[FN: As late as October, 1916, the old Empress saw her son
at Kiev and pointed to him that Rasputin and the other
members of the court circle would overthrow the dynasty and
destroy the country but it did no good. Only a few days
before the outbreak of the revolution his own brother,
Mikhail Alexandrovich, pleaded with him along the same lines
and with the same success. (Rech, March 7-20, 1917.)]
[FN: The old and scholarly Grand Duke Nicholas
Mikhailovich went to see the Emperor about November 1, 1916,
and in order to impress him with the critical situation of
the country he wrote out his ideas so as to leave them. He
was received in a kindly manner by the Tsar who listened to
the reading of the letter and then took it over so as to
read it to the Empress. When he came to the place where her
name was mentioned she snatched it from him and tore it up.
In the course of the conversation that followed the old Duke
said some sharp things but he could not get anything but
smiles from the Tsar, and when the old man's cigarette went
out the Tsar lighted it for him. It was impossible to get an
out and out talk, or satisfaction of any kind, and Nicholas
Mikhailovich left the court in disgust. Two days later he
was requested to retire to his estate for two months. Here
is the Grand Duke's letter:
"You have said more than once that you would carry on the
war to a successful finish. Do you believe that with the
conditions as they exist at present in the rear this can be
done? Are you acquainted with the internal situation, not
only in the interior of the Empire but also on the outskirts
(Siberia, Turkestan, Caucasus)? Are you told all the truth
or is some of it concealed from you? Where is the root of
the evil? Allow me to tell you briefly the essentials of the
case.
"So long as your method of selecting ministers was known to
a limited circle only affairs went on somehow, but from the
moment your system became generally known it is stupid to
govern Russia in that way. Repeatedly you have told me that
you could trust no one, that you were being deceived. If
that is true then the same influences are at work on your
wife, dearly beloved by you, who is led astray by [—].
[FN: the evil circle that surrounds her. You trust Alexandra
Fedorovna—that is easy to understand. But that which comes
out of her mouth is the result of clever fabrication and not
the truth. If you are not strong enough to remove these
influences from her, at least put yourself on guard against
this steady and systematic interference of those who act
through your beloved. If your persuasion is ineffective, and
I am certain that you have more than once fought against
this influence, try some other means so as to end with this
system once for all. Your first impulses and decisions are
always unusually true and to the point, but as soon as
another influence comes in you begin to hesitate and end up
by doing something different from what you originally
decided. If you should succeed in removing this continuous
invasion of the dark forces there would take place at once
the birth of a new Russia, and there would return to you the
confidence of the greater number of your subjects. All other
matters would soon settle themselves. You would find people
who under different conditions would be willing to work
under your personal leadership. At the proper time, and that
is not far distant, you can of your own free will organize a
ministry which should be responsible to you and to
constitutional institutions. This can be done very simply,
without any force from outside as was the case with the act
of October 17, 1905. I hesitated a long time before
venturing to tell you this truth, and I finally consented
when your mother and sister urged me to do so. You are at
the beginning of a new era of disturbances, I will go
farther, at the beginning of a new era of attempts at
assassination. Believe me that in trying to loosen you from
the chains that bind you I do it from no motives of personal
interest and of this you and Her Majesty are convinced, but
in the hope and in the expectation of saving you, your
throne, and our dear native land from some very serious and
irreparable consequences." (Rech, March 9-22, 1917.)
[FN: "An important rôle was played at court by Dr. Badmaev,
Rasputin's friend. There were many rumors afloat in court
and it is difficult to tell the truth. But this I can say
that Nicholas Alexandrovich was drugged with different drugs
from Thibet. In this Rasputin took part. During the last
days they brought the Emperor to a state of almost total
insanity and his will power was completely gone. In all
matters of state he consulted the Empress who led him to the
edge of the precipice." Interview given out by Prince
Iusupov, in Novoe Vremia, March 14-27, 1917.]
[FN: One of the editors of the Novoe Vremia who has large
acquaintance in the aristocratic circles of the capital told
the writer that for months before the revolution it was
commonly talked about in the homes of military leaders and
fashionable circles that for the good of Russia the Empress
must be killed. Last fall (1916) there came to his home one
of his friends, an aide-de-camp of one of the grand dukes,
and confided to him that he was meditating an act of
terrorism in order to get a certain person out of the way.
Another topic of conversation was the revolution after the
war.]
[FN: "I will say this—at court there reigned a kind of
nightmare, each day fewer and fewer people remained there.
If the revolution had not broken out from the bottom it
would have from the top." Interview given out by Prince
Iusupov, in Novoe Vremia, March 14-27, 1917.]
