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Originally published in 1923 - translated from the French by F. A. Holt, O.B.E.
Main Menu - Table of Contents
Volume 1:
I. JULY 20-23, 1914 | II. JULY 24-AUGUST 2, 1914 | III.AUGUST 3-17, 1914 | IV. AUGUST 18-SEPTEMBER 11, 1914 | V. SEPTEMBER 12-OCTOBER 28, 1914 | VI. OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 30, 1914 | VII. DECEMBER 1-31, 1914 | VIII. JANUARY 1-FEBRUARY 13, 1915 | IX. FEBRUARY 14-MARCH 31, 1915 | X. APRIL 1-JUNE 2, 1915
Volume 2:
I. JUNE 3-AUGUST 24, 1915 | II. AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 20, 1915 | III.SEPTEMBER 21-NOVEMBER 8, 1915 | IV. NOVEMBER 9-DECEMBER 31, 1915 | V. JANUARY 1-26, 1916 | VI. JANUARY 27-FEBRUARY 24, 1916 | VII. FEBRUARY 25-MARCH 22, 1916 | VIII. MARCH 23-MAY 3, 1916 | IX. MAY 4-JUNE 15, 1916 | X. JUNE 16-JULY 18, 1916 | XI. JULY 19-AUGUST 18, 1916
Volume 3
I. AUGUST 19-SEPTEMBER 18, 1916 | II. SEPTEMBER 19-OCTOBER 25, 1916 | III. OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 22, 1916 | IV. NOVEMBER 23-DECEMBER 24, 1916 | V. DECEMBER 25, 1916-JANUARY 8, 1917 | VI. JANUARY 9-28, 1917 | VII. JANUARY 29-FEBRUARY 21, 1917 | VIII. FEBRUARY 22-MARCH 11, 1917 | IX. MARCH 12-22, 1917 | X. MARCH 23-APRIL 6, 1917 | XI. APRIL 7-21, 1917 | XII. APRIL 22-MAY 6, 1917 | XIII. MAY 7-17, 1917
CHAPTER IX
MAY 4-JUNE 15, 1916.
The mission of Viviani and
Albert Thomas to Petrograd; I present them to the Emperor. The
questions of Poland and Rumania, and of sending Russian troops
to France. - Conference at General Headquarters. - Banquet given
by the Duma. The speeches: the Russians greatly moved by the
magic of eloquence. Shaliapin and the Marseillaise. The
French mission leaves a turmoil of excitement in its wake. - Faith
in the Tsar among the masses. - General Brussilov's brilliant
offensive in Volhynia and Galicia. - Russian nomadism.
Thursday, May 4, 1916.
Viviani and Albert Thomas will arrive in Petrograd tomorrow
evening. Their mission, announced by the Press yesterday, has
caused great excitement among all parties. In particular the name
of Albert Thomas is having a great effect in working-class circles,
and not less effect - in the opposite sense - among the autocratic
clique.
Konovalov, a liberal deputy for Moscow and fabulously wealthy
spinner, a man of broad sympathies and devoted to all humanitarian
Utopias, has just been to see me in the name of the Industrial
War Committee, of which he is Vice-President. He was accompanied
by one of his political friends, Yukovsky, President of the Committee
of Industry and Commerce.
After explaining that the President of the Industrial Committee,
Gutchkov, was unable to come, as he is laid up in the Crimea,
Konovalov told me that he was very anxious to get into touch with
Albert Thomas as soon as possible:
"Our Central Committee, which co-ordinates the activities
of all the Russian committees, comprises a hundred and twenty
delegates, nominated by the Union of Towns, the Union of Zemstvos,
the municipalities of Petrograd and Moscow, government departments
and workmen themselves. Of the hundred and twenty members ten
are workmen. I and my friends are extremely anxious that M. Albert
Thomas should be present at one of our meetings; he'd certainly
have some good things to tell us, and they would be repeated in
all the factories."
I replied that I thought a visit from Albert Thomas to the
Central Committee not only possible but desirable; that there
is certainly no one better than he in making friends with both
employed and employers, but that I relied on the good sense of
the committee to prevent the visit degenerating into a political
demonstration.
Friday, May 5, 1916.
General Sukhomlinov, formerly War Minister, was arrested this
morning and taken to the Fortress of SS. Peter and Paul. It is
notorious that he has been grossly negligent, but I doubt whether
he has been a "traitor," as is alleged, if by "treason"
is meant intelligence with the enemy. I do not believe that he
was an accomplice of Colonel Miassoyedov, who was hung in March,
1915. Probably he confined himself to closing his eyes to the
crimes of the traitor, who was his jackal. But I am quite prepared
to believe that, inspired by hatred of the Grand Duke Nicholas
and by political considerations, he has secretly thwarted the
plans of the High Command. To his deliberate inaction and conscious
dissimulation was due the munitions crisis which was the cause
of the early disasters.
Viviani, Madame Viviani and Albert Thomas arrived at the Finland
station just before midnight, having travelled via Bergen, Christiania,
Stockholm and Tornea.
The last twenty-two months have left an appreciable mark on
Viviani, who seems graver, more dignified and reserved. On her
calm, pure features Madame Viviani bears the trace of an inconsolable
loss - the loss of a son of her first marriage. He was killed
at the beginning of the war. Albert Thomas, whom I did not know,
breathes physical and moral health, energy, intelligence and enthusiasm.
I took my visitors to the Hôtel de l'Europe, where they
are being lodged by the Emperor's household. Supper was ready
for them.
