The Crash of Russia

Lenin introduced him to his wife as a Social Democrat and the owner of the printing house where Iskra was published. Ernst asked: “What are your thoughts on publishing the first issue of Zarya magazine?” - Parvus replied: “You Vladimir, it seems you had an interesting article for publishing me in Stuttgart." “Call me Lenin now,” Vladimir answered and continued asking: - “You better tell me where the money is for the latest productions of the play “At the Lower Depths”? “I’ll give it back later,” Parvus answered quietly. “Help yourself to coffee and cake.”- continued Parvus. In the living room there was a table covered with coffee cups and saucers, a coffee pot and cakes. Everyone sat down at the table and ate. They talked about Rosa Luxemburg, Parvus called her “the fiery lady of the revolution.” Krupskaya told her husband: “We need to find another apartment, which we rent in an apartment on Kaiserstrasse is too modest. “Go to Siegfriedstrasse 14 tomorrow - a good apartment is ready for you there,” said Parvus. After that, Vladimir and Nadezhda left home after visiting Parvus for an hour. And the next day they moved to a new apartment.

Vladimir answered: You better tell me where the money is for the last performances of the play “At the Lower Depths”? “I’ll give it back later,” Parvus answered quietly. “I’ll treat you to coffee and cake,” Parvus continued. In the living room there was a table covered with coffee cups, saucers, a coffee pot and cakes. Everyone sat down at the table and ate. They talked about Rosa Luxemburg, Parvus called her the Fiery Lady of the Revolution. Krupskaya told her husband: - “We need to find another apartment, which we are renting on Kaiserstrasse is too modest.” - “Go tomorrow to Siegfriedstrasse 14, there is a good apartment for “I’m ready for you,” said Parvus. After that, Vladimir and Nadezhda went home, spending an hour visiting Parvus. And the next day we moved to a new address, into an apartment paid for in advance by Parvus. The new apartment was well furnished. After they brought their things into the apartment, they sat down to drink tea and while drinking tea, Vladimir said to his wife: - “You will work with me on the Iskra newspaper. There is little in Munich comrades. Most live in Switzerland and England." “Okay, I agree,” Nadezhda answered. “And tomorrow we need to go to Stuttgart, I made an agreement with one of the printing houses, they will print my book “What to do?” and we need to discuss what will be published for the Zarya newspaper. “Why do we print in Stuttgart?” asked Nadezhda? “They have a Cyrillic font in their printing house. We will transport everything to Russia via Prague. By regular mail to the address of verified persons, in packages of various formats and colors. This is what Plekhanov advised to do back in 1895 in Switzerland. Then, at the congress, the revolutionaries decided to publish both “Iskra” and the magazine “Zarya” in Germany,” Lenin answered. - “Where did Pavruz get the money for our apartment in Munich?” - Nadezhda asked her husband. - “He paid for both the publication of the newspapers and the apartment from the party treasury - the money comes from the production of Maxim Gorky’s play “At the Lower Depths” in Germany and with the money of Savva Morozov, he donates large sums of money for the publication of “Iskra” and “Dawn.” Alexander Erasov also gave me money in Syzran when I was there. He is the richest man in Syzran. Erasov is not an underground worker, we call him Monk. Now he regularly donates money to the party treasury. August Bebel advised publishing Iskra in Munich, since we are here are not exposed and the police are not interested in us,” Lenin continued. “But why did you write to me to look for you in Prague?” asked Nadezhda. “This is a conspiracy, I meant Munich,” answered Lenin.

