18 December 1917. Wilhelm II

Berlin, German Empire

Finally, let me say a word concerning the German "atrocities" and give two instances thereof! After our advance into northern France, I immediately ordered that art treasures be protected. Art historians and professors were assigned to each army, who traveled about inspecting, photographing, and describing churches, chateaux, and castles. Among them, Professor Clemen, Curator of the Rhine Province, especially distinguished himself and reported to me, when I was at the front, on the protection of art treasures.

All the collections in towns, museums, and castles were cataloged and numbered; whenever they seemed to be imperiled by the fighting they were taken away and assembled, at Valenciennes and Maubeuge, in two splendid museums. There they were carefully preserved and the name of the owner marked on each article.

The old windows of the cathedral of St Quentin were removed by German soldiers, at the risk of their lives, under English shell-fire. The story of the destruction of the church by the English was told by a German Catholic priest, who published it with photographs, and it was sent, by my orders, to the Pope.

At the chateau of Pinon, which belongs to the Princess of Poix, who had been a guest of mine and the Empress, the headquarters of the general commanding the Third Army Corps was located. I visited the chateau and lived there. Previously the English had been quartered there and had ravaged the place terribly. The commanding general, von Lochow, and his staff had a great deal of trouble getting it into some sort of shape again after the devastation wrought by the English.

Accompanied by the general, I visited the private apartments of the Princess, which, up to then, our soldiers had been forbidden to enter. I found that her entire wardrobe had been thrown out of the clothes presses by the English soldiers and, together with her hats, was lying about on the floor. I had every garment carefully cleaned, hung in the presses, and locked up. The writing desk had also been broken into and the Princess's correspondence was scattered about At my command, all the letters were gathered together, sealed in a package, placed in the writing desk, and locked up.

Afterward, all the silverware was found buried in the garden. According to the villagers this had been ordered as early as the beginning of July, so the Princess had known about the war long before its outbreak! I at once ordered that the silver be inventoried, deposited in the bank at Aix-la-Chapelle, and returned to the Princess after the war. Through neutral channels I caused news to be transmitted to the Princess in Switzerland, by my Court Marshal, Freiherr von Reischach, concerning Pinon, her silverware, and my care for her property. No answer was received. Instead, the Princess had published in the French press a letter to the effect that General von Kluck had stolen all her silver.

On account of my care and the self-sacrificing work of German art experts and soldiers partly at the risk of their lives art treasures worth billions were preserved for their French owners and for French towns. This was done by the Huns, the boches!

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Alexander Zamaraev

Totma, Vologodskaya guberniya, Russian Republic

Patriarch Tikhon has been elected in Moscow, this has not happened in 300 years. Holy Synod will not take place. A city store has opened with meat and fish. Private sale is stopping completely

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Military Revolutionary Committee

Smolny Institute, Petrograd, Russian Republic

The Military Revolutionary Committee, having fulfilled its tasks in the carrying out of the Petrograd revolution and believing that all further business of the MRC should be handed over to the Department of Resisting the Counter-revolution of the Central Executive Committee, decrees:

abolish all departments of the MRC;
hand over all their tasks to the corresponding agencies of the Central Executive Committee, Council of People's Commissars and the Petrograd and local Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.

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Zinaida Gippius

Sergievskaya 83, Petrograd, Russian Republic

Nothing special. Pogroms and shooting in all parts of the city (today is the 8th day). Machine guns are cracking. To these pogrom orgies, which are now taking over houses and stores, people have gotten used. There are not that many wounded and killed a day: about 10 killed and 50 wounded. Yard keepers and butlers are on strike, demanding thousands from house owners, even though Bolsheviks have announced houses to be under their control. Main entrances have been nailed shut everywhere, gates are wide open all night. Thus the yard keepers demand.
Officers are without marks. Only Germans, slowly and surely arriving, have marks.

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Alexander Blok

57, Ofitserskaya street, Petrograd, Russian Republic

Condescending demagoguery is a great sin. The more proud and spiteful the intelligentsia is, the more horrible and bloody everything can become around. This elastic, dry, tasteless “adogmatic dogmatism,” spiced up with patronizing soulfulness is terrifying and dangerous. Behind this soulfulness is blood. The soul attracts blood. Only spirit can fight the horror. Why obstruct ways to spirituality by soulfulness? The beautiful is already hard without it. And spirit is music. A demon once ordered Socrates to listen to the spirit of music.

With your whole body, whole heart, whole mind—listen to the Revolution.

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Bertrand Russell

London, United Kingdom

Although the Government favours art as much as it can, the atmosphere is one in which art cannot flourish, because art is anarchic and resistant to organization. Gorky has done all that one man could to preserve the intellectual and artistic life of Russia.

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George Buchanan

4, Dvortsovaya embankment, Petrograd, Russian Republic (British Embassy)

I had a bad breakdown a week ago. On getting up in the morning I found I could not walk straight, but lurched about the room as if I were on board ship. Vertigo was, I gather, the cause. I have had to lie up ever since, and my doctor tells me that I am at the end of my tether. I, therefore, telegraphed for leave to come home and have now been authorized to start whenever I like. I am feeling better to-day and pro- pose remaining on till the Constituent has either met or been sent about its business. The latter seems the more likely, as the Bolsheviks have issued a proclamation ordering the arrest of the Cadet leaders and declaring that the enemies of the people, the landlords and the capitalists, must have no place in that assembly. They have already arrested six Cadets who had been elected.

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Vladimir Mayakovsky

Saltykovsky pereulok, Moscow, Russian Republic

is staying at the hotel "San Remo"

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Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich

Gatchina, Russian Republic

These days peace negotiations are taking place in Brest-Litovsk. Seemingly, the arrival of German officers to Petrograd will start one of these days, they say, for the demobilisation of the Russian army. That’s the level of humiliation Russia has reached!

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17 December

Chaliapin puts on a concert for sailors

Unrest in Crimea continues