While they were taking their meal Viviani told me the object
of their mission:
"We have come," he told me in substance (1) to ascertain
the military resources of Russia and try to develop them; (2)
to insist on the dispatch of 400,000 men to France by successive
batches of 40,000, in accordance with the promise Doumer claims
to have obtained last December; (3) to bring pressure on Sazonov
to induce the Russian General Staff to be more accommodating with
regard to Rumania; (4) to persuade the Imperial Government to
give a firm and definite undertaking in favour of Poland."
I replied:
"On the first point you will gather your own impressions.
I think you won't be dissatisfied with the work done in the last
few months, particularly by the Union of Zemstvos and the Industrial
War Committees. As regards the dispatch of 400,000 men, General
Alexeiev has always strenuously objected, alleging that the
number of trained reserves at the disposal of the Russian army
is totally inadequate in view of the enormous fronts, and he has
convinced the Emperor; but if you persist, you may secure the
dispatch of a few brigades. As regards Rumania, you will find
that Sazonov and General Alexeiev fully share your views;
the difficulty is not here, but at Bucharest. As for Poland, I
advise you to postpone any discussion until just before you leave;
you can then judge for yourselves whether that topic can be broached;
I have my doubts."
Saturday, May 6, 1916.
After a private luncheon at the embassy Viviani, Albert Thomas
and I left for Tsarskoe Selo.
Viviani wore an anxious look during the journey; he was obviously
apprehensive as to what reception Nicholas II would give the demands
he has come to present. Albert Thomas, on the contrary, was in
the highest of spirits, and thoroughly tickled at the idea of
appearing before the Emperor. "Good old Thomas!" he
cried, "so at last you're going to stand face to face with
His Majesty the Tsar Autocrat of all the Russias! When you reach
his palace, what will surprise you most will be to find yourself
there."
At Tsarskoe Selo two court carriages were waiting for
us. I got into the first with Albert Thomas. Viviani and the Master
of the Ceremonies, Tieplov, occupied the second.
After some moments' thought, Albert Thomas said in a wheedling
tone:
"There are several people I should very much like to meet
during my stay in Petrograd. Very discreetly, of course! But I
should find myself in trouble with my party if I returned to France
without seeing them. The first is Bourtzev."
"Oh!"
"He's behaved very well during the war; he adopted a very
patriotic tone towards the French and Russian comrades."
"I know. That's the very argument I used to secure his
return from Siberia when the Government gave me that ticklish
job last year. But I also know that he still has the idée
fixe of assassinating the Emperor... . just remember to
whom I shall be presenting you in a moment or two. Look at that
fine crimson livery on the box. You'll realize that I'm not particularly
attracted by your idea of meeting Bourtzev."
"So you think it impossible."
"Wait till the end of your visit. We'll talk about it
again."
There was a great throng of vehicles outside the Alexander
Palace. The whole imperial family had come to convey birthday
greetings to the Empress and was returning to Petrograd.
We were solemnly conducted to the vast corner room on the front
looking on the garden. Under a radiant sky the park spread out
its glowing perspectives; the trees, now freed from their mantle
of snow, seemed to stretch their delicate branches to the sun.
Only a few days ago the Neva was still bringing down ice floes.
To-day it is already spring.
The Emperor came in, looking fresh and smiling.
After the formal presentations and compliments there was a
long silence.
When the Emperor had overcome the embarrassment into which
first introductions always plunge him, he raised his hand to the
front of his tunic, on which he wore but two decorations, the
St. George's Cross and the French croix de guerre.
"You see, I always wear your croix de guerre, messieurs,
though I'm unworthy of it."
"Unworthy!" protested Viviani.
"Yes, indeed it's the same reward given to your Verdun
heroes."
Another pause. I began:
"Sire, President Viviani has come to discuss with you
certain serious questions which are outside the province of your
staffs and ministers. It is to your sovereign authority we wish
to appeal."
Viviani then began his story: he discharged his task with that
charm and warmth of language and in that seductive voice which
sometimes make him so persuasive. When he drew a picture of France
bled white and suffering the irreparable loss of the flower of
her race, he found tones which moved the Emperor deeply. He enlarged,
with a happy selection of examples, on the prodigies of heroism
which have been witnessed every day at Verdun. The Emperor interrupted
him:
"And to think that before the war Germany used to say
that the Frenchman is incapable of being a soldier!"
To which Viviani very judiciously replied:
"The fact is, Sire, that the Frenchman is not a soldier:
he's a warrior!"
And now it was Albert Thomas's turn to speak, and bring fresh
arguments to the same thesis. His classical education, his desire
to please, the importance of the discussion, the historic interest
of the scene, all combined to give his words, and his personality
too, a singular radiance.
The Emperor's ministers have not familiarized him with the
magic of eloquence, and he seemed greatly affected; he promised
to do "everything possible" to develop the military
resources of Russia and associate her even more closely with the
effort of her allies. I took note of what he said, and the audience
was over.
About four o'clock we returned to Petrograd.
Monday, May 8, 1916.
Lunch at Madame Sazonov's with Viviani, Madame Viviani and
Albert Thomas. The other guests comprised the President of the
Council and Madame Sturmer, the Finance Minister and Madame Bark,
the War Minister, the Naval Minister, etc.
Luncheon went off well. Viviani talked pleasantly, Madame Viviani
cannot fail to arouse sympathy with her sad face. Albert Thomas
was liked for his high spirits and quick wit.
