RUSSIA AFTER THE REVOLUTION %n tf^ -! %4 --!„ ^l*?- '•k't- "^ ■^ f ^* t ^ m^i^.^^i^^m <^i' > miPiMBSm CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY /^' "■"""' Russia after the revolution / 3 1924 028 401 614 k > _^'\mra'rfnt (jliimimUfP (ur J^mtrnian fliiit.5uriaii jjfliff Jami-sX'lSflrtim (fijtirlwlil.llirKrfit «'l)iirlro K.ifwiif itiltriniiaii ^fmtnni iTntiQiiiTr iSTd luliam i( mitg rmtrmi . '//.-/./ „./„..„/,/„/,. ^,„/,/, ,, /,.,,/.. „//,„/„,/ .,;//,'/.,., .,j.,„/„„ ,:,,■,.„.„„ ^„,.,„,/ /.,, M, -■/„„, ,r.,„ 'C,„„„//., /.,-. ■/,.,„.„,„„ „,^, /'/.,„„,, -/,',/,',/'/„ ,„.„/ /•/„. i,„, f,".,„/ ,„ //„ „ /,,,,// ,/ /A, „/.,/■„.„/ ,///,:, '/^:.„.,„M, . ■//; ,., A.^„/,/y , „-,„/„/ /^ „//y„,:„.,.., /,. „/„.,„ /..., /„,„/„/./,. /,„,„„„,/„„„„ „, ^ lliiiniiilii Tfoiitisyiece Author's Commission from the American Committee for Armenian and Svrian Relief Russia After the Revolution By CHARLES E. BEURY Philadelphia GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY Publishers Copyright, 1918, by George W. Jacobs & Compant IS {.K AU rtzhts reserved Printed in U. S. A. DEDICATION To those near and dear in the home- lands who with unmatched heroism and fortitude have borne the greater burden of the world conflict. \B Cornell University B Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028401614 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Siberia and Petrograd 1 II. Moscow and the Volga Eiver 11 III. The Caucasus and the Armenians 21 IV. Persia and the Syrian Christians 32 V. Overland to the Front in Turkey 43 VI. Eussia in Chaos 59 VII. Chaotic Russia Explained 70 VIII. The Revolution 80 IX. The Period of Kerensky 90 X. The Bolsheviki in Power 103 XI. Russia and the German Menace 120 ILLUSTRATIONS Author's Commission from the Ameri- can Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief Frontispiece Facing page Map Showing Route Taken by Author 1 Food Stalls at a Siberian Station — Exiled Rus- sian Princess in Center 2 Idle Soldiers at a Railroad Station in Russia. . . 2 Madame Breshkovsky and Dr. "William T. Ellis in the Winter Palace at Petrograd 8 City of Moscow from Bell Tower — ^Kremlin. ... 12 First Y. M. C. A. Hut in Russia 12 Soldiers on Volga River Steamer 16 Market — Astrakhan, Russia 18 Tiflis, Russia — Persian Quarter 22 Modern Part of Tiflis with Soldier Procession ... 22 Village of Khotur on Border Between Persia and Turkey 26 Armenian Refugees — Church Compound, Etch- miadzin, Caucasus 28 Industrial Relief Work — ^Weaving Department, Erivan, Caucasus 28 Katholicos — Spiritual and Political Head of Ar- menian People 30 Tabriz, Persia— Walled Streets and Mud Roofs. . 32 Starving Refugee Orphans 34 Bepatched Syrian Peasant Outside Mission Com- pound, Urumia, Persia 36 Leaving Urumia, Persia, for the Front 40 At the Front in Persia— Dr. Ellis and Mr. Beury in Foreground 40 Facing page Syrian Refugees at Dilman, Persia, Assembled to Thank America 44 Our Party on the Road from Persia to Turkey, with Mounted Militia as Escort 46 Famous Rock and Castle, Van, Turkey 50 Ruins of Van, Turkey 50 Looking Across No Man's Land — Turkish Front. 54 Russian Soldiers in Uniform Ranks — ^An Unusual Sight 60 Food Line — Petrograd and Everywhere 64 Russian Girl Soldiers 68 Crude Red Cross Carts — Russia 72 Russian Soldier Beggar. 76 Tauride Palace where Duma Met 82 A Revolutionary Demonstration 86 Russian "Soldat" — St. Isaac's Cathedral in Background 90 Soup Kitchen on Caucasus Front 96 With Staff of Colonel Wachnadze — Armenian Plateau 96 With Divisional Staff OfScers in Front of Mongo- lian Tent 100 In Front of Nicholai Station, Petrograd, Russia . 108 Church of Resurrection, Petrograd — ^Memorial to Czar Alexander II 114 Camel Supply Train— Turkey 122 Horse-borne Litters in Persia 122 Chinese Coolies En route for Work Behind Lines in France 128 AUTHOR'S NOTE This is a two-fold tale. First, it is the personal story of a forty-six thousand mile trip, sixteen thou- sand miles of which were covered in Russia, Persia, and Turkey during war, revolution, and famine. The journey was undertaken by Dr. William T. Ellis and myself as Commissioners for the American Com- mittee for Armenian and Syrian Relief, entrusted with the duty of looking into the distress of the refu- gee peoples in the Caucasus and neighboring lands. In addition, at the request of the American Red Cross Mission to Russia, we made an investigation of the Red Cross needs on the Caucasus front, which we visited in Persia and at several places in Turkey as the guests of the Russian Army. Second, it is a sympathetic recital of the outstand- ing events which culminated in the Russian Revolu- tion, the Revolution itself, and the kaleidoscopic changes whereby the social-economic revolution later transcended the political revolution making possible a " German " peace. It is not the narrative of de- tailed happenings so much as the record of the move- ment as a whole, without an adequate understanding of which no one can justly appreciate Russia in tran- sition. Plainly and without literary pretense, it aims Author's Note to give the reader an intelligent knowledge of the present Russian situation and its significance to the Allied cause as it appears to a traveler. Chas. E. Bbuby. August 1st, 1918, Philadelphia, Pa. Food Stalls at a Siberian Station Exiled Russian Princess in Center Idle Soldiers at a Eailroad Station in Russia Siberia and Petrograd S excellent care of their war prisoners, but this was not true of Russia. There had been the usual Russian graft in the administration of prison funds and supplies as well as in the distribution of allowances from home. Dur- ing the winter the temperature at the camps was often below zero, freezing the arms and legs of poorly clad prisoners so that they had to be hacked ofF. Epidemics of disease claimed appalling numbers. At Tieumen, where the former Czar left the train for his overland journey to his exile in Tobolsk, almost a third of the imprisoned soldiers had succumbed dur- ing the previous winter. They died so rapidly, it was impossible to bury them in the deeply frosted ground and their bodies, frozen stiff, were stacked outside the barricade like cord wood awaiting the spring thaw and interment. But we must not wonder at this tale of inhuman- ity. One could not expect an inefficient bureaucracy which failed shamefully to care for its own fighting men, as will hereinafter appear, to provide ade- quately for the needs of prisoners of war. The prisoners from the Central Powers, having thus suifered so frightfully through extreme cold, disease, and malnutrition, due to careless and inade- quate treatment on the part of the old despotic regime in Russia, had finally been allowed to work In the fields and on the roads and highways. Most of these later had taken up their homes in the huts of the peasants or mujiks. In the absence of the sol- '4s Russia After the Revolution dier-husband at the front, many had even assumed the position of the head and prospective father of the family. These men became, especially after the over- turn of the Czar, extreme propagandists on behalf of the enemy. It was a simple task to poison and befuddle the minds of the ignorant, childlike peasant folk. The story of the superior living conditions in Germany as compared with those in Russia, and of a Government that looked after the welfare of its subjects, afforded cogent reasons why the Russians' should no longer continue the fight. Peace talk of- this kind was spread broadcast, circulated to the front lines, and disseminated among the sol- diers. This propaganda, in conjunction with many other forms and kinds that one encounters in all parts of Russia, had a disastrous effect upon the morale, not only of the fighting men but also of the great bulk of the people who must stand behind and support the men at the front. German^/, if anything, has been more efflcient in her work of propaganda than •with her arms. Everywhere one runs across the serpent trail of this kind of fighting — it attacks from within as well as from without; from the rear as well as from the front. Much space might be given to a discourse on its various forms and mani- festations as evidenced by the German agents who stole into Russia when the Revolution came shatter- ing the wall of steel on the eastern front. These men persuaded the Russian soldiers that if they were to Siberia and Petrograd 5 share in the promised distribution of land they must hasten home; hence the hundreds of thousands of deserters during the early stages of the Revolution. German agents bought and bribed officials in the highest positions. They counterfeited Russian money in Germany for this purpose so that their efforts were not particularly costly — except to gul- lible Russia. Aside from the slaughter of the battlefields and the wholesale annihilation of peoples and property, books could be written about the myriads of indi- vidual cases of unrecorded misfortunes growing out of this war. On our train, for instance, was the accomplished widow of a wealthy Russian Prince. French by birth, she was caught in Austria at the war's beginning and only escaped internment by vol- unteering as a nurse in Vienna. Later feigning sick- ness she escaped to Russia via Italy, but only to find her husband's people — high in the Russian Govern- ment — anxious for financial reasons to be rid of her. It was plotted that she be sent to Irkutsk, Si- beria, as a spy and after several years as an exile, she was at last going home, her return made possible by the overthrow of the old regime. Another instance was that of an old man of sev- enty-two years. He had come from Germany orig- inally, though for forty years he had been a Russian subject. His three sons and sons-in-law were at the front with the Russian army. Being the owner of a remunerative watch factory in Riga, his competitors. 6 Russia After the Revolution wishing to have him removed, circulated the canard that he was pro-German. In consequence he was banished to Siberia from whence he was returning to die a broken, childish victim of intrigue. There were many other tragic cases of homes dis- rupted and families parted forever, not to think of fortunes lost overnight. Thus on one train was re- flected the world wide misery which has resulted from ruthless, inhuman imperialism. Food seemed to be plentiful in Siberia, but as the train moved westward some significant changes took place. The identical cakes in the restaurant car in- creased in price as we neared Petrograd and they became staler, dirtier, and more fly-bespecked. When we crossed from Siberia into Russia proper, white bread was no longer obtainable and black bread — sour, gritty and soggy — was served every- where. Its sogginess was due to its being sold by weight — its grittiness to the presence of cobble- stones — pulverized of course. The writer found, after a week's testing, that his digestive apparatus was not made for that kind of food and he had to spend a period of recuperation in bed. Most Ameri- cans suffered the same experience. In consequence, at the Hotel duNord, our stopping-place in Petro- grad, we had to live practically on foodless break- fasts, for no meats, eggs, butter, milk, or cereals were served at breakfast-time — only black bread and chai or tea. With bread eliminated, the resultant tea was hardly a substantial meal to support one Siberia and Petrograd 7 during the morning, and often through actual weak- ness I was compelled to rest before resuming my in- vestigations. Ordinary unsatisfying meals at the restaurants and hotels cost from two to three dollars in gold — a la carte meals five dollars. Everything had in- creased from five hundred to one thousand per cent ; a ten-cent cake of milk chocolate was sold for a dol- lar. At the theater a piece of sugar was tendered as a burlesque prize. Later it cost us one dollar per pound. Long " queue " lines of women and chil- dren waited with tickets for hours and hours to get a small portion of food ; others acted as motorwomen and common laborers, while crowds of underpaid and overfed soldiers were wasting their time joy-riding on street-cars or idling about the city. In addition to the long, irritating, and often futile waits for food distribution, speculators had secured possession of many food tickets, thus increasing the discontent with existing conditions. All necessities — shoes, clothes, tobacco, etc. — were distributed by card. Even with the revolutionary advance in wages it was hard living for everybody. But the prospects seemed to foreshadow even harsher conditions for the coming winter. With no coal in Petrograd, it was necessary to rely solely on the wood supply which transportation and labor dif- ficulties had seriously curtailed, though to see the huge stacks piled high in the streets and public squares one questioned how there could be an actual 8 Russia After the Revolution shortage. In addition everybody wondered how the winter's food would be procured. The Capital was in the throes of a Liberty Loan campaign — their first real liberty loan. Artistic booths lined the streets while highly decorated auto- mobiles whirled loan orators from center to center. The attempt in July to float bonds of the new gov- ernment was spoiled by the radical uprising, but the August sale was peacefully accomplished and quite successful. Indeed the total subscription was of such size and participated in by such numbers that the government was greatly encouraged. America at least was doing her best to put heart into the newly freed people. At the United States Embassy one met scores of Americans, members of different commissions, who had come to Russia to help in the work of reconstruction and of resistance to the imperial foe. Diplomatic, military, railroad, Red Cross men, Y. M. C. A. and relief workers all focusing their efforts toward the solution of Rus- sia's tremendous task. Crossing the Palace Square where on Bloody Sun- day in 1905 the forces of Czarism greeted with a murderous and indefensible fire the beseeching crowd of workingmen who had come to ask imperial aid in their efforts for a better living, and entering the famous Winter Palace of the Czars, we visited Cath- arine Breshkovsky, the Grandmother of the Revo- lution. As we climbed the broad palace stairs and were ushered through the spacious halls lined with Siberia and Petrograd 9 imperial decorations and memorial plaques, to the suite of this brave little woman, our minds could not but revert to the fickleness of fortune that had so shifted personages about. Here was a woman who had suffered in prison for thirty odd years, more than a score of which had been spent in Northern Siberia to which at that very moment the deposed Czar him- self was en route, a prisoner. Despite her more than three score years and ten, despite her near-white hair, despite her extended term of close confinement and hardship, this little woman is sturdy of body and young of spirit. She speaks English well, but writes it better as we readily noted when reading her vigorous, deep-seeing diagnosis of the existing Russian confusion. One could not want a clearer explanation of the present chaos than her statement that demoralized revolutionary Russia is an inheritance from the past. When the Czar was deposed, Catharine Bresh- kovsky was in far-off Siberia. The Revolutionary government invited her to return and after driving hundreds of miles overland and riding thousands of miles by train, she finally reached the Nicholas Sta- tion in Petrograd. She was escorted in regal state to the imperial suite in the station and later received an unprecedented ovation as she was driven through the densely packed streets to the former palace of the Romanoffs. But this brave soul was in no wise spoiled by her admiring, worshipping friends. We found her living in simplicity amidst these splendid 10 Russia After the Revolution surroundings. Her heart and mind after years of suffering and striving on behalf of the oppressed masses of Russia were not turned to vain exultation, but to the serious problem of consolidating the unex- pected revolutionary success into an abiding victory. CHAPTER II MOSCOW AND THE VOLGA KIVEK Feom Petrograd we went to Moscow, the most truly Russian of alj, large cities. It is a business center of unequaled importance and accordingly con- servative. Because of this latter fact, ever since the Revolution efforts had been made to re-establish the capital there — it had been the capital before the time of Peter the Great — in the hope that the new government of Russia would be more stable and con- servative. Curiously when the transfer was actually accomplished the radical Bolsheviki were in control. Here is the famous Kremlin, one of the most inter- esting places of all Europe, where the Czars of Rus- sia were always crowned and where Napoleon slept one night only to be rudely awakened to the fact that the Muscovites were burning their city and its food stores, and that his victorious army, deprived of sup- plies, would have to struggle back over trackless snows to France. It is sad to think that many of the historic monuments of this place have been much impaired, if not destroyed, by the Bolshevik riots of last November. In this old Muscovite capital we visited the first y. M. C. A. hut established in Russia. Previous to 12 Russia After the Revolution the overturn of the Czar's government, the only work that the Y. M. C. A. was permitted to do was in the prison camps among the soldiers of the Central Pow- ers — despite the fact that this Association is accom- plishing a piece of moral uplift work unapproached by any other agency. But with the coming of the new order, permission was given for the inauguration of this kind of Christian work in the soldier camps throughout Russia. The building used at Moscow had been built for the occupancy of the General Staff during army maneuvers, and being close to a large interior camp was easily adapted to this purpose. It was hoped that the Y. M. C. A. plan of work would teach the Russian private order, obedience, cleanliness ; would strengthen the morale of the army ; and bring home to the common soldier the importance of his part in preserving the new freedom. We were guests of Mr. Long, who had charge of the athletic and recreational work, and a new light on Russian life was disclosed when we saw the absolute inability of the soldier to play. His efforts to learn American games such as football or basketball were childlike, eager but in- comprehensibly awkward and clumsy. It was a com- mentary on the flat, gray, monotonous existence of the Russian peasant. It is hard to overestimate the splendid war accom- plishments of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion. The work in the soldier camps is generally well known, and that it has proven worth while is con- City of Moscow from Bell Towek — Kremlin First Y. M. C. A. Hut in Eussia Moscow and the Volga River 13 firmed by its recent extension into the French and Italian armies at the request of their respective com- mands. But comparatively little has been written of the help that has been administered to the prisoners of war — a truly remarkable achievement. An out- line of the work as I gathered it from several of the originators and leaders of this novel enterprise should be well worth recording. In the early stages of the war the hundreds of prison camps of Europe were inchoate masses of human misery — millions of idle men in close unsani- tary confinement, living on an inadequate ration, threatened with disease and dying, with nothing to do — helpless and hopeless. A more dejected pic- ture could not be imagined. Various agents under- took the work of uplift, particularly the Y. M. C. A. American secretaries of tact and courage after pro- longed diplomatic exchanges were allowed to experi- ment in four camps in Germany ; then among all pris- oners in England until the work was extended every- where except in Moslem Turkey. Mr. A. C. Harte, whom it was my privilege to know intimately in Petrograd, pioneered much of this en- terprise. In the course of his efforts to introduce the work, he was accorded long interviews with most of the crowned heads of Europe, finding the readiest response from the women of the royal families. The activities in a given camp were initiated by the construction of a " hut " as a center. It con- tained an assembly room, writing and study rooms 14 Russia After the Revohition and smaller rooms where prisoners could be practi- cally alone ; for where men have been herded together in droves there grows up an abnormal human long- ing to get away from the crowd. A society of pris- oners with committees for various purposes was formed under the guidance of the secretary. These committees took a census of the camp ascertaining what lines of activity or study the imprisoned sol- diers might care to take up, at the same time seek- ing out the men who at home had been professors, teachers or instructors. Classes of all kinds were formed. Schools and colleges were created under experienced leadership, offering much of the curricu- lum of a university. Trade, manual and technical schools were a large part of the plan, — banking, architecture and all the useful arts being taught. The primary object was to keep men occupied who had " all their time on their hands," to use an expression of Dr. John R. Mott. The secondary and highly beneficial purpose was to convert idleness into personal improvement. The Y. M. C. A. bought and furnished the equipment including recreational ap- paratus and books. But it was difHcult to provide a sufficient library, so it was not unusual to find groups of men numbering hundreds listening to a designated reader. Music proved a real blessing — an effective anti- dote to insanity so prevalent in prison life. More than five hundred bands were furnished instruments. Amateur theatricals were produced, entertaining both Moscow and the Volga River 15 the audience and the players. Religious services were conducted with great success and the moral in- fluence exerted was far reaching. The Association assisted in the distribution of money forwarded from home folks. But more im- portant than this was the administration of food parcels. Every other week each prisoner was per- mitted to receive a package of food from the home- land. This supply meant the saving of countless lives for it strengthened the men to resist disease and collapse. This prison work was one of America's greatest contributions to the war previous to our becoming a belligerent. It was one of the factors in saving our good name when all Europe was bleeding to death and exasperated over our reluctance to take part in the world struggle. And now it has passed into other hands because we are no longer neutral. This was a point of deep regret to Mr. Harte who said, " I wanted America to continue this enterprise ; for I am sure we could have demonstrated to the peo- ple of the Central Powers that despite our belliger- ency, we could carry forward this saving work im- partially and with true unselfishness." In another part of Moscow I visited the barracks where the women soldiers were quartered. These women — or to be more accurate, young girls — vol- unteered to fight for free Russia, hoping thereby to instil a new spirit in the fighting men.' They fought bravely in the Galician advance of July, 1917, many 16 Russia After the Revolution being killed and wounded, but looking into the girlish, often refined, faces of these young Amazons, one could not but wonder whether after all their sacri- fice was worth while or advisable. The soldiers seemed to me too hardened and too dense to look on their efforts in any other way than with amused cynicism and indifference. Even Moscow offered an instance of the lack of proper government. On one occasion our cabby de- manded an outrageous fee and after I had paid him more than the accustomed fare, he audaciously fol- lowed us to our rooms in the hotel. We called the proprietor as an intermediary, and when the driver would accept nothing within reason and I suggested that the matter be referred to the police authorities, we were informed that the police had no say in the matter, as the ignorant Workingmen's Committee had jurisdiction. We finally made an outrageous compromise. Our Volga River trip