The Russian soldier stands large on every horizon. They vigorously march along to the music played by regimental bands, often singing choruses. Cossack regiments are the most picturesque among them. These fierce fighters are often magnificent horsemen who can stoop from the saddle and pick up any small article from the ground.
During holidays at Tsarskoye Selo, Cossacks can be seen wearing long scarlet coats reaching nearly to the ankles and top-boots wrinkled at the legs, although their everyday uniform is a dark blue coat lined with scarlet. A Cossacks is always armed with a silver-mounted dagger in his belt, a silver-mounted sword that is often a family heirloom, and a rifle, its cartridges slung across the breast of the warriorʼs coat. When the men are on horseback, the rifle is carried across the saddle. The Cossacks are expert marksmen and can hit a target while going at full gallop. They are also fully devoted to the imperial family.
The Russian soldier barely receives enough to live by. He can, of course, earn a little bit more by doing odd jobs for his superiors or acting as an officer's family servant.
On one occasion, before Anastasia was born, Margaretta Eagar came into conflict with the military of Tsarskoye Selo. A room had been fitted up in the palace as a church where the Tsarina and her children attended services every Sunday morning. Alexandra told the nurse to get into the church by a little side door that would bring her just behind her chair, as the three imperial children were at the church and Maria was so small back then that she would get restless without enough adult supervision. When Miss Eagar tried to do as the Empress had commanded, she found a soldier mounting guard outside the door. He refused to let Margaretta pass. The Irishwoman spoke Russian very badly, so she tried to explain the situation to no avail.
Miss Eagar waited until one of the Grand Dukes came along and ordered the soldier to let Margaretta pass. The soldier again refused. He had not recognized the Grand Duke.
"I don't care if you are the Emperor himself", he stated. The Grand Duke then asked him who had stationed him there, to which the soldier replied: "My corporal, and without his permission, I shall not allow anyone to pass through this door."
The Grand Duke proceeded to find the corporal, who arrived in a terrible rage. He seized the unfortunate soldier by the shoulders and began to shake him, but the Grand Duke interposed, telling the corporal that the man had only been doing his duty in obeying orders, something that should be highly complemented. By the time the Grand Duke finished speaking, the soldier had tears in his eyes. Orders were given for Miss Eagar to be allowed to pass.
On another occasion, the children of Grand Duke Paul arrived at Tsarskoye Selo. A sentry was placed in the garden, but he did not know the children at all and probably mistook the hour at which they were expected. He was dumbfounded when the children came running up and started playing in the swings. He approached and addressed them in the sternest of tones: "What are you doing there? Don't you know that these gardens and all in them belong to Dmitri and Maria?" When Dmitri shyly announced his identity, the soldier said with great scorn:
"Oh yes, it is very easy to say, 'I am the Grand Duke Dmitri', but you are a liar." His distress was great upon discovering that the children were indeed Maria and Dmitri.
It was painful for Margaretta and the little Grand Duchesses to see so many soldiers, familiar faces among them, marching off when the war with Japan broke out. The Irishwoman had never seen such a sight before, and to her eyes, the men looked badly provided for such a long journey.
Huge patriotic crowds filled the streets of St. Petersburg soon after the Japanese attack on Port Arthur. Students carrying banners marched to the Winter Palace, where Nicholas appeared dressed in an army uniform. Staring out the window, he saluted the public.
The national anthem, "God save the Tsar", was heard then and throughout several plazas for weeks.
God, save the Tsar!
Strong, sovereign,
Reign for glory, for our glory!
Reign to make foes fear,
Orthodox Tsar!
God, save the Tsar!
It was played at St. Petersburg and Moscow. Novgorod and Kazan. Plenty of other cities. White, red, and blue flags waved from the windows as troops of all kinds marched through the streets and boarded the trains.
Despite his nationʼs naïve yet patriotic rejoicing, Nicholas was apprehensive. He chain-smoked nonstop during the first week of the war as new and worrying information from his nationʼs Asian provinces kept pouring in. The thought of bloodshed revolted him. But if it was Godʼs will, there was nothing he could do but fulfill his duty and pray for the best possible outcome.
The crossing of Lake Baikal was the worst section of the journey for the soldiers. The train moving across the waterbody broke down, as the ice was not strong enough for the traffic. The men were instead transported on sleds. Every few miles shelters were erected. The soldiers got to drink hot coffee or soup and could rest in front of the fire before proceeding. Even with these precautions, some of them froze to death.
Oo
Feodosia Ivashovaʼs dining room is full of revolutionaries. Bolsheviks now to be precise. Ten men and women sit around the table. Many others stand nearby or sit away on smaller chairs. So far, the issue of the war has consumed most of their conversation.
"A war can only weaken the regime", a man sitting at the table states. "We must see this as a triumph."
"But we canʼt expect the war itself to do our job without taking action", Stephen asserts. "No one in his right mind predicts a Japanese victory".
Thirteen-year-old Gleb Stephanovich Vaganov is sitting next to his father at the weekly party cell meeting that takes place every Sunday evening. Gleb found out about the war in school, where the announcement was received with a mixture of ambivalence and enthusiasm. The students started blabbering in class about the need to beat the Japanese. Some of the boys even started playing war during recess, but Gleb was not one of them. He doesnʼt consider the prospect of that tyrant succeeding at anything appealing. Later that day, the students of the gymnasium were allowed to go to the Cathedral Square, a big open space in front of the Epiphany Church where the masses cheered and patriotically waved flags at the public speaker who was sharing the latest news from his place on a podium.
"Just another selfish imperialist war", Gleb told his friend Peter, who was standing next to him. "It wouldnʼt have started if the Tsar had his peopleʼs interests at heart".
"I think you are right", Peter said, and the boys nearby nodded in approval. "He only wants more riches, I didnʼt even know the Japanese were our enemies."
If the people around him had been his fatherʼs friends, Gleb would have also made a speech, but he was not surrounded by a majority of even slightly like-minded people, and he didnʼt quite think himself capable of moving a crowd of strangers. He doesnʼt even feel capable of expressing himself in front of the people surrounding him right now.
