2 May 1917. Bruce Lockhart

Non-fiction

Project 1917 is a series of events that took place a hundred years ago as described by those involved. It is composed only of diaries, letters, memoirs, newspapers and other documents

Bruce Lockhart

Other new revolutionary acquaintances with whom I came into contact during this period were Boris Savinkoff, Filonenko, Chernoff, Zenzinoff, Rudnieff, the new Moscow Mayor, Urnoff, the President of the Soldiers' Soviet, Minor, the venerable Social-Revolutionary editor, Prokopovitch and his wife, Ekaterina Kuskova, a remarkable couple who both in their personal appearance and in their work may be aptly described as the Russian counterpart of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Webb.

Some day, when the story of the Russian revolution fades into the same background of time as the French revolution, their names will figure in the Russian history books. To the foreign reader they are, with the exception of Savinkoff, of no significance.

For some reason, which I have never been able to understand, Boris Savinkoff has always been regarded by Englishmen as a man of action and therefore as a hero. More even than most Russians, Savinkoff was a schemer – a man who could sit up all night drinking brandy and discussing what he was going to do the next day. And, when the morrow came, he left the action to others. His talents cannot he denied. He wrote several excellent novels. He understood the revolutionary temperament better almost than any one, and knew how to play on it for his own ends. He had mingled so much with spies and agents-provocateurs that, like the hero in his own novel, he hardly knew whether he was deceiving himself or those whom he meant to deceive. Like most Russians, too, he was a forcible speaker who could impress his personality on his listeners. At one time he entirely captivated Mr. Churchill, who saw in him a Russian Bonaparte. There were, however, fatal defects in his character. He liked luxury, and, although he was ambitious, was not prepared to sacrifice his self-indulgence to his ambition. His chief weakness was my own –a fatal capacity for short spells of frenzied work followed by long periods of indolence.

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✍ Also today

Ivan Bunin

26, Povarskaya street, Moscow, Russian Empire

Just got back from Petrograd. Tomorrow will try to find out if it is somewhat possible to get to Odessa in a civilized way.

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Alexander Zamaraev

Totma, Vologodskaya guberniya, Russian Empire

The new government has so much work to do, it’s horrific. You need to travel to the front, to the factories, to teach, to explain. The old regime left it poor heritage.

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3 Like

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Leon Bakst

Naples, Italy

It is so peaceful and quiet here, despite the war; the sea is blue, and deep, warm, waves of the wind blur Capri in front of my windows…

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2 Like

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Alexandra Kollontai

Shchepkina-Kupernik apt., Kirochnaya st. Petrograd, Russian Empire

Usually I either travel on foot or by tram. Sometimes you get a seat on the tram and around you there is the usual, heated argument: should we continue the war? What will the offensive give us? Bourgeois public trashes and berates the Bolsheviks. Soldiers and workers defend us and the Soviets. They argue heatedly, to the point of fighting. And I also get my own from the bourgeoisie. My name is hated by many. See more

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4 Like

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Anatoliy Lunacharskiy

Geneva, Switzerland

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Milyukov is an eminent imperialist and a supporter of war “until the victorious end.” Among the generals you cannot rely on anyone.

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Nicholas II

Alexander Palace, Tsarskoye Selo, Russian Empire

The weather was the same as yesterday but a little warmer. From 12 o'clock until dinner I sat with Alexis and gave him a history lesson. During the day I took a walk with him and Tatiana. For the first time all the family ate at the same table. Olga and Marie were the last ones to get better.

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1 May

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Diary of the Russian peasant: "Today the workers are celebrating their holiday"

Italian border guards refuse to consider Picasso's portrait as a painting

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Death of Rasputin. Murder conspiracy and its consequences

Map of the Royal dynasties of Europe

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in Petrograd

in Moscow