1 von Mohrenschildt, Dimitri, “The early American observers of the Russian Revolution, 1917-1921,” The Russian Review, Vol. III, No. 1 (Autumn, 1943), 64–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

* The spelling of Russian names and words is that supplied by Professor Warren B. Walsh. Ed.

2 My apartment address (ETH).

3 “Dear Emily” is Mrs. Heald. This letter went through without censorship as did most of those written after the Revolution (ETH).

4 Strikes which had already been numerous from January on, now increased rapidly both in seriousness and numbers involved. Chamberiin retails an estimate of 197,000 strikers on March 9th. Vide, Chamberiin, W. H., The Russian Revolution, 2 vols., N. Y., Macmillan, 1935, 1, 75.Google Scholar

Government leaders and government critics both realized the increasing gravity of the whole situation and sought to bring an understanding of it to the Tsar. Chiefly under the direction of Protopopov, Minister of the Interior, plans were made to quell the uprising expected in the capital. Heavy batteries were emplaced, machine guns were brought in, and Gurko, Chief of Staff, sent three crews of sailors to maintain order. Despite the urgings of Alexandra and of his advisors and ministers, Nicholas left for Headquarters on March 8th. That same day, the Duma castigated the government's policy on food, and street disorders broke out in Petrograd. For a detailed account, vide. B. Pares, Fall of the Russian Monarchy, Knopf, N. V., 1939. 412 et sqq., esp. 436-471; Chamberiin, op. cit., i. 70-98. For the official Bolshevik interpretation, vide, M. Gorki et al. (eds.), Istoriya grazhdanskoi voiny v SSSR, .Moscow, 1938, i, 55-75. This source places the number of strikers on that day (March 9th NS) at “about 200,000.”

5 Dr. A. C. Harte was one of two representatives sent to Europe by the Y.M.C.A. to arrange for service to war prisoners. After consultations with the Central Powers, he reached Moscow in May 1915. Partly because the Y was suspected as pro-German, the Russians were not inclined to cooperate and it was only after considerable difficulties that Dr. Harte won the support of the Empress. Dr. Harte continued to serve as the general European agent of the Y's International Committee, with special responsibility for Ruslia. Vide Taft, W.H., et al., Service with fighting men, 2 vols., Association Press, N. Y., 1922, II, 231 Google Scholar et sq.

6 George M. Day was a Y.M.C.A. secretary with long experience in Russia. Prince N. D. Golitsyn was President of the Council of Ministers from January to March, 1917.

7 This is confirmed by many sources both Bolshevik and Tsarist.

8 Presumably, the City Prefect, Balk. Actually he was subordinate to General Habalov, Commander of the Petrograd Military Area. Habalov's own testimony concerning the events of these days is to be found in Padenie tsarskogo rezhima, 7 vols., Moscow, 1924-27, i, 182-219.

9 The Mayak (Lighthouse) was founded in Petrograd in 1900 by Franklin A. Gaylord. Although engaged in work very similar to that of the Y, it did not officially affiliate with the Y until 1917. Taft, op. cit., II, 421.

10 On this evening, Nicholas wired Habalov: “I command that the disorders in the capital shall be stopped tomorrow, as they are inadmissible in this serious time of war with Germany and Austria.” Padenie, I,190; cf. Isloriya, 56; and Pares, op. cit., 442. Pares comments, “By this message he signed his own dethronement.”

11 During the day, the Pavlovsky regiment mutinied and there was much disorder with many casualties. The primary question was still one of food. Pares, op. cit., 442; cf. also, Chamberlin, , op. cit., I, 77.Google Scholar For a “White” view, vide A. I. Denikin, The Russian Turmoil, E. P. Dutton Co., N. Y., n.d., 40-46; and The Memoirs of Baron N. Wrangel, J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, 1927, 254-275. So many memoirs covering these events have appeared that it would extend this beyond all reason to list even part of them. Very useful bibliographies may be found in works of Pares and Chamberlin, already cited, and elsewhere. Golder, F. A., Documents of Russian History, The Century Co., N. Y., 1927 Google Scholar, contains translations of various important primary materials.

12 On this day the Duma heard the Tsar's order for its dissolution; the Volynsky regiment mutinied and was followed by many others; the Cabinet, after many sessions, dispersed; and, in the words of Chamberlin (op. cit., I, 80) “So the city passed completely into the hands of the revolutionaries.”

13 The order proroguing the Duma was signed by Nicholas on the 10th and countersigned by Golitsyn on the 12th. The leaders of the political parties in the Duma resolved that the members should not disperse. Cf. Golder, , Documents, 277–278 Google Scholar. According to Champerlin (op. cit., 80-81) and Istoriya, 63, the Duma accepted the order of dissolution but removed as “private citizens” to another room in the Tauride Palace and held an extralegal Conference. At any event, the Duma organized an Executive Committee and, a few hours later, a Provisional Committee. The latter undertook the tasks of government. Golder, , Documents, 280–281.Google Scholar Protopopov, on the demand of the ministers expressed by Golitsyn, resigned and went into hiding on the evening of the 12th. Cf., Pares, , op. cit., 451–452.Google Scholar

14 There were no regular newspapers during the first week of the Revolution. The newssheet to which Mr. Heald refers was the first number of the Soviet Izvestiya. Its name was changed several times during the first year of its existence. Golder, (op. cit., 277)Google Scholar lists the changes.