I received letters from you about the Czech, about how good you were in Prague, how you communicated with the Czechs. So many lies! I was looking for you in Prague and only there I found out that you were in Germany. You can’t do this to a wife who came from exile! – Krupskaya continued dissatisfied. - August Bebel and Plekhanov told me in Geneva that I should live and publish «Iskra» in one country, and pretend to everyone that I was in another country and was publishing there. And at the meeting they suggested that I live in Germany, specifically in Munich, so as not to attract the attention of the police in this calm city. And at the same time pretend that I am in Prague. First I came to Zurich and then moved to Munich. I'm editing «Iskra», together with Potresov and Martov, and Plekhanov insisted on publishing the thick magazine «Zarya» in order to write long theoretical articles there. “Yes, you’re still that adventurer,” Nadezhda retorted. “In Russia, everyone thinks that Iskra is published in Prague or Stuttgart,” Krupskaya continued. “I even wrote letters to my mother and sisters that I was in Paris, so that they would believe it, and if the police intercepted the letters, we would completely misinform them,” Lenin concluded. This ended the conversation between the spouses, and they went for a walk around the city, visiting numerous pubs. In some of them, Lenin, communicating with the Germans, called himself Meyer, and in others - Mr. Jordan. Well, the next day, Pavel Borisovich Axelrod, a social democrat and member of the Marxist group “Emancipation of Labor,” came to visit Lenin in the morning. Together with Lenin, he edited the next issue of Iskra. He went into Lenin’s room, said: “Good morning, comrades!”, shook Vladimir’s hand and nodded his head to Nadezhda. Lenin replied: “Hello! What, do you want to edit something again in the next issue?” “Yes,” answered Pavel. “I’ll bring tea,” Krupskaya said and left the room. Lenin sat in the room at the table, and Askerold stood next to him, and dictated the text: “Comrades, we must unite.”...At that moment Krupskaya entered with tea. “Just knock the sugar with a hammer, otherwise we don’t have time,” Lenin said to his wife. And Nadya put a tray with tea, a sugar bowl and a hammer on the table and began to break large pieces of refined sugar into small pieces. And then everyone sat down to drink tea.

Chаpter 6. Nikolаi II` TRIP in France.

In early October 1901, the Tsar and his wife traveled to France. On September 17, the yacht "Standart" with the royal couple moored at Dunkirk, where the Russian delegation was personally met by members of the French government, headed by President Emile Loubet. After the ceremonial meeting, all those present went to the city of Compiegne, located 71 km northeast of Paris.

The royal couple traveled by train from Dunkirk to Compiegne, 250 km, in the carriages of the former Emperor Napoleon III. The carriages were old, but richly decorated and furnished with gilded furniture. But the compartments themselves were small and cramped. The train shook and swayed the entire way, and Alexandra Fedorovna became seasick. By evening, the train arrived in Compiegne.

Nicholas and Alexandra were accommodated in the Chateau de Compiegne, which outwardly resembled a palace, but not all the halls had sewerage and running water. The Tsar was met in the castle by the Grand Duchesses of Montenegro - Milica Nikolaevna and Stana Nikolaevna, and the representative of the France, General, Minister of Foreign Affairs Theophile Delnassé.

After the welcoming phrases, the royal couple dined with the Grand Duchesses. They dined in the knights' hall. Chicken Marengo, Brie, Parmesan, Roquefort cheeses with baguette were served on the ceremonial table. Also on the table were boiled eggs (poached), omelet, leg of lamb, cutlets, beef fillet, fried potatoes with lamb breast, chicken wings, beans in herring, olives, pears, apples, grapes, waffles with cream, sweets, coffee and Bordeaux, Perrier-Jouet champagne and Nicholas II's favorite port wine - white port Lagrima. The table itself was 20 meters long, designed for many people, but six dined at the table. Above the table hung crystal chandeliers, brightly illuminating the hall, decorated with exquisite tapestries.

In addition to the royal couple and princesses, the head of the royal chancellery, Alexander Mosolov, and Theophile Delnassé were sitting at the table. The conversation was about a military alliance between Russia and France.

Foreign Minister Delnassé rose from the table, raised his glass and said a toast: "Let's drink to the military alliance of two powers - France and Russia! If there is a war with Germany, our countries will smash the German machine."

-"A good toast," answered Nicholas II, raised his glass of Bordeaux wine, clinked glasses with Theophile, and all those present drank. After this, Princess Militsa Nikolaevna said to Nicholas in French: "Your cousin George told us that Your Majesty wanted to invite the magician Nizier Philippe to Russia for consultations with Your Majesty on spiritual matters. We have invited him to the castle and all this time he has been waiting for an audience in the next room."

-"What, Monsieur Nizier is here, and we did not invite him to the table?!" Nicholas said irritably. The servant standing next to the Tsar immediately turned around and followed Philippe Nizier. A few minutes later the doors of the hall opened, a servant entered and loudly announced:

- Monsieur Nizier Anthelme Philippe, who has arrived from Lyon, - and stepped aside.

A black-moustached man of about fifty, of unremarkable appearance, entered the hall, bowed towards the emperor and said: "Good day, Your Majesty and all present!"

