The Crash of Russia

Kamo was arrested again and sentenced to hanging for each of the four crimes he was accused of. However, the militant was granted an amnesty on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, and his death sentence was commuted to 20 years of hard labor.

Chapter 27. Mr. Parvus.

Alexander Parvus met Leon Trotsky (Bronstein) in January 1905 and handed over the money he had received from the German government to increase the circulation of “Iskra” and “Russkaya Gazeta”.

The meeting took place in Munich, in Parvus's house. Parvus's house was furnished with expensive furniture. The walls were covered with impressionist paintings by Oscar Claude Monet, Edouard Manet and other famous artists. Nothing reminded one of the house of a "fighter against imperialism", rather this house looked like an aristocrat's mansion.

- "Hello, Lyova," Parvus said to Trotsky when he entered his house.

- "Hello, Israel Lazarevich," Trotsky replied and extended his hand, which Parvus shook firmly.

- "Come into the living room to have dinner," the host of the house continued. The table was already set with German sausages, Bavarian beer, pork stew with potatoes and vegetables. Parvus first poured himself some beer, then his friend, and said a toast: "Let's drink to the world revolution!"

"Let's drink," Trotsky replied. They drank beer, ate, and then another toast from Trotsky. "To the overthrow of autocracy in Russia!" Trotsky said and clinked glasses with Parvus, after which they both drank and began to discuss business.

-"Kaiser Wilhelm and the German Foreign Ministry are interested in weakening Russia and have allocated funds for the revolution in Russia and for the collapse of the ruble, which will contribute to this. We must both go to St. Petersburg and create a Council of Workers' Deputies there, which will take power into its own hands after January 9 and support the participants of January 9 and their family members. We also need to increase the circulation of the Iskra and Russkaya Gazeta newspapers.

- "I no longer collaborate with Iskra, Lenin decides everything there," said Trotsky, "but I write articles in Russkaya Gazeta and can place your program there."

- "We will decide about Lenin and Iskra later, and in “Russkaya Gazeta” we will need to print an economic manifesto. And we will need another new newspaper, in which we will also pay for a large print run," answered Parvus.

- "We need to unite both parts of the RSDLP, we have a common cause of revolution. We need a revolution first in Russia with the coming to power of the RSDLP, and then throughout the world," continued Trotsky.

- "We need to finally agree with you on the economic manifesto now, namely: we need to print in large print runs that the tsarist government is spending all its money on the army and navy, and at the same time lost the Russo-Japanese War. It also spends money to support industrialists, bankers and aristocrats, and the interests of the people are not taken into account. The country has bad roads, few new roads are being built, few new schools are being opened, and the ruble exchange rate in these conditions will fall in the near future. Therefore, we can call on the people to take all their savings from the banks, demand payment in gold money or gold, and not take paper money. This in turn will weaken the banking sector and the banks will have to look for where to get money abroad at interest, and Germany will demand payment on all loans and credits. Russian banks have credit obligations to German banks, and I can assure you that there will be inflation in Russia and possibly chaos,” Parvus concluded his speech.

- “I fully support,” Trotsky replied. - “We are going to Petersburg, and how much money did the Kaiser allocate to us?” Lev Davidovich asked.

- “I have here bills of exchange for the Sibirsky Bank for the required amount, written out in marks. They will exchange it for rubles, and I will give it to you in rubles, in Petersburg."

"Excellent," Trotsky replied, got up from the table and said: "If everything is decided, I will go make false passports to enter Russia," and, shaking hands with Parvus, left.

"Goodbye, friend," Parvus said to Trotsky as he left the house and shook his hand.

The next day, Parvus went to meet Lenin in Geneva.

In Geneva, the meeting took place in an apartment rented by Lenin. Parvus outlined a scheme according to which the revolution could not take place without financing from Germany. Lenin agreed, squinted and asked: - "Will you be able to give Trotsky enough money in Petersburg to continue the cause of the revolution after the unsuccessful uprising of January 9?"

