Аннотация: Translation from Russian into English. Владимир Владимирович Залесский "Сказка о куропаткинском терпении".
The Tale of the Kuropatkin Patience
The presentation of combined into a single edition of the memoirs of the (ex) Prime Ministers Witte, V. N. Kokovtsov, other publications was awaited.
The participants of the forthcoming presentation have gathered before an entrance to cafe-library. They have heard the loud invitation of M. Gorky:
- Misters! Comrades! Please come into the library!
At the entrance to the library formed something like a queue.
Having remembered pre-revolutionary food queues in Petrograd, the ex-prime minister and ex-Minister of Internal Affairs Boris Vladimirovich Stürmer has remembered:
- The food question became the main and unsolvable internal problem!
- Really, the most critical issue of the historic moment was the food issue, - ex-deputy of the chairman of the IV State Duma Alexander Dmitriyevich Protopopov, appointed by emperor Nicholas II the Minister of Internal Affairs, has agreed with Boris Stürmer. - During the first audience after I was appointed the Emperor Nicholas II has told: "do that it is necessary - save the situation". At my first conversation with the Emperor he said me: "The most important task - the food for the population".
In general, all the hopes for food supply have been pinned on me-that I will arrange it. Really, it seemed to me that I will make it, by all means I will arrange.
- I have sent the telegram to the Tsar. - the Siberian man in a shirt on release, wide trousers and boots has spoken, - Telegram began words: "All together affectionately we talk." It was said further: "Give Kalinin the power soon. They're preventing him. He'll feed the people. Everything will be fine... " (Kalinin - the semi-secret nickname given to Protopopov. This nickname widely used at telephone conversations and correspondence of the imperial couple and Vyrubova). The telegram has been sent to the Stavka, but at the last minute Protopopov was frightened and under any pretexts began to refuse and eventually has refused.
-Remembering now my intention to improve the food supply for the population, I must admit,-sighed Alexander Protopopov-that not enough thought up the case and got acquainted with him. I'll not hide, however, that I believed that food was, and that a food was abundant.
Certain gloomy mister has decided to express also the opinion:
- It was required to change radically the relation of the government to the organizations of zemstvo, to the city organizations, to the self-government organizations. To take them under strict government control, to withdraw food business from their hands. I have stated the opinion in a note addressed to the Sovereign!
Someone has read a few lines from the book on history:
- It was possible to resolve a food issue at this conditions only in one way - introduction of the state monopoly on bread with reliance on the mass democratic food authorities, covering all country. And for this purpose at least as an initial prerequisite it was necessary to liquidate the tsarism.
- Misgivings and fears in connection with change in August, 1915 of the Supreme command (the grand duke Nikolay Nikolaevich on the Emperor Nicholas II) were vain, - the general Mikhail Vasiliyevich Alekseyev, the chief of staff of Stavka, noted. - Moreover, in purely military relation and in the sphere of material supplies of army the business have gone much better. But nevertheless an impression was made that the noticeable improvement of actually military environment and logistics of army, reached in 1916, wasn't a sufficient counterbalance to the approaching catastrophe.
The general Mikhail Alekseev has kept silent and has added:
-I see, I know that the war will end with our defeat. But I am happy that I believe, I deeply believe in God... The country must experience all the bitterness of its fall and rise from it by the hand of God's help....
Is it possible to accept, in anticipation of such a prospect, measures to save what can be saved, "to a lesser collapse"?
We are powerless... The future is scary...
The Quartermaster general Mikhail Savvich Pustovoytenko has added:
- What exit? In my opinion, the kuropatkin patience. [the wordplay was created: куропаткинское терпение - терпение Куропаткина - терпение куропатки - patience of the general Aleksey Kuropatkin - the partridge's patience]
The arisen silence has been broken by exchange of opinions between two students.
One of them began to remember up the features of a food situation in Russia during World War I:
- At the time of the beginning of World War I Russia was more than for 100 percent is provided with food.
From the beginning of war export of agricultural products has been almost completely stopped. With carrying out mobilization and the beginning of war demand for agricultural products was exclusively high.
The army for 3 years has bought food and fodder for 2,5 billion rubles, including 574 million poods of grain, 247 million poods of meat, 645 million poods of oats, 1,176 million poods of hay.
For a number of reasons the marketability of agriculture has sharply fallen.