As the middle-class owner of a spacious house, Miss Ivashova has served as host for the party meetings since the organization was formed. Her husband is away working most of the time, and although he does suspect the sorts of conversations that transpire in his very home, he chooses to turn a blind eye to the entire affair.
Both left and right walls of the dining room are almost entirely covered by two huge dark wood stands that are filled with books, framed family pictures, vases with flowers, and other porcelain adornments. It is no longer hard for Gleb to keep himself from losing the trail of the conversation by drifting his attention to the many decorations of the house, but it was undoubtedly difficult at the beginning.
The host, Feododia, is sitting right in front of Gleb, the youngest and only child attending the meeting besides Miss Ivashovaʼs fourteen-year-old daughter, also named Feodosia after her mother. There are other youngsters present, but all of them are older than Feodosia.
Although some organization members are educated and wealthy, most of them are simple workers like Gleb and Stephen, several of them coming from the latterʼs workplace.
Before attending his first party meeting, Gleb had only witnessed his father interact with affluent people, the factory manager among them, in a subservient way. Gleb loves the novel way in which the well-to-do people of the party interact with his father. They see Stephen as an equal and respect his views. Gleb never gets tired of witnessing its. It makes him feel so happy for his father. After everything he has gone through, he deserves admiration, the boy thinks.
Gleb wanted to invite his friends Peter and Leonid to one of the meetings, but his father forbade it, saying it was still too soon, that there was no guarantee they would be trustworthy or wouldnʼt tell their parents. Children shouldn't be at party meetings anyway. A few kids are allowed to listen and sometimes speak, but only because their parents are members.
Gleb trusts Peter and Leonid though. They have taught him so much, and thanks to them he has lots of friends now. Well, he has four friends in total, four friends and a few more acquaintances that seem to like him, but even that is a huge improvement. Gleb will tell no one but Peter or Leonid about his opinions, but Peter often shares them with the other boys using a different language. This way, Gleb doesn't have to worry about being overenthusiastic when speaking, as Peter does most of the talk for him.
1903 might have been Glebʼs favorite year. He doesn't spend recess alone anymore. Whenever Maksim and his group of henchmen arenʼt there to bother them, Gleb and all of his friends eat together under the big tree.
If Maksim is indeed there, the boys will visit the gym and play with the gymnastics equipment despite knowing very well they are not supposed to be there without teachers around to supervise them. Gleb was the one who first convinced them to break the rules. He knows it is dangerous, that he could get his friends in trouble. They would not like him anymore if anything bad happened. Gleb himself could get in trouble as well, and if he broke something, he wouldnʼt be able to repay it. His father would be furious as a result, but Gleb cares a lot less than he probably should. It is way too much fun.
One time, Gleb tried to teach Peterʼs little brother how to do an iron cross on the rings. Leonid was predictably not strong enough to do so yet. Gleb is barely able to lift himself like that for more than half a minute. Leonid slipped. Luckily, the rings of the schoolʼs gym are not high enough for any fall to be dangerous, so the five boys laughed for minutes at a time.
Almost every Friday after school, Gleb will have fun with his friends before going back home. Not too far from the gymnasium, there is a very nice candy store where the most colorful and diverse sweets are sold. Huge, round, and flat lollipops of many colors, almost as big as a head. Apples dipped in chocolate and embellished to look like flowers.
Gleb and his friends have to hurry and rush out of the school as soon as the final class is over in order to get to the store early, as the owner is Jewish and closes his shop a few hours before sundown because of Shabbat, a weekly tradition that commences every Friday evening. The proprietor explained this to Gleb and his friends the first time they were late. His name is Samuel Davidovich Zeldovich, and he is a fairly old yet kindly man Gleb has only seen dressed in black and white, which the boy guesses must be a tradition as well.
The oldest of Samuelʼs grandchildren is just a bit younger than the five gymnasium friends, and he is sometimes present at the shop with his cousins and siblings. The two groups of children will frequently talk to each other about their different schools and neighborhoods.
Peter, Leonid, Pavel, and Alexander buy Samuel candies without failure. Gleb canʼt afford to do so as frequently as he would like to, but one of his friends will more often than not buy something for him. On one occasion, it was Mr. Zeldovich who gifted Gleb a pretty dark pink box of pastilas after the boy told him it was his birthday. Pastilas are red, apple-flavored candies that are typical of Russia. Gleb has read all about their interesting story. These sweets were invented around the 15th century as a way to preserve real apples, from which they are made.
The five friends have often gone to the theater, played catch or simply conversed in the city's parks, and visited a temporary fair where, inside a dark tent, they were shown a machine that makes black and white moving images of everyday city life and even entire short funny stories appear before their eyes. Leonid, Peter, Alexander, and Pavel were excited to show this to Gleb and thus see his reaction, as they had already watched films before. Glebʼs jaw, on the other hand, had dropped, his eyes widening in awe.
None of the boys have stayed at Glebʼs house though. None of them. And yet, at the very least, he has been very well received in each and every one of their houses. Their parents have been kind, and maybe that is enough. Gleb is mostly happy. Mostly.
The boy has learned to hide most of his so-called weird habits. Gleb wants Peter to see he has paid attention to all of the advice he has given him. He doesnʼt want his two new friends to think he is weird either. The gray-eyed boy no longer paces back and forward in class, or scratches his head, or frantically bites things. He avoids blinking or moving his hands too much as he speaks. He tries to look people in the eye.
Gleb has come to understand when it is that he should and shouldn't speak. He is relatively better at reading other people, or at least he thinks so. The child has even picked up on the fact that strangers and acquaintances no longer seem to giggle amongst themselves in his presence for no apparent reason as much as they used to before. It would happen a lot, and Gleb never suspected it had anything to do with him until it stopped.
The members of the party are still discussing the likelihood of a Japanese victory.
"It would be a miracle indeed", Feodosia the host says. "I donʼt want to give anyone false expectations, as I am of the belief that the conditions for the revolution wonʼt be ripe for a while, but this war makes me hopeful. I expect the Japanese will at least have their fair share of success."
"It would be about time for a nation like Japan to win", a man agrees, "a far more democratic nation than Russia. They have a constitution, an elected parliament, political parties, a legal opposition, greater freedom of the press, and a population with a broader education. I certainly know where my loyalties would lie… if I had any!"