- "Yes, enough. I will go to Petersburg myself on a false passport and give Trotsky and the Socialist Revolutionary militants 800 thousand rubles. The Kaiser allocated it for the cause of the revolution, I have bills with me for the Siberian Bank. And from you, I want you to increase the circulation of Iskra and continue your agitation there. Take 30 thousand German marks, and you can spend some of it on your expenses,” answered Parvus, and took a wad of bills from his bag and put them on the table in front of Lenin.

“Thank you, I will not write a receipt,” answered Lenin.

There was a samovar and cups of tea with saucers on the table. Sandwiches with cheese and ham lay on a plate. The comrades drank tea with sandwiches. Parvus stood up, shook Lenin’s hand, and said:

-“Goodbye, Comrade Lenin.”

-“Goodbye,” answered Lenin, and Parvus left.

In October 1905, with the beginning of the All-Russian strike, Parvus arrived in St. Petersburg. Together with Trotsky, Parvus created the St. Petersburg Council of Workers' Deputies and headed the Executive Committee. Then Alexander Parvus brought money not only to Trotsky, but also to the editor of the "Russian newspaper", which continued agitation and printed articles that, according to Germany's plans, influenced the collapse of the ruble exchange rate. Together with the Mensheviks and Trotsky, he organized the printing of the newspaper "Beginning". Parvus spoke at strikes, at factories and was popular. Parvus paid workers for every day they missed work. Each worker received more money from the party funds than if he had gone to work, and additionally for participating in demonstrations. The worker who shouted slogans at the demonstration received the most. The militants separately received their money and weapons, which they used against the police during the demonstration. Parvus's finest hour was the publication of his "Financial Manifesto", which dealt with corruption in the government, its insolvency and false balance sheets. On behalf of the Workers' Council, Parvus declared that "the Russian people will not pay the debts on all those loans that the tsarist government concluded when it was clearly and openly waging war on its own people."

After which Parvus was arrested and spent some time in the Peter and Paul Fortress, paying for expensive suits and silk ties for himself from there. K. Kautsky and Rosa Luxemburg came to visit him. Trotsky was also arrested.

At the trial in the autumn of 1906, he was tried along with other members of the Executive Committee. Trotsky received a life sentence with settlement in Siberia with the deprivation of all rights, and Parvus only three years with serving in the Turukhansk region. But both Parvus and Trotsky escaped on their way to exile, after which Parvus spent a long time in Europe and did not return to Russia.

Chapter 28. The Sveaborg Uprising.

In the summer of 1906, the garrison of the Sveaborg naval fortress near Helsinki, dissatisfied with their financial situation and the commandant's "tightening of the screws," rebelled. The rebels fought government troops with the support of the Finnish Red Guards for three days. "The city at that time presented an unprecedented spectacle. Rarely a Finnish citizen was sitting at home. Everyone poured out into the streets. The workers were especially excited. They were called to a general strike. Proclamations calling for a strike were pasted on the walls and poles," which were hung around the city by the Bolshevik activist Meer Trilisser and his comrades. The revolutionary unrest affected not only the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland. The garrison of Sveaborg, a fortress located near Helsingfors, also revolted. The sailors fought government troops for several days, but were defeated. The Sveaborg fortress was founded in the 18th century by the Swedes, who owned the territory of Finland at the time. The fortification on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, near the port of Helsingfors, was advanced for its time.