After lunch groups were formed. We talked business.
At one moment I caught Albert Thomas in earnest conversation
with Sturmer. I went up and listened:
"Your factories don't work enough," said Albert Thomas.
"Their output could be ten times what it is. You ought to
militarize your workmen."
"'Militarize our workmen!" protested Sturmer. "Why,
we'd have the whole Duma up in arms!"
Such was the conversation in the year of grace 1916 between
the chosen representatives of French socialism and Russian autocracy!
Tuesday, May 9, 1916.
Viviani and Albert Thomas, who leave for General Headquarters
this afternoon, have just been to lunch at the embassy with Madame
Viviani. I had not asked anyone else, as after telling them so
much about Russia I wanted them to tell me a little about France,
from which I have been away two years.
Everything they have told me about the French spirit is splendid,
and fills me with confidence. But why so much mediocrity and littleness
in the political world? It might be thought that the Palais Bourbon
sometimes forgets we are at war. However cruel exile may be, I
have at least gained this - that I see France only at a distance,
as history will see her, and in her glorious and sublime aspect.
Wednesday, May 10, 1916.
My new American colleague, Romuald Francis, who succeeds the
popular Marye, has just paid his first call on me.
After the exchange of formal commonplaces, I tried to draw
my visitor into talking about the war and enlarging on the intentions
of his country. But all my efforts were in vain. Francis evaded
my questions, or simply returned non-committal answers, from which
I concluded that the American conscience is still insensible to
the great moral interests which are at grips in the world.
Thursday, May 11, 1916.
Viviani has returned from General Headquarters, while Albert
Thomas has gone to visit factories in the provinces.
He is not more than partially satisfied with his tour. His
reception by the Chief of the General Staff was cold, or at any
rate reserved - which does not surprise me. General Alexeiev
is a fierce reactionary, a rabid devotee of tradition and hierarchy,
autocracy and orthodoxy. The intrusion of a civilian into military
affairs - and such a civilian! A socialist! An atheist! - must
naturally seem to him an abominable outrage.
By way of opening the conversation, Viviani handed him a personal
letter from General Joffre and asked him to read it at once. General
Alexeiev read it without a word of comment.
Viviani continued:
"General Joffre has also given me a verbal communication
for Your Excellency. He hopes to be in a position to commence
an operation on a large scale between July 1 and 15; he would
be glad if you could take the offensive also, not before June
10, so that there will be not more than a month between the two
attacks, and thus the Germans will not have time to transfer reinforcements
from one front to the other."
General Alexeiev curtly replied:
"Thank you; I'll take up the matter with General Joffre
through General Jilinsky."(1)
This was immediately followed by a conference, over which the
Emperor presided. Viviani made an eloquent appeal for the dispatch
of 400,000 Russians to France, by monthly batches of 40,000. General
Alexeiev gradually became less uncompromising, though the
discussion was none the less prolonged and thorny. Ultimately
the Emperor asserted his will. The following decision was reached:
in addition to the brigade already sent to France, and the brigade
due to leave for Salonica on June 15, five brigades, each 10,000
strong, will be sent to France between August 14 and December
15.
I congratulated Viviani on this result, which certainly has
its value. But we are still far from the 400,000 men which Doumer
made us hope for.
Friday, May 12, 1916.
General Janin, who is taking the place of General de Laguiche
at the head of our military mission, has just arrived in Russia.
I received him at luncheon this morning. With his simple, jovial
nature and open, supple and subtle mind he will be liked by the
Russians.
Saturday, May 13, 1916.
From a Warsaw friend, who has fled to Kiev, I have received
a letter full of criticism, suspicion, reproach, excommunication
and anathema of all the Poles who are working, with varying degrees
of skill, for the restoration of Poland. No one is spared by his
impulsive and turbulent patriotism. Alas! Will the Poles ever
learn the necessity of discipline in the common cause?
The whole history of Poland, both before and since the partitions,
would furnish argument for a study on The Effects of Individualism
in Politics.
Sunday, May 14, 1916.
At the Marie Theatre this evening Karsavina took the part of
the nymph, Sylvia, in Delibes' ballet. She revealed herself as
the ideal of pagan purity, at once passionate and chaste; she
exhaled a kind of heroic and youthful joy, a wild and holy ecstasy.
But this mythological evocation was only partially to the taste
of the mass of spectators. The Russian spirit has nothing in common
with the Hellas of antiquity: it is only through Byzantium that
it joins hands with Greece.
So I was not surprised to observe how the public woke up again
at the opening of the first scene of the following ballet, Le
Nénuphar, a work of fantastic romanticism in which
Karsavina appears in the form of a mermaid, a perverse and bewitching
roussalka, with an insatiable craving for blood and passion.
Monday, May 15, 1916.
This afternoon I received the French colony of Petrograd at
the embassy for the purpose of introducing Viviani and Albert
Thomas.
Full livery, buffet, speeches, introductions, orchestra, and
an enormous crowd which would not go away. Before the war, functions
of this sort seemed to me a loathsome duty. But now, when exile
is so cruel, it makes one's heart leap to be among French people.
Tuesday, May 16, 1916.
The Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna has asked Viviani and Albert
Thomas to lunch; Madame Viviani is not well and asked to be excused.
In order to put Viviani on her right and Albert Thomas on her
left the Grand Duchess asked me to sit opposite her.. The other
guests were Princess Vladimir Orlov, Princess Sergei Bielosselsky,
Countess Shuvalov, Dimitry Benckendorff and the personal staff.