began at Nishni Novgorod. Here has been held for years the greatest annual fair in the world. People came from everywhere — from Turkestan and India, from China and Japan — bringing with them their nation's wares for this an- nual sale. The yearlj overturn before the war amounted to one hundred million dollars. Last sum- mer, of the four thousand booths only a few were open, and the fair gave not the least indication of its former greatness. Our six or seven days' trip down the Volga River X M H Moscow and the Volga River 17, to Astrakhan was quiet and peaceful ; for in a meas- ure we had slipped away from the strife and striving of revolution and war. Occasionally, however, large groups of seemingly wandering soldiers boarded our boat, sharing without tickets the first-class accommo- dations and asserting their freedom generally. The story was related of how a group of soldiers, just after the Revolution, becoming tired of their excur- sion down the Volga, commanded the captain, despite the presence of hundreds of other passengers who had paid their fare and were bound for distant destina- tions, to turn his steamer back up the river. The captain had no alternative but to obey. The sol- diers, coming mostly from the peasant class, had so long been the under-dog that since affairs had changed it was their day to be " on top " and they did not hesitate to assume that privilege. The presence on our steamer of a contingent of Czech soldiers brought sharply to our attention the rights of small nations and the need of self-determi- nation. These men, who were subjects of Austria- Hungary from Bohemia, had been drafted into the army at the beginning of the war and compelled to fight on behalf of a government that held them in subjection. They were captured by the Russians when Lemberg was taken and for two years had been prisoners of war; but with the coming of freedom in Russia, they successfully petitioned the Kerensky government for the right to fight on the side of Rus- sia and freedom. They told us how in the recent Ga- 18 Russia After the Revolution lician drive many of their comrades were surrounded by Austrians but shot themselves rather than be taken prisoners and put to death as traitors. Kerensky's Assistant Minister of War, General Manikoffski, was on board, bound for Czaritzwin to inspect the large munition plants there, and as the result of a lengthy and pleasant interview gave us a long autographed letter to the commanding authori- ties in the Caucasus. Supplementing our folder of credentials, it was exceedingly helpful, as the subse- quent attention of the Caucasian Army proved. At Astrakhan — which has endeavored several times since the Revolution to set up an independent city republic — we changed to a Caspian Sea steamer. In our two days' stay there we quickly per- ceived the oriental influence working in that city. We also ran across the trail of thousands of emi- grants or refugees who were wandering idly about the country. One can look with complacency on hardened and sturdy men and women living out in the open and sleeping on the rough planks of the wharf as they did here ; but to see innumerable children with the lines of famine in their faces, with scarcely any clothing, sleeping uncovered in the cold out-of-doors, wrings one's heart. As I think back over my experi- ences, nothing seems sadder to me than the knowledge that millions of people from Belgium, France, Ar- menia, Syria, the Balkans, and Poland — eleven mil- lions from Poland alone — have been absolutely up- rooted from their homes and, after gathering together t3 'A < M < E-i Moscow and the Volga River 19 a few articles they could carry, have been driven forth into a bleak, war-ridden world to try and find some haven, some refuge, where the survivors can at least exist until such a time as it may be possible for them to return to their native places. Everywhere, as one travels over devastated and disrupted Europe, he encounters the remnants of these millions who are still wandering and wondering when the end will come. We in America have no conception of the abject misery that has been piled upon Europe as never before in the history of the world, and we have not the slightest right to com- plain or to be irritated or to criticise when the great cry of humanity has asked us to do something so insignificant in comparison — to share our food- stuffs in order to help mitigate the suffering, and to give of our manhood and of our wealth that the prom- ise which was deep in the hearts of the founders of this Republic may be realized. A double transfer is necessary in boarding the Caspian Sea steamer. Owing to the eighty mouths of the Volga River and the consequent shallow chan- nels, a small, light draft boat takes you from Astra- khan to the sea. As one descends from the city the river banks gradually recede and various channels appear here and there. Almost imperceptibly you find yourself in the open sea without being able to say where the land ends and the sea begins. The Caspian is below sea level and having no outlet is therefore a salt-water body. In finally boarding the 20 Russia After the Revolution Sea steamer, it was noticeable that the captain was subordinate to the Soldiers' Committee which con- trolled embarkation, not permitting any of the civil- ians to go on board until all the soldiers had been provided for. He stood on the bridge biting his lips and watching the crowds of soldiers and refugees pushing aboard until the boat was loaded twice be- yond its capacity and safety, and was helpless to prevent it. There was not even sufficient room for the deck passengers to lie at full length during the two days' trip to Baku — they were crammed in so tightly. Railroad traveling in Russia up to this time had been crowded and uncomfortable, but nothing in com- parison with what we were to experience in the Cau- casus. Our train was scheduled to leave Baku at 10 o'clock p. m. As a fact, its departure was at nearly five the next morning, which gave us an opportunity to drive about this rich city, famous for its oil wells, and to learn to sleep sitting straight in a station chair. When the train finally arrived, it was good to hear the young woman conductor call for the " Americanskis " and escort us to a compartment. We shall never forget how this young lady protected us from the encroaching soldiers during the eighteen- hour trip to Tiflis, haranguing the people who tried to crowd into the corridor and compartment with a celerity that would do credit to any woman. She was more grateful for the precious sugar we gave her than for the present of money. CHAPTER III THE CAUCASUS AND THE ARMENIANS The Caucasus is one of the polyglot places of the world, with races as well as languages without num- ber. Not very far from Noah's Mount Ararat, na- tion after nation has held the supremacy of the coun- try, each leaving at least a remnant of its people. Differing in customs, language, and religion, there is constant conflict among the various groups. Na- tional jealousies and religious antipathies during this time of a weakened central government had pro- duced a state of fear and panic, especially among the Christian groups, and the bartering away to Turkey of the three southwestern districts of the Caucasus by the German-Russian peace has intensi- fied the apprehension and increased the confusion. Though the independent government set up in Trans- Caucasia is endeavoring with the assistance of volun- teer Armenians, Georgians and other peoples to hold back the Turks from overrunning this section of the country, no one knows just what may happen, but the possibility of renewed and extended massacres among the Christians one does not like to contemplate. Tiflis is the capital of the Caucasus, formerly a 22 Russia After the Revolution vice-royalty with a viceroy as governor. Here our credentials, letters from the State Department, from our Ambassador, Kerensky's Minister of War, and others enabled us to make without delay arrange- ments for our trip into Persia, Turkey, and Armenia. The American Consul, F. Willoughby Smith, was most courteous and effective in seeing that we were properly introduced to General Pyeralski, the Com- mander-in-Chief of the Caucasus Army, his Chief of Staff, General Golumbev, the head of the Red Cross, and Mr. Papanjanoff, the Civil Governor of that country; but despite their high positions, we found that these leading men were unable to secure for us accommodations on the train going south to the land of Mount Ararat. There was only one train a day from Tiflis to Tabriz, which usually required three days to complete the journey, and in consequence of this limited service, mobs stormed the station, climbed on the cars, even to the top, in an effort to get from one place to another. Soldiers' Committees had charge of the railroads, and the higher military au- thorities had little say. We were finally advised that if we wished to get sleeping-berths, we should take the matter up with Monsieur George, Commissionaire for the large ho- tels. This had the desired result and his manner of securing a compartment for Dr. Ellis, an interpreter and myself, is interesting. He had in his employ a number of " rough-necks " or burlies who made a point of taking possession of the required compart- TirLis, RxTSSTA — Persian Quarter Modern Part of Tiplis with Soldier Procession The Caucasus and the Armenians 23 ments in the train before it left the yards. Then when the train came into the station, Monsieur George led his privileged passengers to the compart- ment and had his rough colleagues release the ac- commodations. It was all worked out accurately and the only cost was a liberal tip to Monsieur George. In this way three of us secured a two-berth compartment for Erivan, where the Armenian relief work centers. Our train departed many hours late, and needless to say we reached our destination maliy more hours late — at two o'clock the second morning following. It seemed to us that trains were always scheduled to leave at night, but actually left in the small hours of the morning, and never failed to arrive at other than some unearthly time. I can still think back to the discomfiture of night after night that we kept vigil, either waiting or traveling under most uncom- fortable circumstances. The relief work of which we were bent upon mak- ing an investigation is conducted mainly in two sec- tions : that in the Southern Caucasus, among the Ar- menian refugees who had been driven from their homes in Turkey to escape massacre; and that in North- western Persia, among the Syrian Christians whose homes and property had been looted and destroyed when Turkish soldiers followed by Kurdish brigands violated the neutrality of Persia and over-ran this section of the country. The story of the Armenian massacres undoubtedly 24 Russia After the Revolution constitutes the blackest page of all history. Throughout the centuries the world has witnessed many great crimes even against whole nations, and the Armenians have suffered frightful outrages in the century that has just passed, but never has anything occurred to parallel this wholesale effort to annihilate a great race. It can be stated without reservation that at least a million souls have perished in conse- quence of this recent fiendish persecution by the Turks — a plan systematized and made efficient in one of the great so-called Christian empires of the world. The external, the internal, the circumstan- tial evidence all tends to prove that back of and in control of this unspeakable outrage on humanity, has been the Imperial German Government. Fur- thermore, there has never been a time during the continuance of 'these crimes that that same Govern- ment has not had it within its power to order and effect their discontinuance. The world traveler today who is not deaf to cur- rent comment and opinion becomes almost water- logged with conflicting expressions of sentiments and statements that are offered. Some of this current comment is idle or voluntary, but much of it is fos- tered and promoted by the various belligerent gov- ernments. It is the latter that is known as " propa- ganda " and out of my own experience I have no doubt that German and Turkish propaganda have endeavored to cover up ^nd confuse the truth every- where concerning the Armenian atrocities. This has The Caucasus and the Armenians 25 been effected through subterfuge and various subter- ranean channels. A comparative study of the records show that in preparation for each drive of frightfulness against the Christian peoples of Bible Lands, a publicity campaign was carried on in the daily papers of Tur- key and the other members of the Quadruple Alli- ance. This campaign accused the Christians of op- pressing the Turks and paved the way for coming massacres by announcing Constantinople was dis- patching an armed force to cope with the disturbed situation, predicting proper retaliatory measures would be taken to protect the innocent Turks and preserve order. Immediately the gates of hate were lifted and a flood of outrage was let loose especially against the defenseless Armenians. Freedom to rob, rape, and murder was the order issued to the Turks and a reign of blackest crimes ensued. Later the governments of Turkey and Germany would oiBcially announce that the Christian uprising was being put down and the participants duly pun- ished. Thus they endeavored to justify wholesale outrage. But there can be no doubt as to the unspeakably fiendish manner and extent of this most criminal act of race fanaticism to one who has come in touch with the shattered remnants of the Armenian race as I have, and who has talked and worked with refugees from every part of Turkey, eye-witnesses of massacre heaped on massacre. In the cities and towns of the 26 Russia After the Revolution Southern Caucasus our investigations, made by an examination of cases — not exceptional nor isolated — disclosed that the surviving refugees numbered but twenty-five per cent of the original population of Eastern Turkey from which they came. Witnesses told us the story of the murder of loved ones; of the occupants of buildings being shut in and burned alive. In the main, the men were sepa- rated from the women and children, tied in groups of hundreds and shot or, when ammunition gave out, butchered to death. The Italian Consul reports that at Trebizond he saw nine thousand Armenians and Greeks loaded on small boats and drowned in the Black Sea like rats. These were only a portion of the twenty odd thousands who were put on ships on this sea, under pretense of being taken to Syria by water instead of the long march overland, and who suffered a similar fate. Turkish soldiers selected the likely looking girls and women, herded them together and drove them along with the Army to use at their pleasure. Many girls were made slaves in the homes and, often deprived of their clothes, were compelled to act as servants. Dr. Ellis and I, while the guests of the Russian Army, in our hundreds of miles of overland travel, for days together did not see a single civilian in that oldest known portion of the world's surface to the west of Mount Ararat. The native peoples had all disappeared either through massacre or as deportees or refugees. Their villages — hundreds of them — The Caucasus and the Armenians 27 were absolutely leveled to the ground. Their nor- mally rich farms are lying fallow in this period of world famine. In Central and Western Turkey the surviving Armenian women, girls, and children were permitted to take only the few things they could carry as they were uprooted from their homes and driven in great caravans toward the Syrian desert and Mesopotamia on those long, inhuman marches that ended in most cases in death. These deporta- tion trains were in charge of brigands loosed from the jails as well as soldiers. And it is told how the Turkish soldiers gambled on the sex of the unborn child and ripped open the mother to determine their bet. We lived for weeks among the Syrian Christians in the cities and villages of Northwest Persia, and saw the remnants of their wrecked civilization left by the marauding Turks and pillaging Kurds. These Syrian Christians survived only because they crowded into the compounds of the missionaries and for five months, under the protection of the Ameri- can flag and American citizens, found safety — ex- cept from disease which decimated their numbers by the thousands. The heroic story of this siege will appear more fully later. It was in these two main sections that the largest part of the relief work of the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief was being admin- istered, though countless thousands of Greeks, Jews, Syrians, Armenians, and other subject races of Tur- 28 Russia After the Revolution key are being helped wherever the benighted rule of Islam has laid its cruel and pillaging hands. But let us go back to the Southern Caucasus. Working from Erivan and a half-dozen sub-centers through three hundred villages, over one hundred thousand refugees, not counting ten thousand or- phans, were being reached in this section by the Am- erican Armenian Relief Committee. The work was interesting and almost dramatic, for through this Committee weaving mills had been constructed by the workers, so that one could see cotton and wool taken in its raw state, washed and bleached and combed and spun and woven, on looms made by the refugees themselves, into durable cloth which was tailored into garments and used for clothing them. This work gave the people something to do and prevented their being pauperized. When possible the distribution of work is always wiser than food or money. It had lifted them above the starvation point. The whole relief plan has been so eiBcient and successful that one cannot but heap praises upon it. It would sat- isfy the investigations of a Rockefeller Foundation with its card index system and checks to prevent fraud. In addition to the money allowance to or- phans and the establishment of an orphanage, milk was furnished the children while a doctor and a hos- pital were administering to the sick. Missionaries, for the most part, comprised the personnel of foreign workers, and these good people, who had labored for years among the Armenians Armenian EEruGEES — Church Compound, Etchmiadzin, Caucasus Industrial Relief Work — V/eaving Department Erivan, Caucasus The Caucasus and the Armenians 29 and knew their language and ways of life, were able to do this task, suddenly thrust upon them, as no one else could. In the distribution of millions of dollars to orphans and those who were so destitute they could not help themselves, naturally it was neces- sary to have hundreds of native helpers. This force was recruited from the tried and trusted friends of the missionary enterprise, and the honesty which characterized the administration and distribution of relief has not only been helpful in making it effective, but it has been a great lesson and example of how a big humanitarian undertaking can be conducted with fidelity, even in a country that is beset with graft as this land has been for generations. While, as stated, we found the Armenian refugees from Turkey in a much improved condition, the problem of saving these people has become increas- ingly acute. The Russian Government had really been the best friend of these masses of refugees. A stipend of six rubles per month was allowed to each person. This stipend, never very honestly distrib- uted, has now ceased because of the collapse of Rus- sian finances. Simple logic and mathematics show that the one hundred and eighty thousand refugee people in the Caucasus who were receiving aid from this source, are now in dire distress. They must be cared for. America alone of all the world is most able, because of her wealth and resources, to assume this added burden, and the call that comes to this benevolent nation will not be in vain. 30 Russia After the Bevolution While at Erivan we drove over to Etchmiadzin and had an interview with the Katholicos of the Ar- menian Church. The Katholicos is not only the spiritual head of the Armenian Church but, in a sense, Its political head also, and our discussions with him were more of a political nature than other- wise. He frankly stated that he hoped for an au- tonomous Armenia — an Armenia under the protec- tion of the Allied Powers and absolutely free from Turkish massacres and oppression. His boundaries of the new Armenia as outlined were extensive, and it remains to be seen whether this nation, as a result of the war, shall be granted the right to live in a world that is safe for democracy. The vicissitudes of Armenian history emphasize the necessity of protecting the rights of small na- tions for here is one of the oldest races of history which has suffered appallingly through conquest and persecution. Tradition takes them back to Noah and they are supposed to be of Aryan stock. They are mentioned in early biblical history and the King of Armenia was an ally of Cyrus the Great when the Babylonians were overthrown in the sixth century B. c. Later the Armenian Empire was absorbed by Darius in 514s b, c. Since that time they have lived in the country centering on the high plateau from which flow the Tigris, the Euphrates, and the Araxes Rivers. In the first century before Christ they were allied with Rome and in the third century of the Christian era were subjects of Persia, finally losing Katiiolk'Os — Spiritual and Political Head or Armenian People The Caucasus and the Armenians 31 the last vestige of separate national existence in the fourteenth century. As a race or nation they were the first to adopt Christianity as a national religion, so the Armenian Church is the oldest of all national churches, dating back to the beginning of the fourth century. CHAPTER IV PERSIA AND THE SYRIAN CHRISTIANS The next stage of our journey took us to Tabriz, Persia. The trip should have been made overnight but required thirty hours. The delay, however, af- forded us a view of the historic Araxes River, " the mother of Armenia," which we crossed at the Persian border. The train climbed an upland — arid and picturesque like the canyons of the Colorado — be- fore reaching Tabriz, This city with its laby- rinthian walled streets like ^ Moorish maze, particu- larly the stone-vaulted bazaars said to be twenty- five miles long, was of intense interest from a tourist's standpoint. But we were not traveling for pleasure and we carried away with us other more vital impres- sions. The Russian Army which originally had come into Persia to save the Shah when revolution threat- ened to unseat him, had refused to evacuate, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers, we found, were liv- ing on the land consuming foodstuffs and bringing Persia to the point of destitution. As a consul said, "If these soldiers were accomplishing anything we ■would not care so much, but they are simply get- ling fat and idling their time away." Persia has a weak government like China and Rus- PL, Persia and the Syrian Christians 33 sia. The democratic party is constantly gaining strength, secretly assassinating hostile opponents and restraining the monarchy from taking forceful measures. Possessing no army capable of either re- sisting invasion from without or maintaining order within, this one-time world-dominating empire has practically lost her sense of sovereignty with a weak- ling ruler a puppet on the throne. Persia wants Morgan Shuster, the American finan- cier, to return. It was heartening to hear from the lips of Persians of all degrees that Shuster's efforts to re-establish the finances of Persia — although he did not last long because his idealism ran counter to the sinister diplomacy of Europe — had made a tre- mendous impression on the peoples of Persia because of his honesty, fidelity, and faithfulness. One does not have to delve far into the history of Europe or Asia before he becomes involved in a web of secret diplomacy and feels that the time has come in the world's history when secret treaties, spheres of influ- ence, and imperialistic designs of dominant powers must be discarded forever. May this war see the end of these occult and war- breeding factors of old-world politics, and may a saving measure