The devaluation of paper money. The disorder of transport.
The grain from Siberia because of congestion of the railroads had no access to industrial regions of the European Russia.
Governmental activities were: introduction of the practice of creation of state stocks of bread, rationing of prices, rationing of food supply in cities, etc.
Another student made the clarification:
- The emperor and imperial bureaucracy believed that warfare and acquisition of food should be paid with bank notes.
Russia carried out the financing of war, mainly, by the emission of paper money and by means of the domestic and external loans. The total cost of war (till September 1, 1917) for Russia is determined nominally at 41,4 billion rubles. Taking into account decline of ruble this sum is expressed in 15-16 billion pre-war rubles. By domestic loans 15,8 billion (nominal) rubles have been received, foreign loans have made 8,1 billion rubles; the emission of paper money has given (nominally) 21,8 billion rubles. The public debt with 8,8 billion rubles in 1914 has grown to 43,9 billion rubles by October, 1917. Free exchange on gold has been stopped from the very beginning of war. The establishment of the "hard" prices was not able to contain the fall in the purchasing power of the ruble. The purchasing power of the ruble has decreased to the beginning of 1917 by 40%, by the end of the year-by 70%.
The general Pavel Kurlov has noticed:
-... Since the twentieth of February, crowds of people, demanding bread, began to appear in different places of the capital. The people's fermentation continued. Mass agitations gradually began to turn into street riots.
The lieutenant general S.S. Habalov, the chief of the Petrograd military district, in whose hands all military and civil power in the capital has been concentrated, spoke briefly - as military man:
- In the city (of Petrograd) by February 25, 1917 there were 5 600 000 poods of a reserve of flour.
One of the students have murmured:
- 1 pood is about 16,38 kg. 5 600 000 poods are about 91 728 000 kg.
The general Alexander Balk, the Petrograd city's mayor [gradonachalnik], has added:
- If Petrograd would fell into a state of siege, and to the capital hasn't been sent any railway car with products, then inhabitants could remain on a former food ration within 22 days.
Leon Trotsky has remembered:
- On February 16, 1917 the authorities have decided to enter in Petrograd coupons on bread.
- Since 1914 were at war, and coupons on bread in the Petrograd have entered only in the February, 1917? - someone has hemmed.
- This innovation has hit on nerves, - Leon Trotsky has continued. - On February 19 near food stalls accumulated a lot of people, especially women, all demanded bread. A day later in some parts of the city bakeries were looted. It were already lightnings of the revolt, which has broken out in a few days.
The energetic gentleman from the public decided to make a small historical addition:
- After the February revolution the Provisional government has created on March 21, 1917 the State Food Committee, and on March 25, 1917 announced the law on grain monopoly with compulsory transfer of surplus of landowner bread in hands of the state. A Landowners, thanks to the complicity government, sabotaged this law. This law has not brought any improvement in the food situation.
"Tails" nearby the food shops played a role of political meetings and worked as revolutionary leaflets.
- As of October 26, 1917, - the woman historian took part in a conversation, - bread in Petrograd was only on a half of day.
- The revolutionary State Food Committee hasn't badly worked", - someone from public has estimated.
- At everyone the beliefs, - the energetic gentleman didn't give itself "to bring down", - and everyone can independently carry out comparison of two approaches:
(1) purchases of food in the conditions of war (that, naturally, was followed by devastation of the budget, inflation, and other negative phenomena)
or
(2) transition to "the state monopoly for bread" (In the undeveloped form-forced sale at "hard" prices, requisitions, forced "liberation" peasants off bread (Prodrazverstka)), and in a consecutive form - liquidation of the social strata of wealthy peasants (Raskulachivanie), mass death of people, collectivization, creation of a system of collective farms and state farms).
Vladimir Lenin noted:
- Prodrazverstka because of military circumstances was imposed on us with absolute necessity.
- It was necessary to hold out for another two months.-sighed Duma activist Andrei Shingarev. - The spring offensive would have started. At failure there would be revolution. With luck, everything would be forgotten.
- The Armistice of Compiègne was signed on November 11, 1918, - someone has reminded. - And Civil war in Russia was ended in 1920...
Participants of exchange of opinions were switched by thoughts to the forthcoming presentation.
August 03, 2017.
Translation from Russian into English: February 25, 2018 - February 28, 2018.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский "Сказка о куропаткинском терпении".