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THE RUSSIAN TURMOIL
THE RUSSIAN TURMOIL
The Stavka Quartermaster-General’s Branch. Standing on the pathway, from left to right (centre): Generals Denikin (Chief of Staff), Alexeiev (Supreme C.-in-C.), Josephovitch and Markov (first and second Quartermasters-General). [Pg 2] [Pg 3] [Pg 4] [Pg 5] CHAPTER I. The Foundations of the Old Power: Faith, the Czar, and the Mother Country CHAPTER II. The Army CHAPTER III. The Old Army and the Emperor CHAPTER IV. The Revolution in Petrograd CHAPTER V. The Revolution and the Imperial Family CHAPTE
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LIST OF DIAGRAMS AND MAPS
LIST OF DIAGRAMS AND MAPS
[Pg 10] [Pg 11]...
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FOREWORD
FOREWORD
In the midst of the turmoil and bloodshed in Russia people perish and the real outlines of historical events are obliterated. It is for this reason that I have decided to publish these memoirs, in spite of the difficulties of work in my present condition of a refugee, unable to refer to any archives or documents and deprived of the possibility of discussing events with those who have taken part in them. The first part of my book deals chiefly with the Russian Army, with which my life has been cl
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The Russian Turmoil CHAPTER I. The Foundations of the Old Power: Faith, the Czar and the Mother Country.
The Russian Turmoil CHAPTER I. The Foundations of the Old Power: Faith, the Czar and the Mother Country.
The inevitable historical process which culminated in the Revolution of March, 1917, has resulted in the collapse of the Russian State. Philosophers, historians and sociologists, in studying the course of Russian life, may have foreseen the impending catastrophe. But nobody could foresee that the people, rising like a tidal wave, would so rapidly and so easily sweep away all the foundations of their existence: the Supreme Power and the Governing classes which disappeared without a struggle; the
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CHAPTER II. The Army.
CHAPTER II. The Army.
The Russo-Japanese war had a very great influence upon the development of the Russian army. The bitterness of defeat and the clear consciousness that the policy governing military affairs was disastrously out of date gave a great impulse to the junior military elements and forced the slack and inert elements gradually to alter their ways or else to retire. In spite of the passive resistance of several men at the head of the War Ministry and the General Staff, who were either incompetent or else
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“REVOLUTION.”
“REVOLUTION.”
Representatives of certain Duma and social circles visited Alexeiev, who was ill at Sevastopol. They told the General quite frankly that a revolution was brewing. They knew what the effect would be in the country, but they could not tell how the front would be impressed, and wanted advice. Alexeiev strongly insisted that violent changes during the war were inadmissible, that they would constitute a deadly menace to the front, which, according to his pessimistic view, “was already by no means ste
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CHAPTER IV. The Revolution in Petrograd.
CHAPTER IV. The Revolution in Petrograd.
I did not learn of the course of events in Petrograd and at G.H.Q. until some time had elapsed, and I will refer to these events briefly in order to preserve the continuity of my narrative. In a telegram addressed to the Emperor by the members of the Council of the Empire on the night of the 28th February, the state of affairs was described as follows:— “Owing to the complete disorganisation of transport and to the lack of necessary materials, factories have stopped working. Forced unemployment,
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CHAPTER V. The Revolution and the Imperial Family.
CHAPTER V. The Revolution and the Imperial Family.
Alone in the Governor’s old Palace at Mohilev the Czar suffered in silence; his wife and children were far away, and there was no one with him in whom he was able or willing to confide. Protopopov and the Government had at first represented the state of affairs as serious, but not alarming—popular disturbances to be suppressed with “a firm hand.” Several hundred machine-guns had been placed at the disposal of General Habalov, Commander of the troops of the Petrograd district. Both he and Prince
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Order No. 1.
Order No. 1.
These events found me far away from the Capital, in Roumania, where I was commanding the Eighth Army Corps. In our remoteness from the Mother Country we felt a certain tension in the political atmosphere, but we certainly were not prepared for the sudden dénouement or for the shape it assumed. On the morning of March 3rd I received a telegram from Army Headquarters—“For personal information”—to the effect that a mutiny had broken out in Petrograd, that the Duma had assumed power, and that the pu
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ORDER No. 1.
ORDER No. 1.
March 1st, 1917. To the Garrison of the Petrograd District, to all Guardsmen, soldiers of the line, of the Artillery, and of the Fleet, for immediate and strict observance, and to the workmen of Petrograd for information. The Soviet of Workmen and Soldiers’ Delegates has decreed: (1) That Committees be elected of representatives of the men in all companies, battalions, regiments, parks, batteries, squadrons and separate services of various military institutions, and on the ships of the fleet. (2
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CHAPTER VII. Impressions of Petrograd at the End of March, 1917.