The ensuing laughter lasts about half a minute. Gleb canʼt help but think, a bit defensively, that the Japanese also have an emperor.
"Hopefully they will give our tiny Tsar a good fight", a worker from Stephenʼs factory jokes, making most of the people at the table start cackling again. It takes Gleb a few seconds to do the same.
Elena comes from the kitchen carrying with her glove-covered hands a tray of chocolate cookies and a golden coffee-maker. She lays everything on top of the table and starts serving and distributing the coffee in small mugs. Gleb forgets himself and tries to take a cookie, but his father slaps his hand away. As soon as this happens, Gleb hears the young girl giggle.
You stupid! The boy scolds himself as he looks down in shame. Acting like a child, Gleb reflects, giving the impression that you donʼt care about the conversation but only for the desserts they give during the break. You had to wait until everyone started eating and drinking.
Not everything is better now that he knows how to pretend to be normal. Gleb has started overthinking everything he does or is about to do and how his actions will be seen by everyone else. Acting "normal" takes so much time, effort, and energy that he forgets to enjoy himself at times, which makes him wonder if there is any use in having friends when he is constantly fretting over the possibility of losing them.
By the end of every day, Gleb is invariably exhausted. He may no longer display his weird habits in public, but none of them have gone away at home. They have only gotten worse, much to his Stephenʼs displeasure. The man will often roll his eyes at his son, and if that doesnʼt get the message across, he will scold Gleb, demanding that he put a stop to it. Sometimes, the boy canʼt shake off the feeling that his father hates him.
Gleb dares look up again and almost immediately regrets doing so. The young Feodosia is looking straight into his eyes and smiling at him. He looks down at his shoes once more, blushing. Now she must think he is childish as well.
It is not the first time Gleb takes notice of Feodosiaʼs presence. It is hard for the thirteen-year-old not to do so when he is enrolled in an all-boys school.
The girl's eyes are honey-colored. Gleb finds her exceptionally pretty, although he is certainly not acquainted with enough girls to make for a fair comparison. Feodosiaʼs long light brown hair is what the boy likes most about her, but he is also growing insanely curious about the fact that despite being only a year older than him, she looks more like a young lady than a child. Gleb is talll and strong for his age, but regardless of this he wouldn't be taken for anything but a kid.
Feodosia reminds Gleb of a love poem by Pushkin. It is such a shame I do not recall its name! He thinks.
Gleb has repeatedly fantasized about getting to know Feodosia. He imagines the two of them talking to each other about the things they both care deeply about or debating the topics they disagree on for hours on end. She always seems so engrossed in the discussions unfolding before her, which means she must be as invested in the revolution as Gleb is or even more so. The schoolboy would never try to start a conversation with her though, he is not crazy. Peter and Leonid didnʼt teach him how to talk to girls. Gleb isn't even sure they know how to do so either way.
After a short break filled with small talk during which Gleb is finally able to try the cookies along with a pleasant cup of coffee, the men and women resume their serious conversation.
"We should not waste the opportunity this war is providing us with, not even while presuming the conditions aren't adequate for the revolution just yet", a woman says. "Whatever happens, it will remain in our nation's collective memory for generations. Imagine what nationwide strikes throughout the country would do to the regime's overall stability. They would impair the Tsarist administration during peacetime and even more so during wartime, when all of the governmentʼs worries are centered elsewhere."
"Right!" A man concurs. "The entire economy could be paralyzed, and only more revolts would follow."
The rest start arguing about the advantages and disadvantages of organizing strikes during a war against a foreign power, the resources they would need, and the technicalities that would have to be thought out.
"But we have to wait until the war has caused serious damage to the peopleʼs morale", someone says, "right now, a revolt could easily be dealt with."
"How many months into the war do you propose?" Stephen asks. "And I am not trying to counter argue, but how do you assert this particular war will on its own cause any significant damage to the peopleʼs morale when we donʼt even know if it is going to be long? From what my son has told me, the news of its outbreak was welcomed with joy."
Gleb doesnʼt want to intrude. He has grown more self-conscious about stating his opinions than ever before. It is not like it is important for him to share his viewpoint anyway, Gleb knows this is not like those small reunions only a few people from his fatherʼs workplace attended. He now understands they would only cheer his childish speeches out of love for his father.
The party has only grown in members since Stephen took his son along to one of its sessions for the very first time. This happened less than a year ago. The party meetings are full of grown-up people, Gleb observes, grown-up people who know their theory better than he does. Intellectuals, he guesses, as he doesnʼt know what else to call them. They are often passionately debating such abstract concepts... more so than anything Gleb is accustomed to, more abstract than the poems he reads and sometimes even writes. They also seem to enjoy applying dialectics to a great number of subjects unrelated to politics, or unrelated as far as Gleb is aware. Chemistry was spoken of on one occasion. Gleb enjoyed this deeply. It is a shame the subject hasn't been brought up again, he thinks.
Most times, Gleb would rather be reading poems. This is hard for him to admit, so he doesnʼt, not even to himself, but it is true. Poems are some of the few abstract things the boy can will himself to care for at all. His first few party gatherings were overall disappointing, as Stephen had assured him that they would be taking action to bring about the revolution, but so far, they havenʼt done anything radically different to what Gleb has always been aware his father and mother do. The Vaganovs are still distributing and sometimes writing propaganda, their child helping them do so sometimes. That is all they do. Gleb does enjoy helping Mr. Ignatov translate banned foreign texts, as the boy is learning both English and French at school, but otherwise, nothing new has happened. He knows the revolution is about making the world a better place, a place where there are no poor or suffering. "An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory", Engels said, but the people around Gleb only talk and talk and talk increasingly complicated rubbish… and they seem to be celebrating this new war as well, Gleb remembers, just like those mindless Tsar-worshipping masses at the plaza did.
At least those other guys, the socialist revolutionaries, blow reactionary ministers up with bombs, even if they are not Marxists, the child continues to think bitterly. They must have a better thought-out strategy as well.