of the larger idealism of the Ameri- can Government cleanse the nations of the sinister, selfish politics that have caused so much of strife and bloodshed ! In our journey from Tabriz to Western Persia, we had, in addition to Mr. Gracey who had joined 34 Russia After the Revolution us as the special escort deputized by the Armenian Relief Committee, a Captain representing the Russian Army. The trip was without incident until we ar- rived at the eastern shore of Lake Urumia, where we waited the better part of a day for a special boat sent by the Russian Government. It was not very large and after sundown we stretched ourselves out on the pitching deck a la steerage and slept late into the night — when we arrived at the other shore. The remainder of the night was practically spent on the ground in an empty barracks. The next day, after a drive through dust of fog- like thickness, we arrived at Urumia, the center of relief work among the Syrian Christians. This work differed from the temporary measures that were being pursued in the Caucasus to tide over the refugee host until the time when they could return to their native land, in that the Syrians for the most part lived in adjoining regions and were being rehabilitated. At the time of the Turkish and Kurdish Invasions their villages were practically leveled to the ground and thousands were massacred. Fourteen thousand sought safety in the missionary compound of the Presbyterian Board, a place much smaller than a city block. When the Turkish Army came marching through the city gates at Urumia and down the street, bent on loot and rape, they were confronted at the Mis- sion entrance by the six male missionaries with the American flag flying overhead. The Turkish com- Persia and the Syrian Christians 35 mander demanded to know what flag it was, and by what right they sheltered those Syrians, to which reply was made, " By the right of being American citizens, under whose flag we stand." The Turkish commander then hesitatingly gave the order for his men to march on. The refugees lived there, crowded in like animals, for five months, ravaged by epidemics of disease until over four thousand had perished. More than three thousand sought the shelter of the mission church, with a seating capacity of six hundred. The men slept on the floors, children on the benches and the women on boards laid across the backs of the seats. All the tragedies of life occurred here. Children were born and people died, and so compactly were the refugees crowded in and so fearful lest they should lose their places, that even the death of a neighboring victim was not reported, as the informer might lose his space while giving the information. Then the Russian forces drove back the invading Moslems and these people were free to return to their farms and begin the work of reconstruction. Of the eighteen foreign Presbyterian mission workers who cared for these struggling masses of humanity, thir- teen were afllicted with typhus fever, three of them dying, and many stories are told of their sacrifice and heroism on behalf of these oppressed people. At the time of our visit the work was still going on and through grants and loans of money, seed and oxen, the survivors were beginning to work themselves 36 Russia After the Revolution back to a self-sustaining and endurable - existence, though the advance of the Turkish forces following the Brest-Litovsk treaty has drawn a curtain over this whole region and one can only conjecture what has happened since. However, constantly augmenting groups of new refugees were coming into these known centers of American relief. Kurds from the plains and moun- tains to the south had struggled to Urumia in the hope of obtaining life-saving food. Though the Kurdish men have always played a large part in the looting and massacring, their families were deso- late and starving. The Russian Army had punished whole tribes and driven them in want from their fields. Indeed, some of these Moslem refugees were the most pitiful examples of humanity we encoun- tered in all our travels. We saw these people emaci- ated with hunger and racked with disease, in the midst of indescribable dirt and sickening filth, actu- ally gasping and dying before our eyes, their fellow Mohammedans indifferent to their misery. They were so near to the starvation point that it was not uncommon to see them eating the undigested grains out of manure. One of the most famous of these Kurd robbers was named Ali Beg. This time of massacre and un- settled political conditions had been his harvest. Room after room had been filled with the loot which this chief and his followers had collected from the unprotected inhabitants. His name had struck ter- Bepatched SSykian Peasant Outside Mission Compounu Urumia, Persia Persia and the Syrian Christians 37 ror to the whole Christian community, but shortly before we reached the Plain of Soj Bulack, the Rus- sian soldiers had looted his house of the ill-gotten gain and he was a fugitive whose death, when justice overtook him, would be a violent one. And the word came daily of additional crowds of refugees from as far away as Mosul in the Meso- potamian Plains, wending their way and struggling over the mountains of Kurdestan and through the passes which we visited on the Persian front, in the hope of reaching the haven of American relief ere death overtook them. Such was the constantly in- creasing burden that was being placed upon the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Re- lief. Among the many honorary dinners which we en- joyed as commissioners was one given by the French Red Cross Unit in Urumia. This unit, sixty men strong, composed of Frenchmen who had seen serv- ice on all parts of the French front since the begin- ning of the war — most of them wore the insignia of several wounds on their forearms — had been sent by the French government to assist Russia. Orig- inally planned as a field service, the boat containing all their equipment was sunk by a submarine off the Kola Peninsula and they were forced to establish a base hospital, choosing Urumia, where a large new building was rented and fitted for service. We en- ioyed the banquet with its French cooking, but far more the good fellowship of these heroes of France 38 Russia After the Revolution and their expressions of gratitude that America had fittingly joined them in the struggle. At Urumia arrangements were completed with the commander of the Fourth Army Corps so that we could visit the devastated Kurdish regions to the south and the front line in Persia. Leaving the city early one morning by military automobile, accom- panied by Mr. Allen as the representative of the Relief Committee and a lieutenant detailed by the Russian staff, we went to the port on Lake Urumia, where a private yacht of the Government was put at our disposal. We felt pleased and grateful, with the finest ship on the lake subject to our orders and our officer escort fortified with instructions to com- mandeer whatever might be necessary to expedite our progress. During the course of the day the yacht took us to the extreme southern end of the lake to a place called Hyderabad, a port newly created for war pur- poses. Here was a base hospital, which we were glad to inspect thoroughly on behalf of the Red Cross. It was the best Red Cross hospital we had seen since leaving Tiflis, being composed of half a dozen separate buildings and boasting an unusual operating service. Although the hospital was filled, comparatively few of the soldiers were recover- ing from wounds, as there had been no fighting for months. Some of the doctors and nurses having generously placed their rooms at our disposal, we spent a comfortable night, and the next morning Persia and the Syrian Christians 39 began our drive over the plains and across the moun- tains toward the front. At stated intervals our horses were changed, though none of them was very fresh or vigorous be- cause of the lack of food. In fact, many of the steep places of the road were covered afoot in order to save the teams. All during this trip of four days to the front and back we lived with the Russian Army and dined with the staff officers at the various head- quarters. The night before visiting the front, we slept on the ground, under the protection of a dog- tent. The last stage of our journey was on horse- back, over passes that were upward of seven thou- sand feet in height. In our investigations we found that this Russian Army not only lacked essential drugs and proper dietary foods, but in one place we were with a regi- ment which was twenty miles from the nearest doctor and fifty miles from the nearest surgeon, with no rail connections and steep, rough roads intervening. The so-called Caucasus line here was just over the Kurdestan range from Ravenduz and the British Mesopotamian Army, whose advance had been im- peded, if not halted, by the failure of the Russians to hold the ground gained. Foodstuffs were not only limited but rapidly diminishing, and the bully-beef served to us was considered quite a luxury, as the store of even canned meats was practically ex- hausted. Whether or not this army could maintain its position was even in the Fall of 1917 a doubtful 40 Russia After the Revolution point, and there were great fears lest the snows of the winter might sever all communications and leave these men stranded and starving, as had occurred in numerous instances in the past. In returning to Hyderabad, part of the trip was made by military tram. We were accompanied by the directing chief of the railroad and his assistant. This means of transportation was a pleasant diver- sion, for instead of a wearisome night-ride behind fagged-out horses, we were rushed along, the out-rid- ing animals at full gallop most of the time. Two happenings during this night are recorded in my notes. The first was a runaway almost immediately after starting. Our hilarity had wildly excited the horses, and Mr. Allen, one of our companions, in en- deavoring to stop the maddened animals, came within an ace of being thrown off and under the car. An hour later a fox appeared ahead, keeping to the mid- dle of the track as we drove furiously in an effort to overtake him. In a flash and just as I was about to shoot, the car went off the track and we were piled in a heap. Very fortunately no one was hurt. This tram has been built a distance of sixty versts toward the front, and has been plotted as far as Ravenduz. Well constructed, with cars carrying four to five tons and motor tractor power, it is capa- ble of big service and, if completed, might have saved the situation on this front. At Hyderabad our railroad friends, though it was past midnight, insisted upon our joining them in an Leaving Urumia, Persia, tor the Front At the Front in Persia — Dr. Ellis and Mr. Beuey IN Foreground Persia and the Syrian Christians 41 evening meal. There was nothing else to do but to accept their weU-intentioned hospitality. This was merely one of the many occasions upon which, when we reached our night stopping-place in the wee, small hours of the morning, Russian generosity in- sisted on our eating, though we were often so tired that it was difficult to keep our eyes open. However, when we finally got to bed, it was with a grateful feeling that the Russian Army had left nothing un- done within the limit of its power and ability to help us. During the day we had by actual count the use of twenty-five horses and the assistance of at least as many men, from commandants down to private sol- diers. In returning to our base at Urumia, we experienced one of those Russian miscalculations which throws into striking contrast the exigencies of travel. As related before, we had come down to Hyderabad in a private yacht in greatest comfort. The same yacht was expected to take us back, but through some blunder on the part of our escort it was not at Hyderabad on our return and we could not wait the necessary twenty-four hours for it to reach us. Consequently, we decided to go overland, and at eight o'clock we set out on a troika, which much resem- bles our buck-board, Dr. Ellis and I sitting flat on the bottom of the conveyance on one side with our feet hanging over, and Mr. Allen, of the Relief Com- mittee, and a Russian officer on the other side. As the horses were changed frequently during the night. 42 Russia After the Revolution they kept up a fast pace. The soldier-driver, with a conspicuous gun strapped over his shoulders, also was replaced at each post by a new recruit. None of them, however, seemed very eager at the prospect of an encounter with Kurds as we drove up the plain to Urumia, which we reached early in the morning. Thus ended our first trip to the front and the remark of an officer just before returning is worthy of note : " Russia will come through all right. Give her time. Don't blame the soldiers for the present conditions. Where would you find fighting men living as meanly as ours do, lacking most of the essentials ? " Surely the Russian soldier lives close to the ground. The next day was our last among the good Pres- byterian friends of Urumia, whose thoughtful care and generosity we shall never forget. It would be difficult to find a more capable or devoted group of workers anywhere. All honor to the heroic souls who not only carried with fortitude and success the physical and mental burden of the siege of Urumia, but who have remained at their posts and who have been the means of preserving through the interven- ing years the lives of the besieged! Early the following morning we set out for Dil- man. CHAPTER V OVEfiLAND TO THE FRONT tN TUEKEY Stakting for the District of Salmas, we began a series of long cross-country and cross-mountain journeys in Persia to the front in Turkey, and north beyond the west shore of Lake Van to a military rail-head at Kara Kalissa. In the course of these journeys we crossed passes seven to eight thousand feet in height, rode in all manner of conveyances and on horseback, struggled afoot with weakened and underfed teams as we made our way over the heights, and experienced much of the primitive life of the soldier. During the most of this time we were with the Rus- sian Army, enjoying their hospitality and means of transportation. The officers left nothing undone for our comfort, but despite this fact we had to endure many of the hardships of an army so far removed from its main bases of supplies. Frequently we rode the greater part of the night and often arrived at camps in the wee, small hours of the morning. On these occasions it was a common thing to have the officers or even the commandant himself surrender his bed and hut for our accommodation. More than this, we always had to have something to eat, and 44 Russia After the Revolution not infrequently we found ourselves participating in a midnight feast when we, as tired travelers, would have preferred a bed; but such is the Russian love of eating and hospitality that it would have been discourteous for us not to appreciate their gener- osity. We slept on all manner of beds, including the ground, and there was one stretch of ten days in which I did not have my clothes off except to inves- tigate for unwelcome companions. We swapped bugs with the Russian soldiers and they were most generous to us. So we were able to get a good in- sight into the soldier's life, not to mention smell, for he didn't camouflage the need of a bath with perfume as did the aristocratic upper class. No man fighting in this war has had to live under harsher conditions than the Russian soldat. During this entire trip we were constantly In sight of Sepan Dag, a noted Turkish mountain standing out on the sky like a super pyramid. In the Persian cities of Dllman and Khoi we spent three days, having a " look-see " at the work of the much bepatched refugeed Syrian Christians. About twelve to fifteen thousand were being helped in these two places — some mountaineers, others from the plains. They were being well cared for, but be- cause of the shortness of the crop, the relief com- mittee was In a quandary as to whether to dole out their supplies cautiously and possibly have some starve, or to take ample care of the victims for the Overland to the Front in Turkey 45 present, with the prospect of no seed for the next crop and a general famine in consequence. The world food-shortage was felt keenly here, despite the fertility of the country, and when the supply on hand was exhausted, there would be no chance of bringing any additional grain from the outside be- cause of lack of transportation. Here, as everywhere, war refugees billeted on the inhabitants had outworn their welcome. The climate was unhealthy and winter was coming to blanketless people. Thousands of these Persian Syrians came to greet us and to ask us to thank America for her great generosity. The home of Mr. McDowell, who had charge of the relief in this district and who was our host at Dilman, was typically Persian. From the blank- walled street you came into the court and garden, completely enclosed with either buildings or high walls. The main liouse is usually built of mud or sun-dried brick with walls of a four-foot thickness. The roof is of pounded mud, supported by heavy timbers. There is a main living- or dining-room, with smaller rooms on either side. The second floor, found only in the better houses, is reached by steps of mud and brick with high treads. The lack of wood is apparent from the absence of its use in con- struction. For fire, willow-boughs are cut from a common trunk. Dried animal fuel, called " chips " is used for most purposes, even for baking lawash, the native bread which comes in sheets and is only 46 Russia After the Revolution one-eighth of an inch in thickness, tasting somewhat like our whole-wheat crackers. This bread is baked in a deep oven in the center of the kitchen floor. The melons of Persia will long be remembered, for such luscious fruit is not to be found at home. They grow to great size, and in order to prevent their ripening prematurely, are kept covered with sand. Shortly before being plucked, they are taken from their sandy bed and allowed to sweeten under the hot sun while still fastened to the vine. They grow in great abundance and as a consequence are very in- expensive. An amusing story is told of one of the noted Kurdish chiefs of this district — a man of com- manding position and wealth who is known afar for his generous hospitality, especially to foreign visi- tors. His home is some hours' trip back in the mountains, and we were arranging for a call when we were informed that our prospective host would ex- pect a handsome present upon our 'departure. Not long before a distinguished Englishman had spent the night with this noted leader, enjoying every courtesy that could be extended. In the morning, however, he failed to leave the accustomed present, and a few hours later while returning, was confronted in one of the lone mountain passes by his host of the night before, who calmly watched his Kurdish followers relieve his recent guest of all his money and valu- ables. It seemed wiser for us to give up our pro- posed visit. Overland to the Front in Turkey 47 The Governor of the Province of Van, Turkey, thoughtfully sent a mounted military escort to pro- tect us through the Kurdestan mountains on our long journey to the provincial capital city of the same name. As we drove up through the valleys and over the passes and plateaus, with our mounted guard conspicuously armed outflanking and galloping wildly ahead of us to inspect the safety of each moun- tain pass, we remarked how much it must be like crossing the prairies in '49. It was surely a pic- turesque cavalcade. The velvet-colored mountain scenery was beautiful as we made our way up along the valley of the Khotur River, constantly climbing. The changes of temperature were extreme — ice in the morning, heat as of a tropic sun at midday. It took me back to a winter in India years ago. At the Kurdish village of Khotur on the border between Persia and Turkey, we spent a night in a little hut named by Dr. Ellis the " Hut of a Million Fleas " because of our almost unbroken vigils in combating these little pests. It was just off a sheep's cove, con- taining hundreds of sheep, goats, and cows, and from eight at night until four in the morning, we silently struggled in an effort to go to sleep, but were finally compelled to surround ourselves with a dike of insect powder before a few hours' rest was possible. The Kurds are a wild, illiterate moimtain people, only one in thousands being able to read. They live largely by plundering, are Moslems, and have always taken advantage of disturbances and political 48 Busdu After the Revolution unrest to reap their harvests. The Armenian mas- sacres have been their especial opportunity. Now they are suffering in turn, for the Russian Army in its sweep westward into Turkey had hunted them down, destroying their villages and taking vengeance for past marauding. The land largely lay fallow because of the unsafe conditions of the country, and it was noted how the few farmers whom we did pass were conspicuously well-armed. Reaching Van, we were the guests of the hospital of the Zuyuz Gardoff. This is one of the nation- wide volunteer organizations akin to our Red Cross, which has, in a measure, supplied the deficiencies of the old Government in caring for the wounded sol- diers, providing the little comforts and conveniences which make soldier-life endurable. The doctors and nurses were hospitality itself, and on the night before we left arranged for an Armenian dinner in our honor as American Commissioners. There were speeches in English, Armenian, Turkish, Russian, and Espe- ranto. The speech in Esperanto was delivered by a Russian soldier who immediately acted as his own interpreter as no other person in the audience could understand Esperanto, thus illustrating the curious kinks of the Russian mind. The city of Van, which is situated on a high pla- teau fifty-two hundred feet above sea-level, stands out pre-eminently in the record of the present Ar- menian massacres. Here a thousand volunteer Ar- menian militiamen held off ten thousand Turkish Overland to the Front in Turkey 49 troops for a period of twenty-eight days, protecting the city and the Armenian residents from massacre until the arrival of the rescuing Russian Army. It was the only place in which the Armenians had made a determined resistance against the inhuman Turks. But to a certain extent their resistance was in vain, for five months later the Russians, without proper reason, unexpectedly retreated and the populace found it necessary to follow, taking with them only what they could conveniently carry or transport in their limited number of carts and wagons. Since the Russians upon their arrival had not spared the Turkish property in the city of Van, one could read- ily imagine what the Mohammedans did to the Chris- tian possessions upon the recapture of the city. The premises of the American Mission, comprising schools, homes, a hospital and an orphanage, were a maze of wrecked buildings. The church alone stood practically intact and was being used by the Russian soldiers as their own. Mosques everywhere had been desecrated. Wealthy Pasha homes and palaces were only blank walls of brick. A city of fifty thousand inhabitants, wealthy, beautiful, and prosperous, was in ruins. We had previously talked to many Armenians who had fcught through this siege, and it was saddening to learn that after the splendid resistance in the early months of the massacres, seventy thousand Chris- tians, fleeing to Russian territory, perished of starva- tion and disease. Subsequently the Russian forces 50 Russia After the Revolution returned to Van, followed,in their wake by thousands of refugees, but hardly had they been re-established on their own land, through the splendid aid of the Armenian Relief Committee, when another retreat followed a threatened retirement by the Russians, and the work of reconstruction was dissipated. And yet we found that in the Fall of 1917 many of the people had again come back, probably only to go through still another disastrous exodus unless the Armenian soldiers could hold oif the Turks when the Russians left this front. General Seileekoff, divisional commander of the Russian forces, planned and arranged for our jour- ney to and along the front in Turkey, and detailed as our escort a splendid, English speaking officer, a graduate of Moscow University. We crossed Lake Van practically as deck passengers, the boat, armed fore and aft, being within range of the Turkish guns during part of the sixteen-hour journey to Gar- mooch on the western shore. Here our host was that famous officer of the Rus- sian Army, General Nazarbekoff, who a year and a half before, in the dead of winter, had taken his army down through the mountains of Kurdestan to the plain of Moosh and captured Bitlis, to the won- derment of military critics both in Europe and Amer- ica. He told us the story of that expedition, and said that as they crossed the frozen streams troopers on their horses frequently broke through, and their comrades could see their dead bodies coming out in i!aliStSS^S&..