himself
and the Emperor were in great danger. The Bolsheviks ‘are after me, and then
will be after you’.
(Sergei Mironenko, A Lifelong Passion, London 1996)
12 July
Report in The Times
of an interview given to the press by
Kerensky on his return from the front
The Provisional Government has no other object but the
defence of the State against disruption and anarchy, and the safety of the
Army. Relying upon the confidence of the masses and the Army, the Government
will save Russia and weld her unity by blood and iron if argument and reasons
of honour and conscience are not sufficient … The situation at the front is
very serious and demands heroic measures, but I am convinced that the
organization of the State is sufficiently vigorous to be cured without partial
amputation. In any case, the Provisional Government will do its duty, and by
enlarging and strengthening the gains of the Revolution will resolutely put an
end to the criminal activity of mad traitors.
(‘M. Kerensky Resolved on Heroic Measuress’, The
Times)
13 July
Memoir of Fedor Raskolnikov, naval cadet at Kronstadt
During the night of July 13, when I was already asleep on my
ship, Comrade Pokrovsky, a Left SR member of the Kronstadt Executive Committee,
summoned me urgently to the Soviet. When I arrived he showed me a telegram …
[that] required him immediately to arrest Roshal, Remnev and me and send us to
Petrograd … True, it would not be difficult to organise a flight to Finland.
But we were the object not only of political accusations – the entre press and
so-called ‘public opinion’ were openly making monstrous insinuations about our
having collaborated with the Germans, acting as their agents … I realised, of
course, that a Party leader like Comrade Lenin had to stay out of prison by all
possible means … The Party had waited too long for Lenin, and wandered long
enough in the darkness for lack of his clear firm tactics, to let itself be
deprived of his leadership, even for a single day.
(F.F. Raskolnikov, Kronstadt and Petrograd in 1917, New York 1982, first published 1925)
15 July
Diary entry of Louis de Robien, attaché at the French Embassy
The funeral
of the Cossacks killed in the rioting took place today in Saint Isaac’s. …
Troops marched past, with the Cossacks in perfect order but with the other
troops far from brilliant … The parents walked behind each hearse, accompanied
by the friends of the victims, and it was touching to see these worthy
peasants, who had come from the Urals or the Caucasus to follow their sons’
coffins, being comforted by other Cossacks … Then followed the dead Cossacks’
horses, in their harness; one of them had been seriously injured and was
limping pitifully behind its master’s coffin. On another horse the dead man’s
son, a little Cossack of about ten years old, had been put up into the saddle.
At present, the Cossacks are the only element of order. It is said that they
have received large rewards for keeping order, from various banks. Whatever the
truth may be, one can count on them for the moment. But although this may be
sufficient for Petrograd, I doubt if they will be able to stop the landslide in
the country districts and at the front.
(Louis de Robien, The Diary of a Diplomat in Russia 1917-1918, London 1969)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15 July 2017
The role of the Cossacks in the revolution is an interesting
one. In an article by Gregory Tschebotarioff in 1961 the author looks back on a
conference in July 1917 in Berdichev, Ukraine, attended by about 200 delegates
of Cossack units from the front. He describes the support shown to the Cossacks
by the (primarily Jewish) population, particularly in the context of the recent
funerals in Petrograd, described above. His explanation for this reception lies
in the ‘Order No. 1’ issued shortly after the tsar’s abdication, which removed
the disciplinary powers of Russian army officers and led (in the author’s
opinion) to the collapse of the Russian army. The infantry, which far
outnumbered the Cossack troops, ‘had little or no inner discipline, which led
to their rapid adherence to Bolshevik slogans for immediate separate peace’.