Glebʼs father says the party's priority is to educate the proletarian so that they become class conscious and listen to them when the time comes, but taking into account the lacking number of Marxists in Russia, why would a war be helpful to bring about their revolution now? If the many different revolutionary factions are not able to agree on everything and instead decide to turn against each other, wouldnʼt endless chaos and meaningless deaths follow? Glebʼs overthinking mind wouldnʼt be able to stand the unpredictability this would signify. He is barely able to soothe himself whenever he visualizes the huge amount of pending homework he would probably have to do to catch up upon returning to school from helping his comrades during the revolution if it ever broke out.
A thought unexpectedly occurs to Gleb.
"Shouldn't we have soldiers on our side?" The boy accidentally asks. Part of him meant to, part didn't, and when he realizes all eyes, including those of young Feodosia, are on him, he decides to elaborate: "They are the ones with the actual power, the ones who keep the Tsar in power. I think mutinies are as important as strikes, if not more so."
Gleb tried to maintain eye contact with the people around him as he spoke, but this time he failed, staring at the table and the decorations on the stands instead.
Once he is done talking, Gleb waits a few seconds before taking a look at the people around him. To his great delight, most of the individuals gathered at the table are smiling, including the two Feodosias. They are not smiles of admiration, Gleb doesnʼt think his words have been particularly helpful, they are more likely pleasantly surprised smiles. Good reactions nonetheless, Gleb thinks.
Most delightful of all is the fact Stephen himself is smiling at Gleb. Really smiling, like he hasnʼt done in weeks.
"Just what I was going to say", Stephen tousles his sonʼs hair.
"A smart boy you have there, Stephen", Feodosia the mother adds. "That is what I wanted to talk about."
The rest of the meeting goes better than Gleb could have expected. His father is happy, confident, talkative, and seemingly proud of him. Gleb loves seeing him like that.
The adults move on to discuss the logistics of how they would hypothetically make their propaganda reach the soldiers as well as when, or even if, it would be the right time. Some of them, including Stephen, declare with all certainty that they should not contribute to the war effort in any way. The worst it gets, the better.
There is something bugging Gleb though, which is silly now that he thinks about it, because he was the one who brought up the subject of getting the soldiers on their side: Russia could be the most backwards tyranny in the world, but it is his home. They should be hoping for what is best for the people of Russia and not only for what is useful to their cause. They should be hoping for their needs, hopes, and dreams of happiness to be fulfilled, because that is exactly what is being kept from so many of them. The revolution is for them.
Russia doesn't have to be perfect, for it is his Russia, his beauty. Gleb doesnʼt know what author Konstantin Balmont really intended to convey when he wrote it, but the boy has been reminded of one of his poems regardless:
In the nature of Russia there's some weary tenderness,
The unspeaking pain of a deep-buried sorrow,
Ineluctable grief, voicelessness, endlessness,
A high frozen sky, and horizons unfolding.
Come out here at dawn to the slope of the hillside—
A chill smoking over the shivering river,
The massive pine forest stands darkly, unmoving,
And the heart feels such pain, and the heart is not gladdened.
There the motionless reeds. There the sedge doesn't tremble.
Deep silence. This verblessness lying at rest.
The meadows are running away, far away.
There's exhaustion in everything—all mute and deaf.
Come at sunset, like moving into chilly billows,
To the cool overgrowth of a deep village garden—
The trees are so twilit and strangely unspeaking,
And the heart feels such sadness, the heart is not gladdened.
As if the soul's pleading for something it longs for,
And someone has caused it this undeserved misery.
And the heart keeps on pleading, but the heart begins aching,
And weeps, and it weeps, and it weeps without ceasing.
As the party members continue dialoguing and debating, Gleb can't help but feel as if Russia herself and her pain were being silenced as they have been for centuries. It shouldnʼt be so. We are different, he thinks. These people should be different.
It is only after the Vaganovs have left the meeting that Gleb gathers up the courage to bring his concerns up on the walk back home.
"It makes me slightly uncomfortable", the boy confesses.
"What dear?" Elena asks.
"The way they talk about the Japanese, as if they wanted them to win just because they are better off than we are."
Stephen gives his son a stern look. "They didnʼt say anything that wasnʼt true", he almost spits at Gleb. "And there is no 'we'. The Tsar and the ministers that started the war are not 'we'. We donʼt owe them anything."
"I know father!" Gleb exclaims.
"Now, don't fight…" Elena tries to ease the tension between father and son, but she is interrupted by Gleb, who stares solely at Stephen as he speaks.
"I have nothing against the Japanese and I am glad they have all they have", the boy gets closer to his father. "I know the Tsar must have done something to provoke them on purpose as well, either that or he is an idiot, but I donʼt like the way those people…"
"You mean our party?" Stephen deliberately reminds him.
"I donʼt like the way they are celebrating the outbreak of the war just because it is convenient for us or how they want a foreign power to win despite knowing this would be harmful to the nation as a whole. People will die."
"I see you have switched sides back to the Mensheviks", Glebʼs father points out sarcastically. "I should have seen it coming, but since when do you care so much for the Tsarʼs loyal regiments?"
Stephen has recently taken a liking for calling Gleb a Menshevik every time they disagree on something, on anything. On one occasion, the child spent almost an hour arguing with his father in an endeavor to make him see this wasnʼt the case. The Bolsheviks have a plan, Gleb had told Stephen, and the Mensheviks donʼt. Gleb undoubtedly supports the former because he wants the revolution to happen more than anything in the world. He doesn't want a dream. He wants it to be real.
This awkward conversation took place months before Gleb finally caught on the fact that whenever his father calls him a Menshevik, it is not because Stephen is genuinely convinced that his sonʼs beliefs align perfectly well with those of the aforementioned group. "Menshevik" is simply a clever enough euphemism for "weak", a euphemism Stephen has grown to love using.
Gleb understands now that his father has been teasing him. It just doesn't feel like teasing. Not at all.
"I donʼt feel sorry or care one bit for the Cossacks!" Gleb replies defensively. "Or any loyal brute of the Tsar who joyfully joins a regiment with the intent of fighting for his tyranny. But I do care for the future conscripts. I care for the common people living in Russiaʼs Asian provinces, those who may suffer under Japanese occupation. Men, women, and children. Good working-class people are going to die or be affected, and I am not sure whether undermining the war effort would be beneficial to our cause, why canʼt it be done a different way?"