-.^t««:S0Tf^^,. Famous Rock and Castle, Van, Turkey Ruins at Van, Tukkey Overland to the Front in Turkey 51 the rapids below. Their lines of communication were severed, but they kept pressing on over the snow and ice-covered passes until they established the outposts which made possible the further advance of the British Mesopotamian Army. Undoubtedly the army would now be beyond Bitlis and in close co-operation with the British General Marshal, if the Revolution had not destroyed the fighting spirit of these forces. This strong man was a pathetic figure, for military discipline was so far lost among the Russian troops that many of the simplest com- mands were not obeyed, and he was neither able to retire nor resign. General Nazarbekoff, for his won- derful feat, had been decorated by the French Gov- ernment. He was very proud of the medal and said he had hoped some day to go to Paris and wear it on his breast, but since the Russian Army had failed, he did not feel that he would any longer be welcomed. In several places we visited the Turkish front and found the soldiers storing wood and preparing for the bitter cold of winter. For the most part they lived in dugouts made of dirt, stone, and brush. Some of these were almost totally underground and had the double advantage of warmth in winter and coolness in summer. The Caucasus Army has em- ployed the Mongolian huts or tents extensively, bringing them from Turkestan. A round frame base of wood with conical top is covered with heavy deco- rated felt instead of canvas. General Wachnadze, of the Sixth Caucasian Regiment, a Georgian prince. 52 Russia After the Revolution was especially courteous to us. With his staff he took us to the front so that we could clearly see the Turkish soldiers across the line. We also enjoyed a holiday excursion as his guests, going to the top of Mount Nimrod, an extinct volcano containing the largest volcanic lake in the world, its diameter being about three miles. The soldiers along this front were holding on tenaciously, not because of the Turkish attacks, for the Turks were apparently in a very bad way for want of food, judging from the great numbers of deserters who came over daily, but because of the scarcity of food supplies and the fear that it would be necessary to fall back on their lines of communi- cation. In the past many soldiers had been caught in a cul de sac along this front and had died of starvation, and we found that most regiments were suffering from limited rations. The morale of this army was probably better than that of any other in Russia, but it was distinctly undermined by the lack of transportation and the consequent food shortage. This front was, on an average, at least a week's jour- ney from the nearest rail-head. Nature and the pacific attitude of the Russian troops, not Turkish resistance, blocked the way to a successful offensive. When we asked the Russians at the front why they did not shoot, they said, " What's the use? If we fire, the Turks simply fire back ; someone is likely to be hurt and nothing is gained." Class distinction between officers and men had broken down. We Overland to the Front in Turkey 53 noted that when private soldiers came in they merely joined the group in free, democratic conversation. The soldiers' committees passed on any action and no important movement was possible without their consent. Warfare on this front was not the modern trench warfare of France, but the old-fashioned kind, in which details and divisions of troops held passes and high roads and strategic points. There were trenches, of course, but the equipment and housing arrangement of the soldiers were all of a mobile na- ture, so that they might be moved at any time from one position to another. I have spoken of the Turkish deserters. One par- ticularly pathetic deserter from the Turkish army was a Greek from Smyrna, He said that during the first two years of the war he had twice paid the cost of exemption from the Turkish army, but that in spite of his payments, they had unjustly forced him into the service. In our days of journeying from the Turkish front, even better opportunities than we had heretofore ex- perienced were afforded us for measuring the devasta- tion of this region. Over a war-zone six hundred miles long from Trebizond, Turkey, to Hamadan, Persia, and from one hundred to three hundred miles wide, the advancing and retreating armies — Christian and Moslem — had beaten back and forth, laying waste practically every village, town, and city. Four times we crossed, transversely and longi- 54 Russia After the Revolution tudinally, major portions of this area, and can report thousands of square miles of the oldest known por- tions of the world's surface denuded of every inhabi- tant except those engaged in military service. We have seen literally hundreds of towns destroyed and lifeless. It was worse than Belgium or France, for the people had all been killed or driven absolutely away. Over this whole district farms were lying fallow during a period of unprecedented world fam- ine. No foodstuffs were being raised in this most fertile region, nor any cattle. The surviving in- habitants were crowded into seemingly safe territory outside the war devastated zone and had become the uninvited and unwelcome guests of the native peo- ples. Part of this trip was made in Red Cross carts and army wagons. The Red Cross carts nominally have springs, but it would be hard to conceive of anything more uncomfortable. Even sitting on the seat, we found the jarring of these two-wheeled vehicles a severe trial. What must it have been for the wounded men who were forced to endure it for days, lying flat in the body of the cart! In fact, ordi- nary army wagons or f ergons without any springs, which we later traveled and slept in, did not seem much worse. We found Mongolian coolies working on the rail- roads that were being built to the front, just as thousands of them are working behind the British and French lines in France — on the railroads and S5 o o Overland to the Front in Turkey 55 in the fields. The Russians had built hundreds of miles of auto road which were nearly completed, but they had finished no part of it so that it could be used. Part of this high-road skirted the banks of the famous Euphrates, which here runs west by south before making a semi-circle into the Mesopotamian plain. At Kara Kalissa we again reached the railroad and were immediately taken to the Commandant, a fine forward-looking Cossack. We had tea and din- ner as his guests and learned much at first-hand con- cerning the esprit de corps of these world-renowned fighting men. There are twelve divisions of Cossacks which hold their land by right of military tenure. The land is worked on a community basis and most of the Cossacks are comfortably well-to-do. It has been one of their principles to keep out of politics though supporting the ruling government, and pre- vious to the Revolution, they were always loyal to the Czars. In consequence they were greatly feared by the people because of their ruthless, iron allegiance to the Crown. But with the coming of the Revolu- tion their loyalty shifted to the people's side. The long-flowing coat, heretofore characteristic of the Cossacks, has been dispensed with except among cer- tain classes, such as the Caucasian Cossack with his Circassian costume, and most of these men now fight on foot, whereas before this war they were practically all mounted. Modern trench warfare has brought this change about. 56 Russia After the Revolution The return trip which almost encircled the base of Mount Ararat, disclosing its every side, again demonstrated the contrasting degrees of comfort which we experienced. From the rough-going army wagon we changed to a private car provided by General Nazarbekoff at the rail-head, and for thirty hours our party of five enjoyed a period of real lux- ury. This was quickly interrupted, however, at the junction station of -Shactacti, where, through a mis- calculation — a most common occurrence in Russia — we found it necessary, after midnight, to seek a place on the Tiflis train. In going through the train to the compartment where I knew Mr. McDowell to be, I found him with fourteen Persian and Syrian companions in a four-berth compartment, and de- spite the overcrowding approaching congestion, they hospitably asked us to join them! This condition had to be endured not for a few hours but for a journey covering three nights and days on a com- posite train of coaches, military and freight cars. At Tiflis, after gladly saying good-bye to some but not all of our unwelcome parasitic friends through the medium of hot sulphur baths, and re- luctantly parting from a number of the rare real companions who had made our journey pleasant and never to be forgotten, Mr. McDowell and I started on a five-day trip by rail back to Petrograd. We again called on our friend Monsieur George to secure us a compartment, and instead of a berth each — the berths are narrow and run across the car — Mr. Overland to the Front in Turkey 57 McDowell and I had to double up in the lower berth, my feet beside his head and %ice versa, a young woman with her child occupying the upper berth of the com- partment. This situation, which would be rather startling in America, is very common in Russia, where travelers are constantly being forced into embarrassing positions by a widespread disregard for the sexes which is part and parcel of unmoral Russia. The train became more and more crowded, espe- cially as we passed through Rostov, the center of the Don Cossacks, and Karkov. The soldiers squeezed on the train in such numbers that it was impossible to pass through the corridors. They were on the roof and hanging on to the lowest step, so that when the train stopped at a station the low- est passengers stepped off for a momentary rest, much as we should from a crowded street-car, get- ting on again when the train started. On occasions I had to climb through the high car windows in order to get food from the station restaurants. In the end I learned to cook rice, make cocoa, and prepare a satisfactory meal on the train with the use of a solid alcohol lamp. On our journey back to Petrograd, we rode through the Northern Caucasus region where, be- cause of governmental price-fixing, barter has been resorted to as among primitive peoples. Farther north we crossed the Don River, the Don Cossack region, and the rich black-soil districts of Southern 58 Russia After the Revolution Russia, from which most of the grain of Russia proper comes. Our train took a long detour in reaching Moscow, for which the railroad officials endeavored to impose an excess fare. The Russian passengers paid this but we refused, as our tickets called for a through passage to Petrograd. Later we found that it was only a graft expedient on the part of the trainmen. On this trip I carried a pouch for the State Department. The post was so uncer- tain and unsafe that government mails were sent by special messengers, even large business establishments resorting to the same practice. Petrograd was cold and rainy during our entire stay. Despite the threatened evacuation and prepa- ration for attacks the city was filled with people — it at least seemed safer than the unprotected coun- try. Most of our time was given to the effort to secure permits to leave the country. Nearly every- one connected with the American Embassy and mili- tary establishment assisted us in securing the needed paper, and then the Russian officials, quite naturally, on the afternoon of our departure lost the permit! Captain Steins, United States representative of the Allied Passport Control Bureau, however, obtained a special letter from the General Staff, and I was able to leave on the private car of the American Red Cross Mission to Roumania, though when we finally crossed the border no request whatever was made for my permit in spite of the efforts and time spent in securing it. CHAPTER VI EUSSIA IN CHAOS These sixteen, thousand miles in Russia, associated with diplomatic and consular representatives, busi- ness men of the upper classes, relief and Red Cross workers, and living for weeks with the staffs and pri- vates of the Russian Army on two fronts, have shown me the well-nigh complete demoralization of the coun- try politically and socially, as well as from an eco- nomic and military point of view. The demoraliza- tion was most noticeable in the army. That funda- mental characteristic of any army — discipline — was gone. In truth, all restraint, all authority or ordered life was being interpreted as autocracy, and every effort to re-establish necessary discipline, au- thority, and order was opposed as a return of the autocracy and counter-revolution. It was quite unusual to see soldiers marching in uniform ranks. On the contrary, masses of these men were aimlessly wandering about the streets, eat- ing sunflower seeds, overloading the street-cars, and crowding, without tickets, into first-class compart- ments on passenger trains. The Russian soldiers, most of whom were peasants, never had the oppor- tunity to travel far afield, but with the new freedom 60 Russia After the Revolution and free transportation, they were taking full ad- vantage of this unexpected privilege. Consequently the reduced passenger service was burdened beyond belief. In many places we noted the lack of authority of superior officers. On one occasion in changing horses on our way to the front two drivers contended for the right to take us forward. One had had charge of the carriage and the other of the fresh team, and the dispute was settled only through the commanding officer taking the recalcitrant soldiers aside and, as if dealing with stubborn children, per- suading one to relinquish in favor of the other. On another occasion a general of an army corps waited two hours until the soldiers were pleased to get his team ready for him. Many officers had been shot by their men in pay- ment of old scores, so that the position of an officer was a precarious one. He was not allowed to resign and could not retire, and had been shorn of much of his authority. Nearly all frankly wished for an opportunity to fight with our American forces. The pay of the Russian soldier ranged from five to eleven rubles per month, which, with the depreci- ation in the currency, had fallen to $1.00 or less, but the soldier commonly had other means of in- creasing his allowance. He sold his equipment, guns, cartridges, shoes, and favored men at least se- cured quantities of the precious sugar which they offered for sale. Private homes generally obtained Rtissia in Chaos 61 most of their supply of sugar in this underhand fash- ion. On many trains these erstwhile fighting men rode on the top of cars, clinging to the ventilators, and it was related not infrequently how they fell asleep and unconsciously rolled to their death. In crossing Siberia on the private car of' the Red Cross Mission to Roumania, one of our experiences IS indicative of the attitude toward the bourgeoise. Our car was attached to the Trans-Siberian express, dubbed by the common people the " Capitalist's train." By chance we were just behind a troop train, composed of box cars with rough wooden platforms for the soldiers' beds in both ends. Our express was constantly getting later, but the sol- diers were unwilling to let the aristocrats precede them. At one station, where our express paralleled the soldier train, the station-master ventured to allow us to go first, but as the express went by, the soldiers broke a number of windows and then rushing out of their train took vengeance on the station-master and compelled him to telegraph ahead to hold us at the next station. This was done and the troop train again went ahead of us. Finally when we were prac- tically two and one-half days late and some of our Red Cross Commissioners began to fear lest they should miss their steamer for America, our inter- preter was asked to explain the situation to the sol- diers at the next opportunity. The matter was placed before them with the reminder that they were disgracing Russia and they were therefore prejudic- 62 Russia After the Revolution ing their country's fair name. They replied that if such were the case, of course the other train might go ahead, and I shall not soon forget the well-meant shouts and hurrahs with which the simple-minded sol- diers sped us on our way as if we were heroes, though they had already been the cause of days of delay. This child-like fickleness of the Russian is charac- teristic. The preceding story indicates some of the prob- lems of railroading in Russia. As a matter of fact, the transportation system has almost broken down. Every warring country has witnessed the inadequacy of peace railroads to bear the unprecedented burden of war service, especially as " this war is like no other war." One who has come from " over there " witnesses in America as in Europe, following the war's outbreak, the tardiness with which the people gener- ally come to realize that, as never before, this strug- gle means the whole nation at war — not " business as usual " nor pleasure nor recreation, but every facility bent and groaning to the war's successful prosecution, regardless of inconvenience, hardship, even confiscation and ruin of one's business. The sooner we appreciate this fact fully, the sooner the government shall be able to put an absolute ban on non-essential freight as well as business, and the bet- ter it will be for us and for our Allies. Railroading in Russia has never been conducted with the natural ease and efficiency of America ; con- sequently the war's burdens and the disorganization Rmsia in Chaos 63 following the Revolution left the railroads in at least partial paralysis. I have instanced some well-nigh impossible traveling conditions. Freight was appar- ently even a worse sufferer. It was said one hun- dred locomotives were being placed on the tracks monthly, but two hundred locomotives were going out of use through disrepair and break-up. The cost of repairs was prohibitive. Even the vitally needed Red Cross supplies had to be curtailed because of lack of transportation. Trains were wilfully de- serted on main lines by their crews, while strikes and interference with operation by employees further tended to paralyze the system. Soldiers often com- mandeered the best trains, running them without time schedxiles. Miscellaneous freight, including locomo- tives, automobiles, and munitions, which would nor- mally take a year to move, was piled high in the streets of Vladivostock when Mr. Stevens, of the American Railroad Mission to Russia, took advisory control of the Trans-Siberian line. In a short time its capacity was doubled. Big American locomotives and much enlarged steel-framed cars were helping in this speeding-up process. Unfortunately, the coming of the Bolsheviki government brought new confusion, and our American Mission had to retire temporarily, awaiting more stable working condi- tions. This transportation problem has been the princi- pal contributing cause of the acute food shortage in certain parts of Russia. Our late Consul-General, 64 Russia After the Revolution Mr. Summers, of Moscow, allowed me to see a report, since published, which showed that in the summer of 1917 there was enough food in Russia to take care of the then existing need if it could be properly dis- tributed ; but the lack of railroad facilities, the oppo- sition of local governments where food was plentiful to its being taken to other parts of Russia, and the unwillingness of the farmer to sell his produce for the low price fixed by the Government, particularly with the ruble depreciated, had left Petrograd and the whole northern and north-western section of Russia in the grip of an extreme shortage. Only twenty-five per cent, of the quantity of grain moved through the Marinsky Canal system in 1916 went through in 1917. This, while food was plentiful in Siberia and more than sufficient in the rich black-soil district of Southern Russia and the Northern Cau- casus. But the need for more food-stuffs was gradually spreading all over Russia. The great shortage of labor due to the millions of men under arms and the occupation by Germany of rich Poland had cut off a large part of normal production. Practically every necessity in Petrograd was distributed through tickets, though some luxuries, such as sugarless candy at $3.00 gold a pound, could be bought openly. I might say that sugarless candy tastes — like sugar- less candy. It was an ordinary thing to see the people take sugar with them to their meals, and even in the restaurants for the diner to gather up, upon fil Biissia in Chaos 65 leaving, remnants of food for his subsequent use. In many ways one of the biggest problems of Rus- sia was the absolute overturn of all economic stand- ards. Industry was so harassed that it was hard to see just how stable conditions were to be brought about. Labor quickly took advantage of the new freedom. Workingmen's Committees were estab- lished in every business house and factory, along with the country-wide tendency to control all activity through Committees. These committees, made up of workingmen, fixed the scale of wages and hours of labor. The increased compensation demanded often went as high as one thousand per cent. Employers with contracts and fixed obligations said it was im- possible for them to meet the new demands without loss and failure, but the workingmen replied, " You have made lots of money out of us in the past ; now it is our day and we must have these advanced wages." The employer was not allowed to shut up his plant, the workingmen insisting that he must go on. In some instances, when the capital gave out, the owners turned their establishments over to the laborers to operate, but of course labor without money soon reached the end of the enterprise. Many amusing stories were told of the attitude of labor toward capital, one of these being that a group of workmen seized a well-known and very influential owner and threatened to do him bodily injury unless certain demands were granted. He finally persuaded them to take him to Kerensky, then Prime Minister. 