The Cossacks, on the other hand, described by Tschebotarioff as mostly
‘well-to-do and hence conservative farmers’, were united by a mistrust of
anarchy and a deep-rooted conservatism that led them to actively support
Kerensky’s Provisional Government. This in itself was something of a shift in
allegiance, as another witness, describing the February revolution fifty years
later, describes: ‘Most remarkably, Cossacks on their big horses rode around
with banter or curious-questioning looks at the people. “No, we won’t fire”,
they soon assured those who asked. Finally, when a mounted police inspector
attacked a demonstration leader, a Cossack charged at him with a flashing
saber, severing the inspector’s hand with one swift flash. The news spread all
over the capital, giving the rebels great courage. It was a thing of wonder,
truly: the Cossacks, these watchdogs of the throne, these sworn foes of plain
people for centuries, were coming over to the people’s side.’ October and civil war, of course, still lay ahead.
as per the Gregorian calendar. 5 November 2017
8 October
Letter from Lenin to the Bolshevik Comrades attending the Regional Congress of
the Soviets of the Northern Region
Comrades, Our revolution is passing through a highly critical period …
A gigantic task is being imposed upon the responsible leaders of our Party,
failure to perform which will involve the danger of a total collapse of the
internationalist proletarian movement. The situation is such that verily,
procrastination is like unto death … In the vicinity of Petrograd and in
Petrograd itself — that is where the insurrection can, and must, be decided on
and effected … The fleet, Kronstadt, Viborg, Reval, can and must advance
on Petrograd; they must smash the Kornilov regiments, rouse both the capitals,
start a mass agitation for a government which will immediately give the land to
the peasants and immediately make proposals for peace, and must overthrow
Kerensky’s government and establish such a government. Verily, procrastination
is like unto death.
(V.I. Lenin and Joseph Stalin, The Russian Revolution: Writings and Speeches
from the February Revolution to the October Revolution, 1917, London 1938)
9 October
Report in The Times
The Maximalist [Bolshevik], M. Trotsky, President of the Petrograd Soviet,
made a violent attack on the Government, describing it as irresponsible and
assailing its bourgeois elements, ‘who,’ he continued, ‘by their attitude are
causing insurrection among the peasants, increasing disorganisation and trying
to render the Constituent Assembly abortive.’ ‘The Maximalists,’ he declared,
‘cannot work with the Government or with the Preliminary Parliament, which I am
leaving in order to say to the workmen, soldiers, and peasants that Petrograd,
the Revolution, and the people are in danger.’ The Maximalists then left the
Chamber, shouting, ‘Long live a democratic and honourable peace! Long live the
Constituent Assembly!’
(‘Opening of Preliminary Parliament’, The Times)
10 October
As Sukhanov left his home for the Soviet on the morning of the 10th, his
wife Galina Flakserman eyed nasty skies and made him promise not to try to
return that night, but to stay at his office … Unlike her diarist husband,
who was previously an independent and had recently joined the Menshevik left,
Galina Flakserman was a long-time Bolshevik activist, on the staff of Izvestia.
Unbeknownst to him, she had quietly informed her comrades that comings and
goings at her roomy, many-entranced apartment would be unlikely to draw
attention. Thus, with her husband out of the way, the Bolshevik CC came
visiting. At least twelve of the twenty-one-committee were there … There
entered a clean-shaven, bespectacled, grey-haired man, ‘every bit like a
Lutheran minister’, Alexandra Kollontai remembered. The CC stared at the
newcomer. Absent-mindedly, he doffed his wig like a hat, to reveal a familiar
bald pate. Lenin had arrived.
(China Miéville, October: The Story of the Russian Revolution, London 2017)
Memoir by the Menshevik Nikolai
Sukhanov
Oh, the novel jokes of the merry muse of History! This supreme and decisive
session took place in my own home … without my knowledge … For such a
cardinal session not only did people come from Moscow, but the Lord of Hosts
himself, with his henchman, crept out of the underground. Lenin appeared in a
wig, but without his beard. Zinoviev appeared with a beard, but without his
shock of hair. The meeting went on for about ten hours, until about 3 o’clock
in the morning … However, I don’t actually know much about the exact
course of this meeting, or even about its outcome. It’s clear that the question
of an uprising was put … It was decided to begin the uprising as quickly
as possible, depending on circumstances but not on the Congress.
(N.N. Sukhanov, The Russian Revolution 1917: a Personal Record, Oxford 1955)
11 October
British Consul Arthur Woodhouse in a letter home
Things are coming to a pretty pass here. I confess I should like to be out
of it, but this is not the time to show the white feather. I could not ask for
leave now, no matter how imminent the danger. There are over 1,000 Britishers
here still, and I and my staff may be of use and assistance to them in an
emergency.