It was a very lively luncheon party and compliments flew in
all quarters.
Her Imperial Highness seemed in the highest spirits. In spite
of, or because of, her teutonic origin she never loses a chance
of demonstrating her affection for France. That alone would explain
to-day's invitation. But there is something more: for a long time
the Grand Duchess has been cherishing the secret hope of seeing
one of her sons, Boris or Andrew, mount the throne. The result
is that she is always on the watch to snatch opportunities of
appearing in public, opportunities which the Empress neglects.
From this point of view it is not immaterial for the general
public to know that she alone, of all the imperial family, has
received the emissaries of the French Government at her table.
This evening the Imperial Duma and the Municipal Council of
Petrograd have given a banquet in honour of Viviani and Albert
Thomas.
The President of the Duma, Rodzianko, is responsible for this
demonstration. That alone has been enough to make the Emperor's
ministers suspicious, particularly as support was forthcoming
from all sides, and it has become almost a political event. There
were not less than four hundred guests! All parties, even the
Extreme Right, but particularly the Left, were represented. None
of the ministers dared be absent, and my Japanese, English and
Italian colleagues were also present.
The question of speeches was not settled without some difficulty.
At first the ministers thought they ought not to speak in a gathering
of a private character. I had to let Sazonov know that if no member
of the Imperial Government would consent to speak I should advise
Viviani not to attend the banquet. The matter was ultimately arranged,
and it was agreed that Sazonov should propose a toast in the name
of the Government.
As we entered the banqueting hall we were given a very enthusiastic
reception. Rodzianko presided at the top table; I was on his right,
Viviani on his left. On my right I had the President of the Council,
Sturmer, who had Albert Thomas on his right.
The ceremony was very long as the menu was interminable and
the service very slow. Thus, with speeches to follow, I was in
for at least two hours' contact with the President of the Duma
and the President of the Council.
Of Rodzianko I had little to learn. Everything about him - his
great stature and fine bearing, his piercing eye and deep, warm
voice, his bustling energies and even his tactlessness in word
and action - reveal his candour, honesty and courage. For a long
time we have been on terms of close friendship. He is tireless
in preaching the good cause.
Of Sturmer, on the other hand, I have much to learn. I do not
know whether he will die "in the odour of sanctity,"
as the mystics say; but I know he exhales an intolerable "odour
of insincerity." Under his superficial kindness of heart
and affected courtesy you can see that he is a base and treacherous
schemer. His sharp and sickly gaze, searching yet furtive, is
the very image of hypocrisy, an ambitious and cunning hypocrisy.
But he is not without culture; he has a taste for history, particularly
the anecdotal and picturesque side of history. Every time some
function brings us together I always question him about the past
history of Russia, and his conversation never wearies. And in
any case, in the exceptional and pre-eminent position in which
circumstances have placed him, he is a character worth studying.
This evening we talked about Alexander I and his mysterious
death, and Nicholas I and his moral death struggle during the
Crimean War. This brought me to emphasize the fact that it has
always been to the interest of Russia and France to have an understanding
or an alliance; I reminded him that as early as 1856 my brilliant
predecessor, Morny, conceived the idea of an alliance, and if
only his advice had been taken we should not be where we are to-day.
Sturmer broke in:
"The Duc de Morny! That's the kind of man I should have
liked! I believe I've read everything published about him. Oh,
yes! It seems to me he had all the qualities of a man called upon
to govern - love of country, energy, audacity."
I interrupted:
"He had two more, perhaps even more valuable, a sense
of reality and the right style in action."
"Of course those two qualities are very necessary. But
for one who rules, the first essential is to know how to take
responsibility and handle events. Do you see our popular Prefect
of Police, Prince Alexander Nicolaïevitch Obolensky, over
there? He's an excellent servant of the Emperor and I like him
very much. But there's one thing I cannot forgive him. He was
Governor of Riazan in 1910, when Tolstoy came to the little station
of Astapovo to die there so strangely. Do you remember how the
family mounted guard round the dying man to prevent any priest
from approaching him? (2) If I had been in Obolensky's
place I should not have hesitated: I should have had the family
removed by my gendarmes and sent in a priest by force. Obolensky
argues that he had no instructions, that Tolstoy's children were
unfortunately within their rights, and so on. But could there
be any question of rights, and were any instructions needed when
it was a matter of recovering Tolstoy's soul for our holy Church?"
What would Viviani and Albert Thomas think if they had heard
that?
The moment for the toasts arrived. Rodzianko's speech was patriotic,
banal and pompous; mine was purely formal, and Sazonov's colourless
and affected.
In the interval the company sang the Russian national anthem.
Then Shaliapin, that great genius, sang the Marseillaise; into
his singing he put such diction, breadth of style, lyrical
power and passion that a breath of revolutionary fervour, the
breath of Danton, seemed to sweep over the assembly. It was then
that I realized what an inflammable body the Russian public is.
It was in this atmosphere of excitement that Viviani rose to
speak. As a great parliamentary orator he immediately felt that
his audience was simply asking to be moved. His thrilling voice,
his broad and varied gestures, his look of mingled pathos and
tenderness, his periods with their prolonged and potent rhythms,
astounded the assembly. When he cried: "No separate peace!