It is only since the political upheaval that the activities and plans of the grand dukes have become public, but the cry for a revolution on the part of the great mass of intelligent people was heard before and everywhere. On my return to Russia, in February, 1916, after an absence of a little more than two years, I noticed many changes but none greater than in the public opinion in regard to the administration. On the way across Siberia, I met with many Russians, some of whom were army officers, and one and all bitterly criticized the government for its mismanagement of the war, for the betrayal of Russia as they called it, for its incompetency, and general worthlessness. At the capital, it was the same, everywhere, street, car, and public places, the government was denounced; there was no attempt at concealment. In the archives where I worked, which are almost under the very nose of the imperial family, the criticism was as open as in private homes. In fact there was no exception. When mention was made of the Court, of Rasputin, and of the Empress, there was a kind of a painful smile; it was not a subject that self-respecting patriotic Russians liked to talk about in public or before strangers; it was like dirty linen that ought not to be hung out for public view.
There was reason enough and suffering enough to justify the complaining. Petrograd was overcrowded owing to the thousands of refugees who had been driven there, rooms and apartments were difficult to find and very expensive, and the cost of living had gone up so high that it was hard for the poor to make ends meet. It was almost impossible to get about in the city, as the war had reduced the number of cabs and the few that did business asked such exorbitant fares that only the rich could afford to ride in them. The street car situation was in a hopeless tangle. Even before the war there were not enough accommodations for the public, but since the opening of hostilities many of the cars had broken down and there were no mechanics to repair them and no new cars to replace them. At a time when the population increased, the transportation facilities decreased. Passengers poured into the cars like a stream, filled the seats, blocked the aisles, jammed the entrance, stood on the steps, hung on behind, and clung to anything that might bear them along. Difficult as it was to get into the car, it was worse to get out, and it is easier to imagine than to describe the pushing, swearing, tearing, and fighting that one witnessed. The railways were in an equally bad condition. One had to wait weeks for a ticket. Men and women were crowded into the same coupés; the cars were packed so full of human beings that they suggested cattle cars, except that they were not so sanitary, for they contained people suffering from contagious diseases and were without fresh air.
The food situation was very serious. For many years, Russia had been the granary of Europe but during the winter of 1916-17 suffered from shortage of food. Passengers told how in southern Russia grain and flour were rotting and yet in northern Russia the inhabitants were starving owing to the breakdown of the transportation system. It was pointed out that while the railway officials refused to give cars for bringing in the necessities of life, yet articles of luxury, expensive fruits, and such things did come into the city—a state of affairs which meant, of course, that some one was grafting. Sugar could be obtained only by cards and in very limited quantities; flour could not be bought at all, and black, sour bread could often be had only by standing in long lines and for hours at a time. There were no shoes and people asked what became of the hides of the thousands of animals that were annually slaughtered and shot. It was said that these, like other things, were sold to Germany.
As usual the poorer classes suffered the most. The well-to-do sent their servants who after a time returned with bread; at the worst it was only an inconvenience, but the workman had no servants to run his errands. In the morning, the laborer left his home for his work with little or no breakfast, at noon there was no luncheon for him because his wife was standing in the bread or sugar line, and when he returned in the evening there may have been bread enough but little else. The wife was tired and discouraged, the children crying and hungry, and life became a burden.
We may say that the conditions in Russia were no worse than in France or Germany. This is doubtless true, but there is this difference: the people of France and Germany had confidence in their leaders and realized that they were doing the best that they could, while the Russians knew they could put no trust in their Government, that the suffering was unnecessary and was due to corruption, favoritism, and incompetency. The Russians have as much patriotism and patience as any other people, but when they saw themselves abused and imposed upon they had a right to complain.
In addition to the criticism of the Government the other favorite topic of conversation was the revolution that would come after the war. This was discussed as openly as the problems of war; the two were bound up together, first a successful ending of the war, and then a change in government.
This public denunciation and open discussion of a coup d'état came as a shock to me, for I remembered quite vividly how the same people cheered the Emperor when he declared war. Three years ago no one would have dared to talk like that. To be sure enough was said then of the desirability of a more liberal government, but it was a far-off question, one that the next generation might have to deal with. Now the talk was of an overturn immediately after the war.
The court circle was not ignorant of what was being said for the spies kept them fully informed. In conversation with a journalist two months before the outbreak of the revolution, the Minister of the Interior, Protopopov, a protégé of Rasputin, said that he was aware of the revolutionary propaganda and that he was ready to face any attempt that might be made to overthrow the government.
"I will not stop at anything," he remarked,... "the first thing that I shall do is to send them [revolutionaries] from the capital by the car loads. But I will strangle the revolution no matter what the cost may be." [FN: Novoe Vremia, March 19-April 1, 1917.] He had no doubt that he could handle the situation and he inspired those about him with the same confidence, particularly the Emperor whom he assured that the discontent was confined chiefly to the intelligentsia and to a small number of the gentry, and that the common people and the army were devoted to the autocracy.