16 July 1917. Alfred Knox

Alfred Knox

It was about this time, when the fate of the Government seemed in the balance, that a group of officials at the Ministry of Justice took the step that saved the situation. The Ministry was in possession of material proving that the Bolsheviks, through the intermediaries Parvus, Ganetski, Sumenson and Kozlovski, had received money from the German General Staff. The officials thought that the Provisional Government was doomed, and they knew that the triumph of the Bolsheviks meant the destruction of such inconvenient material. They took their information to the District Staff and, with the consent of the Minister of Justice, made a communication to an evening paper, the Jivoe Slovo (“ The Living Word ”). As time was pressing, they considered even this step insufficient, and they accordingly communicated the broad outline of the contents of their dossier to the men of the Preo- brajenski Battalion. The Minister of Ways, Nekrasov, in order to obtain favour with the Committee of the Sovyet, certain members of which had good reason to fear disclosures, did all he could to prevent the patriotic move of the officials, but failed. The news spread rapidly and had an excellent effect on the wavering troops.

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Vasily Kravkov

Podgaicy, Russian Empire

Near Kalush, which was taken by the 8th Army, our soldiers got drunk as pigs on spirits stored in warehouses. It seems likely that there, too, the troops will end up retreating back to their “initial position”! How is it that the Germans have never thought of rolling out barrels of vodka instead of firing missiles? See more

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Mikhail Prishvin

Khruschevo village, Eletskiy uezd, Solovievskaya volost, Russian Empire

We have propounded the slogan “Peace for the Whole World”, and Ukraine and Finland have grown up right beneath our noses. We didn’t want to fight the Germans, but we are fighting one another. The socialists have tempted the people with unfeasible unions.

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Central Rada of Ukraine

57, Vladimirskaya str., Kiev, Russian Empire

Citizens of the Ukrainian Land!

Representatives of the Provisional Government have informed us of the specific measures which the government proposes to introduce, before the convening of the Constituent Assembly, regarding the administration of Ukraine. The Provisional Government, which stands to serve the freedoms won by the revolutionary people, acknowledges the right of each people to self-determination and, designating the definitive establishment of the form this will take to the Constituent Assembly, it holds out its hand to the representatives of the Ukrainian democracy – the Central Rada – and calls on it to create, in agreement with the government, a new life for Ukraine that will benefit the whole of revolutionary Russia. See more

Petrograd Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Deputies

Tauride Palace, Petrograd, Russian Empire

Due to the crisis worker section considers it necessary to insist that the All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies assumes all power.

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Grigory Zinoviev

We need to dismiss the Interim committee of the State Duma and dissipate private meetings of the State Duma. Measures need to be taken to destroy the den of counter-revolution.

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Vladimir Nabokov

Petrograd, Russian Empire

The mug of the city has changed quickly. Private cars have disappeared, armored cars and trucks started rushing by, filled with armed workers and soldiers. Once in a while, in various locations, fire fights broke out, shots would crackle from different directions. See more

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Nicholas II

Tsarskoye Selo, Russian Empire

It was a warm, windy and cloudy day; but it only rained during dinner. During the morning I walked, and during the day we cut down a large pine tree by the railing. All four children got haircuts, and they look as if they belong in a choir.

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Sergey Prokofiev

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

I returned to Petrograd and dined at the Contan, where it is elegant and lively and, despite the food crisis, you can eat quite well. True, the prices are insane, but the value of money gets cheaper every day, so why save it? As we walked through the streets in the evening, we witnessed unexpected events: the streets were noisy, armed soldiers marched, crowds carried posters with "Down with the capitalist ministers," private cars were stopped right before our eyes, owners were asked to get out, and machine guns were installed instead. In a word, as if by magic, the streets were instantly transformed into the first days of the revolution. See more

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Alfred Knox

Petrograd, Russian Empire

About 9 p.m. the 1st Machine-Gun Regiment, with Semashko at its head, the Grenaderski Depot Battalion, and about 1,000 men of the Moskovski Depot Battalion, marched south across the Troitski bridge and past the British Embassy, accompanied by large crowds of armed workmen. See more

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Nikolai Berdyaev

Bol'shoy Vlasyevskiy Lane, 4, Moscow, Russian Empire

There is nothing more horrible than a decaying war, a decaying army, and a multi-million army at that. The decay of the war and the army creates chaos and anarchy. Russia faces this type of chaos and anarchy.

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Alexandre Benois

Petrograd, Russian Empire

They took all the passengers off of the trams passengers and the cars are full of armed soldiers driving around the streets. There are the slogans: "Down with the Provisional Government!" and "Down with the Ten ministers." They tried to compel the Pavlovsky regiment to go against the Provisional Government, but they didn’t. From our windows, however, the street looks quite calm. But as I was sitting alone in my bedroom and skimming last summer’s diary, in the distance, from the Neva side, there was a very strong exchange of machine gun fire. It started 14 minutes before 12 o'clock. And ended exactly at midnight. After this, military music was rang out twice, the second time - before ten o'clock. Later I learned that it was the Finnish regiment. It was terrible to hear these sounds.

Especially nauseating was the loathsome feeling of personal and general hopeless impotence.

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Irakli Tsereteli

Petrograd, Russian Empire

Our responsibility—to protect the unity and integrity of the Russian revolution. He who thinks that he, walking out, armed, into the street, is walking with us—has been misled. We have to say that these types of demonstrations are not walking hand in hand with the revolution, but rather with counter-revolution. See more

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Alexander Kerensky

Petrograd, Russian Empire

When I was leaving the capital, trucks began flashing by on Petrograd streets, full of unknown armed people. Some were driving around the barracks, calling soldiers to join the armed revolt that was expected at any moment. One gang infiltrated the yard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and broke into the first floor, where the office of Duke Lvov was located, which I have just left. See more

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Alexander Blok

Attorney-at-Law, Goldstein, when his car was taken away, showed a permit for business trips, issued by Kerensky. He was told, “Kerensky has long been arrested. You might have as well showed us a permit from Nicholas II.”

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15 July

"Those coming from the front talk about the arrogance of the soldiers, it is unthinkable"

"Tsarkoe was a dead place"

"Tsarevich Alexei is swimming in the pond"