A common cause! That is the pact of honour which binds us. We
will go together to the bitter end, until that day dawns when
affronted Right shall be avenged... . We owe it to our
dead, or they will have died in vain. We owe it to the generations
to come, etc..." he was hardly allowed to finish his period,
and the room rocked with the applause. Shaliapin, his face inspired
and his eyes full of tears, had gradually, come up to the top
table. There were fresh calls for the Marseillaise; he
mounted the dais once again and for the second time the sublime
anthem brought the audience to its feet.
The Emperor's ministers glanced uneasily at one another; it
was as if they were saying: "But where is all this taking
us to? ... What's going to happen?"
To wind up the evening, the leader of the Cadet party in the
Duma, Basil Alexeievitch Maklakov, rose to his feet. In excellent.
French, and with staccato articulation and dramatic gestures,
he reminded us that he had been a pacifist; he added that he was
still an impenitent pacifist, a fact which did not prevent him
from being heart and soul in the war: "For this war will
be the suicide of war; when peace comes we will make a map of
Europe which will make war futile for ever. His peroration was
an invocation to France, "to France, whose voice the world
needs to hear; France, which proclaimed in the eighteenth century
those immortal principles which are the symbols of the pacifist
idea; the France of the future, which is to establish that eternal
peace already known as the French peace! ... "
The enthusiasm of the assembly knew no bounds. The faces of
the ministers were gloomier than ever. As I looked at them I realized
that the visit of any French statesman to Russia is per se
an act of democratic propaganda.
During the whole of Maklakov's speech Albert Thomas could hardly
contain himself. His eyes flashed fire. Every moment I expected
to see him rise in his place and launch out into an oratorical
improvisation.
However, Rodzianko said a few closing words. We went out to
the accompaniment of cheers.
For several minutes Viviani, Albert Thomas and I exchanged
impressions of the evening in the vestibule. Apropos of Maklakov's
speech I said:
"A fine speech, and it will have a great effect in Russia.
But what an illusion to think that the next peace will be a peace
for ever. Personally I think that the world is entering upon an
era of violence, and that we are now sowing the germ of fresh
wars."
After a moment's reflection Albert Thomas replied:
"Yea, after this war, ten years of wars ... ten years
of wars!
Wednesday, May 17, 1916.
This morning Viviani and Albert Thomas paid their farewell
visits to Sazonov. I did not go with them so that their discussion
should seem to have no official character; they particularly wished
to talk about Rumania and Poland.
On the subject of Rumania Sazonov protested that he was extremely
anxious for her adherence to our cause.
"But I can't regard her as a serious factor," he
added, "so long as M. Bratiano refuses to negotiate a military
convention with us."
As for Poland, Sazonov insisted in the strongest possible terms
on the danger to the Alliance of any intervention, even a discreet
intervention, by the French Government in the Polish question.
Thus the results of Viviani's mission may be reduced to the
sending of 50,000 men to France, or rather a promise to that effect.
But the influence of Albert Thomas has been genuinely effective.
His prodigious energy and practical common sense have galvanized
the industrial departments of the war - for how long? He has been
very skilfully seconded in his task by one of his assistants,
the great public-works contractor, Loucheur, one of the men who
have contributed most to the industrial revival of France.
At one o'clock Viviani and Albert Thomas came to luncheon at
the embassy, with the Grand Duke Nicholas Michailovich and
my Japanese, English and Italian colleagues.
Nicholas Michailovich, "Nicholas-Egalité,"
ever curious about advanced ideas and new men, had said to me:
" I'm tremendously anxious to make the acquaintance of
Albert Thomas."
The acquaintance seemed to please him thoroughly, as he overwhelmed
him with attentions.
At seven p.m. the whole mission left for France, by the Archangel
route.
Thursday, May 18, 1916.
This evening Don Quixote was given at the Narodny
Dom. On hearing Shaliapin, I revived my splendid impressions
of two months ago: I imagine that Cervantes himself would have
been delighted with an interpretation which gives his hidalgo
a character so individual and broad, comical yet touching, a caricature
and yet human. The genius of the great master of irony has never
been so easily realized.
The public was not less interesting than on the last occasion;
I could see the same indulgent smiles, the same current of liking
for the personality of the adventurous knight, for the figure
of the hero who is gentle, generous. charitable, patient, resigned,
no less intelligent than crazy, as lucid as absurd, ready to swallow
any wild story, a prey to every enchantment, and utterly lost
when faced with reality.
Friday, May 19, 1,916.
With ruthless determination, General Alexeiev is pressing
on his preparations for the great offensive he proposes for the
early days of June. The main action will develop in Galicia, on
the Strypa and the Pruth, and between Tarnopol and Czernowitz;
General Brussilov will be in command of the operation. I am assured
that the moral of the troops has been revived by the return
of fine weather, and is excellent.
This evening I gave a dinner party, the guests being my Spanish
colleague, the Conde di Cartagena, Princess Orlov, Princess Sergei
Bielosselsky, Princess Cantacuzene, Count Joseph Potocki, Count
Sigismund Wielopolski, Count Kutusov, Lady Muriel Paget, Lady
Sybil Grey, etc.
Princess Bielosselsky and Princess Cantacuzene have recently
received letters from their husbands, who are fighting in Armenia
and the Bukovina respectively; on the strength of these letters
they have told me that the men are in excellent spirit. I had
the same report from Lady Muriel and Lady Sybil, who have just
been inspecting their hospitals in Volhynia.
Saturday, May 20, 1916.
In all the imperial palaces, government offices, clubs, theatres
and public buildings, majestic portraits of the emperors are to
be seen hanging on the walls. Nothing is more monotonous, dull
and commonplace than this official ikonography.