"What way?" Stephen mocks Gleb. "You say a single smart thing during the entire meeting and suddenly you have an entire strategy thought out, is that it?"
"I donʼt know, but, I mean, maybe I could think of…"
"I have already talked to you about this, but common sense seems to enter your brain through one ear only to leave it through the other one. The revolution wonʼt be a clean affair, and it wonʼt be a clean affair because our enemy is too powerful and wonʼt be clean either. Do you think the Tsarʼs secret police doesnʼt infiltrate us? Do you think they donʼt have their dirty methods or take advantage of the fractures within our parties? Grow up, boy. If a war is helpful to destabilize a powerful police state, then it is an opportunity, and no more people will get hurt in the process than members of future generations would be if we did nothing now."
"But if our methods help the Japanese, wouldnʼt it be…?"
"Wouldnʼt it be what? Treason? To whom?!"
At that instant, Elena sternly shushes her husband. "We are in public", she whispers with a finger in her mouth. Stephen takes a deep breath.
As the exchange between his parents takes place, Gleb notices a middle-aged nurse walking by, a white veil hiding all of her hair. She is wearing a Red Cross uniform consisting of a long white dress. An embroidered red cross covers the woman's chest, the same symbol that can be seen painted over the brown box hanging around her neck down to her stomach.
The nurse has been ringing a small bell nonstop in the hopes of drawing attention to herself. Without ceasing to do so, she stops walking and stands by the sidewalk a few steps ahead of Gleb and his parents.
"Help our troops!" She exclaims to the few people passing by, but it is only Gleb who turns to look at her. "Anything will do, boy, no matter how big or small, even one life saved is a blessing." The last phrase is unmistakably directed at the thirteen-year-old child.
The sun almost sets. It is weird that she is still asking for coins at this hour, Gleb thinks.
"Donʼt even think about it", Stephen whispers in his sonʼs ear.
"I wasnʼt!" Gleb shouts back in frustration and secretly in full defiance. Stephen gives him a death stare.
Gleb recognizes, for the first time ever, that he thoroughly disagrees with his father in a way he never did before. I wonʼt back down or change my mind either, he decides. The boy would argue with Stephen if necessary, just... not right now. Gleb doesnʼt know how, and it would be very prideful of him to claim to know he is right without having an answer to his father's question. What would he do differently? How would he avoid taking advantage of their nationʼs precarious situation? What alternative strategy does he have? None. What does he even know?
All Gleb can do at the moment to defy his father is frown at him like a petty child while he is not watching. Elena is watching though, and as soon as Gleb notices this, he stops glaring at Stephen, knowing he must have looked stupid and immature doing that.
When the Vaganovs stop by the sidewalk to wait for a carriage, the nurse approaches and starts pestering them. Elena ignores her. Stephen waves his hand at her as if she were a fly. Gleb makes sure both his parents are distracted before he takes a few kopeks from his pocket and tosses them through the slot into the old nurseʼs Red Cross box. He is definitely not buying any candy next week, but he doesn't regret what he just did. Sometimes, Gleb feels as if his life were nothing but a huge, never-ending play. Only at rare moments like those is he allowed to break character.
Oo
It is rare for civilians living far away from the front line to worry much for their safety when a war has just started. It is not an unknown fear among the Jewish population of Russia, where things have never been easy. Ever since they became this nation's subjects, the Jews have been blamed for almost every single unfortunate event that has transpired within its borders. Being blamed for the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War as well would not have been in any way unexpected.
Before the 18th century, the Russian Empire excluded the Jews from its domains, for Peter the Great had slandered them as rogues and cheats. This changed during the partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. For the first time ever, Russia took possession of several territories that already had a considerable Jewish population. These lands became known as the Pale of Settlement, an area from which the Jews were not allowed to migrate to other regions of Russia. Upon coming into contact, Christian and Jewish merchants started competing with each other, and laws were implemented to grant privileges to the former.
Unsurprisingly, the Tsar responsible for the Empireʼs early 19th century russification policies was also behind some of the most barbaric anti-Semitic laws of the era. Nicholas I aimed at destroying the Jewish way of life among his subjects, and to accomplish this, he forcefully conscripted all Jewish males from the age of twelve into the army, where many would be forcefully converted. Deemed easily replaceable, the young men were used as cannon fodder during the Crimean War once they grew older. Jewish mothers would frequently cut their boysʼ index fingers in desperation. Without the trigger finger, the children wouldnʼt be able to fight. They wouldn't be taken away.
In the 1840s, the governmentʼs objective shifted to assimilating the Jews, so a special tax was imposed on them. The collected funds were then used to build special schools for Jewish children where they would be taught by Christian teachers. Many Jewish communities were disbanded, and some of their traditions were even forbidden.
It was only during the reign of the liberal Alexander II that some of the Empireʼs worst anti-Semitic laws were withdrawn. Under Alexander's rule, Jews who graduated from secondary school were permitted to live outside the Pale of Settlement, and as a result of these measures, many of them achieved commercial success in different parts of the country. This, however, increased rather than decreased the prejudice among the rest of the population due to the fact that many Jewish individuals soon became very wealthy, this in part owing to their sense of altruism as a community and the importance they placed on education.
The increased presence of Jews throughout the Russian Empire was opposed by various sectors of society that felt both jealous and threatened by their different culture and religion, which has always been enough for many people to justify their hatred, but the fact they have been branded as "Christ-killers" by many religious leaders for centuries with no opposition from the government only aggravates their situation, making them the perfect scapegoats and unlike other minorities.
The Tsarist government censors all sorts of publications against the reigning family that could be viewed as offensive. It censors political opposition.
Publications that paint the entire Jewish population in a bad light are not censored.
As time went on, multiple Western European countries became enlightened in their views on the Jewish people and worked hard for their emancipation, but the backwards legislations of the Russian Empire stuck around or changed very little, the situation for the Jews becoming much worse after Alexander II was murdered and his reactionary son took power. The May Laws were established and violent mob attacks on the Jewish population followed, one of the latest being the 1903 Kishineff pogrom.
Oo
In a town near Kishineff lived two Christians who had custody over their fourteen-year-old nephew, a boy whose wealthy father had passed away. Instead of caring for the boy, the couple conspired to murder him in order to steal his inheritance. After committing the horrible act, they cunningly drained most of the blood off the childʼs body and hid it in the garden of an unsuspecting Jew during the feast of Passover.
