17 July 1917. Bruce Lockhart

Bruce Lockhart

During that disastrous summer of 1917 I had one novel experience which I must chronicle if only for the serio-comic light it throws on the Russian character. As part of our propaganda baggage-train we had a travelling film mission, of which the able chief was Colonel Bromhead, the subsequent chairman of the British Gaumont. He, too, was enlisted to coax the Russians into fighting by showing them war films of the fighting on the Western front. The effect of these war pictures on the mind of the now undisciplined Russian army can be imagined. Not unnaturally, they served merely to increase the number of deserters.

It was not Bromhead's fault. He was a splendid fellow, who realised the futility of showing war pictures to men whose sole thought was peace. Still, he had his duty to do. Films were part of the Whitehall scheme for the regeneration of Russia, and shown they had to be.

To Moscow, then, came Bromhead for a monster demonstration of the British effort. Would I help to make his show a success? Could I enlist the services of patriotic speakers? Nothing seemed easier. Moscow alas! had more orators than fighters.

We secured a theatre. We arranged a programme. And then the Soldiers' Soviet, infinitely more powerful than the Provisional Government, intervened. The show was for the Moscow troops. The soldiers might see the films. They were not to be exposed to the harangues of Imperialist jingoes. There must be no speeches.

In vain I went to see the Presidium of the Soldiers' Soviet. In vain I argued the merits of free speech. The utmost concession I could wring from them was that Lockhart himself – Lockhart who sympathised with the revolution and knew the views of revolutionary Russia regarding the peace terms-might speak. But there were to he no other orators. On these conditions the Presidium would guarantee the success of the show. They would be present in full force to see that the conditions were carried out.

Bromhead accepted the situation with unfeigned delight. My own consent was given with reluctance. An after-dinner speech before an audience rendered innocuous by good food and champagne was one thing.

I saw nothing attractive in addressing twelve hundred sceptical and severely critical revolutionaries in their own language.

I took pains over that speech. I wrote it out very carefully in English and had it translated into mellifluous Russian by a Russian poet. I learnt it off by heart. Indeed, I made myself something more than word perfect. I rehearsed my effects even down to the place where my voice was to break. Not in vain had I gone the rounds with Kerensky.

My appeal was frankly sentimental. There is no other reason I know that will compel large bodies of men to fight. But my sentiment was Russian. I made no reference to the crime of deserting their Western Allies. I discussed quite frankly Russia's desire and even need of a separate peace, and then I drew a picture of a better world created by the glorious revolution. But neither the better world nor the revolution itself could stand, if discipline was to be thrown to the winds and the road to Moscow opened to the enemy. Lenin would have demolished the argument with one sentence. But Lenin, fortunately, was still in hiding in St. Petersburg.

On the day of the ordeal I made my way to the theatre, secretly hoping that I might have no audience to address. But the Soldiers' Council had kept its word. The house was packed. Moreover, seated beside the Presidium in the balcony were the Assistant Minister of Marine and Kishkin, the High Commissar for Moscow. Our films were of two kinds; naval and military. Very wisely we showed the naval films last. They were impressive and free from all horrors. My speech came at the end. There was no applause when I stood up on the narrow stage before the curtain, and I began nervously. The silence, however,

was respectful. I was to be given a hearing. I forgot all the tricks I had practised. I almost forgot my words. I spoke with a quivering anguish in my voice which the Russians mistook for genuine emotion. For twenty minutes I strove to master my nervousness, my voice now raucous, now breaking queerly at the oddest moments. To the end I was listened to in deathly silence. When I had finished my peroration, my knees shook and the sweat streamed like tears down my face.

Then pandemonium broke loose. A soldier jumped on to the stage and kissed me on both cheeks. In the box of the Presidium Kishkin stood up, and in stentorian tones declared that Russia would never desert her Allies. That afternoon he had received official news that the Russian Fleet had sailed out into the Baltic in full fighting trim. More cheers. More pandemonium. In every corner of the house soldiers were standing up and clamouring to be heard. The scene was almost like the opening of the war. I had unloosed the strings of Russian hysteria. It was a short-lived triumph. The next day the account of the meeting was severely censored. The Socialists had repented of their emotion. This was my last public appearance as Acting Consul-General in Moscow.

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Rurik Ivnev

Petrograd, Russian Empire

A crisis of power again. On the streets, there have been demonstrations, shooting and utter chaos. It is unclear who is marching, where to, and why. Cars rush by, carrying armed soldiers and machine guns. It is unclear what tomorrow will bring. The Provisional Government is impotent. I am not afraid for Russia. See more

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Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich

Gatchina, Russian Empire

Since yesterday there are disturbances in Petrograd—there are many Bolsheviks, more than 6 thousand sailors came from Kronstadt, there are still some units on the side of the government that will protect it. A lot are hurt, around 500.

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Irakli Tsereteli

Petrograd, Russian Empire

We are faced with a governmental crisis again. When we hear demands made on behalf of the armed regiments of a single city to adopt predetermined resolutions made by them, then no matter how we change a previous resolution, the people as a whole will see it as a decision adopted merely to serve the victory of disorderly groups and not in order to express the true will of democracy, of the workers, peasants and soldiers at the front. See more

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Elizaveta Naryshkina

Petrograd, Russian Empire

It turns out that yesterday, in Petersburg, there were demonstrations against the government. Five ministers walked out. Some say there was cannon fire. I could not get ahold of any details—the newspapers didn’t come out today. Here, there were some commodity shortages, but it is nothing serious. Two possibilities scare me: Kerensky’s resignation and the capture of Petrograd by the Germans.

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Pierre Pascal

Petrograd, Russian Empire

Once again, this morning, cars full of armed men at the ready, with fixed bayonets. From 2.30 to 3, there was heavy shooting on Nevsky Prospect and Liteiny Prospect. Apparently, the crowd was forcibly dispersed in front of the Tauride Palace.

The Russian offensive has surged back. Brusilov claims that the Russian army will be unable to survive the winter due to the complete state of chaos within the country and because of desertion – which will be the subject of a speech to the Constituent Assembly. See more

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Provisional Government

Petrograd, Russian Empire

All those who participated in the organization and leadership of yesterday’s armed demonstration against government authorities and all those who supported and encouraged it are to be arrested and assigned legal responsibility for treason against their homeland and betrayal of the revolution.

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Felix Yusupov

Yusupov's Palace, 94, Moyka embankment, Petrograd, Russian Empire

The Bolsheviks have attempted to seize power for the first time. Trucks full of armed men drove around the city. Lines of machine gun fire fanned out from the trucks.

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Sergey Prokofiev

Apartment house, 122, Fontanka embankment, Petrograd, Russian Empire

In the morning, I’ve heard on the phone, that it was quiet on the Nevsky: Bolsheviks, having demonstrated into the night, were resting. I decided to use their moment of rest and headed to Nevsky. Some stores were open. I bought English cigarettes, lobsters, a book by Kuno Fischer on Kant, and headed to the Nikolayevsky train station. I left at one, and at half past two the Bolsheviks woke up, and a lively fire fight started all along the Nevsky. See more

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16 July

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