28 July 1917. Alexandre Benois

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

Alexandre Benois

Yablonovka village, Russian Empire

All night, the rain was pouring down and drumming on the roof. At one point it was very cold, and I couldn’t sleep. Luckily the little cat Kuzka honoured me with his company: he heated up my feet and communicated a magical sense of comfort for a bit of the night.

Two papers were brought in at once with my coffee – the second from Friday. I was struck above all by a telegram from Kornilov with the demand for a “halt” to the offensive and the reinstatement of the death penalty, stating that if this is not done, he will refuse to continue to command. Strangest of all, there was no commentary on this telegram worthy of its exceptional importance. What does it mean to “stop” the offensive? Or is it a misprint for “retreat” ? Will they try to raise a dying beast to its feet? We are stupid enough, and the English cruel enough, to try it. It will now be even harder to find out the approximate truth, as wartime censorship has been reintroduced at the same level as before.

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I was in the garden today. I walked for an hour with a great deal of effort, resting on every bench. I am very tired, but I feel healthier. The news has been more calming than usual: there has been a push to form a ministry with the cadets, who have shifted rightward. See more

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Alexandra Kollontai

Vyborg female convict prison, Vyborg side, Russian Empire

The February Revolution cleared out our prisons. My presence brings new blood to a complex for political prisoners in this new bourgeois-republican Russia. I slept on a hard cot—slept deeply, at least until they brought in boiling water and a large hunk of black bread. I am permitted to buy tea myself. See more

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Inessa Armand

Moscow, Russian Empire

The more committed a socialist is to the cause of the workers, the more the bourgeoisie slander him. The Bolsheviks, with Lenin at their head, are the representatives of revolutionary socialism in Russia now. Perhaps nowhere else has the hatred of the bourgeoisie, slander and persecution reached the levels we see now in Russia. See more

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Aristarkh Lentulov

finishes working on "Tverskoy Boulevard" ("Passionate monastery")

27, Bolshoy Kozikhinsky lane, Moscow, Russian Empire

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Alfred Knox

Petrograd, Russian Empire

The Cossacks who had been killed in the abortive Bolshevik rising were given an official funeral, and about twenty allied officers attended. M. Kerensky drove up amidst the cheers of the populace in the Emperor’s automobile. He made an emotional speech from the steps of St. Isaac’s Cathedral. See more

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27 July

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+13

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