Yet, notwithstanding the artificial and set character of the
species, the original physiognomy of the sitters is usually brought
out well.
Thus Alexander I, with his elegant figure, swelling chest and
the air of a beau and a paladin, takes an obvious delight
in knowing that people are looking at him.
Nicholas I, stiff, haughty and despotic, seems to be spying
round to see if anyone has the audacity to look at him.
Alexander II, more natural, but not less impressed by his office
and conscious of his power, condescends to allow folk to look
at him provided that they lower their eyes at once.
Alexander III, heavy. calm, straightforward and bourgeois,
does not care whether he is looked at or not.
And Nicholas II, simple and timid, seems to be begging the
public not to look at him.
Sunday, May 21, 1916.
The unspeakable Manuilov, Sturmer's chef de cabinet and
the fit instrument of his low designs, has just been to see me
to say that he has had my wishes met on a trivial police matter.
In earnest tones, which struck me greatly - as he does not always
lie - he described the situation at home in very dark colours;
he particularly emphasized the spread of revolutionary feeling
in the army.
I countered with the very favourable reports recently given
me of the moral of the troops.
"That's only true of the fighting troops," he replied.
"The army behind the line is rotten. In the first place,
the men are idle, or at any rate haven't enough to do. You know
the winter's a bad time for military training. In addition, this
year we've had to cut down and simplify the training once again,
because we haven't enough rifles, machine-guns and guns, and perhaps
even more because we're short of officers. Besides, the men have
very bad quarters in the barracks. They're packed like sardines,
absolutely anyhow. The Preobrajensky barracks have room for 1,200
men, and 4,000 are quartered there. You can see them from here
in their rooms; no air, no light, and stuffy with smoke. They
make speeches from supper until morning. You mustn't forget that
they include men of all races of the empire, all nationalities,
religions and sects, even Jews! I can tell you it's a wonderful
forcing house for revolutionary ideas. Our anarchists were not
the last to find it out!"
"What does M. Sturmer think of it all?"
"All M. Sturmer asks is to be left alone. I'll promise
Your Excellency he'll do very well."
Monday, May 22, 1916.
In all quarters the mission of Viviani and Albert Thomas has
left a stir of emotion in its wake.
On this point, Joseph de Maistre, who was one of the most sagacious
observers of the French Revolution, has made a remark the truth
of which I am realizing to-day: "In the temperament, and
particularly the language, of the French, there is a certain proselytizing
force which defies imagination. The whole nation is simply one
vast propaganda."
Tuesday, May 23, 1916.
In the Trentino, between the Adige and the Brenta, a violent
offensive of the Austrians has compelled the Italians to abandon
their lines. There is intense agitation in Italy, where the public
already sees the Friuli army forced to retreat to avoid being
cut off from Lombardy by an enemy dash on Vicenza and Padua.
In the Verdun region furious fighting has flamed up anew. After
a superb attack the French troops have carried the old fort of
Douaumont.
Wednesday, May 24, 1916.
In 1839 Nicholas I said to the Marquis de Custine: "I
can understand a republic; it's a well-defined and genuine form
of government, or at any rate can be. And, of course, I
understand absolute monarchy, as I'm the head of a state with
that system. But what I cannot understand is representative monarchy;
it's a government of lies, fraud and corruption, and rather than
adopt it I'd withdraw, into China."
Nicholas II has the same views as his ancestor.
Friday, May 26, 1916.
Summary of my day's work:
This morning P - - brought me somewhat alarming reports of
revolutionary propaganda in factories and barracks.
At five o'clock Countess N - -, who does not belong to the
Empress's clique, but is on terms of closest friendship with Madame
Vyrubova, told me how Rasputin explained to the Tsaritsa the other
day that "a man of God" should be unquestionably obeyed;
he then confided to her that since his last Easter communion he
felt he could fight his enemies with renewed vigour, and that
he considered himself more than ever the heaven-sent champion
of the imperial family and Holy Russia; Alexandra Feodorovna then
fell at his feet imploring his blessing with tears of ecstasy
in her eyes.
At the club this evening I casually overheard the remark: "If
the Duma is not suppressed we are lost!" followed by a long
rigmarole proving the necessity of an immediate return of tsarism
to the pure traditions of Muscovite orthodoxy.
By way of conclusion I will repeat the prophecy made by Madame
de Tencin, about 1740, on the subject of the French monarchy:
"Unless God himself intervenes, it is physically impossible
for the State not to collapse."
But I think that it will not be forty years, or even forty
months, before the Russian State collapses.
Saturday, May 27, 1916.
King Victor Emmanuel has telegraphed to the Emperor to beg
him to do all that he can to advance the date of the general offensive
of the Russian armies, with a view to relieving the Italian front.
My colleague, Carlotti, is leaving no stone unturned to secure
the same result.
Monday, May 29, 1916.
Belief in the Tsar and his justice and goodness is still strong
among the moujiks, a fact which explains the personal success
Nicholas II is certain of achieving whenever he goes among peasants,
soldiers and workmen.
On the other hand, the public is more than ever convinced that
the bureaucrats, the tchinovniks, are frustrating or paralysing
all the monarch's good intentions. We are always hearing these
two proverbs:
The Tsar is good; his servants are wicked.
The Emperor says yes but his little dog barks
"no."
Tuesday, May 30, 1916.