For centuries, a medieval myth contended that the Jews had a habit of sacrificing Christian children for their holidays. In consequence, these fictitious stories gave rise to many real outbursts of violence against Jewish communities, going from property damage to mass slaughter. In Russia, the belief in this myth persists even among some educated folk. The guardians of the unfortunate boy knew this and felt safe enough to call the police.
When the news of the alleged Jewish sacrifice broke out, the Christian locals of the region organized a pogrom in which even the police participated. The governor was bribed in advance by the conspirators, so he shut himself in his study, cut off all telephone communication to and from St. Petersburg, and didnʼt give the military his authorization to intervene in order to stop the riots. Dozens of Jewish men, women, children, and infants were massacred as a result of the Kishnieff pogrom. Many of them were brutally tortured first. Children were thrown from the windows and against the walls and pavements. One young man was nailed to a cross in the streets and had all his limbs sawn off.
There were inquiries after the incidents, and the police eventually uncovered the truth. The Christian boy had died in his own home. The two murderers were thus sent to Siberia for life, and the governor who had been an accessory to the atrocities against the Jews had all of his rights removed and is now dead in the eyes of the law. After his property was confiscated, he was deprived of a passport and sent to live in a remote village he will never be allowed to leave. There, he will be forced to work for a family that may treat him however they please.
The people who organized the pogrom, on the other hand, were given extremely short sentences, ranging from months to less than two years.
Minister of the Interior Vyacheslav von Plehve was accused of being yet another accessory to the Kishinev pogroms. A conservative and notorious anti-Semite, Plehve doesnʼt hide his hatred for the Jewish people and has never forbidden the publication of even the most incendiary of anti-Semitic articles. It was his attitude that encouraged the authorities of Kishineff to believe he would not object to a pogrom. When the newspapers started calling for the death of the Jews, Plehve did nothing, and when the first news of the pogrom reached him, he didnʼt react to the violence with any urgency or competence whatsoever, choosing to blame others instead. His inaction caused resentment within the Jewish community.
While the local authorities participated in the pogrom, foreign newspapers spread misinformation, claiming that the government itself and therefore the Tsar had ordered the riots or knew about them beforehand, which was a huge embarrassment to the establishment.
St. Petersburg did condemn the violence, and the governor of the region was replaced with a man of liberal leanings, but Plehve himself was not punished for his neglect. He even retained his position.
Oo
Another reason for the Tsarist administrationʼs virulent anti-Semitism is that the Jews are slightly overrepresented in a considerable number of revolutionary movements. This is, ironically, a direct consequence of the governmentʼs repressive laws.
A Jewish individual living in Russia can only hope to become free from endless legal restrictions by converting to Christianity, but even as converts Jews are often regarded with prejudice and suspicion, so it is not rare for them to continue suffering discrimination. Although their reasons for joining the revolutionary crusade are as diverse as those of any group, being ostracized does give many Jews an intense desire for social change.
Revolutionary movements offer young, smart, and idealistic Jewish people of liberal leanings a chance to belong, to be part of a group where they are seen first and foremost as individuals. They get to fight for a cause as well, a cause they believe to be just. Under Plehve, Russian Jews have been driven in huge numbers to the ranks of revolutionary terrorism in a bitter cycle of repression and retaliation.
Trotsky and Julius Martov are among the many revolutionaries of Jewish origin. Yakov Sverdlov is Jewish as well. The young lad is less than twenty years old, but the Bolshevik party has already tasked him with the crucial mission of causing agitation around the Urals in places such as Kostroma, Kazan, and Ekaterinburg.
Oo
The Jewish community has felt hostility toward Minister of Interior Vyacheslav von Plehve since the events of 1903, but he is equally despised by various ethnic groups as the man responsible for carrying out russification policies in the provinces within the Russian Empire. In his struggle to make them Russian, Plehve has earned the hatred of people from Poland, Lithuania, and Finland. In Armenia, he is unpopular for despoiling their Apostolic Church, different from the official Russian Orthodox Church.
A splendid man for little things but a stupid man for affairs of stare, Plehve permits no political assemblies of any kind as a minister. Students are not allowed to walk together on the streets of Moscow or St. Petersburg, and it is almost impossible to have a party for more than a few people without obtaining permission from the police first.
Despite all of this, his determined support of the autocracy has earned him the Tsar's absolute confidence. Nicholas cares more about his ministersʼ loyalty to the monarchy than for any other virtue they might possess. More than intellect or hard work, more than ideas. He tries but fails not to feel threatened whenever he perceives one of them is taking the initiative, and although he wishes no harm on his Jewish subjects, they have never been Nicholasʼs priority.
Like most Romanovs and his father before him, Nicholas is a very prejudiced man who was raised to be an anti-Semite. His most conservative tutors taught him all about how allegedly untrustworthy and dangerous for the country the Jews are as a whole. His theology teachers talked of them as "Christ-killers".
While Nicholas can come to love and respect certain Jewish individuals such as members of his orchestra and the railroad financier who encouraged his attempt to put an end to the armaments race, whenever he thinks of them as a group he experiences the usual disdain and irrational fear most members of the upper class share for these people who hold such different beliefs and traditions. Part of that unease stems from unfounded conspiracy theories that feature members of the Jewish community as culprits of a worldwide ploy to take control over Earth by infiltrating or destabilizing the different nationsʼ governments, among other strategies. Nicholas is naïve enough to entertain the possibility, and being a man of limited imagination, not very prone to analyzing the real reason so many Jews despise everything he represents.
It is not possible, Nicholas assumes, for so many sectors of society, ministers among them, to be wrong about the Jews. Jews must be, he believes, dangerous to a certain extent.
Oo
Conspiracies exist. People lie all the time, and sometimes, they organize to do so. Rich people connive with governments to have laws passed or maintained for their benefit. Governments plot to start wars. Jewish people as a group, however, are no guiltier of conspiracy than any other ethnicity. Prejudiced people, ironically, conspire more than any other kind, so much so that they fabricated a text that purported to describe a Jewish plan for global domination, one that fitted their preconceptions.