- Good day, Monsieur Nizier, you are welcome to the table - Alexandra Fedorovna answered for everyone. A butler servant approached Nizier, moved a chair, and Philippe sat down next to Princess Stana Nikolaevna.

Stana Nikolaevna said: " Monsieur Nizier, a healer, magician and Martinist, sees the future, and knows how to heal. We heard about you from Ambassador Montebello," said the tsar. "We invite you and Monsieur Papus to Russia.

-But first, let's talk tete-a-tete after dinner," said the Tsar, looking at Philippe. -"We will certainly talk," Nizier replied.

After dinner, which lasted another half hour, the Tsar went to smoke in his study, decorated with walnut wood, and invited Nizier to come with him. Nicholas took cigarettes filled with Turkish tobacco and matches from a gold cigarette case, struck a match and took a drag, sitting on a leather chair at a walnut table. Philip sat opposite and listened attentively.

-"We are worried about the evil fate that was predicted by the Japanese soothsayer, the hermit Terakuto, who said that a martyr's death awaits us, and great sorrows await Russia. The same thing is told to us in the horoscope drawn up by Hamon, and I read the same thing in a letter from the monk Abel, this letter was written a hundred years ago.

-“What interests us most is whether we can avoid fatal events like those that already happened on Khodynka Field, and how to avoid two bloody wars, as the astrologer Hamon predicted,” said the emperor.

Dr. Nizier replied to this: “Some events are predetermined from above and cannot be avoided, but the consequences of other events of a different scale, simpler, can be mitigated - they can be avoided. I am a medium and can call upon the souls of the dead and ask them. In our Martinist lodge, the Kabbalist Papus also does this.”

- “Could you and Papus be our protection from evil fate?” asked Nicholas II, finishing his cigarette and putting it out in the ashtray.

- “Undoubtedly yes, especially since we are already helping the Montenegrin princesses,” answered Nizier. “I can also provide you and your family with medical assistance if needed,” continued Dr. Nizier.

- “We will wait for you in St. Petersburg,” answered the Tsar and lit another cigarette.

- "I don't know what George is planning, but London has always been a rival of both Russia and France. We are concerned about why George not only sent us this horoscope, but wrote to us that the special date for the coronation celebration should be May 18, 1896. We did so, and on the appointed day there was a stampede on Khodynka Field, in which 1,379 people died and as many were wounded and injured," said the Tsar.

- "I will answer this way, Hamon's horoscope, in my opinion, is an attempt to warn Your Majesty about an evil fate, but as for the second question, we should ask the Kabbalist Papus, he interprets such events better than anyone in the lodge," answered Nizier.

- "We are also concerned about whether the empress will have a male heir while pregnant?" asked the Tsar.

-Yes, certainly, but I will have to talk to her, - the doctor answered.

- "And it is harmful for Your Majesty to smoke so much. We will come this year or next," answered Nizier.

- "Then I will not keep you any longer, we will meet in Russia," said the emperor.

- "Allow me to take my leave, good-bye," answered the doctor, stood up, bowed slightly and left.

- "Good bye," answered the Tsar.

Chаpter 7. Nikolаi II, Nizier Philippe & Papus.

In Russia, meanwhile, the emperor in 1901 met personally with the magician and Martinist Nizier Anthelm Philippe, to whom he had previously written a letter on the advice of the French ambassador, immediately after Khodynka. Mason, magician, alchemist Papus came to St. Petersburg together with Nizier Philippe, who, being a healer of souls, also took on predictions. Papus and Philip were settled in the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo. At the end of January, the first meeting of the emperor with Nizier took place. The Tsar sat in the Maple Living Room, decorated in Art Nouveau style, and smoked cigarettes with Turkish tobacco. Stucco ornaments with intricately curved branches of flowering plants framed the door and window openings. In the holly, behind molded tree trunks, electrical wiring was hidden. There was a polar bear skin on the living room floor.

Philippe Nizier entered, a plump man of medium height, with a thick, stiff moustache. He was dressed simply, in a clean, but not formal black suit. Around the magnetizer's neck hung a small triangular bag of black silk, probably a kind of amulet. He bowed and greeted in a soft, enchanting voice in French with a southern accent:

-"Good day, Your Imperial Majesty, Doctor Nizier Philippe has arrived at your service!" - "Good day, doctor!" - the emperor answered in French.