Countess N - -, Madame Vyrubova's friend, mysteriously asked
me to have tea with her to-day. After swearing me to secrecy she
said:
"I believe Sazonov is going to be dismissed; I wanted
to let you know at once. Their Majesties strongly disapprove of
him. Sturmer is secretly carrying on a very active campaign against
him."
"But what has he done wrong?"
"He's blamed for his liberal ideas and his concessions
to the Duma. He's also accused - you've promised not to say a
word! - of being too much under your influence and that of Buchanan....
You know that, unfortunately, the Empress hates Sazonov; she can
never forgive him for his attitude towards Rasputin, whom he regards
as Antichrist. Rasputin in turn says that Sazonov is branded by
the devil."
"But Sazonov is extremely religious! And what does the
Emperor say?"
"At the moment he is entirely under the Empress's thumb."
"I suppose you've heard all this from Madame Vyrubova?"
"Yes, from Annie... But, for goodness' sake, don't say
a word to anyone!"
Wednesday, May 31, 1916.
Since Sturmer has been in power Rasputin's authority has greatly
increased. The peasant magician is becoming more and more the
political adventurer and swindler. A gang of Jewish financiers
and shady speculators, such as Rubinstein, Manus, etc., have thrown
in their lot with him and reward him generously. On their suggestion,
he sends notes to government departments, banks and all influential
people. I have seen several of these notes, in a dreadful scrawl
and couched in coarsely imperious terms. No one has ever dared
to refuse his demands. Appointments, promotions, postponements,
favours, dispensations, subsidies - everything has been granted
him.
In the more important matters he sends his note direct to the
Tsaritsa:
"Here! Get that done for me!"
She gives the order at once, never suspecting that she is working
for Manus and Rubinstein, who are well known to be working for
Germany.
Thursday, June 1, 1916.
When I called on Sazonov this morning I was struck by his appearance;
he looked ill, had hollow eyes and a downcast air. He complains
of great nervous exhaustion, which deprives him of sleep and appetite;
he talks of taking a rest "for several weeks" in Finland.
Since the war began I have many a time seen him tired and suffering
from headaches and insomnia. To some extent it is everybody's
lot. In such a climate no man can carry so heavy, unending and
pressing a burden of work and cares without paying for it. But
this time, however great my affection for him, it is not his health
which worries me most; it is his secret anxieties which have reduced
him to this state, and I know all about them through the confidential
communication I received the day before yesterday.
Friday, June 2, 1916.
The attitude of the Greek Government has become impossible;
the fact of its collusion with the Bulgarian Government is obvious.
The personal complicity of King Constantine cannot be doubted.
I have had a long talk with Sazonov on this subject, and he
has empowered me to telegraph to Paris that he approves here and
now of any measures France and England may think necessary to
take against Greece.
Between the Adige and the Brenta the Italians are beginning
to recover. The Austrian offensive has been almost held up.
Sunday, June 4, 1916.
To meet the wishes of King Victor Emmanuel, the Emperor has
given orders to hasten the offensive which has been in preparation
in Volhynia and Galicia. The operation has been opened vigorously
by General Brussilov and promises well.
Tuesday, June 6, 1916.
I have been discussing the moujiks with Princess O - -,
who is president of a society for popularizing the Kustarni
vechtchy, those articles and utensils of wood, leather, horn,
iron and fabrics in which the artistic feeling of the Russian
peasants, and their highly original and ingenious taste for decoration,
are so well revealed.
She was thus led to deplore the far-reaching changes produced
by the extension of the great mechanical industries during the
last fifteen years on the mind and morals of the rural classes:
"These sugar refineries, distilleries, cotton mills, forges
and factories, and the works innumerable you can now see in country
districts, have given our moujiks habits, needs and ideas
for which their past had left them quite unprepared. The process
of initiation has been too rapid for their primitive brains. The
acquisition, or bait, of high industrial wages has demoralized
whole regions. Don't forget that outside the towns money was rare
until a few years ago. In many villages business was always done
by barter; a man would exchange oats for a coat or some vodka;
a horse or cart would be paid for by so many days' work.... To-day
all that has been changed. Most of our peasants have lost their
simple, natural qualities, though they still remain too backward
to adapt themselves morally to their new life. They are all at
sea, bewildered, fuddled. If God does not spare us a revolution
after the war, there will be great trouble in the country districts."
Thursday, June 8, 1916.
General Brussilov's offensive is continuing brilliantly; it
is actually beginning to assume the pace of victory.
In a few days the Austro-German front has been broken on a
front of one hundred and fifty kilometres. The Russians have captured
40,000 men, eighty guns and one hundred and fifty machine-guns.
On the Italian front east of the Trentino the fighting is continuing,
but the Austrian advance has been stopped.
Friday, June 9, 1916.
Since the ancient days of Muscovy the Russians have never been
so thoroughly Russian as they are now.
Before the war their natural craze for wandering carried them
westwards periodically. Once or twice a year their worldlings
swarmed in Paris, London, Biarritz, Cannes, Rome, Venice, Baden,
Gastein, Carlsbad, Saint-Moritz.
Those less well off, the crowd of "intellectuals,"
lawyers, professors, savants, doctors, artists, engineers, etc.,
took courses of study, cures or holiday tours in Germany, Sweden,
Norway or Switzerland. In a word the majority of society - whether
the brilliant or thinking, working or idle, social world - established
regular and frequently prolonged contact with European civilization.