The so-called "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" were written with the objective of turning public opinion even further against Jewish communities. The book has several keywords modified but is almost word-by-word plagiarized from several earlier sources, some of them novels, one of them a political attack against Emperor Napoleon III that originally had nothing to do with Jews.
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion became very popular among the Tsarist secret police, the Okhrana, and its members distributed the book widely. It eventually caught the Tsarʼs attention, which was something the conspiracy theorists wanted to happen, as they hoped the sovereign would place even more legal restrictions on the Jews.
Nicholas would order an investigation, however, exposing the work as a forgery, but as it often happens, a bookʼs illegal status doesnʼt stop it from circulating. The dangerous manuscript is out there, fueling the peopleʼs hatred.
Unlike her husband, Alexandra has a slightly kinder view of her Jewish subjects. She followed her mother Aliceʼs footsteps and grew up learning about God from fairly open-minded theologians. As a mystic, Alix believes that a little bit of truth can be found in every religion, but as a simple-minded woman, she categorizes Jewish people the same way she categorizes everyone. Just as there are Russians and "not-real" Russians in Alexandraʼs little world, there are "good" and "bad" Jews as well, the "bad" ones being the revolutionaries.
As is the case with all children, the Tsarʼs four little daughters absorb their eldersʼ opinions like sponges, so their views are vaguely similar to those of Alexandra, but right now, because of the war, only rants about how terrible the Japanese are can be heard all over the Alexander Palace, easily reaching the little Grand Duchessesʼ ears daily.
Oo
Even more distressed than Nicholas had been Alexandra upon learning her adopted country was at war. Despite this, the Tsarina did not allow herself much time to lament. Her name does mean "the one who comes to save warriors."
At once, Alexandra began to take an active part in the war work. While the Dowager Empress headed the Red Cross, her daughter-in-law started an immense workshop in the Hermitage Palace meant to supply the ambulance trains with hospital garments, warm clothes, and medical materials. The Red Cross was incapable of coping with the wants of the military hospitals, as the supplies in Siberia were very small.
Being very practical, the Tsarina considered every detail, made suggestions, and assured they were carried out. At Tsarskoye Selo, the Empress had her own little hospital arranged, a hospital she has started visiting daily to talk to the wounded, although she wonʼt be nursing herself. Alexandra also had a home for disabled soldiers built in the palace park called the Invalidly Dom, the first thing of the kind ever done in Russia. The men there are being trained in all kinds of crafts. Some live in the home, while others will only stay long enough to learn a trade that may enable them to supplement their pensions and earn a living at home. Alexandraʼs efforts have provided her with newfound popularity.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth, Alexandra's sister, has also found freedom in her many charities. She is opening workrooms in the Kremlin to make up packages of clothes, medicines, and prayer books to be sent to the front. She is also organizing the Red Cross trains to transport the wounded, and her husband Sergei has even allowed her to visit and talk to the wounded. Elizabeth is finally able to venture among the common folk like she has always wanted to.
Oo
With six large balls and some theatrical entertainments arranged, the court season had begun as usual at the beginning of the year before everything was broken off by the sudden outbreak of war.
In the nurseries, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia had a few children's parties and then excursions to St. Petersburg, where Anastasia was delighted with the stir and bustle of the city life and deeply interested in all she saw. The four little Grand Duchesses developed a love for the little toy balloons sold on the streets, so whenever they were well behaved Miss Eagar would send someone to get each of them a balloon. The girls would shake them around and play with them for hours.
Sometimes, Anastasia would urge her nanny to stop the carriage and buy the balloons straight from the men selling them, which Margaretta wasnʼt allowed to do. The day came when the youngest Grand Duchess saw a group of small children walking by, each one of them holding a balloon. She drew Miss Eagarʼs attention to them.
"Look, look!" She cried. "Little children with balloons! Get out, take them from them and give them to me!"
Very gently and patiently, Miss Eagar explained to the little Anastasia why doing so would have been wrong.
"Well, get out", Anastasia said, "and ask them nicely and politely, and perhaps they will give them to me."
After the war broke out, the four little girls started working at frame knitting, even the two-year-old Anastasia, who is already exceedingly proficient for her age. Together, the sisters have made numerous scarves for the soldiers, Olga and Tatiana crocheting caps as well.
Oo
The Tsarʼs eldest daughter Olga is considered difficult by some of her nannies and family members. She is certainly difficult for her mother at times, but Alexandra knows her daughter's stubbornness is just an extension of her fairness and blatant honesty.
Eight-year-old Olga hates lies. One day, as she played with the sons of Grand Duchess Xenia and Grand Duke Alexander, one of the boys did something that displeased her. The little girl burst into tears and complained to Anna Alexandrovna Taneeva, a very young and slightly plump noblewoman who is a friend of Empress Alexandra.
"Do you know Anya, what my cousin did?" Olga cried. "He lied!"
The young Grand Duchess possesses an honest character, becomes easily upset about things, and has a temper that is difficult to master.
Few people besides her parents consider Olga beautiful, many who know her going as far as secretly whispering among themselves that her features are irregular. The girl does have a somewhat round face and an upturned nose, but she also inherited her parentsʼ shining blue eyes, golden shimmering hair, and beautiful, fair skin that turns pink whenever she blushes. She is, most significantly, talented. Olga is able to play the piano by ear and she does so excellently. She remembers everything she reads, making her teachers marvel at her unusually good memory. There is little that can disturb Olga when she is studying, and she only needs to read her homework a couple of times to fully understand a subject.
Only Olga shares her motherʼs deep and serious religiosity and developing interest in mysticism. A while ago, the girl was playing in the garden with her sister Tatiana when she picked up a little dead bird that had fallen on the grass.
"I will keep this poor little bird forever", Olga declared. Miss Eagar did not interfere, observing instead the way Olga carried the dead animal in her hands. Sympathetically interested, Tatiana followed her sister closely behind. The governess wondered how long the children would pay attention to the bird before growing tired of it. A few moments later, Olga said:
"Perhaps I am doing wrong to take this little bird away because even at this moment, God may have sent an angel for the bird, and what if it is not there. I am going to put it back." She thus retraced her steps to the spot where she had found the dead animal.