15 Cf. the stirring account of this in Shulgin's memoirs, quoted in Pares, , op. cit., 454-455.Google Scholar

16 A Russian officer, transfererd from the Russian Red Cross to assist the Y.M.C.A.(ETH).

17 Actually the document was dated Pskov, 3 P.M.,March 15th. The abdication of the Grand Duke Michael was dated the 16th.

18 Probably refers to Izvestiya Petrogradskogo Sovieta Rabochikh i Soldatskikh Deputatov , published from March 15 to August 13.

19 A. I. Shingarev, one-time Zemstvo leader, member of the Duma and Chairman of the Duma Commission of Imperial Defense, brilliant member of the Kadet Party was murdered by Bolsheviks in January, 1918. For the Communist view on Shingarev, vide Istoriya, 78 et sqq.

20 The Imperial family were taken into protective custody soon after the Revolution. Guchkov and Kornilov arranged the arrest of the Tsarina, but it fell to Minister of Justice Kerensky to take charge of the prisoners.

21 The Imperial family was offered asylum in Great Britain but the opposition of the Soviets prevented their removal thence. The offer was withdrawn by the British Government in July. Vide. Pares, op. cit., 475, 479.

22 S. I. Shidlovsky, an Octobrist in the 3rd and 4th Dumas, chairman of Stolypin's land commission; branded a counter-revolutionary by official Communist histories.

23 This may be one of the roots of the rumor so widely current in 1918 that there were many thousands of armed German war prisoners loose in Siberia. At that time, careful investigation by Captain Hicks of the British Army, Mr. Webster of the American Red Cross and Major Walter Drysdale, U. S. Military Attaché at Peking, proved the report to be false.

For an opinion to the contrary see Leonid I. Strakhovsky: “Die Diplomatischen Verhandlungen zur Amerikanischen Intervention in Sibirien. 1918-1920”, Yahrbiicher fur geschichle Osteuropas, Vol. III, Part 2, 1938. pp. 221, 229. Ed.

24 Mr. Heald identifies Mme. Chicherin as the wife of George Chicherin, later chosen by Trotsky to be Commisar of Foreign Affairs. I have been unable to verify this identification.

25 The Provisional Government, with Miliukov as Foreign Minister, assumed the hopeless task of keeping Russia in the war. The Soviets were opposed, finally (May 15) calling for a peace without annexations or indemnities. Pertinent documents may be found in: Golder, , op. cit., 320-347Google Scholar and in C. K. Cumming and W. W. Pettit, Russian-American Relations, . N. Y., 1920, 1-21, seriatim; and elsewhere. A convenient summary is Chamberlin, op. cit., I, 107-109. The official Communist interpretation is given in Istoriya., I , 81-84 and more briefly in M. Sayers and A. E. Kahn, The Great Conspiracy, Boston, Little, Brown and Co., 1946,3-12. For a discussion of propaganda and fraternization in the army, vide, D. F. White, Growth of the Red Army, Princeton University Press, 1944,3-23.

26 I.e., the Bolshevik. It should be noted that Lenin had arrived in Petrograd on April 16 and within a month had won unquestioned leadership of the Bolshevik Party. There is a very interesting analysis of the role of Lenin in S, Hook, The Hero in History, John Day, N. Y., 1943, 184-228.

27 Lenin, who was at the time in Geneva, sought to give instructions to the Bolsheviks by his “Letters from Afar” but the results were not satisfactory. According to the officia Communist history, it was the Menshevik Martov who first suggested that Lenin return to Russia via Germany, and the Swiss Socialist, Platten, who arranged it. There was no truth to the rumor Mr. Heald mentions. No communication was permitted with Lenin and his party during their trip across Germany. Vide, Chamberlin, op. cit., I, 116.) On the other hand, the German High Command did not facilitate Lenin's return to Russia in the hope of furthering Russian interests. According to all accounts, what Lenin hailed was not civil war but the “world Socialist revolution.“

28 Miliukov's note pledged the continued adherence of Russia to the war aims of the allies. His statement was approved by the Provisional Government before it was issued. After some deliberation, the Soviet referred the matter to its Executive Committee (May 1). On May 4, the Executive Committee urged an end to street disorders and, on that same day, the Soviet resolved in favor of peace on the basis of no annexation and no indemnity. The All-Russian Conference of Bolsheviks (May 7-12) condemned the war as imperialistic. Miliukov, on May 22d, told a Congress of the Kadet Party that “ … the main thread of my policy was to get the Straits for Russia.” Golder, op. cit., 334.