66 Russia After the Revolution Kerensky listened to both sides of the controversy and then very judiciously said he would have to give the matter careful consideration. But the working- men were unwilling to leave their employer unless Kerensky would give them a written pledge to deliver him in person upon demand. This was done, though the workmen, probably realizing later the foolishness of their position, never claimed the pledge. Domes- tic servants with brooms over their shoulders joined the great crowds of parading workmen, demanding an eight-hour day. One American woman asked her servant, when she presented her demands, just what the servant meant by an " eight-hour " day. She replied, " From eight in the morning until eight at night " — to which the mistress gladly agreed ! At first these Workingmen's Committees were merely representative of the men employed in par- ticular establishments, the committeemen working and receiving their wage allowance with the rest of their fellows ; but later they became distinct commit- tees whose function was to "look after the interests of labor without working themselves, though receiv- ing their largely enhanced compensation from the employer. In many cases their authority was su- preme. The " Comitate " " butted in " on all man- agement everywhere — in army, in state, in industry, in transportation, in Red Cross Work, in food ad- ministration. It was theirs to say in some telegraph ofHces whether certain messages should go forward or not. No wonder some of the writer's cables never Biissia in Chaos 67. went through, and he frequently reached his destina- tion on a slow-moving express before his telegram. Besides, there was no one to complain to or charge with the failure. So, much of the business of this vast country has ceased entirely and the industrial production has sunk to five per cent, of normal. For the traveler the finances of Revolutionary Russia were a problem with which to conjure. I bought rubles for twenty cents gold when I first went to Russia (the normal price is fifty-one cents), and later paid slightly more in Petrograd because of governmental restrictions. Two months after this, in Persia, I bought a quantity of rubles at ten cents a piece, planning to meet all my future expenses and have some left over on leaving the country in order to square myself somewhat with the tremen- dously high cost of living. My financial manipula- tions were not entirely successful, as you will note when I say that upon leaving Russia I sold my last rubles gladly for five cents a piece! The Government was printing two billion paper rubles per month. All coin had consequently dis- appeared from circulation. But the two billion per month was not produced fast enough or proved too expensive, for later the finely lithographed paper money was supplemented by a cheaply printed certifi- cate resembling much the premium ticket that one gets with a package of tobacco. Germany has also helped Russia in the production of her paper money by counterfeiting great quantities in the Fatherland 68 Russia After the Revolution and sending it into Russia for the use of the German spies and for propaganda — not labeled " Made in Germany," however. So common was counterfeit money that it was necessary, in order to maintain the currency at all, not to distinguish the spurious from the good, though people were loath to accept the larger bills, such as five hundred and one thousand rubles, lest they prove bad. In view of this condi- tion and the chaos that surrounded the Government and industry, it was no wonder that rubles had so largely depreciated. Graft and commission have always been part and parcel of the bureaucratic system of Russia. One does not need to dig far below the surface of things, if at all, to encounter this system of sinister com- pensation. It emasculated all efforts at efficiency and honesty in government, and when the Revolu- tion came, the liberal men who took up the reins of government with high patriotic resolve declared against the continuance of this insidious system. But as the months went by, with all social and eco- nomic standards of the country in solution, many selfish men saw the opportunity for personal ad- vancement, and lacking the patriotism that was es- sentially necessary in such a crisis, used the situ- ation to their own advantage. Graft became more apparent than ever, and as one traveled about the country he was constantly subjected to dishonest practices. Many passengers awoke in the morning to the embarrassing situation of finding their clothes EussiAN GiBL Soldiers Russia in Chaos 69 stolen. Committees, without authority, levied un- just tribute, and trainmen on the railroad imposed excess fares. Sales to the Government could be made only through corrupt means. Idle soldiers lived by graft, but their peculations were insignifi- cant compared with the " men higher up." Red Cross and relief funds were misappropriated. It was a pathetic sight to witness a great, kindly, virile people, without any adequate conception of patriot- ism because of their oriental provincialism, blindly sacrificing their country for their own gain. Russia is an unmoral rather than an immoral country. The normally lax standards were even freer under the new conditions, and everywhere the traveler was impressed with the looseness with which the sex problem was considered — people bathing in public places without any clothing. On trains men and women were placed together, as a matter of course, in the same compartment for long journeys lasting days. A whole peasant family often lived entirely in one large room, with the most intimate relationships of life as a matter of common knowl- edge. Among the higher classes the marriage vow was winked at, and there was such an abnormal amount of illegitimacy that the country was full of foundling societies. Many schools and gymnasiums have had to be closed because of the unmoral conditions. Even poverty stricken university students had their mis- tresses. Much improvement is necessary if the country is going to square with Western standards. CHAPTER VII CHAOTIC KUSSIA EXPLAINED This Is a dark picture of chaotic present-day Russia, and yet it would be unfair hastily to jump at the conclusion that the country is hopeless. The present state is a natural sequence of the conditions which have existed in the empire for centuries. The demoralization is the inheritance from a cruel des- potism and is perfectly understandable when one appreciates the background of the picture. Let us recall the conditions and events, especially the more recent events, that produced this confusion. For seven hundred years Czarism had held sway in Russia. From a small Muscovite kingdom it had extended its domains with imperialistic designs until the empire was three times as large as the United States, and had gathered into its realm scores of diverse peoples speaking many languages — oriental as well as occidental. These peoples were held in absolute subjection and in purposed ignorance and poverty. The bureaucratic Government, like the Government of Turkey, feared lest enlightenment and a knowledge of the better living conditions of Western Europe would undermine the autocracy. In consequence the school system of Russia has Chaotic Russia Explained 71 been criminally inadequate and archaic. Ninety per cent, of the people are illiterate. In Petrograd fre- quent efforts did not discover a single ishvosnic or cab-driver who could read. In the provinces pic- ture signs on the outside of stores were necessary to indicate the goods for sale. This situation has con- tinued, not because the people do not want to learn but because the opportunity has been denied. Rarely will one find a more eager group than the stu- dent class in the large cities. The number of sui- cides among this class, which has struggled up in an effort to get an education and failed, because of the privations suffered, is unbelievable. The great cry of the Russian peasant has been for land. It began with the abolition of serfdom in 1861 when part of their former holdings were taken from them by the landowners in return for freedom. The price of redeeming the land was exorbitant and taxes were high because of the political influence of the land-owning nobility. More than half the mujicks have had a struggle to eke out a bare living, particularly under the hindering and ineflScient com- munity plan of cultivation. In addition, the three- fold system is quite general whereby each portion completes an agricultural cycle within three years — one crop one year, another crop the next year, and the third year the land lies fallow and is used for pasture. No artificial fertilizer can be obtained and the same crops are raised at the same time by all the people of the given community so that in this too 72 Russia After the Revolution there is a great hindrance to effective production. So the land question has been uppermost in the minds of the peasants. It is proving to be one of the most perplexing to solve; for the conflict of inter- ests of farmers, of communities, of large landowners, and of Cossacks — their holdings threatened with confiscation — is acute. It was the hope of an ex- tensive land distribution that induced thousands of soldiers to desert. It was the backward, neglected, primitive state of the country that caused the Rus- sian collapse. Most of the peasants — eighty per cent, of the poulation of the Russias are peasants or mujicks — live in small primitive villages, the family occupying limited rough wooden quarters on a plane nowhere else tolerated except by Orientals. Chances for edu- cational development have been intentionally re- stricted. The farmer struggled hard with his por- tion of land, often widely separated, to produce suf- ficient for his family, but without removing the pinch of hunger toward the winter's close. The only di- version was recourse to a recurrent debauch of vodka. Excess drinking and the harsh living conditions prob,- ably account for the metamorphosis of the quick, bright boy of the adolescent age into the stolid, in- different adult. It was from this class that the army — aside from the officers — was almost wholly re- cruited. The structure of Russian society can best be illus- trated as a pyramid. The Czar was at the top sup- pi K P3 O a Chaotic Russia Explained 73 ported by the bureaucracy, office-holders who had gained their positions not through efficiency but by nepotism, political pull, and other sinister influences. Then came the established Church, autocratic like the government which controlled it and more or less out of sympathy with the common folk. Below this was the wealthy aristocratic class. Finally the broad deep base of this pyramid was composed of the underpaid working people and the illiterate peasants. The middle class — the hope of democracy the world over — was almost negligible. The ruling classes, in common with despotism everywhere, held the masses in purposed oppression and knowledge-dreading absolutism. It was self- evident that education and a taste of better living conditions woidd sooner or later overturn the pyra- mid. But from a liberal point of view there was not much hope. Terrorist and Nihilist movements first and revolutionary propaganda later were met by the severest repressive measures. Practically a million exiles traveled the blood-stained trail to Si- beria because of their efforts to uplift struggling humanity in Russia. Many of these sacrificing souls came from the higher classes and were of gentle birth, such as Madame Breshkovsky, whose romantic story was recorded earlier in this tale. Finally the knowledge of Western civilization be- gan to filter through to these depressed masses. Revolutionary organization and propaganda spread, despite the ceaseless efforts of secret police. Men 74 Russia After the Revolution and women of education, of position, of ability, risked all for the cause. The tide of revolution was con- stantly rising, and it was evident that it could not be impounded much longer. An educated English- man, author of a history of Hussia, told us without reservation when we were in Russia some years ago, that the country would soon be a republic. The uprising of 1905, when a general strike of the working forces paralyzed the country for three days and hundreds of petitioning workingmen were ruth- lessly slain in the palace square by the armed forces of Czarism, was dissipated by the promise of repre- sentative government in the form of the Duma. The people never forgot " Bloody Sunday " and that in- defensible murder in front of the Winter Palace. Their confidence in the divinity of the " Little Fa- ther " was shattered. And even though the Duma was organized, it soon became evident that no real representative government was intended by the bu- reaucracy. As each Duma convened and endeavored to assert its independence on behalf of the people, tlie Czar was constrained to prorogue it. New re- strictions were placed on suffrage in order to make the Assembly more amenable to the will of the Im- perial Government, until it was shorn of much of its independence and its representative character. The tide of revolution continued to rise all the higher. In 1914! the autocratic leaders knew that the dam was near the breaking point. Then, providentially the great war came on. A Chaotic Russia Explained 75 remarkable change took place. In the face of a for- eign enemy, those abused masses of peasants and workingmen rallied to the support of the Govern- ment. Fifteen and more millions — no one even in Russia knows how many, though at least double the neciessary number — came at the call from their farms and the work-bench to help the " Little Fa- ther." Loyalty was uppermost in the hearts of the people. Millions went forth to battle and to die for their country. Here was a chance to save the old rSgime. But the blinded place-holders of the bureaucracy could or would not see the handwriting on the wall. Inefficiency stalled the war machine. Transporta- tion collapsed under the burden of war demands. Food grew scarcer and dearer because of this failure of transportation and the inexcusably large number of peasants taken from the fields. While the nobil- ity were able to transport fertilizer for their great estates, others felt the pinch of hunger. Voluntary organizations of cities and districts endeavored, de- spite bureaucratic opposition, to speed up munition needs and care for the numberless wounded and maimed and sick that came back from the firing line unprovided for. The Zemstvo Union and the Union of Cities, which had done more to prosecute the war during the past two years than the Government it- self encountered suspicious and jealous obstruc- tions at every turn. Every effort that sacrifice and patriotism could ask was made to bolster up the 76 Russia After the B evolution inefficiency of the Government, but was purposely thwarted. Great military successes came and greater disas- ters. But each disaster, despite the known failure of the central Government, only served to demon- strate the remarkable recuperative power of Russia ; for each time unflaggingly she came back. When de- feats came, due to lack of adequate supplies and equipment, generals were deposed, though they were not responsible. Millions of men were sacrificed to official incompetence and treachery. Unusable am- munition of wrong caliber was forwarded contrary to orders. Only one in five had rifles. Waving their bared fists in the air they were driven against the fin- est equipment of modern military science to be liter- ally murdered by the thousands. Soldiers were even starved at the front, and no adequate provision was made by the Army to look after the fighting men who were wounded, crippled or sick. Frequently soldiers with their arms gone and their legs off, as common beggars accosted me asking for money with which to buy food. Such was the criminal negligence as well as treachery of the high Russian Command. It be- came more and more apparent that the war machine was being foully ditched. Treachery in the highest places could no longer be concealed. While liberal patriots such as Miliukoff, leader of the Cadet Party, and Rodzianko, President of the Duma — and supported by Allied counsel ; — sought to bolster up the breaking Government, knowing that Revolution ^fi^^^Sioc 4 Russian Soldier Beggae Chaotic Riissia Explained 77 would paralyze at least for the time Russist's offen- sive, Kerensky boldly told the Duma the old regime was too sick to be saved, and they had better prepare for its demise. The controlling forces in the Petrograd govern- ment were pro-German despite determined efforts of real patriots both within and without the Duma to correct the fatal situation. The Czarist leaders were autocratic by birth and training. They wit- nessed with alarm the changing complexion of the world struggle. England and France were becom- ing measurably more and more democratic as the war went on. The AUies were gradually drawing a ring of steel around the Central Powers and daily seemed more certain of victory. The pro-German clique realized something must be done, otherwise seeming success spelled their downfall. Dark forces in highest places brought their para- lyzing influence to bear. Rasputin, the illiterate monk from Siberia, exerted a mysterious control over many of the foremost ladies of the nobility in- cluding the Czarina. His intimacy with women in Court circles became an open scandal that the nobil- ity flatly resented. Several efforts to do away with him having failed, a relative of the Czar himself un- dertook the task. Prince Yusupoff invited the monk to his home to dine and finding that poison would not kill the man, with the help of his other guests he shot and beat him to death, throwing his body into the Neva River. Although this act greatly incensed 78 Russia After the Revolution the Czar and Czarina and they threatened to punish the known murderers, such pressure was brought to bear by the high nobility who approved the act that nothing was done. The Czarina, by birth a German princess, Sturmer, the former Prime Minister, and Protopopoff, Minis- ter of Interior, were openly spoken of as pro-Teu- tons and opposed to a vigorous prosecution of the war. With the nation in favor of war to victory, the dilemma of these leaders was not easy of solution. How could a separate peace be brought about.'' The answer came as if by inspiration. The rising tide of revolution suggested the course — a revolution prematurely fostered by the Dark Forces of Des- potism to be quashed and used as a pretext for peace with the waiting Kaiser. The plan miscarried woe- fully as the succeeding chapters show. Looking back from an Allied standpoint on this pre-Revolutionary period of the war, one can see clearly the crisis of the situation. The probabilities were for either a separate bureaucratic peace or an internal revolution paralyzing Russia's offensive. There was in addition the unpromising possibility of so reconstructing the existing government that the war would be pressed with vigor — that Russia, which alone possessed sufficient latent power to crush Germany, might do her full measure. This possi- bility was never realized. However, justice prompts the writer to state his conviction after months of observation that the Russian Army would be fight- Chaotic Rtbssia Eooplained 79 ing on the Allied side today bravely, sacrificingly, and victoriously but for the foulness and corruption with which the imperial Government was honey- combed. CHAPTER VIII THE EEVOLUTION With the people distracted and chafing under the apparent inefficiency everywhere, living conditions rapidly growing harsher, food speedily becoming scarcer, Protopopoff and his pro-German clique fos- tered a premature revolution. Secret government agitators went among the working-people, fomenting strikes. Food supplies were cautiously cornered and placed in secret warehouses. Even the rations for the army were cut short. Soldiers in large num- bers and Cossacks who had always been loyal to the established authority were brought into Petrograd. Machine guns were mounted on the tops of buildings and about the city, in charge of the hated secret po- lice. The supplies for the provision-shops were re- duced to a minimum. In the long food-lines many who waited from the early hours of the morning during those cold days of March, 1917, found the supply exhausted long before their turn came, and with bitterest feeling turned in want homeward. The Government's efforts to stir up strikes failed of results ; for sane leaders, seeing the effort to bait the working-folk, at first prevented the agitation The Revolution 81 from breaking forth. But when the food supply was suddenly shut off, the aroused classes could not be restrained any longer, and on the 8th of March the volume of indignation broke forth in the shape of scattered riots. Nevsky Prospekt, the leading street of Petrograd, began to fill with curious crowds, in- cluding women and children. When this famous thoroughfare was thronged from curb to curb, the Cossacks were ordered to disperse the multitudes — and then a strange thing happened. As these mounted and heretofore hated and feared fighting men made their way along the broad street, it was noticeable how they avoided riding down the defense- less populace and restrained from using the dreaded knout. The old-time brutality was not apparent and there seemed to be an understanding between the sol- dier and the common people. The only hostility evi- dent was toward the police who, in isolated cases, were stoned. With a boldness that was startling, orators harangued the crowd at every corner, con- demning former Premier Sturmer and demanding the dismissal of Protopopoff and his colleagues. The prevalent idea called for a vigorous continuance of the war and the safeguarding of Russia from the common foe. Petrograd, at the end of this first day, with difficulty went to sleep, tense with excitement and expectancy. The next day practically a general strike held in- dustry in a state of stagnation. Curious crowds in numbers even exceeding the previous day made trans- 82 Russia After the Revolution portation on the more important streets impossible, and yet all was comparatively quiet. When mounted police joined the Cossacks, there was some shooting, but the revolution was still in abeyance, and another night of suspense and anxiety followed. On the coming of the morning of March 10th it was evident that the plans of the peace-seeking Pro- topopoff were not developing exactly in accordance with the prearranged scheme; for sharp posters de- manded that the strikers return to their work and that quiet be restored; otherwise the Government would take the most drastic measures to insure order. There were troops everywhere, though the Cossacks for the first time were significantly absent. In the afternoon, with the failure of the crowds to disperse, severe shooting began in many quarters. The num- ber of victims exceeded two hundred, but in spite of all, the populace remained calm, though disheartened, as the vision of freedom seemed to be fading. At this juncture, Rodzianko, President of the Duma, which had maintained a waiting attitude, sent the following telegram to the Czar : " Situation serious. Anarchy reigns in the Capital. Government is paralyzed. Transport food and fuel supplies are utterly disorganized. General discontent growing. Disorderly firing is going on in the streets. Various companies of soldiers are shooting at each other. It is absolutely necessary to invest some one who enjoys the confidence of the people with powers to form a new government. No time must be lost. The Revolution 83 Any delay may be vital. I pray God that at this hour the responsibility may not fall on the bearer of the Crown!" There was no reply from the Czar, but the Gov- ernment countered with a proclamation dissolving the Duma. Thus the Government officially recog- nized the crisis and brought it to a head. The Duma did not shirk its responsibility in the premises and immediately, through the President, declared it would not dissolve but would henceforth be recognized as the constitutional authority of Russia. In this way the climax of the Revolution was reached, and the onrush of rapidly occurring events soon left no doubt that the people would in truth see victory in their struggle against autocracy. The trend of events was very apparent as Mon- day, March 11th, dawned, by the boldness with which the quickly augmenting crowds paraded the streets, holding high the blazing red banners of revolt. Troops began to desert the Government and to go over to the side of the Revolution. Crowds of work- ingmen joined the soldiers, as regiment after regi- ment enlisted in the fight for freedom. The forces of liberty now moved on with irresistible power and determination. They took possession of public buildings and the strongholds of bureaucracy. Pris- ons were opened and then destroyed. The home of the secret political police was seized and burned. The great Fortress of SS. Peter and Paul, the burial- 84 Russia After the Revolution place of the Czars, was captured and became the citadel of the Revolution. It was probably too late for the Government to save the situation, but the President of the Duma again telegraphed the Crown : " Matters becoming worse. Must take immediate steps or tomorrow may be too late. The last hour has come in