8 August 1917. Zinaida Gippius

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

Zinaida Gippius

Kislovodsk, Russian Empire

O unhappy country. God has truly punished her; he stole her reason. And whither are we bound? Only to hunger or further still into the German embrace. What prospects!

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Elizaveta Naryshkina

Tsarskoye Selo, Russian Empire

The weather is marvelous and very hot. I was in the garden talking with one officer. All of them unanimously affirm that if the Emperor had not hurried to sign a renunciation, nothing would have happened. The troops were amazed, when they found out about his decision.

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Felix Yusupov

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

Despite the events and general alarm, we still accept guests often. Life takes over, even more so in adolescence. We get together with friends almost every day, at ours on the Moika, then at someone else's. Once, we even went to Tsarskoye Selo.

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Grigory Zinoviev

Sestroretskiy spill, Sestroretsk, Petrograd, Russian Empire

Our hide-out was secure. But we still had to be vigilant. The police investigation assumed unprecedented dimensions. Hunting for Vladimir Ilyich, they scoured every house in a number of neighbourhoods. Police dogs combed Petersburg. This, of course, was a little unnerving. Work on the Sixth Congress of our Party, taking place semi-illegally in the city, was being directed by Vladimir Ilyich from our shelter. See more

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Anna Allilueva with Joseph Stalin

Petrograd, Russian Empire

Stalin’s move over to our apartment coincided with the opening of the Sixth Party Congress, which was taking place in semi-legal circumstances. Kerensky’s agents were on the trail of the congress participants, keeping particularly close tabs on members of the Central Committee. Stalin, who was delivering a report at the congress, had to be on his guard all the time, which is why he didn’t spend his nights at the apartment and would only pop in briefly, arriving at inopportune moments for a quick rest. See more

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Alexandre Benois

Yablonovka village, Russian Empire

Name days of both my Annas. The manager of the estate, Schleiseine, categorically refuses to send for post to Yablonovka, and for the second day we are sitting without newspapers. But for today’s morning it turned out to be quite opportune. Due to the absence of these vile pieces of paper, it turned out to be particularly sunny, happy, and appropriate for a name day. A true summer feast. Children made a bunch of different presents.

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