It was built in the hope of a successful defense against Russia, with which the Scandinavians fought three times throughout the 18th century. In 1808, during the next and last Russo-Swedish War, the fortress passed to the Russians and became Russia's defensive base in the Baltic. The fortress, together with Finland, came into the possession of St. Petersburg. Sveaborg became an important link in the defense system of the capital of the empire from the sea. In October 1905, a political strike began in Helsinki. Red Guard units led by the Social Democrat Johan Kock began to appear on the streets. They actively interacted with Russian revolutionaries, carried out sabotage, blew up railways, and participated in clashes with the police. Largely due to their activities, Finland, which had been suffering from forced Russification for several years, received some political concessions. In October 1905, discontent spread to the Sveaborg garrison. Some lower ranks, whose term of service was coming to an end, expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that they were not allowed to go home. In addition, there were complaints about the quality of food and uniforms. The commandant of Sveaborg, Nestor Kaigorodov, managed to calm the conflict by persuasion, promising to fulfill (under some pressure from other officers) the material demands of his subordinates. However, the officer's initiative was not duly appreciated in St. Petersburg. The commandant was removed from his post, an investigative commission was sent to the fortress, which decided to punish some officers. A new commander, Vladimir Laiming, was appointed to Sveaborg, who strengthened control over the mood of the garrison. This control most often consisted of frequent searches, which, of course, could not lead to the soldiers' calm. The Bolsheviks knew about the events taking place in Sveaborg. One of the officers, a Socialist Revolutionary captain who had joined the Socialist Revolutionary Party from the camp of Lenin's supporters, distributed the newspaper "Bulletin of the Barracks" among the soldiers, which he himself edited. In addition to him, the agitation of the lower ranks was carried out by second lieutenants Arkady Yemelyanov and Yevgeny Kokhansky, who had been transferred to Sveaborg in the summer of 1905. The gendarmes were well aware of what was happening: "In Helsingfors, almost daily Russian-Finnish rallies of a revolutionary nature are held.

Social democratic agitation is successful not only among the lower ranks, but also among the officers." The Bolsheviks began to develop a plan for an uprising in July 1906. The revolutionaries formed a military and combat center that united both Russian and Finnish Social Democrats. Its representative in Sveaborg was the already mentioned Meer Trilisser. According to the revolutionaries' plan, the uprising in the fortress was only part of a general uprising in the navy. The agitation fell on fertile ground. The harsh measures introduced by Commandant Laiming, coupled with the increasing material problems, were already exhausting the patience of the ordinary soldiers of the garrison. Particular indignation was caused by the cancellation of the payment of so-called "wine" money, which the lower ranks often spent not on alcoholic beverages, but on new boots. On July 15, news reached the Sveaborg garrison about the beginning of the uprising in Kronstadt. The sailors' uprising near St. Petersburg did indeed take place, but it took place several days later and was not very large-scale. In light of this news, the Sveaborg commandant gave the order to lay minefields near the fortress. The miners not only refused to comply with the order, but also put forward demands: an improvement in their financial situation, the resumption of the payment of "wine money", and a solution to the problems with ammunition. The commandant refused to comply with them. Arrests began. The events took place on one of the islands on which the fortress was located - Lagerny. News of the conflict between the commandant and the miners reached the artillerymen living nearby. The situation escalated. However, the local committee, realizing that it was still too early for a uprising, proposed limiting themselves to demands only and not resorting to forceful actions. But the revolutionary impulse could not be stopped. He was actively supported by rumors, the sources of which are still unknown. The soldiers were fully confident that ships of the Baltic Fleet would come to their aid and go over to the side of the rebels. In addition, rumors spread that the commandant was going to disarm the artillerymen, fearing an armed uprising. Under these circumstances, the soldiers decided to launch a preemptive strike and free the miners. The Bolshevik Committee had no choice but to support the uprising.