29 On the Anarchists vide, Hard, W., Raymond Robbins Own Story, Harpers, N. Y., 1920, 73-81 (describes hostility between Anarchists and Bolsheviks); L. Trotsky, Stalin, Harpers, N. Y., 1946, 337 (Trotsky alleges that he and Lenin sought to cooperate with the Anarchists); S. Liberman, Building Lenin's Russia, University of Chicago Press, 1945, 202-205 (better analysis than Hard cr Trotsky; confirms the essentials of Hard's account); Ch'amberlin, op. cit., I, 423.

30 Cf., White, , op. cit., 3–23 Google Scholar, passim. Kerensky states his views on this in his Crucifixion of Liberty, 303-360, passim.

31 A. I. Guchkov, leader of the Octobrists, Minister of War and Marine from March 15 to May 13,1917. For a characterization, vide, Pares, op. cit., 105 sqq.

32 Frank A. Golder, famous American historian of Russia; editor of Documents of Russian History, cited ut supra; and author or editor of other standard works on Russia.

33 Guchkov resigned on May 13, Miliukov on May 16, as part of the manoeuvring to form a coalition government of Soviets and Provisional Government. Such a coalition was farmed on the 17th, largely due to the efforts of Kerensky, who replaced Guchkov. Miliukov was replaced by Tereshchenko. The Peasant Congress was brought together by the Socialists, the Minister of Agriculture V. Chernov (an Essar) being especially active.

34 On Mme. Breshkovskaya, vide the introduction to “Some Breshkovskaya Letters,” The American Slavic and East European Review, IV, NOS. 10/11 (December, 1945), 128-130.

35 The Railroad Commission, consisting of some three hundred American railroaders, was organized in the United States in the Fall of 1917. The initiative came from the Kerensky Government which besought our aid in re-organizing and operating the Trans-Siberian system. The Commission was headed by John F. Stevens.

36 The reference is to the July offensive.

37 The Root Mission, consisting of Elihu Root (Chairman), Charles R. Crane, Cyrus H, McCormick, Samuel R. Bertron, Charles E. Russell, and James Duncan, was sent to Russia in May, 1917. According to Secretary of State Lansing, its purpose was “ … primarily to manifest to the Russian Government and people the deep sympathetic feeling which exists … in America for the adherence of Russia to … democracy… The Commission is prepared … to confer upon the best ways and means to bring about effective cooperation … in the persecution of the war against the German autocracy … . ” C. K. Cumming and W. W. Petit, Russian-American Relations, March 1917-March, 1920, Harcourt, Brace and Howe, N. Y., 1920, 27. The Mission remained in Russia from June 13 to July 10. The United States and the Soviet Union, Committee on Russian-American Relations, N. Y., 1933, 23-24. Also vide the comment by F. L. Schuman, Soviet Politics, Knopf, N. Y., 1946, 72.

38 At the time of this writing, Kerensky is still vigorously alive. He is now living in New Canaan, Connecticut.

39 The Bolshevik leaders did not initiate this movement because Lenin felt that such action was premature. They did, however, assume responsibility for the insurrections after they had begun, probably in order to retain control of the revolutionaries. The Bolshevik Party was forced underground and Lenin had to go into exile as a result of the failure of this premature rising. Lenin anticipated that Kerensky would seize this opportunity to crush the Bolshevik opposition. Cf. Istoriya, I, 141-156, esp. 144-147; L. Trotsky, Lenin, N. Y., 1925, 77; Chamberlin, , op. cit., I, 166–190 Google Scholar, esp. 170 sqq.; Hook, , op. cit., 206–207.Google Scholar According to Trotsky, Stalin began to play a leading part at this time. Vide, Trotsky, , Stalin, 213–214.Google Scholar A vivid description of the rising by a pro-Bolshevik observer is to be found in A. R. Williams, Through the Russian Revolution, Boni and Liveright, N. Y., 1921, 25-40. Kerensky denied that this was a spontaneous movement, but the weight of the evidence is against him. Cf. his Crucifixion, 365. Pertinent documentation may be found in Golder, , op. cit., 425–465.Google Scholar

40 Mr. Heald apparently refers to a resolution adopted by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets on June 21.

41 Shortly after this letter was written, Mrs. Heald joined her husband in Petrograd. After a short leave which they spent in Finland, Mr. Heald was transferred to Minsk. In connection with his final remark, it is interesting to note that American readers were also being encouraged by reports from Russia, many of which stressed the democratic nature of the Kerensky regime (Kerensky replaced Lvov as Prime Minister on July 20,1917). Typical reports were: M. Schuyler, “Russia's Democrats,” National Geographic Magazine (March, 1917), Vol. xxxi, No. 3, 210-240; “Russia's Man of the Hour: Alexander Kerensky,” National Geographic (July, 1917), Vol. xxxII, No. 1, 24-45; S. Washburn, “Russia from Within,” National Geographic (August, 1917); Vol. xxxII, No.2,91-120.