CHAPTER VII. Impressions of Petrograd at the End of March, 1917.
Before his abdication the Emperor signed two ukazes—appointing Prince Lvov President of the Council of Ministers and the Grand-Duke Nicholas Supreme Commander-in-Chief. “In view of the general attitude towards the Romanov Dynasty,” as the official Petrograd papers said, and in reality for fear of the Soviet’s attempting a military coup d’état , the Grand-Duke Nicholas was informed on March 9th by the Provisional Government that it was undesirable that he should remain in supreme command. Prince
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CHAPTER VIII. The Stavka: Its Rôle and Position.
CHAPTER VIII. The Stavka: Its Rôle and Position.
On March 25th I arrived at the Stavka, and was immediately received by General Alexeiev. Of course he was offended. “Well,” he said, “if such are the orders, what’s to be done?” Again, as at the War Ministry, I pointed out several reasons against my appointment, among others, my disinclination for Staff work. I asked the General to express his views quite frankly, and in disregard of all conventionalities as my old Professor, because I would not think of accepting the appointment against his wil
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CHAPTER IX. General Markov.
CHAPTER IX. General Markov.
The duties of the Quartermaster-General in the Stavka were many-sided and complex. As in the European Army, it proved therefore necessary to create the office of a second Quartermaster-General. The first dealt merely with matters concerning the conduct of operations. I invited General Markov to accept this new office. His fate was linked up with mine until his glorious death at the head of a Volunteer Division. That Division afterwards bore with honour his name, which has become legendary in the
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“PEACE.”
“PEACE.”
The world problems, infinitely complex, owing to the national, political, and economic interests of the peoples who differed in their understanding of the Eternal Truth, could not be solved in such an elementary fashion. Bethmann-Holweg was contemptuously silent. On March 17th, 1917, the Reichstag, by a majority against the votes of both Social Democratic parties, declined the offer of peace without annexations. Noske voiced the views of the German Democracy in saying: “We are offered from abroa
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A DICTATORSHIP.
A DICTATORSHIP.
I emphatically declare that in the social and military circles with which I was in touch the tendency towards a dictatorship was prompted by a patriotic and clear consciousness of the abyss into which the Russian people was rapidly sinking. It was not in the slightest degree inspired by any reactionary or counter-revolutionary motives. There can be no doubt that the movement found adherents among the reactionaries and among mere opportunists; but both these elements were accessory and insignific
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CHAPTER XII.
CHAPTER XII.
The Activities of the Provisional Government—Internal Politics, Civil Administration—The Town, the Village and the Agrarian Problem . I will deal in this and in the subsequent chapters with the internal condition of Russia in the first period of the Revolution only in so far as it affected the conduct of the World War. I have already mentioned the duality of the Supreme Administration of the country and the incessant pressure of the Soviet upon the Provisional Government. A member of the Duma, M
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CHAPTER XIII.
CHAPTER XIII.
The Activities of the Provisional Government: Food Supplies, Industry, Transport and Finance. In the early spring of 1917 the deficiency in supplies for the Army and for the towns was rapidly growing. In one of its appeals to the peasants the Soviet said: “The enemies of freedom, the supporters of the deposed Czar, are taking advantage of the shortage of food in the towns for which they are themselves responsible in order to undermine your freedom and ours. They say that the Revolution has left
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CHAPTER XIV. The Strategical Position of the Russian Front.
CHAPTER XIV. The Strategical Position of the Russian Front.
The first and fundamental question with which I was confronted at the Stavka was the objective of our Front . The condition of the enemy did not appear to us as particularly brilliant. But I must confess that the truth as at present revealed exceeds all our surmises, especially according to the picture drawn by Hindenburg and Ludendorff of the condition of Germany and of her Allies in 1917. I will not dwell upon the respective numerical strength, armaments, and strategical positions on the Weste
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CHAPTER XV. The Question of the Advance of the Russian Army.
CHAPTER XV. The Question of the Advance of the Russian Army.
We were thus confronted with a crucial question: SHOULD THE RUSSIAN ARMY ADVANCE? On March 27th the Provisional Government issued a proclamation “To the Citizens” on the subject of war aims. The Stavka could not detect any definite instructions for governing the Russian Army in the midst of a series of phrases in which the true meaning of the appeal was obscured in deference to the Revolutionary Democracy. “The Defence at all costs of our national patrimony and the liberation of the country from
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CHAPTER XVI.
CHAPTER XVI.