The artillerymen who approached the barracks on the evening of July 17 to free the prisoners were stopped by the garrison soldiers loyal to the commandant with rifle fire. The rebels then moved to the neighboring Mikhailovsky Island. The soldiers serving there arrested the officers and joined the rioters. They ended up with artillery guns. Revolutionary demonstrations also took place on three other islands. The commandant's office did not expect such a turn of events. The situation was saved by the fact that there were enough forces left on the government's side - mainly security companies. Their number was 2 thousand people. There were the same number of rebels. On July 18, Commandant Laiming announced that the fortress was being put under siege. The rebels were able to cut off communication between Sveaborg and the mainland. The next day, one hundred and fifty Finnish Red Guards arrived to help their brothers in arms. There was intense artillery fire between the two parts of the fortress, which led to great destruction. Despite the initial success, the fate of the uprising was sealed. On the evening of July 19, ships of the Baltic Fleet approached the fortress: the cruiser Bogatyr and the battleships Slava and Tsarevich. The mutineers thought that the sailors were coming to their aid and believed their own fantasies even more when the ships signaled that they supported the uprising. But this was disinformation. Immediately after the naval uprising began, the ship commanders arrested the revolutionary-minded crew members. The unblocking of Sveaborg by the fleet led to the transfer of government troops to the islands that remained under the control of the commandant. The rebels had no hope of success. Under these circumstances, the revolutionary committee decided to cease resistance. On July 20, white flags were hung on the islands occupied by the mutineers. After the capitulation, about 1,000 people were arrested. Sergei Zion and several hundred other participants in the uprising managed to escape. The rest were brought to trial. Yemelyanov, Kokhansky and 26 other active leaders of the rebellion were sentenced to death. The rest were sent to prison and hard labor. The Finnish Red Guard formations were disbanded by order of the Finnish Senate.

Chapter 29. Witte and the Tsar.

Minister Sergei Yulyevich Witte convinced the Tsar to make a decision that was, as it later turned out, fatal for the country and the monarchy: to create the first State Duma as the highest legislative body making all decisions. In this, Witte was supported by the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, General D.F. Trepov, whom the Tsar considered the only servant he could completely rely on. And the reason why the Tsar did this was that Russia, which had lost the war with Japan, Russia, shaken by political parties, Russia, which had experienced the revolution of January 9, had a crisis of power, and the Tsar had a choice: either to suppress all movements in society with a harsh hand (which was not in his spirit), or to go the way of reforms; and the tsar chose the second, listening to his entourage, fearing to be misunderstood. At the same time, the tsar wanted to see representatives of all classes in the State Duma, including peasants, and hoped that this would weaken the revolutionary movement. At the same time, the tsar was categorically against the introduction of a constitution, finding a compromise in the introduction of the Duma. And Russia was becoming a "Duma monarchy", since all laws had to be adopted in the Duma, and the tsar had the right of veto and the right to dissolve the Duma. In these conditions, the tsar wanted to see "his man" in the Duma, and having heard about Pyotr Stolypin as a wise figure in his post as governor of Saratov and in his previous positions. At the same time, the tsar did not approve the project of the Duma of the Minister of Internal Affairs Bulygin Alexander Grigorievich, whom he sent into retirement. Bulygin proposed the Duma as a legislative advisory body.

6 августа 1905, The Tsar issued a manifesto on October 17, 1905, which spoke of the introduction of a legislative Duma, after which he appointed Pavel Nikolaevich Durnovo as Minister of Internal Affairs, whom he dismissed for using police agents for personal purposes in April 1905. And under these conditions, the Tsar summoned Stolypin from Saratov in the spring of 1906 and offered him the post of Minister of Internal Affairs, which Stolypin refused, and only agreed to by order of the Emperor.

Nicholas II told Pyotr Arkadyevich that he would also work in the Duma to represent the interests of the government there.

On March 26, 1906, elections for deputies to the First State Duma began. On May 10, 1906, the First State Duma began its work, consisting of 499 deputies, of which 176 were Cadets actively opposing all government proposals.

In particular, the government proposed to allocate 50 million rubles to the starving people in Russia, but the Cadets, and other deputies who agreed with them, rejected the government's proposal, which came from the Tsar's principle of "rejecting all government proposals, even those with charitable goals," and cut the amount to 15 million rubles. Apart from this law, the Duma did not adopt anything specific.

But the Cadets demanded the introduction of an agrarian reform, according to which land is transferred free of charge to the ownership of the peasants in accordance with the land law, not only from landowners, but also at the expense of church and state lands.