It was in this fashion that thousands and thousands of Russians
secured their supplies of clothes and ties, jewels and perfumes,
furniture and cars, books and works of art. Unconsciously, they
also brought away with them more modern ideas, a more practical
spirit and a more positive, orderly and rational view of life
in general. They were certainly particularly likely to do so,
owing to that power of assimilation which the Slavs possess in
such high degree, a power which the great "Westerner,"
Herzen, called "moral receptivity."
But during the last twenty-two months the war has raised an
insurmountable barrier, a Chinese wall, between Russia and Europe.
For nearly two years the Russians have been confined to their
own country and compelled to live on themselves. The tonic and
soothing medicine they used to seek in the West is lacking, and
just at the moment they need it most. It is a fact of common observation
that neurasthenic subjects with a tendency to melancholy need
distraction, and that travelling is particularly good for them
because it stimulates their energies, engages their attention
and revives their mental faculties.
So I am not surprised that in persons who once seemed to me
perfectly healthy I am always seeing symptoms of weariness, melancholia,
nervous debility, mental disorders, incoherence, an unhealthy
credulity, strange obsessions and a superstitious and demoralizing
pessimism.
Saturday, June 10, 1916.
Can the intrigue against Sazonov have failed? Does he feel
his position restored? Whatever the reason, he looks much brighter
and complains less of being tired, though he still says he badly
needs a rest.
Sunday, June 11, 1916.
The financier G - -, who has large industrial interests in
Warsaw and the Lodz district, has just made a very trenchant remark
to me:
"The problem of Poland means more than one surprise in
store for those who have to negotiate the peace. It's the habit
to look at this problem from the national point of view only,
in the light of the catastrophes of the past and the heroic and
romantic legend. But when the hour for practical decisions arrives,
you will see two factors of vital importance stand out in the
very foreground, the factor of socialism and the Jewish factor.
In the last thirty years the Polish social-democracy has expanded
enormously, and you can measure the expansion by the rising figure
of the working-class population. Don't forget that a town like
Lodz, which had barely 25,000 inhabitants in 1850 and 100,000
in 1880, has 460,000 to-day! The manufacturing districts of Sosnowice,
Tomaszov, Dombova, Lublin, Kielce, Radom, Zgierz, are developing
with the same extraordinary rapidity. The proletariat is very
strongly organized in those regions, and everywhere revealing
immense vitality. It has not the slightest interest in the historic
visions of the great Polish patriots. In the approaching resurrection
of Poland it sees nothing but an opportunity of realizing its
economic and social programme. You may be certain that it will
speak with a strong, loud voice... . Nor will the Jews fail
to play a great part. They share the views of the Polish social-democracy,
but they also have a special and exclusively, Jewish organization;
they will act as a Jewish proletariat. In addition, they are highly
intelligent and very bold and fanatical. All the Polish ghettos
are hotbeds of anarchy."
Tuesday, June 13, 1916.
I am reading a life of Nietsche, and I see that, having developed
a great admiration for the laws of Manu, his poet's and artist's
enthusiasm made him record the following excellent precept of
the first Aryan legislator
Let the names of women be easy to pronounce - sweet, simple,
pleasant and appropriate; let them terminate in long vowels, and
resemble words of benediction.
The Russians have followed this precept instinctively. No race
has given the names of its women more musical and caressing sounds:
Olga, Vera, Daria, Marina, Sonia, Kyra, Ludmilla, Tatiana, Wanda,
Moïna, Tamara, Xenia, Raïssa, Nadevja, Sietlana, Prascovia,
Dina....
Thursday, June 15, 1916.
The Russians are engaged in a ceaseless advance on Tarnopol
and Czernovitz; they have crossed the Strypa and the Dniester.
The number of their prisoners has now reached 153,000.
Chapter Footnotes
1. Representative of the Russian High Command
at French G.H.Q.
2. I can give a few particulars of the strange
end of Tolstoy.
At the age of eighty-two he suddenly left Yasnaïa Poliana
in the evening of November, 1910, accompanied by Doctor Makovitsky;
his daughter Alexandra, whom Tchertkov calls his "closest
collaborator," was in the secret. Next day he reached Optina
monastery; he spent the night there, writing a long article on
the pains of death. In the evening of the 12th he went to the
convent of Chamordino, where his sister Marie was a nun; he dined
with her and told her of his wish to end his life at Optina,
performing the lowliest of tasks, but on condition that he was
never required to enter the church. That evening he was surprised
by a visit from his daughter Alexandra. No doubt she warned him
that his move was known and the officials were on his track;
they immediately left for Kozelsk, with the idea of going to
the southern provinces. On their way Tolstoy fell ill at Astapovo
station, and had to take to his bed there as he was stricken
with congestion of the lungs. He was put up at the stationmaster's
house.
His condition suddenly grew worse and doctors from Moscow
were called in for consultation; the family gathered round him.
In the evening of November 18, the Abbot of Optina, Father
Karsonofi, alighted at Astopovo station and demanded admission
to the dying man's presence: he declared that the Holy Synod
had charged him to receive Tolstoy back into the orthodox Church.
The doctors and the family refused the requested interview on
the pretext of the invalid's condition. It was true that Tolstoy's
strength was failing rapidly, though he was still perfectly conscious.
On the 19th he had two heart attacks, the second of which all
but carried him off.
Tolstoy died peacefully at 6 a.m. on November 20. He had time
to make known his last wishes - a funeral without rites, wreaths
or flowers. Two days later the body was taken to Yasnaïa
Poliana, where the interment took place with great simplicity.