Military Reforms—The Generals—The Dismissal from the High Command. Preparations for the advance continued alongside of the so-called “Democratisation.” These phenomena must be here recorded, as they had a decisive effect upon the issue of the summer offensive and upon the final destinies of the Army. Military reforms began by the dismissal of vast numbers of Commanding Generals. In military circles this was described, in tragic jest, as “The slaughter of the innocents.” It opened with the conver
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CHAPTER XVII.
CHAPTER XVII.
“Democratisation of the Army”—Administration, Service and Routine. In order to carry out the democratisation of the Army and the reform of the War Ministry in accordance with the new régime, Gutchkov established a Commission under the Chairmanship of the late War Minister, Polivanov, who died at Riga in 1920, where he was the expert of the Soviet Government in the Delegation for making peace with Poland. The Commission was composed of representatives of the Military Commission of the Duma and of
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CHAPTER XVIII. The Declaration of the Rights of the Soldier and Committees.
CHAPTER XVIII. The Declaration of the Rights of the Soldier and Committees.
Elective bodies from the Military Section of the Soviet to Committees and Soviets of various denominations in regimental units and in the Departments of the Army, the Fleet and the rear, were the most prominent factor of “Democratisation.” These institutions were partly of a mixed type, and included both officers and men and partly soldiers and workers’ institutions pure and simple. Committees and Soviets were formed everywhere as the common feature of Revolutionary Organisations, planned before
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CHAPTER XIX. The Democratisation of the Army: The Commissars.
CHAPTER XIX. The Democratisation of the Army: The Commissars.
The next measure for the democratisation of the Army was the introduction of the Institution of Commissars. The idea was derived from the history of the French Revolutionary Wars, and was fostered in various circles at different times; it was prompted chiefly by distrust of the Commanding Staffs . Pressure was brought to bear from below. The Conference of the Delegates of the Front addressed an emphatic demand to the Soviet in the middle of April that Commissars should be introduced in the Army.
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CHAPTER XX.
CHAPTER XX.
The Democratisation of the Army—The Story of “The Declaration of the Rights of the Soldier.” The ill-famed law, emanating from the Polivanov Committee and known as the “Declaration of the Rights of the Soldier,” was confirmed by Kerensky on May 9th. I will give the main points of that law: (1) “All soldiers of the Army enjoy full rights of citizenship.” (2) Every soldier is entitled to the membership of any political, national, religious, economic, or professional organisation, society or union.
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CHAPTER XXI. The Press and Propaganda.
CHAPTER XXI. The Press and Propaganda.
In the late World War, along with aeroplanes, tanks, poison gases and other marvels of military technique , a new and powerful weapon came to the fore, viz: propaganda . Strictly speaking, it was not altogether new, for as far back as 1826 Canning said, in the House of Commons: “Should we ever have to take part in a war we shall gather under our flag all the rebels, all those who, with or without cause, are discontented in the country that goes against us.” But now this means of conflict attaine
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CHAPTER XXII. The Condition of the Army at the July Advance.
CHAPTER XXII. The Condition of the Army at the July Advance.
Having outlined a whole series of conditions which exercised an influence on the life, spirit, and military efficiency of the once famous Russian Army, I shall now pass to the sorrowful tale of its fall. I was born in the family of an officer of the line, and for twenty-two years (including the two years of the Russo-Japanese War) before the European War served in the ranks of modest line units and in small Army Staffs. I shared the life, the joys and the sorrows of the officer and the soldier,
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CHAPTER XXIII. Officers’ Organisations.
CHAPTER XXIII. Officers’ Organisations.
In the early days of April the idea arose among the Headquarters’ officers of organising a “Union of the Officers of the Army and the Navy.” The initiators of the Union [28] started with the view that it was necessary “to think alike, so as to understand alike the events that were taking place, to work in the same direction,” for up to the present time “the voice of the officers—of all the officers—has been heard by none. As yet we have said nothing about the great events amidst which we are liv
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CHAPTER XXIV. The Revolution and the Cossacks.
CHAPTER XXIV. The Revolution and the Cossacks.
A peculiar part was played by the Cossacks in the history of the Revolution. Built up historically, in the course of several centuries, the relations of the Cossacks with the Central Government, common to Russia, were of a dual character. The Government did all to encourage the development of Cossack colonisation on the Russian south-eastern borders, where war was unceasing. It made allowances for the peculiarities of the warlike, agricultural life of the Cossacks, and allowed them a certain deg
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CHAPTER XXV. National Units.
CHAPTER XXV. National Units.