-"We are glad to receive you in Russia, after everything that happened in France," the Tsar continued.

-"I am glad to serve Your Majesty! We discussed with Monsieur Papus the questions you asked me in France about the fate of Russia and the dynasty, discussed Hamon's horoscope.

-"My brother in the lodge, Mr. Papus, proposes to call upon the spirit of your father, the late Emperor Alexander III, to ask him what can be done to prevent the evil fate predicted by Hamon. The astrologer Hamon is not a member of our Martinist brotherhood, and perhaps, at the request of your cousin, he predicted your future in a horoscope in too dark tones, which may be advantageous to Great Britain, but this is already politics," Nizier concluded.

Chapter 8. Rasputin (born Rasputyin).

In 1902, in Siberia, in the Tobolsk province, in the village of Pokrovskoye, a peasant named Grishka Rasputin was working in the field in the spring and heard church singing behind him. His daughter Matryona, who was nearby, and other peasants did not hear this singing and did not see what Grigory saw. He saw, turning around at the sound of singing, that ten meters away from him, the Holy Mother of God appeared in radiance, not touching the ground and singing a psalm. This vision lasted no more than a minute. The Mother of God blessed Grigory Rasputin. Amazed by what had happened, Grigory returned to the house and sent for the devout peasant Dmitry Pechorkin, Grigory's uncle.

Having discussed everything in detail, the two of them went to the elder of the Verkhoturye Monastery, Makarii, the spiritual father of Grigory Efimovich. The elder, having listened, said, placing his hand on Gregory's head: "God has chosen you for a great feat. In order to strengthen your spiritual strength, you need to go to Athos and pray to the Mother of God."

Returning home, Gregory and Dmitry decided to go together as pilgrims to Athos. The preparations were short and soon the two friends with knapsacks on their shoulders and staffs in their hands set off on a long journey. Gregory's wife, Praskovya Feodorovna, cried, saying goodbye to her husband. Almost all the villagers went out into the street to see them off.

They walked for half a year, spending the night in monasteries. They ate the alms of good people. Arriving at Athos, they became novices. They worked, prayed at services and wanted to become monks. But one day Gregory saw the sin of Sodom. Grigory went for a walk in the forest near the Athos monastery and saw two monks in cassocks, who, having lowered their trousers to their knees, were copulating, lying on top of each other under the trees.

- "Accursed! How dare you!" - Rasputin shouted at them, spat at them and ran away.

Grigory lost his desire to become a monk, and he decided to share with his friend what he had seen. But then he changed his mind, so as not to lead his friend astray. For himself, he decided to leave the Athos monastery, since he realized that it was even more difficult to restrain sins in a monastery than in the world. Dmitry took monastic vows, and Grigory went to St. Petersburg.

Chapter 9. Sarov Hermitage.

In 1903, the imperial couple went to the Tambov province, to Sarov, to the monastery for men, on the occasion of the canonization of Seraphim of Sarov to the rank of saints. During the event, the Tsar visited the Divin Hermitage on June 20, 1903. The Tsar knew that Mother Maria kept a letter given to her by N.A. Molotilov, a servant of Seraphim of Sarov. The letter was written by the saint for the emperor who would be the fourth of the emperors to visit Sarov. The saint sealed this letter with “soft bread” and handed it to Nikolai Alexandrovich Molotilov with the words: “You will not live to see it, but your wife will live to see it, when the entire royal family arrives in Diveyevo and the Tsar comes to her. Let her give him the letter.”

The Tsar and his wife met Abbess Maria in the cell of the Diveyevo Monastery, crossed themselves, took the letter in their hands and opened the envelope. The Tsar read it to himself, turned pale and gave it to the Empress to read. She read it, jumped to her feet and ran out into the courtyard, followed by the Tsar. And then the holy fool Pasha of Sarov approached:

- "God's beloved Tsar, do not cry and do not grieve in vain," she said. - "Everything is predetermined from above - the fate of Russia, the God-anointed Tsar, his family.

Reverend Seraphim predicted all the trials for Your Majesty in advance in this letter, so that the Tsar would have enough courage and fortitude to endure it all steadfastly to the end."

- This is not true, I do not believe you! - Alexandra Fedorovna screamed, almost fainting.