which to decide the fate of the country and dynasty." Whether this or the preceding telegram ever reached the Emperor is in dispute. It is certain, however, that the Czar was aroused to action by the information from the Capital. He advised the Mili- tary Governor of Petrograd that he was on his way from the front with an army to quell the insurrec- tion. He never reached Petrograd. The revolt through the city had become general. The hated police were torn from their hiding-places and only the absence of vodka prevented frightful excesses at this time. Indeed, it is remarkable, as often noted, that there was so little anarchy and bloodshed among people who were practically without governmental restraint. During these tense days no newspapers were published, but volunteer hand-bills were freely distributed to keep the people informed of the prog- ress of events. The Tauride Palace, where the Duma sat, was the center of the insurrection. Regiment after regiment, as well as crowds of soldiers, came here and were urged by the various leaders to be The Revolution 85 faithful to the Revolution and help to preserve order and quiet. Although eiforts had been made for upward of a century to unseat the old regime, the culmination of the effort seemed so distant, the formation of a defi- nite plan of government so hazardous, that the actual success of the long struggle found no well-considered plan to follow. However, some temporary govern- ment was necessary and the Duma actually became the basis of this provisional government, with certain of its liberal leading men acting as an executive com- mittee. After the Admiralty Building, which was the last to succumb, had finally surrendered, the active fighting of the Revolution was practically done and the work of re-organization was at hand, Mos- cow had, after a brief struggle against the forces of the Crown, gone over to the side of the Revolu- tion, and Generals Russky and Brusiloff telegraphed that the armies also had accepted the new order. Secret stores of food were uncovered, restaurants were opened, and the normal affairs of life began to take their usual turn. But with the cessation of the fighting on the streets, a bitter controversy arose in the Dimaa as to the form of government. The Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates, self- constituted and representing certain class interests, began to assert itself and issued some inexpedient edicts especially destructive of discipline in the army. Finally, however, after much wrangling a policy was adopted as a basis for the new government. It pro- 86 Russia After the Revolution vided, among other things, for the calling of a con- stituent assembly which should determine the perma- nent form of the future government. But despite the startling and dramatic events of Petrograd, the Czar was formally, at least, still the head of the Government. With his usual indecision he hesitated in taking any positive action, but finally started to Petrograd to " quash," as he wired the Military Governor, the Revolution. His progress toward the capital city, however, was halted when the Imperial train came to a break in the tracks made by revolting soldiers. The train thereupon returned to Pskov, General Russky's military headquarters. Here the situation was revealed to the Czar by the General himself, and a little later Mr. GuchkofF and another deputy from Petrograd, disclosing clearly the sequence of events in the capital, demanded his abdication in favor of the Heir Apparent. The Czar, seeing the hopelessness of the situation, was now willing to retire, but not wishing to be sepa- rated from his only son, suggested that his brother. Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovitch, should take the throne. This suggestion was at first generally accepted, but later the Extremist Party, which was strongly opposed to a monarchial form of govern- ment of any kind, constrained the Grand Duke Michael to issue a manifesto that he would not accept the Crown unless it should be with the consent of the people, to be determined by the Constituent As- sembly. o S H O TJie Revolution 87 Thus passed away the Romanoff Dynasty forever. If the Czar had been a strong man acting upon his own initiative- — his first judgments were generally correct — rather than upon the advice of the group of autocratic courtiers surrounding him, it is quite likely that his regime would have attuned itself to the spirit of the times, granted needed reforms, en- deavored to ameliorate the harsh living conditions, and would have so shaped itself that by gradual evo- lution the Crown would have been buttressed rather than undermined. It was apparent to any one with a clear vision that such a despotism as existed in Russia was obsolete and would break up of its own weight, unless drastically modified from within. Such was the hope of many of the most intelligent, capable, and liberal men of the country, but the coun- selors of the Czar were of a different order. They led him on by their intrigues, influence, and machina- tions to his inevitable downfall. In the meantime the struggle between the Moder- ates; and the Extremists continued. The former, dominated by the Duma, hoped for a constitutional government under the regency of the Grand Duke Michael; the latter, supported by the Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates, desired an ex- treme republic. At this juncture Miliukoff an- nounced the persormel of the new Cabinet, also stat- ing that the power would pass to a regency. This latter statement further inflamed the delegates to the Council of Workmen and Soldiers, who stood for an 88 Russia After the Revolution immediate republic, and if it had not been for Keren- sky's interposition with one of his electrifying speeches, the Provisional Government might have broken down before it had fairly started to function. The Duma then adjourned, but unfortunately the Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates did not. The succeeding stage of the Revolution saw the rapid loosening of all fixed standards of life. The outstanding characteristics of Russia changed so rapidly that it did not seem like the same country. Freedom of speech was universally practiced until Dr. Ellis said it was a substitute for vodka. All classes were equal. As the hated secret police had been sent to the front, a volunteer organization of student militia protected Petrograd, and indeed it was remarkable that there was so little outlawry. The wildest kind of pamphlets were circulated, and without any censorship the literature was vulgar. The most damaging feature was the lack of disci- pline on the part of the soldiers. At the suggestion of the Soldier Delegates it was no longer necessary to salute ofiicers. The soldiers deserted the front in great mobs and gave their time to joy-riding, vir- tually taking possession of street-cars and compart- ments in trains without reservations or even tickets. The double eagle and pictures of the Czar were every- where removed or destroyed. Labor, too, was car- ried away with the wild spirit of the times, demand- ing impossible wages with decreased hours of labor. The Revolution 89 In some cases labor refused to work more than four hours a day, and the decision of the Workmen's Committee as to pay and hours of labor was the final word. Production naturally decreased at an alarm- ing rate. Letter-carriers refused to work beyond a certain period, so that great stacks of postal matter accumulated and letters were months in being dis- tributed. Telegrams were almost as slow as letters. The Period of Kerenshy 91 signed and his resignation was followed by that of Guchkoff, chagrined by the insanity of the socialistic demagogues. The breaking-down of that essential characteristic of an army — discipline — caused three of the most famous generals also to retire — Brussiloff, Russky, and Gurky. Disintegration of all the forces which held the country together was rapidly becoming an accom- plished fact, when once again the indomitable Keren- sky, with an impassioned plea, brought the socialistic groups into concurrence with the Provisional Gov- ernment. A plan of co-operation between the vari- ous parties was drawn up and a coalition Cabinet was formed in which six Socialists were to hold port- folios. It included Tchernoff, who was favorable to proper distribution of the land, but the anomaly of the reorganization was that Kerensky was shifted from the position of Minister of Justice to that of War. Fortunately the socialistic members were men of recognized ability. The generals withdrew their resignations and preparations were made for a for- ward military movement. This reorganization was followed by a period of hope and progress. Various opposing groups were brought closer together in purpose and action. Even the Council of Workingmen's and Soldiers' Delegates sent a stirring appeal to the Army, urging it to fight until victory was assured. Deserters were commanded, under pain of drastic punishment, to return immediately to their posts. 92 Russia After the Revolution Throughout this period of reconstruction the fig- ure of Kerensky, in tlie trusted position between the contending elements, stood out with increasing promi- nence and power. For years a Social-revolutionist, he enjoyed the confidence and support of the radi- cals, and at the same time his sane and loyal position toward the Allied cause commended him to the pro- gressive intellectual faction. Indeed the history of the succeeding five months parallels largely a biography of Kerensky. He was the heart and soul of the Government; for though not over strong physically, he was an ever present and indefatigable worker. He appeared unexpect- edly at centers of activity widely separated — pos- sibly with the Army in the morning, at a protracted cabinet meeting in the evening, and with the Finnish Kada the day following. His energy was remarkable as were also his ingenuity and resourcefulness. Many times it was the latter coupled with his ability as an actor and his boldness that saved a critical situation. Unheralded he would thrust himself into a meeting that threatened trouble and with intrepid fire and eloquence turn it in loyal support toward the Government. His influence is all the more to be marvelled at be- cause of his sudden rise to prominence. A young and comparatively unknown lawyer, except for his connection with the defense of the celebrated Belis trial, he came to the position of Prime Minister of Russia four months after the Revolution. Luolf, The Period of Kerensky 93 wearied and tired of the perplexing struggle, had re- signed and it devolved on Kerensky to form a coali- tion cabinet, hoping in that way to win the support of the many opposing groups. It is always interesting to note the changes that responsibility and power work in a newly risen leader. So Kerensky was distinctly influenced by the circum- stances of his position. He grew more conservative — the radicals soon accused this erstwhile ultra-so- cialist of being reactionary. Expediency demanded he surrender — at least for the time being — two of his pet ideals — abolition of capital punishment and freedom of speech. The former, abolished in the early days of the Revolution, was necessarily rein- stated in order to keep the newly freed soldiers from deserting en masse. The latter, cherished after years of experience with the repressive measures of the old regime, had to be sacrificed because of the ceaseless demoralizing agitation of pro-Germans and extremists the country over. Many of Kerensky's supporters wavered when he surrendered these two principles, though they were imperatively necessary, and he did so with great reluctance. The story is told of his clemency toward a CzaTist spy who was seeking evidence against this Social- revolutionist. He had roomed with Kerensky in Petrograd and had been singularly befriended by the latter. When the Revolution came the spy continued his efforts on behalf of the monarchists and espe- cially against his benefactor. His work landed him 94 Russia After the Revolution in prison in Odessa and in a fit of remorse he wrote Kerensky exposing all his own machinations and ask- ing to be shot. Kerensky wired the authorities to release him if it were at all possible. There was much discussion of Kerensky's ability. His critics denied him any unusual power — said he was vain and posey — but when one realizes that for five months, deserted by his own party and without any force with which to carry through his com- mands, surrounded by numerous contending and con- tentious groups, this man succeeded, practically alone, in holding the Provisional Government and Army together, it must be admitted he was a man of exceptional parts. With the usual sources of au- thority lacking, his of necessity could not have been a drastic government of " blood and iron " as he often threatened, but one of compromise, of adapting his policy to the situation. Probably no one could have done more under the circumstances. Kerensky became Premier as the outcome of the Bolshevik uprising of July, 1917. These extreme radicals, believing in rule by the proletariat, had from the beginning of the Revolution sought control of the government. They opposed every element of conservatism and during the early summer planned to overturn the then constituted authority. With their ideals of internationalism, the radical socialists were in favor of peace and of permitting the men in the Army to decide for themselves whether they should fight or not. Lenine, the leader of this The Period of Kerensky 95 group of the Workingmen's and Soldiers' Council, had instigated a demonstration against the non-so- cialistic members of the Provisional Government. After several preliminary disturbances, on the fif- teenth of July this group engineered a bloody up- rising known as the July Revolution. The Bolsheviki with the assistance of the Red Guards, armed workmen, determined to overthrow the Provisional Government. For several days Petrograd was like an entrenched camp. Armored cars filled with Bolshevik soldiers swung up and down the main streets, indulging in promiscuous shooting. Regiments from Kronstadt surrounded the Tauride Palace, which was the headquarters of the Provisional Government, and for two days held the ministers besieged. It seemed as though the Radicals might succeed as they visited the various garrisons and barracks urging the soldiers to join in a government by the proletariat. Sane men, how- ever, among the fighting forces persuaded the sol- diers not to join In the upheaval and loyal Cossacks at the end of the second day went to the Tauride Palace and released the besieged ministers. They then undertook the capture of the armored cars of the Bolsheviki and soon the latter began to throw away their guns and give up the struggle. The mutinous regiments were disbanded but no drastic punishment was meted out to them. Lenine escaped, probably into Sweden, and for the time being his influence and that of the Radicals was broken. 96 Russia After the Revolution As Kerensky became Prime Minister, he attained the height of his power and popularity — sorely needed qualities — for he was shortly to be con- fronted with the overwhelming problems which had submerged preceding cabinets — confronted with the various groups representing the wildest range of in- compatible beliefs and programs. It was the time when everybody was called " Tava-" rish " (Comrade) — all were equal. Tips were no longer popular — at hotels a fixed charge of fifteen per cent, for service was made instead. It was un- seemly to accept a fee as all citizens were comrades. All activity was controlled by Committees. From the Committee of Workingmen's and Soldiers' Dele- gates down through every subdivision of the Army and in every factory and business establishment the Committee was the regulating or governing power. No decisive action was possible without the consent of the Committee. Disintegration gradually ate its way into every phase of society, especially the Army. In an effort to stop desertions the death penalty had been re- established and soldiers had been given a limited time to rejoin their regiments. Officers had lost much of their power and their personal safety was in jeopardy. The fighting spirit was gone as we ascertained when, as noted before, standing on the front in full view of the enemy across No Man's Land, we asked why the soldiers didn't shoot. The reply was: "What's the use.? If we fire the Turks will Soup Kitchen on Caucasus Front With Staff of Colonel Wachnadze — Armenian Plateau The Period of Kerensky 97 simply fire back; some one is likely to be hurt and nothing is gained." General Korniloff, a Cossack, wanted to deal with the soldier situation drastically. This is normally the only way to treat with a disaffected army but considering the absence of any force sufficient to ade- quately compel obedience or authoritatively issue commands, it is to be questioned how this could have been accomplished. All through the period of dis- integration and attempted reorganization Kerensky had to employ persuiision and compromise because of the lack of power to enforce commands. This fact is constantly lost sight of by his critics. Far more than the Duma, it was the combined strength of the soldiers and workingmen that had made possible the Revolution. The Duma, fearing for the most part the stagnation of war processes by an overturn of the government, had been measurably passive during the first days of revolt when the masses were shaking the foundations of Czarism. The Duma forces were thrown into the conflict when success seemed probable, thus insuring a victorious issue. It was only to be expected, therefore, that as the real backbone of the Revolution, the Soviet, the central organization of the soldiers and workingmen, should feel that they must control any decisive policy. So Kerensky ieonstantly faced the dilemma of sur- rendering an approved course of action because of the lack of final compelling power back of him, and the necessity of compromising with the Council of 98 Russia After the Revolution Workingmen's and Soldiers' Delegates. He spoke publicly of his determination to pursue a policy of *' blood and iron " in dealing with the situation, but he was powerless to carry it through. His most necessary orders and fundamental regulations — al- ways essential where large groups or populations are to be kept under ordered government — were looked upon as reactionary by the proletariat group who because of many past betrayals by the old bu- reaucracy were overly fearful of counter-revolution. Thus limited in his freedom of action, Kerensky could not make effective many highly desirable plans. He tried to please everybody and pleased no one. In striving to continue the war he ran counter to cer- tain elemental forces deep seated in the masses, cry- ing for peace, which could not be denied. Kornlloff as a general believed he saw the neces- sity for taking a strong stand. He was not in sym- pathy with the hesitant and seemingly weak attitude of the Premier and finally, after the Moscow Con- ference of August, 1&17, which had failed to strengthen the position of the Provisional Govern- ment, the previous lack of cordial understanding be- tween the two leaders grew into a real misunderstand- ing. An intermediary Duma member, V. N. Lvov, instead of clearing away their differences widened the breach. Kornlloff demanded the retirement of his superior and, gathering together an armed force composed largely of Cossacks, marched on Petro- grad bent on setting up a dictatorship. The Period of Kerensky 99 There were two courses open to Kerensky ; either to retire or to resist. He chose the latter and dis- patched an army against the advancing Cossack General. The fighting was of the same type that proved so deadly to Russia when employed by the Germans after the Revolution — fraternization. Kerensky scouts mixed with the troops of Korniloff, encamped for the night, persuading them that they and the revolution were being betrayed by their leaders. Under this kind of fighting the Cossack forces soon failed Korniloff and he was taken cap- tive. The incident proved not so much the greater popu- larity or strength of Kerensky as it did the absolute opposition of the masses to anything that smacked of dictatorship or autocracy. The trend of sentiment toward radicalism was very apparent in the Democratic Congress held in P'etrograd a month after the Korniloff incident. Sixteen hundred delegates attended this convention. Kerensky made the opening speech — a great speech — but with its close it was noticeable that his hold on the Radicals was diminishing. Leon Trotzky, soon to play such a vital part in world affairs, also spoke, swaying the crowd to hatred with his stinging remarks. The Assembly finally broke up when it decided in favor of a coalition government of all the democratic elements except the Cadets. The Bol- sheviki, incensed by this decision and fearing the 100 Russia After the Revolution loss of the fundamental things they were struggling for, left the hall. Meanwhile under the weakening government, chaos continued to increase. Radicalism was in the ascen- dancy. It opposed distinctly a strong central gov- ernment continually seeking more power for the Soviets. It had from the first been exasperated over the assumption of authority by the Duma, largely representative of wealth and elected by a most un- democratic system five years before. The Duma had passively supported the Revolution whereas the masses had fought and died for it. The disintegration among the troops continued so that when the Germans began their march on Riga no really effective resistance was made and that great Baltic seaport fell. It was apparent that the erst- while hero Kerensky was losing his hold on the popu- lace. The nation was in confusion. Wild rumours — the only source of news to the ignorant masses — spread to the ends of the country. Even govern- ment officials, because of the crippled intelligence service, were largely dependent upon such unreliable information. Nothing seemed stable or safe any longer. Anarchy was on the increase so that one ventured forth after dark, if at all, with trepidation. It was a rich season for the criminally inclined be- cause of the absence of protective police measures. Most of the hated police had been sent to the front at the time of the Revolution and Vigilance Commit- tees or volunteer militia endeavored to maintain order. o The Period of Kerensky 101 Lenine who, as leader of the extreme radicals, had been driven into seclusion or from the country when the July revolution collapsed, returned to the Smolny Institute. The fact that he had disappeared branded as a German agent apparently had not les- sened his influence, for the demands of the Bolsheviki for supreme power became more insistent than ever. Persistent agitation on behalf of radical socialism was everywhere encountered and efforts to combat it met with little success. There was much talk of peace, but no one at this time ventured to suggest a separate peace. Another demonstration aiming at the overthrow of the government was openly planned and advertised in the daily papers of Petrograd. It was the fore- most topic of conversation. Preparations to meet it — the assembling of troops and guards — went on in connection with the efforts to stop the menacing German foe's advance. It had been determined to move the capital to Moscow in an extremity and plans for this exodus were further engaging and con- fusing the attention of the Government. But few among the foreign or educated classes anticipated that Kerensky's Government would faU to withstand the Bolsheviki drive. They expected the July fiasco would be repeated, not appraising adequately the accimiulating strength of radicalism which discon- tent with the absence of a promised peace, the de- crease in food-stuffs, and land hunger had produced. Harsher living conditions — worse than under Czar- 102 Russia After the Revolution ism despite apparent freedom and greatly enhanced wages — and the failure of the existing Government to satisfy the primitive wants of the masses, expected as the result of the Revolution, had undermined the Government. The existing