In the old Russian Army the national question scarcely existed. Among the soldiery the representatives of the races inhabiting Russia experienced somewhat greater hardships in the service, caused by their ignorance or imperfect knowledge of the Russian language, in which their training was carried on. It was only this ground—the technical difficulties of training—and perhaps that of general roughness and barbarism, but in no case that of racial intolerance, that often led to that friction, which
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CHAPTER XXVI.
CHAPTER XXVI.
May and the Beginning of June in the Sphere of Military Administration—The Resignation of Gutchkov and General Alexeiev—My Departure from the Stavka—The Administration of Kerensky and General Brussilov. On May 1st the Minister of War, Gutchkov, left his post. “We wished,” so he explained the meaning of the “democratisation” of the Army which he tried to introduce, “to give organised forms and certain channels to follow, to that awakened spirit of independence, self-help and liberty which had swe
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CHAPTER XXVII. My Term as Commander-in-Chief on the Western Russian Front.
CHAPTER XXVII. My Term as Commander-in-Chief on the Western Russian Front.
I took over the Command from General Gourko. His removal had already been decided on May 5th, and an Order of the Day had been drafted at the War Ministry. Gourko, however, sent a report in which he stated that it was impossible for him to remain morally responsible for the armies under his command in the present circumstances (after the “Declaration of the Soldier’s Rights” had been issued). This report afforded Kerensky an excuse for issuing on May 26th an order relieving Gourko of his post an
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CHAPTER XXVIII. The Russian Advance in the Summer of 1917—The Débâcle.
CHAPTER XXVIII. The Russian Advance in the Summer of 1917—The Débâcle.
The Russian offensive which had been planned for the month of May was being delayed. At first a simultaneous advance on all fronts had been contemplated; later, however, owing to the psychological impossibility of a forward movement on all fronts, it was decided to advance gradually. The Western Front was of secondary importance, and the Northern was intended only for demonstration. They should have moved first in order to divert the attention and the forces of the enemy from the main front—the
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CHAPTER XXIX. The Conference at the Stavka of Ministers and Commanders-in-Chief on July 16th.
CHAPTER XXIX. The Conference at the Stavka of Ministers and Commanders-in-Chief on July 16th.
Upon my return from the Front to Minsk I was summoned to the Stavka at Moghilev, where a Conference was to be held on July 16th. Kerensky suggested that Brussilov should invite, of his own accord, the prominent military chiefs, in order to discuss the actual condition of the Front, the consequences on the July disaster, and to determine the course of future military policy. It transpired that General Gourko, who had been invited by Brussilov, had not been admitted to the Conference by Kerensky.
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CHAPTER XXX. General Kornilov.
CHAPTER XXX. General Kornilov.
Two days after the Moghilev Conference General Brussilov was relieved of the Supreme Command. The attempt to give the leadership of the Russian Armies to a person who had not only given proof of the most complete loyalty to the Provisional Government, but had evinced sympathy with its reforms, had failed. A leader had been superseded, who, on assuming the Supreme Command, gave utterance to the following: “I am the leader of the Revolutionary Army, appointed to this responsible post by the people
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CHAPTER XXXI.
CHAPTER XXXI.
My Service as Commander-in-Chief of the South-Western Front—The Moscow Conference—The Fall of Riga. I was touched by General Alexeiev’s letter: “My thoughts are with you in your new appointment. I consider that you have been sent to perform a superhuman task. Much has been said, but apparently little has been done there. Nothing has been done even after the 16th July by Russia’s chief babbler.... The authority of the Commanders is being steadily curtailed. Should you want my help in anything I a
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CHAPTER XXXII. General Kornilov’s Movement and its Repercussion on the South-West Front.
CHAPTER XXXII. General Kornilov’s Movement and its Repercussion on the South-West Front.
On August 27th I was thunderstruck by receiving from the Stavka news of the dismissal of General Kornilov from the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief. A telegram, unnumbered, and signed “Kerensky,” requested General Kornilov to transfer the Supreme Command temporarily to General Lukomsky, and, without awaiting the latter’s arrival to proceed to Petrograd. Such an order was quite illegal, and not binding, as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was in no way under the orders either of the War Minister
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CHAPTER XXXIII.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
In Berdichev Gaol—The Transfer of the “Berdichev Group” of Prisoners to Bykhov. Besides Markov and me, whose share in events has been depicted in the preceding chapters, the following were cast into prison: 3. General Erdeli, Commander of the Special Army. 4. Lieutenant-General Varnovsky, Commander of the 1st Army. 5. Lieutenant-General Selivatchev, Commander of the 7th Army. 6. Lieutenant-General Eisner, Chief of Supplies to the South-Western Front. The guilt of these men lay in their expressio
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