The next day, Olga and Tatiana took the same path in order to look for the bird. When they arrived at the spot where Olga had returned it, the bird was gone.
"Suppose we had taken it away!" Olga exclaimed. "Then God's angel would not have found it!"
"Oh!" Replied Tatiana. "I think it would have been perfectly lovely if He had taken it out of our hands!" The six-year-old is nearly as pious, but duty plays a major role in her religious discipline.
With dark auburn hair that contrasts with her pale skin and wide apart grey eyes, Tatiana is friendly, gentle, and loving, but she is also reserved. The girl can barely do anything wrong anymore. Because she is no longer disobedient to her father and mother as she may have been at times as a toddler, Tatiana is the apple of their eyes. She is also the favorite of some of the teachers because she rarely starts trouble and barely ever has says a bad word.
While Olga has more passion for music, Tatiana is becoming equally skilled, although not nearly as interested. What Tatiana loves and is best at is needlework.
The plump four-year-old Maria has darkening golden hair and the most beautiful big blue eyes still. She is easy-going and kind to everyone she meets, getting attached rather easily. Despite being misbehaved at times, especially when under her younger sister's influence, Alexandraʼs third daughter is more remarkable for her goodness than anything else, but she has also learned rather quickly despite generally disliking schoolwork. She is always anxious to begin her lessons and will listen, look, and try to reproduce everything she is taught with great diligence.
Unlike her sisters, Maria seldom becomes ill. She is, more often than not, perfectly healthy, which sometimes causes her to express pretty freely her peculiar desire to be ill, to stay in bed and have her doll all day, to take her medicine and have the doctor see her. That was until she got influenza.
The social little girl was very sad and felt a great deal of pity for herself. While she was ill, Maria would look out to the streets for any people whom she had met before.
"My friends!" She always called out to them from the window, and Miss Eagar would be very sorrowful about the fact she did not always recognize them.
"You know," Maria said on one occasion, "the lady in Peterhof who wore the green hat? I saw her today on the Nevsky."
Maria never confuses anyone, as she has inherited her father's good "royal memory" for faces. Despite being clumsy, Maria has great determination, and whatever she attempts to do, she always finishes and carries through.
The youngest Grand Duchess is a pretty strawberry blonde with small and fine features. The two-year-old already acts much older than her age and possesses an almost perfect vocabulary. Anastasia has a great sense of humor as well. She is always up to some mischief, making faces, or imitating sounds she finds funny. Olga is the most book-smart out of her sisters, but Anastasia is the cleverest by far if one considers that at an age when most children are mere babies, Anastasia can sit down, count out the cost of any action she wishes to perform, and take the punishment "like a soldier," as she likes to say.
Anastasia loves jumping off of tables and chairs. It is incredibly fun for her to do so and there are few games that bring her as much joy. Sometimes she convinces her sister Maria to do so with her, but Maria canʼt cope with the bumps and bruises as well as Anastasia, who is rarely bothered by the pain of falling just a bit too hard.
One day, Anastasia climbed onto the nursery table and jumped off of it in front of her nanny.
"You must not do that, it is too high", Miss Eagar told her. "You can jump off the sofa if you want to jump, but not off the table."
Paying no heed, Anastasia climbed on the table and jumped off again. The governess slapped her gently in response.
Anastasia finally sat down, wearing a huge frown on her face. "It is not nice to get a slap", she said after a moment, "but it is better to climb on the table and get a slap than to jump off the sofa".
She promptly climbed up on the table once more and jumped again. Exasperated, the governess tied her in a chair with a sash. Anastasia looked up at her nanny in surprise. "I don't like this at all", she said.
Margaretta explained to the two-year-old that children are not really supposed to like punishments. The little girl was very downcast and sad.
"It's better to climb up on the table and jump off, and get a little slap, than not to climb and jump", Anastasia said, "but it's better not to climb and jump than to be tied to a chair."
Oo
Prussian Prince Heinrich was only about one and a half years older than his cousin Anastasia. The rambunctious little boy had a personality similar to that of his Russian relative and liked to jump off tables and chairs as well, although he was seldom allowed.
Both Heinrich and his older brother Waldemar had hemophilia, a blood illness that doctors still understand little about. What everyone did know already was that hemophilia could, and can, make an accident as small as falling off from a chair life-threatening. Princess Irene knew about this and took great care of both her sons. It just wasnʼt enough. On February 25 of 1904, Irene left Heinrich unsupervised, thinking nothing of it.
Just for a moment, she had thought. Just for a few minutes while I fetch something. No one would have imagined.
While his mother was gone, the playful child climbed up a chair, and taking advantage of the fact no one was there to scold him, he went on to climb onto the table. Hearing Princess Irene approach, Heinrich desisted from jumping. Ironically, this sealed his fate.
The little boy tried to come down faster than he was used to in order to avoid being reprimanded, but as he climbed down the chair, he stumbled and fell on the floor headfirst, hitting his forehead. The child managed to scream, but he was almost unconscious by the time Irene reached him.
The doctor would later explain that the fall had not sealed the boy's fate. It was evident. The child would have survived had he not been a hemophiliac. Heinrich did suffer from this condition though, and it caused him a brain hemorrhage similar to the one the little Friedrich had died from many years before.
Little Heinrich lingered for a couple of hours, dying the following day on the 26th of February. He was four years old.
Princess Irene has been in tears for days, inconsolable, and so has her sister Alexandra. The Russian Tsarina is grieving for both her little nephew and her sister Irene. She is also scared, more scared than she ever felt before.
Alexandra fears for the child she is expecting. St. Seraphimʼs miracle.
The nights following Heinrichʼs death, the Tsarina stayed up late praying that her future child would not suffer from her familyʼs illness, for Alexandra would never forgive herself if that were ever the case.
Sorry this chapter took so long, I am back in school and havenʼt had much time to write. I also got hyper-fixated on something else I will admit, it happens sometimes and it slows me down a lot. In case you are wondering, I wonʼt stop writing chapters in first person, the next chapter IS in first person, but third person works better for most parts.
At the beginning of the chapter, I took many phrases about the Russian soldiers from Margaretta Eagarʼs memoirs. The name of the chapter is also taken from that source.