(Helen Rappaport, Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd 1917, London 2017)
Memoir of Fedor Raskolnikov, naval
cadet at Kronstadt
The proximity of a proletarian rising in Russia, as prologue to the world
socialist revolution, became the subject of all our discussions in
prison … Even behind bars, in a stuffy, stagnant cell, we felt instinctively
that the superficial calm that outwardly seemed to prevail presaged an
approaching storm … At last, on October 11, my turn [for release]
came … Stepping out of the prison on to the Vyborg-Side embankment and
breathing in deeply the cool evening breeze that blew from the river, I felt
that joyous sense of freedom which is known only to those who have learnt to
value it while behind bards. I took a tram at the Finland Station and quickly
reached Smolny … In the mood of the delegates to the Congress of Soviets
of the Northern Region which was taking place at that time .. an unusual
elation, an extreme animation was noticeable … They told me straightaway
that the CC had decided on armed insurrection. But there was a group of
comrades, headed by Zinoviev and Kamenev, who did not agree with this decision
and regarded a rising a premature and doomed to defeat.
(F.F. Raskolnikov, Kronstadt and Petrograd in 1917, New York 1982, first
published 1925)
12 October
Sir George Buchanan, British Ambassador to Russia
On [Kerensky] expressing the fear that there was a strong anti-Russian
feeling both in England and France, I said that though the British public was
ready to make allowances for her difficulties, it was but natural that they
should, after the fall of Riga, have abandoned all hope of her continuing to
take an active part in the war … Bolshevism was at the root of all the
evils from which Russia was suffering, and if he would but eradicate it he
would go down to history, not only as the leading figure of the revolution, but
as the saviour of his country. Kerensky admitted the truth of what I had said,
but contended that he could not do this unless the Bolsheviks themselves
provoked the intervention of the Government by an armed uprising.
(Sir George Buchanan, My Mission to Russia, London 1923)
13 October
Diary entry of Louis de Robien, attaché at the French Embassy
Kerensky is becoming more and more unpopular, in spite of certain grotesque
demonstrations such as this one: the inhabitants of a district in Central
Russia have asked him to take over the supreme religious power, and want to
make him into a kind of Pope as well as a dictator, whereas even the Tsar was
really neither one nor the other. Nobody takes him seriously, except in the
Embassy. A rather amusing sonnet about him has appeared, dedicated to the beds
in the Winter Palace, and complaining that they are reserved for hysteria
cases … for Alexander Feodorovich (Kerensky’s first names) and then
Alexandra Feodorovna (the Empress).
(Louis de Robien, The Diary of a Diplomat in Russia 1917–1918, London 1969)
14 October 2017
The BBC2 semi-dramatisation of how the Bolsheviks took power, shown this week,
was a curious thing. Talking heads in the form of Figes, Mieville, Rappaport,
Sebag-Montefiore, Tariq Ali, Martin Amis and others were interspersed with
moody reconstructions of late-night meetings, and dramatic moments such as
Lenin’s unbearded return to the Bolshevik CC (cf Sukhanov above). The programme
felt rather staged and unconvincing, with a lot of agonised expressions and
fist-clenching by Lenin, but the reviewers liked it. Odd, though, that
Eisenstein’s storming of the Winter Palace is rolled out every time, with a
brief disclaimer that it’s a work of fiction and yet somehow presented as
historical footage. There’s a sense of directorial sleight of hand, as if the
rather prosaic taking of the palace desperately needs a re-write. In some
supra-historical way, Eisenstein’s version has become the accepted version.
John Reed’s Ten Days that Shook the World
, currently being
serialised on Radio 4, is also presented with tremendous vigour, and properly
so as the book is nothing if not dramatic. Historical truth, though, is often
as elusive in a book that was originally published — in 1919 — with an
introduction by Lenin. ‘Reed was not’, writes one reviewer, ‘an ideal observer.
He knew little Russian, his grasp of events was sometimes shaky, and his facts
were often suspect.’ Still, that puts him in good company, and Reed is
undoubtedly a good read.