with Japan. The tsar left for Poland and his hunting lodge.
Witte wrote a memorandum that disappeared in the depths of the archives. The negotiations with Japan that his mother and Witte had fought for fell through.
Nicholas’s diary:
“26 January, 1904.… Went to the theater at 8—they were doing
Rusalka
. Very good. Returning home, received a telegram from Alexeyev with the news that that night Japanese torpedo boats had carried out an attack against the
Tsesarevich, Pallada
, etc., whichwere at anchor, and put holes in them. Is this undeclared war? Then may God help us!…
“27 January. This morning a telegram arrived about the bombardment of Port Arthur. Everywhere there are manifestations of a unanimous upsurge of spirit.”
Calm entries. He was assured that the Japanese did not know how to fight. His ministers argued over how many Japanese soldiers it took to equal one Russian soldier—two or one and a half.
Very soon, though, he was writing in his diary: “It is painful and hard.”
There followed unprecedented defeats for the Russian army and the destruction of the fleet.
C AMARILLA
So, Nicholas was pushed into seizing lands in Manchuria. But who stood behind this unattributed “push”?
When Minister of Interior Affairs Plehve (the Department of Police was part of his ministry) was killed by a bomb, in his archives were discovered copies of
all
the papers relating to the Far East. “To hold back revolution, we need a small, victorious war.” This, it turns out, was a statement Minister Plehve had made to one of his high officials on the eve of war.
“We need.” … But who were “we”?
In his
Memoirs
Witte recounted a curious episode: during his tenure as prime minister he struggled against Jewish pogroms. Naturally, he had to help the Department of Police, and he did. Witte was shocked to discover from a department official that while fighting against Jewish pogroms the Department of Police was simultaneously preparing proclamations inciting the population … to Jewish pogroms! These proclamations were sent secretly, in bundles, to the provinces. The terrible pogrom of Jews in Gomel had begun with these very proclamations. Forces existed whose actions even the prime minister was not given to control.
Here is an amazing story from Vera Leonidovna Yureneva:
“My friend at the time [her pronunciation of ‘friend’ was captivating, and she smiled at the ancient memory] … he was very close to Count Witte.… He tried to prove that many of the events that occurred during Nicholas’s reign were connected withthe secret actions of the
camarilla
. This is a forgotten word now that Count Witte liked a lot.… a Spanish word referring to a group of influential court intriguers under the Spanish King Ferdinand. It became pejorative.… The camarilla in Russia involved distinguished but degenerate families.… They were afraid of losing their wealth and power and hated the new times—this incomprehensible capitalism. It was they who formed the inner circle, the court of Nicholas and Alexandra. My friend felt that in Russia, as in any country where age-old traditions of conservatism persist, a secret alliance had been formed a long time ago between the extreme right—that is, the camarilla—and the secret police. That is why when Alexander II was preparing the constitution the police failed to ‘keep an eye’ on him—and he was killed.… My friend used to talk about how back under Alexander III terrorists’ notes with threats against the tsar were always turning up at the carefully guarded Gatchina Palace. In this way they confirmed the tsar in his hatred for liberals, by planting these notes through the secret police.… My friend used to say that the Department of Police slipped the tsar’s leash at the end of the century, when the secret police began to place provocateurs in the revolution.… This allowed the police to shroud everything in the greatest secrecy. That was when the
Witte wrote a memorandum that disappeared in the depths of the archives. The negotiations with Japan that his mother and Witte had fought for fell through.
Nicholas’s diary:
“26 January, 1904.… Went to the theater at 8—they were doing
Rusalka
. Very good. Returning home, received a telegram from Alexeyev with the news that that night Japanese torpedo boats had carried out an attack against the
Tsesarevich, Pallada
, etc., whichwere at anchor, and put holes in them. Is this undeclared war? Then may God help us!…
“27 January. This morning a telegram arrived about the bombardment of Port Arthur. Everywhere there are manifestations of a unanimous upsurge of spirit.”
Calm entries. He was assured that the Japanese did not know how to fight. His ministers argued over how many Japanese soldiers it took to equal one Russian soldier—two or one and a half.
Very soon, though, he was writing in his diary: “It is painful and hard.”
There followed unprecedented defeats for the Russian army and the destruction of the fleet.
C AMARILLA
So, Nicholas was pushed into seizing lands in Manchuria. But who stood behind this unattributed “push”?
When Minister of Interior Affairs Plehve (the Department of Police was part of his ministry) was killed by a bomb, in his archives were discovered copies of
all
the papers relating to the Far East. “To hold back revolution, we need a small, victorious war.” This, it turns out, was a statement Minister Plehve had made to one of his high officials on the eve of war.
“We need.” … But who were “we”?
In his
Memoirs
Witte recounted a curious episode: during his tenure as prime minister he struggled against Jewish pogroms. Naturally, he had to help the Department of Police, and he did. Witte was shocked to discover from a department official that while fighting against Jewish pogroms the Department of Police was simultaneously preparing proclamations inciting the population … to Jewish pogroms! These proclamations were sent secretly, in bundles, to the provinces. The terrible pogrom of Jews in Gomel had begun with these very proclamations. Forces existed whose actions even the prime minister was not given to control.
Here is an amazing story from Vera Leonidovna Yureneva:
“My friend at the time [her pronunciation of ‘friend’ was captivating, and she smiled at the ancient memory] … he was very close to Count Witte.… He tried to prove that many of the events that occurred during Nicholas’s reign were connected withthe secret actions of the
camarilla
. This is a forgotten word now that Count Witte liked a lot.… a Spanish word referring to a group of influential court intriguers under the Spanish King Ferdinand. It became pejorative.… The camarilla in Russia involved distinguished but degenerate families.… They were afraid of losing their wealth and power and hated the new times—this incomprehensible capitalism. It was they who formed the inner circle, the court of Nicholas and Alexandra. My friend felt that in Russia, as in any country where age-old traditions of conservatism persist, a secret alliance had been formed a long time ago between the extreme right—that is, the camarilla—and the secret police. That is why when Alexander II was preparing the constitution the police failed to ‘keep an eye’ on him—and he was killed.… My friend used to talk about how back under Alexander III terrorists’ notes with threats against the tsar were always turning up at the carefully guarded Gatchina Palace. In this way they confirmed the tsar in his hatred for liberals, by planting these notes through the secret police.… My friend used to say that the Department of Police slipped the tsar’s leash at the end of the century, when the secret police began to place provocateurs in the revolution.… This allowed the police to shroud everything in the greatest secrecy. That was when the
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