central authority, although it had endeavored to re-establish order, to prevent peasants illegally seizing the land, to increase food and eco- nomic production, to stabilize finances, and to stop fraternization with the enemy soldiers, was openly blamed for the chaotic condition of the country by the Radicals who were in sympathy with and re- sponsible for many of these conditions. The Bolshe- viki made their program conform to the wants of the masses and the masses in consequence made it pos- sible for them to seek supreme power. CHAPTER X THE BOLSHEVIKI IN POWER The mania for committees was only outdone by the mania for conventions during the first year of revolution. There were democratic gatherings of all kinds and for every purpose. It is not easy to clas- sify or understand them. They were assembled at the instance of various political and social groups in an effort to formulate programs which would inter- pret in action their favored belief or principles. In the main they represented the crude effort of free- dom to articulate itself. Following close after the Democratic Congress at which the ^olsheviki became further estranged from the burgeois over the question of coalition, the " Council of the Russian Republic " began its ses- sions in the Marinsky Palace. The Bolsheviki dele- gates, noting the large representation of land own- ers and being on principle opposed to any compro- mise, again bolted the convention — this time at its first session. The remaining parties continued the discussions futilely. Kerensky addressed the meet- ings from time to time but it was apparent his influ- ence was waning. As the discussions failed of tangi- ble results and the Bolsheviki in contrast were offer- 104 Russia After the Revolution ing a definite program of peace, food, land and a larger share in the government, which appealed to the primitive wants of the people, there was an obvious movement toward the Radicals, especially on the part of the Petrograd garrisons. On the 7th of November still another convention was due to meet in Petl-ograd — the AU-Russian Soviets. They represented the will of the people as perhaps no other group, but as Radicals were certain to demand action on many fundamental and trouble- some questions. Kerensky, fearing the outcome of this meeting and hoping he could tide over the Pro- visional Government until the Constituent Assembly met, undertook to prevent the convening of the All- Russian Soviets. To effect this, opposition papers were suppressed, troops mobilized and automobiles commandeered. This was a tactical mistake as it only served to further antagonize the Radicals, and the Bolsheviki supporting the Soviets made ready to seize the Government. The coup d' etat was quickly accomplished. Eenine and Trotzky with the co-operation of the Petrograd garrisons summarily took possession of the government. Kerensky with difficulty escaped before the Winter Palace was captured — most of the members of his cabinet being imprisoned. The soldiers loyal to the Provisional Government were disarmed and the women battalions sent home. There was promiscuous shooting and later some se- vere street fighting in the capital, but the Bolsheviki The BolsheviM in Power 105 soon held the city with a confidence born of real power. This was not to be wondered at as Petro- grad was virtually a Bolshevik city. Opposition to the Maximalists, the Latin term for Bolsheviki, was strongest in other centers of Rus- sia. Persistent bloody attacks were necessary in order to take Moscow and only after the casualties mounted into thousands was peace arranged on the basis of a Socialist Government dominated by the extremists. The sacred city of Kiev also witnessed a bitter struggle before the provisional forces were displaced and this was true of other sections of the country. Many leaders hostile to radicalism and fearful of the program of the extremists undertook to raise armies of opposition. Kaledines, former hetman of the Cossacks, opposed the Leninites. Kerensky col- lected an army and marched on the capital, but was deserted by most of his troops when confronted by the Workingmen's and Soldiers' forces and is sup- posed to have escaped in disguise. The small group of Radicals who took over the Government in Petrograd soon enlarged their con- trol to many parts of the empire. Many of the in- dependent opposing movements collapsed. The dis- appointment of the people with the accomplishment of the revolution thus far and the alluring promises of the new leaders had won over the proletariat (masses) generally. They had hoped for a settle- ment of the land problem and for peace or at least 106 Bussia After the Revolution a clear statement of the things they .were fighting for — if they had to fight — but neither of these had been forthcoming. Kerensky, realizing the restiveness of the Russians on this question, had for months urged the Allies to hold a War Aims' Conference. The Revolutionists from the first had demanded to know what they were fighting for. The war objects of the Czar could not be theirs. It was imperative to clarify the inter- national situation by a conference — by frankness instead of secret, sinister diplomacy which the people mistrusted. The Allied leaders, not gauging prop- erly the rising discontent in Russia, had delayed the meeting, the proposal ultimately ending in a military conference. This had been seized upon instantly by the Bolsheviki and turned against the tottering burned-out Kerensky. The new leaders lost no time in trying to square their program with their promises. Negotiations were undertaken with all the belligerent governments for an armistice — to discuss peace terms. By this action the Bolsheviki leaders gained increased power among the war-weary masses. As a matter of prin- ciple these leaders were opposed to war — were obsessed with a Utopian idea of internationalism that would do away with petty national jealousies and simultaneously with war. They preached that all wars were promoted and maintained for the benefit of profiteering capitalists — more to be feared than the Germans. The Bolsheviki in Power 107 Every effort was made to perfect a peace. Gen- eral Dukhonin, head of the army, was deposed for not obeying the command of the Government to offer an armistice and Ensign Krylenko took his place. Leon Trotzky, the new Foreign Minister, began the publication of secret Russian treaties, thus adding to the peace sentiment and the strength of the Bolshe- viki. More and more firmly the government of the proletariat was rooted in power. And yet to one who studies the background of Russian history and appreciates the psychology of human nature, the ac- cumulating strength of this proletarian movement should be no mystery. After seven hundred years of despotism, in which the Russian people had been held in ignorant sub- jection and had lived on a miserably mean plane of existence, they emerged from darkness into the blind- ing light of a strange new freedom. Confused by radical counsellors and by enemy and monarchial propagandists on every side, within as well as with- out, and led by a clique of clever leaders who were themselves carried away with Utopian ideals — im- possible of fulfillment — it is no wonder these igno- rant masses could not see the broader vision of the world struggle and were too bewildered to realize that probably they were sacrificing their newly found freedom. Agitators had raised grave questions In the minds of these simple folk as to the purity of the Allied purpose, arguing that if the Allies were of the same 108 Russia After the Revolution stuff as the Czar it were better to break with them also. The domestic problems — especially the ques- tion of land distribution — appealed to the peasants to the exclusion of almost everything else. The ad- justment of the economic fabric in the interest of justice was closest to the heart of the workingman — in other words, if freedom was to mean anything to the common people, it must materialize in the estab- lishment of internal justice. The masses through- out the decades had talked and worked and died for freedom — not, however, for a freedom from alien enemies but for a freedom from their own autocracy and it seemed to them with their limited vision that the only way to work out their plan of internal re- construction and justice was through peace. So the necessity for immediate peace seemed para- mount. This peace movement had grown so strong that no government could have continued in power save by obtaining peace. Accordingly the Lenine- Trotzky group persistently pressed forward their peace program, thereby further consolidating their hold on the masses until there was accomplished in Russia rule by the proletariat. This was a per- fectly natural political phenomenon. The pendulum which for centuries had been suspended at the ex- treme right and which represented autocratic govern- ment by the classes, for the privileged few without regard to the masses, had swung to the other ex- treme, passing through the period of the democratic provisional government, to the extreme left in which < Eh The Bolsheviki in Power 109 is observed a government by the masses for the bene- fit of the masses and without regard for the classes. Nor should we look askance at this revolutionary change from autocracy by a few to dictatorship by the many. The pendulum of history always swings from one extreme to the other and time is ever re- quired for great political movements or upheavals to stabilize themselves. So it must be with Russia. And we must not lose ourselves in criticism if Rus- sian freedom has run to extremes. The Russian people are like children — children who have been brought up by parents who neglected and abused them and who, having broken away from restraint, have not been able to master themselves or control their liberty because of previous lack of training or education. No thinking person blames the way- ward son or daughter who has erred when he realizes that the wrong was the outgrowth of a failure of parental supervision and care. Rather it is just to criticise the negligent parents and so, as we view the Russian situation in the large, we must condemn the old careless despotic government of Russia which did not properly care for its children. While the knout had enforced obedience it had failed to teach discipline. Absolutism had fostered abnormally cer- tain elemental forces which once loosed could not be checked and no power on earth could prevent the nation from plunging into suffering and despair. The drama of the peace transactions of Lenine, Trotzky and Company would be amusing as a comic 110 Russia After the Revolution opera if it were not so pathetic We observe a group of amateurs, newly risen to leadership of a great country, in theory following the mirage of certain fanciful ideals or dreams, but in fact dealing with clever charlatans, representatives of an imperial con- scienceless government. The leaders of the Ex- tremists from the first days of the Revolution, having demanded a peace without annexations and without indemnities, were baited on to an armistice under the guise that such a peace would be acceptable to the Potsdam gang. The extreme Radicals in control of the affairs of Russia, blinded by their hate for the capitalists and kindly disposed toward Germany as the home of socialism, proposed in the latter part of November, 1917, that an armistice be declared on all fronts, during which peace terms should be considered. To this the Allies, relying on the agreement against a separate peace executed in the early days of the war, protested, but the German Command expressed its willingness to undertake such negotiations. The Russians asked as a preliminary point of the armi- stice that the enemy should not transfer forces to the •western front. This was refused. After further negotiations between Trotzky, the Russian Foreign Minister, and the Allied governments, an armistice was finally signed between Russia and Germany on the 15th of December. On the 23rd of December Russia began peace par- leys with Germany at Brest-Litovsk and foolishly The Bolsheviki in Power 111 failed to prevent the demobilization of her troops and the cessation of munition production. Indeed the idea of an armistice conveyed the notion of peace to the soldiers and they began to desert freely. Peace maneuvers having been begun and Russian resist- ance weakened, Berlin took a more arbitrary stand, transferring her troops to the west against the ob- jections of Trotzky. Trotzky, at the suggestion of Germany, asked the Allies to join in the peace ne- gotiations. This request was rejected by the Allies as involving a wholly unsatisfactory solution of the future peace of the world. The Bolsheviki now be- gan to realize they were being outgamed in the peace parleys. Germany threw off her mask and demanded Poland, Courland, Esthonia and Lithuania. A break in the negotiations seemed imminent as Russia asked that the future conferences be held on neutral soil. On January 10th, however, disregarding the request for a change of place of meeting, negotiations were resumed at Brest-Litovsk. On the 19th of January the long looked for Con- stituent Assembly met. Though it was the goal to- ward which all classes had been striving, hoping it would settle many of the perplexing questions, when it actually convened the first test votes showed the Radicals were not in power and after ten hours of wrangling the Bolsheviki summarily and finally closed the Assembly. Their reason for this drastic, un- democratic action was that the members, largely So- cial Revolutionists, had been elected under bourgeois influence and did not represent the true attitude of 112 Russia After the Revolution the masses. As a matter of fact the Radicals were not interested in democracy, but in rule by the pro- letariat. As Germany further disclosed her terms of peace which threatened to strangle Russia, another hitch in the negotiations was reached and once again it looked as though peace would fail, but the National Russian Congress of Soldiers' and Workingmen's Deputies instructed Trotzky to continue the deliber- ations. Finally, on the 11th of February, the Bol- shevik Government withdrew from the war, ordering demobilization of the Russian armies. The oiBcial Bolshevik statement telling why Russia quit the war is one of the most amazing documents of history. It is given below that the reader may understand better the unbalanced reasoning of the Radicals. " The peace negotiations are at an end. The Ger- man capitalists, bankers and landlords, supported by the silent co-operation of the English and French bourgeoisie, submitted to our comrades, members of the peace delegations at Brest-Litovsk, conditions such as could not be subscribed to by the Russian revolution. " The governments of Germany and Austria possess countries and peoples vanquished by force of arms. To this authority the Russian people, workmen and peasants, could not give its acquiescence. We could not sign a peace which would bring with it sadness, oppression, and suffering to millions of workmen and peasants. " But we also cannot, will not, and must not continue The Bolsheviki in Power 113 a war begun by Czars and capitalists in alliance with Czars and capitalists. We will not and we must not continue to be at war with the Germans and Austrians — workmen and peasants like ourselves. " We are not signing a peace of landlords and capi- talists. Let the German and Austrian soldiers know who are placing them in the field of battle and let them know for what they are struggling. Let them know also that we refuse to fight against them. " Our delegation, fully conscious of its responsibil- ity before the Russian people and the opprest work- ers and peasants of other countries, declared on Feb- ruary 10, in the name of the Council of the People's Commissaries of the Government of the Federal Rus- sian Republic to the governments of the peoples in- volved in the war with us and of the neutral countries, that it refused to sign an annexationist treaty. Rus- sia, for its part, declares the present war with Ger- many and Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria at an end. " Simultaneously, the Russian troops receive an or- der for complete demobilization on all fronts." They hoped by Socialistic propaganda to secure peace with Germany through internal revolution. Instead they strengthened the Prussian militaristic party by presenting to the Teutons, as the prize and accomplishment of Arms, broken, prostrate, defense- less Russia. No formal treaty of peace was signed as the above statement shows and Germany with two distinct armies renewed her invasion of Russia, taking Lutsk and Dvinsk. Thereupon the leaders of the The BolsJievihi in Power 115 a new kind of flying machine is accorded the privi- lege of imperiling his own life, but the Bolsheviki, experimenting with a new theory of government, jeopardized the freedom of all Russia. Autocracy had developed unhealthy radicals, who were opposed to western democracy. They looked upon capitalists as upon the Czar. They found the country in solution on which no stamp of govern- ment had been imposed. Here was their opportunity to try out in their own land the splendid dreams of political philosophers and impracticable idealists. They would shape Russia's future. They would lift one hundred and eighty million people accustomed to an archaic autocracy to an advanced political ideal. Though by the 20th of February Lenine and Trotzky are said to have signed the treaty of peace, General Hoffman, the German Military delegate, in- sisted on an authenticated copy and the German Army continued its advance. There was no resist- ance to the forward drive and thousands of prisoners and vast stores were taken. The Russian Army de- mobilized. The next step in the German treachery was to enlarge their demands, asking that the Bolshe- viki troops be withdrawn from Finland, Poland and Ukraine. Petrograd was threatened and efforts were made to stir up the " Red Battalions " of the city for defense. The Foreign embassies left the capital as the Teutonic forces approached. Finally, on the 3rd of March, the Bolshevik delegates fearing new demands, executed the treaty of peace, it is said, 116 Russia After the Revolution without reading over the final copy lest Germany should impose additional demands during even so short a delay. Berlin announced the end of the military movement and the shameless terms of the surrender show that in addition to the land already given over to Germany, Russia gave back to Moslem Turkey much of the Caucasus with a large Christian population and the key to the great oil fields of Baku. That the Russian peace treaty was but another " scrap of paper " to the Germans was soon clear. Teuton forces, despite a signed document purporting to end the conflict, continued their advance into new portions of Russia. They took Odessa, the funnel through which grain pours to the Black Sea, and later Nikplaiev, driving eastward through the heart of the black-soil and mineral districts. Soon they were reported approaching Ekaterinoslav and Kursk. Evacuation of Petrograd continued and the govern- ment was transferred to Moscow. Germany's infamy had created a split in the Bol- shevik group. Trotzky, unwilling to bear the re- sponsibility of an ignominious peace, resigned as for- eign minister — though later he became Minister of War and undertook the raising of a new volunteer army of resistance to replace the regular, troops disbanded at Germany's command. Finally, on the 15th of March, the treaty was ratified at Moscow by an overwhelming vote demonstrating the controlling desire for the end of fighting. Indeed the morale of the soldiers had begun to wane long before the Revo- The BolsheviJci in Power 117 lution and was pathetically disclosed in the following published appeal directed to Kerensky during the latter part of his regime. " The material and spiritual forces of the army are exhausted. The attempts of the Committee to keep up the fighting spirit of the army meet with insur- mountable obstacles which increase every day. There can be no fighting spirit in an army which is naked, hungry, forsaken and forgotten by its own country and which receives no reinforcements from the rear. There can be no fighting spirit in the army when in the rear there is no authoritative power, when the land is in the grip of anarchy, when the peasants hide their grain from military requisition, when the workingmen refuse to make munitions, when the bourgeoisie refuse to pay war taxes, and the reserve regiments refuse to go to the front. There can be no fighting spirit in an army which is called to defend freedom and the Eevolution, when freedom has degenerated into dis- order and the Revolution into pogroms. We know that it is impossible to conclude an immediate peace which would secure Russian freedom, yet we know also that the continuation of war under given condi- tions is a thing impossible." Isvestia, No. 195, Oc- tober 12-25, 1917.) Simultaneously with the overthrow of the Provi- sional Government, the pent-up desire of certain sec- tions of Russia to secure their independence began to assert itself. Drawn into the Empire originally through conquest, these units with nationalistic am- bitions had long chafed under autocratic rule. The 118 Rtissiu After the Revolution dissolution of a strong centralized government was the signal for secession of these peoples. The Ukraine, Finland, the Caucasus set up separate gov- ernments opposing Bolshevik authority. Many other local governments, including parts of Siberia and Turkestan, declared for a separate existence and then it was noted that the centripetal force which had held all the Russias together had changed into a centrifugal force throwing off the component groups into their original units. The efforts of the radical Moscow government to prevent Russia's dissolution and dismemberment pro- duced civil war in Finland and Ukraine especially. In the latter sections, German arras aided the seces- sionists and bloody barbarous fighting took place. Armed workmen, known as Red Guards, crudely equipped and provisioned, fought for the Bolsheviki. In many cases no quarter was shown, and anarchy and slaughter exceeding anything heretofore wit- nessed in the Revolution occurred. Thus sick, war-weary Russia, paralyzed economi- cally, harassed socially, crushed by an imperious treacherous foreign foe, beheld the enlarging spectre of anarchy and civil war. And yet it is questionable whether any power under Heaven could have saved Russia from this siege of protracted disorder and chaos. The disease of despotism had too long undermined the strength, destroyed the ability of the masses to act with in- telligence or to control their liberty, so that when The Bolsheviki in Power 119 ireedom came it degenerated into license and near anarchy. Many have criticised the Allies' failure to do one thing or another; many have maintained that certain courses of action might have saved Rus- sia this period of travail ; but it is the writer's opin- ion that absolutism had so restricted human develop- ment in the Empire that when the binder which held the proletariat in subjection was shattered by the Revolution, it was too late for any human agency to keep Russia from falling. CHAPTER XI EUSSIA AUD THE GERMAN MENACE At the time of writing, the first of July, 1918, the Bolshevik Government is the de facto government of Russia, though seriously threatened by many ele- ments of opposition. In some respects, however, after eight months in power, it maintains a stronger hold even though tyrannical on the masses of the Russian people than at any time heretofore. It is really government by the Central Soviet or Council, supported throughout most of the land by the varied groups of Soviets representing many different kinds of constituencies. The leadership of the Soviet is in the hands of the Bolshevist faction which in Novem- ber, 1917, was the first group to succeed in obtaining the support of the Soviet organization. This organ- ization, after all, is more truly representative of the masses of workmen and peasants than any other group in Russia, for its roots run deep into the life of the common folk. This