The "Trudoviks", as the most radically minded Cadets called themselves, demanded the introduction of a "labor norm" on land, and everything above the norm to be taken from the landowners and distributed to the peasants. Stolypin offered the deputies more realistic options for land reform. The deputies did not agree, and no compromise was reached between the government and the proposals of the deputies, and the tsar dissolved the First State Duma after 72 days of its work on July 9, 1906.

Being pleased with Stolypin's activities as Minister of Internal Affairs, the tsar appointed Stolypin Chairman of the Council of Ministers while retaining the post of Minister of Internal Affairs on July 8, 1906.

Pyotr Arkadyevich lived with his family in St. Petersburg, on Aptekarsky Island. He proposed to introduce military field courts in Russia to combat terrorism and the revolutionary movement. In Russia, every week someone was killed by the Cadets and Socialist Revolutionaries. Not only aristocrats died, but also representatives of the authorities, governors, and there were several attempts on Stolypin himself, but he miraculously escaped each time.

Military field courts had the right to judge and execute without a lengthy investigation, and consisted of only a chairman and four members of the court from among the line officers appointed by the head of the garrison by order of the governor-general or commander-in-chief. The sentence was passed no later than 48 hours and was carried out within 24 hours by order of the head of the garrison.

These courts were introduced in 82 provinces out of 87, and worked successfully until April 20, 1907. The courts tried terrorists in a simplified manner. In addition to terrorists, they tried those accused of murder or robbery of officials. A total of 683 terrorists were executed during the period this law was in effect.

Leo Tolstoy, Leonid Andreyev, Alexander Blok condemned Stolypin for bloodthirstiness and radicalism, ignoring the thousands of victims of terrorists. Military courts did not always sentence to death. Many of the guilty were sent to hard labor. In 1906, the German government sponsored a huge intelligence network throughout Russia. The Kaiser was preparing for a future war with Russia. In all the ministries there were German agents - people paid by German intelligence and voluntarily collaborating without payment with German intelligence for ideological reasons. German intelligence had its people not only in the ministries, but in all the factories, plants, noble assemblies, and even in many markets. A simple merchant could be an agent carrying out delicate assignments, such as monitoring the number of troops in a given city, the type of weapons, etc. Neither Minister Stolypin nor the Tsar knew anything about this. They also did not know that the Socialist Revolutionary and Constitutional Democratic parties were supported by money coming into Russia from Germany, Japan, and partly from Jewish bankers from England and the North American States. Russia did not have its own agent network in Germany or any other country. The Tsar held unsuccessful negotiations with Wilhelm II in 1907, as a follow-up to the Björkö Treaty of 1905. In 1908, when a crisis arose in the Balkans due to the fact that Austria-Hungary demanded that Russia recognize the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or abandon it, which meant an attack by Austria-Hungary on Serbia. Stolypin, who headed the Russian government at that time, said: - "To unleash a war means to develop the forces of revolution." And Emperor Nicholas II agreed to fulfill the demands of the Germans, which called off the war in 1908. Stolypin also successfully carried out an agrarian reform in Russia, making a mass resettlement of peasants: they traveled together with large cattle in Stolypin carriages to Siberia, with the distribution of land to them there as property; introduced the possibility of peasants receiving loans from banks for a period of 49 years at the lowest possible interest rate, which made it possible for peasants to buy land from landowners, introduced judicial reform and educational reform, the introduction of free primary education for children aged 8-12, industrial reform and the labor issue: rules for hiring workers, insurance against illnesses and accidents, working hours of 10 hours a day, the activities of trade unions, a ban on the distribution of proclamations.

The Union of the Russian People was created in 1905 as an instrument of struggle against the revolutionary movement, which was led by Jews. Stolypin did not approve of the actions of the Council of United Noble Societies, which indirectly directed the actions of the Union of the Russian People. Stolypin repeatedly proposed to the tsar to give the Jews the same rights as all subjects of Russia, but the tsar rejected such bills each time. But at the same time, Stolypin supported the law of June 1, 1910, which, in particular, stated that Jews were not allowed to participate in elections.