The imperial couple left Sarov darker than a cloud. But Saint Seraphim of Sarov was canonized at the request of the Tsar and was one of the most revered saints by the Emperor throughout his life.

The Tsar said to his wife: "Be brave, a crown of thorns awaits us at the end of our reign."

Chapter 10. Botkin and Badmaev.

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna sometimes had headaches, especially if Her Highness was nervous. After a trip to the Diveyevo Monastery, her head ached for a week. Arriving in St. Petersburg at the end of July after this trip, she turned to Professor of Medicine Botkin, who acted as the family doctor in the royal family.

The meeting with the doctor took place in the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo. The Empress was sitting in the Maple Drawing Room. Dr. Botkin came up, bowed and said:

- "Hello, Your Highness, how is your health?"

- "I have had a headache for a week, I have difficulty falling asleep, I have nightmares at night. I dream that I was shot by soldiers who rebelled against the Tsar. I wake up in a cold sweat, Nicky asks what happened. I tell him the dream, this whole nightmare. He always answers: everything is God's will and goes to pray. I also prayed for hours to Seraphim of Sarov, St. Nicholas, the Mother of God, and then in the morning I can hardly fall asleep. In the morning I can hardly get up, all broken down," the empress said in a quiet, sad voice.

-"I have all the necessary sedatives, antidepressants with me," said Botkin and opened the bag he had brought.

-"Drink this medicine at night, like a mixture, wash down 2 teaspoons with water before going to bed," the professor continued.

-"And what should I take in the morning? I feel very bad in the morning," said Alexandra Feodorovna.

-"Let me examine you. I need to see what your pupils are like," the doctor answered and came up close to the empress. He looked into her eyes

She began to blink. And the professor said

- "Relax and don't blink your eyes, please."

The queen continued to sit in the chair. She stopped blinking her eyes, and the doctor leaned over her, looking her straight in the eyes said:

- "The pupil size is normal, but the eyes are red. The eyeball is inflamed, and I see a red vessel in the left eye. I recommend that you put these drops in your eyes. Let me do it now and once more at night."

After that, the doctor took out drops in a glass bottle, a pipette, and put them in first the left eye, then the right.

- "Well, stop thinking about these nightmares. It can't be that soldiers would go against the Tsar Father and Mother Tsarina. Let me give you one injection of morphine now, as a sedative, but we will not give you injections often, so that addiction does not occur. "In extreme cases, one more time, if the nightmares repeat themselves in dreams, but I think Your Highness will feel better now," said the doctor, took a syringe from a bag standing on the table, filled the syringe with morphine and injected the empress into a vein in her right arm.

- "Oh, yes, I feel better already, and my head doesn't hurt," exclaimed the empress a minute after the injection.

- "Well, thank God," answered the professor. - Now allow me to take my leave, - he said, bowed, took the bag in his hand and left, saying

- "Goodbye, Your Highness."

The empress replied:

- "Thank you, good-bye, come and see us in a week, Evgeny Sergeyevich."

And Botkin left the living room.

At dinner, the empress had an excellent appetite, she told her husband about Dr. Botkin's visit. Nikolai, having listened, said

- "We think that the effect of morphine may be temporary. And immediately Nikolai and Alexandra went to the house of Pyotr Badmaev in St. Petersburg on Poklonnaya Hill. First, they traveled by carriage to the Imperial Railway Station in Fyodorovsky Gorodok village (the Tsar had his own separate railway line, connected to the main line). Then they boarded the Tsar's train and traveled to Vitebsk Station, disembarking at the Imperial Pavilion. The accompanying Cossacks and Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment also traveled with the Tsar and his wife, leaving their horses, carriage, and orderly at the entrance to the Imperial Station in St Petersburg. Since the orderly-orderly had called in advance from the Alexander Palace to the security service in St. Petersburg, they drove in the carriage to the station. About 50 minutes later they arrived at Badmaev's house consisting of: an escort carriage, a tsar's carriage, and 4 Cossacks on horseback. The tsar's couple entered the house. Pyotr Badmaev met them. He bowed and greeted.

- "Hello, Your Majesty and Your Highness," said Peter.

- "Hello, Peter Alexandrovich," answered the Tsar.

- "Hello," said the Tsarina. And she continued: "We want you to see us, I have had a headache for a long time, a whole week."

- "Let's go to the office," answered Badmaev Peter.