Bolshevik leadership was secured by pro- claiming, as frequently stated, a program appealing to the masses. Since coming into power they have perforce modified their tenets. Inconsistently they have ruled in many instances with a drastic, even Russia and the German Menace 121 merciless, hand and in that way have maintained a better semblance of order than the Kerensky govern- ment. This they were able to do, being backed by authority reaching deep down into the masses of the people, whereas Kerensky stood practically alone. The treachery of Germany has opened their eyes to the folly of pacifism, but they are unable or un- willing to make effective resistance against Hun ag- gression. Their rule is as undemocratic in many respects as Czarism in the elimination of all social classes except their own and in the assumption of exclusive privileges. They proclaimed the absence of all government and now impose an arbitrary rule by themselves alone. Their armed resistance in Finland and Ukraine shows that self-determination to them was theoretical rather than practical. They have failed to administer an adequate food supply — which was to be expected because impossible — and the northern country is starving. Economic and industrial life is prostrate. Not only is labor de- prived of work, but the former propertied class is compelled to do the most menial service for a liveli- hood. The government has consented, however, to a local distribution of land and while it has been char- acterized by gross injustice it is more satisfying to the peasant than the old system of little or no land at all. The Soviets, then, under Bolshevik leadership, comprise the present government of Russia. More than this, they may continue as the governing power 122 Russia After the Revolution but under other than Bolshevik control and with a saner, more just and workable policy. This is a reaction that is necessary and when it comes may it settle on such practical foundations that Russian freedom will be perpetuated. But this will never be possible until there is adjustment and compromise between the conflicting interests in the country in respect to government, industry, property and so- cial status. The splendid leadership of Russia's^ capable men is vitally essential to the guidance of the nation toward a practical form of government. All classes must share in the administration of a free country. In the meantime Germany has continued her ag- gressions in Russia. Her armies, co-operating with the White Guard in Finland, have overpowered or driven the Bolshevik forces from the country and in consequence Finland is now practically a vassal state of Germany. In the Ukraine the Rada government, which made a separate peace with Berlin, not prov- ing wholly amenable to Germany's plan of domination and exploitation of the country, was supplanted by leaders favorable to the Teuton invader. Fortu- nately only a fraction of the supplies which the Cen- tral Powers had hoped to get out of rich Ukraine have thus far been realized because of native upris- ings, lack of transportation and the unwillingness of the peasant to dispose of his food-stuffs. With approximately three hundred thousand Ger- man and Austrian troops, Germany holds Russia Oameij Supply Train, Turke7 ^ '" ''-'-^^mii^^^^^^^i illiiB Horse-borne Litters in Persia Russia and the German Menace 123 east of a line beginning at Narva on the Bay of Narva in Esthonia (about ninety miles west of Petro- grad), running through Porkov, Orsha, Kursk, Va- luiki, Novo-Tcherkask and Rostov on the Don. This is a far greater territory than was ceded to Germany by the signed treaty of peace which in- cluded three hundred thousand square miles of land, fifty-six million inhabitants (thirty-two per cent, of Russia's entire population), one third of the rail- roads, seventy-three per cent, of the iron mines, and eighty-nine per cent, of the coal. A peace was also forced out of strangled Rou- mania. By its terms Germany, with great gener- osity, allowed her Russian Bessarabia. When the naval port of Sebastopol was taken by the Teutons, the Russian Black Sea Fleet escaped to Novorossisk, where it now is under Bolshevik control but block- aded by German submarines. Turkish troops have advanced in Trans-Caucasia from Batum on the Black Sea to a point east of Alexandropol, which is situated on the railroad running south into Persia and have pushed south along this railroad overrun- ning Northwest Persia, including Tabriz and other cities. Thus Germany is spreading her forces over a great part of Russia, endeavoring to consolidate the coun- try so that its food products and raw materials of aU kinds may be utilized to buttress the dwindling resources of the Central Empires. Thus far her success has been limited but let us not be deceived. 124 Russia After the Revolution Unless new forces oppose, German ruthless domi- nance, such as we have seen in Belgium, and her noted efficiency will mobilize the products of Russia. These consist of many of the things most sorely needed, particularly food; for the Ukraine espe- cially is a rich agricultural country as well as the chief depository of coal and iron. Many of the munition plants and factories of this western part of the former empire will be restored to service. The wall of steel which the Allies had constructed around the Central Empires has been shattered and to the east the latter behold large and providential resources. The breaking down of the long eastern battle line has in addition made available for the western front one hundred and forty-seven divisions or, in round figures, a million and a half troops. Moreover, there were in Siberia and Russia Central Power prisoners of war to the number of a million and a half to two million men. These have been gradually making their way back to Austria and Germany and in time will be fit for further service. The conquest of Russia has not only strengthened the morale of the Central Power nations, especially of faltering Austria-Hungary, but has brought the Scandinavian countries further under the fear of the rule of Berlin. Thus has been accomplished probably the largest conquest of all history and it is obvious that a peace at this time which would permit the Brest-Litovsk treaty to stand would, no matter how liberal the Russia and the German Menace 125 peace offerings to the western Allies, spell victory for Germany. Her original scheme of a Berlin to Bagdad empire has been dwarfed by her present wild dream of a nation extending to the Ural Mountains and even to the Pacific coast. Germany now domi- nates four-fifths of Europe and her military party visions a world empire realized, with the gates to Persia and India opening before her. Even if shut off from the high seas, she would then have access to countless people, great lands and extended re- sources for her exploitation. The former Russian empire was three times As large as the United States, comprising one-sixth of the world's surface and containing one hundred and eighty millions strong, virile, though uneducated people. Unless blocked in her imperious plan, Ber- lin will not only possess the foodstuffs and minerals of the Ukraine and the northern Caucasus and the industrial development of western Russia, but also the oil fields of Baku, second only to those of the United States ; large supplies of cotton from Turke- stan and Persia ; the butter and cheese and grain of Siberia ; the whale and walrus products of the Arctic seas ; limitless lumber from extended forests ; man power for exploitation; markets for her products and colonies for her future sons. With these facts in mind, it is perfectly clear that the consummation of this world dream of Germany must be thwarted, for otherwise this conscienceless nation, which in order to worship at the feet of Mars 126 Russia After the Revolution has sacrificed everything that most peoples hold dear, will have it within her power to build up a super- military machine in comparison with which the pres- ent forty-year product would seem insignificant. And so a compromised or compounded peace at this time would be a German peace, and would afford her in the generation to come the opportunity to make possible what Alexander, Caesar and Napoleon failed to accomplish — a real world empire. This is a dark picture from an Allied point of view, but no sooner do we look at the enlarging task than we gird ourselves to meet it adequately. Two fields of operation present themselves to the Allied strate- gist. One is in Russia and the other along the west- ern battle line. What and how much can be accom- plished in Russia.'' What must be accomplished in France, Belgium and Italy? The obvious field of operations would, at first blush, seem to be in Rus- sia herself, and there has been much discussion as to what measures are feasible and practical. Many writers who have not been in Russia and are not conversant with the actual conditions have in- sistently demanded intervention, but it is difficult to see how an AUied army would be able to accomplish much except with the consent of the de facto gov- ernment. The railroads, as the reader knows, are broken down. The Trans-Siberian Railway of more than five thousand miles is single track for one-third of the way. The route by way of Archangel is closed for almost half the year. The newly created Russia and the German Menace 127 railway from the Kola Peninsula is jeopardized by the German control of Finland. If a force be sent into Russia it will have to maintain practically a self- supporting line of supplies. The suggestion of American forces helping Russia in the early days of the Kerensky government was met by the statement of our highest army officials that American soldiers could not live on the food supplied the Russians. The Japanese highest command also has stated that in order for a Japanese Army to successfully operate in Russia the Oriental food to which the Japanese are accustomed would largely be required. The Russian army throughout the war has suf- fered frightfully from lack of proper supplies of every kind. Conditions, from this point of view, are, if anything, worse now than heretofore, and whatever expedition may go into Great Russia must maintain a line of communication capable of supply- ing its every need. Moreover the sine qua non of such an expedition must be the consent of the people. It is not enough, nor desirable, to merely have the approval of the liberal or upper classes for if such an enterprise be attempted without the consent of the masses there is grave danger of driving Russia into the arms of the Central Empires. The Radicals have so imbued the people with the fear of counter- revolution that it is constantly necessary to keep this delicate point in mind and not do anything which would drive them into closer co-operation with Ger- man autocracy. In addition, it is questionable 128 Russia After the Revolution whether an Allied armed force could make any prog- ress in chaotic Russia against the will, though un- organized, of the masses. The tremendous distances so fatal to Napoleon constitute a most formidable barrier. Furthermore, there is another point that must not be forgotten — intervention in Russia without the consent of the people is contrary to established American principles. We have always maintained this — no other country has stood so firmly for the right of people to govern themselves in their own way — and so no matter how altruistic our purpose, how deep-seated our desire to save Russia, we must bear in mind the necessity of at first obtaining by diplomatic means the acceptance of Allied aid on the part of the ruling groups in the country. And this is also true — that such an expedition should have with it at least some American troops, for we as a nation have gained the confidence of the Russians as no other people have been able to do. They feel that our efforts' have been prompted solely by a de- sire to aid Russia. There are other ways that this great country may be helped — by dispatching commissions to study the regeneration of the country, by assisting in the re- construction of her railways, the re-establishment of commercial relationships, the rehabilitation of the factories and industrial life, by giving financial and material aid under such precautions that it would not fall into the hands of the enemy, by doing in an a K s H Z O td > 2( Russia and the German Menace 129 altruistic way the things that come to hand in re- building their civilization. This, of course, would entail risk of financial losses, yet such an effort should not be gauged as a business enterprise but a war measure to bolster up a fallen ally and to counteract the German effort to make Russia dependent upon her. Then, too, economic and moral assistance might well pave the way for military co-operation through a re-created Russian army. The outcome of these efforts toward rehabilitat- ing Russia are problematic, but with the war in its present critical aspect no possibilities that might help should be overlooked. Just cementing Russia's good opinion toward America would be worth while in the days after the war when a world alliance in behalf of humanity and freedom as opposed to ruth- less imperialism will surely take concrete shape, if indeed it does not already exist without definite or- ganization. Bearing in mind the unequaled virgin resources of Russia, briefly recounted in a preceding part of this chapter, one can readily see why the side which wins Russia wins the war. Since the preceding paragraphs went to press a month ago, the policy of our Government toward Russia, approved by our Allies, has been announced and as already stated seems the wisest plan of as- sisting the Russian people. Military help is pro- posed only to the extent of safeguarding supplies and protecting the former Czecho-Slovak or Bo- hemian prisoners-'ofrwar stranded in Siberia. These 130 Russia After the Revolution prisoners-of-war, mentioned in the Chapter on the Volga River, have injected a new and unexpected and maybe saving element in the Russian problem. They were en route to the French front when trans- portation difficulties, opposition of local govern- ments, as well as Grermans and Austrians in Siberia, blocked their progress. For their own protection they found it necessary to take control of certain ter- ritory and with more than one hundred thousand troops they now hold great stretches of the Siberian route. However, it becomes more and more apparent that the winning of Russia and the war must be accom- plished by force of arms on the western front, and this is true despite the fact that the collapse of Rus- sia has overset the balance of power in Europe. But the balance of power of Europe is no longer decisive. Non-European forces have been brought into the conflict and in this critical summer of 1918 it looks as though the United States must and will surely sup- ply that final reserve force which means victory. Despite the fact that England, France, Italy and Belgium have and are putting forth their utmost power without stint or reservation, the initiative held by these nations for two years has been temporarily regained by the Prussian horde because of the deflec- tion of Russia. In spite of their almost superhu- man sacrifices, military events in recent months have been trying if not discouraging. The Allies are now, with renewed morale, holding fast in anticipation of Russia and the German Menace 131 the near help of overwhelming American man power. They reahze that the United States constitutes the last line of reserves among the free peoples of the world — the final bulwark of democracy. It therefore behooves America to go forward with ever enlarging purpose that we may square our con- tribution and accomplishment with that of our Allies. With a forward look which is characteristic of a new people rather than a backward glance to see where we have stumbled, let us bend every energy and every faculty to the great venture before us. In the face of the greatest crisis of history, when the foun- dations of civilization are tottering, let no man in America think of his own selfish advancement or per- sonal benefit. Fortunately the note of accomplish- ment as it comes directly from Europe is optimistic with achievement in contrast to the discordant dis- couraging statements that issue from Congress and elsewhere. It is good to know that our Allies over- seas are not discouraged, but on the contrary feel that we are fulfilling the great promises that accom- panied our entrance into the war. One cannot truly know of the almost miraculous results of America's first year at war without feeling a measure of resent- ment against the hosts of carping critics that infest our land. Perhaps it is well that our citizens do not know the full extent of praise which our Allies over- seas have poured upon us not only because of our material progress but because of the splendid spir- itual leadership that has helped to clarify the moral 132 Russia After the Revolution issues of the war. Otherwise we might grow care- less and ease up in our task. It is a frightful inheritance that has come to this generation. One cannot survey with equanimity the finest young manhood of the world given in sacrificial devotion and the millions of homes that everywhere are- shadowed in grief. On the other hand we should realize that it is a privilege to be asked in our time, in our day, to carry forward the principles for which this nation was founded — to bear the burden of humanity and future world freedom. The spirit in which America was bom is well illustrated in the re- ply of WnUam Penn when he was asked why he should leave the merry shores of old England to come to the wilderness of Pennsylvania. This reply appears in the rotunda of the Pennsylvania State Capitol at Harrisburg, as follows : " There may be room for such a holy experiment, for the nations want a precedent and my God will make it the seed of a nation, that an example may be set up to the nations, that we may do the thing that is truly wise and just. "William Penn." These principles, though imperfectly adhered to, have spread to the ends of the country and are now being carried overseas to the remote parts of the world. In my travels, including two trips around the world, it has always been a heartening thing to find that in every quarter the weak and oppressed Russia and the German Menace 133 peoples look to America as their hope for ultimate liberty. This is true in China, in Cuba, in the Philip- pines, in Armenia, in Persia and even in Great Rus- sia and now it would seem as though with the world in a crucible, great America has been providentially called to carry forward, the world around, the pur- poses for which the men of '76 and '61 fought and died. Indeed we should be proud to be permitted to demonstrate that their sacrifices were not in vain; that the nation which they created and later saved is marking full square with its traditions; that the higher idealism which gave birth to these United States has not been dimmed by gross materialism but is shining forth today in unselfish war service. In the face of unprecedented accomplishment, let us not be disheartened. With thirty per cent, of the world's wealth — more than the combined wealth of England, France and Germany ; with ninety per cent. of the world's initiative; with unlimited man-power and work power, our Ship of State, full powered, true to its course, is sailing on. " Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State ! Sail on, O Union strong and great; Humanity, with all its fears. With all the hopes of future years. Is hanging breathless on thy fate." THE END SUBSEQUENT NOTE Wak conditions have unavoidably so delayed the publication of this smfdl book that it seems desirable to add a note on certain significant developments sub- sequent to the main record. The predicted failure of Bolshevik leadership is gradually becoming an apparent and accomplished fact as the harsh living conditions that raised this extremely radical group to power are in turn proving their vmdoing. It would have been difficult, if not impossible, for trained administrators to cope with the monumental problems of chaotic revolutionary Russia so it is no wonder that untrained dupes or ac- complices of treacherous Germany have failed to solve the perplexing questions encountered. And as they have perceived their control of the government slip- ping they have resorted to drastic measures every- where including anarchy and murder. People are condemned and put to death on the slightest pretext and the orderly administration of justice has ceased to exist. Gradually the Bolsheviki have alienated the sup- port of one faction after another, particularly the Social Revolutionists, until only a fraction of Euro- pean Russia is any longer amenable to their jurisdic- tion. Germany dominates the Baltic provinces and, 135 136 Subsequent Note in a lesser sense, the Ukraine and Finland. In the latter countries it is reported that Germany is grad- ually withdrawing her troops, probably because of the military pressure on the Western Front. She has found the Bolshevik government unstable and fleeting. Just as she failed to secure the ample sup- plies of food-stuffs and raw materials anticipated, Germany has also failed to set up the economic and induistrial control aimed at in the Brest-Litovsk and subsequent treaties. In consequence she is ready to drop the Bolshevik but cannot find a satisfactory substitute. Allied support of the Czecho-Slovaks has aided the latter in consolidating their control of the Trans- Siberian Route and has driven the German-controlled Bolsheviki from the ports on the Arctic coast. As a result opposition forces among the Russians them- selves have taken heart to break away from the Bol- sheviki. This is even true of certain peasant groups of the Soviet. The Bolsheviki had previously estranged such a large group of their countrymen that it has fortunately been impossible to turn them, even with German assistance, ageiinst the Allies as feared. The condition of the country as it faces another winter is desperate beyond description. While the epidemic of cholera is apparently abating, starvation is common everywhere especially in the northern country and Petrograd. In some places the Govern- ment has commandeered all the food-stuffs but with- Svhsequent Note 137 out being able to relieve the situation. The Red Cross representatives just returning are begging for food, particularly for the children. It is hard to realize or picture a more frightful condition than suffering and starving, disorganized and demoralized Russia. If internally the Russian situation has not im- proved in the last few months, externally the whole aspect has altered so favorably that the ultimate salvation of the country seems assured. The Allied armies countering on the Germans are driving them back more quickly and decisively than expected. Bulgaria has already unconditionally accepted the inevitable defeat and the Allied world at least looks forward almost every day to the complete surrender of falling Turkey. This will open up the Dardanelles and the Black Sea through which quick and substan- tial help can be gotten almost to the heart of Russia such as is not possible by the other avenues of ap- proach. It will make possible the rehabilitation of Rumania as an Allied belligerent and may lead to the creation of the Jugo-Slavs, the Czecho-Slavs, Poles and other peoples long hostile to the Central Powers into a buffer wall shutting Grermany off from Russia. This would not of itself save Russia from its period of anarchistic travail but it should insure unhindered development of that great country in the future poli- tically, socially, industrially. One of the nightmares of the far seeing patriots of Russia to-day must be the fear that even though the 138 Svbsequent Note Allies are completely successful in the West, utterly crushing the present German military machine, their country may fall under the economic control of their strategically situated neighbor, Grermany, when the war is over. Here is another of the countless per- plexing problems of the war that the peace conference must consider and solve without doing violence to justice or being inconsistent. -' i ^ -u^ > Jif