Revolutionary
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Rem Word

© Rem Word, 2019

ISBN 978-5-4496-7536-1

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Revolutionary

Pre-revolutionary Russia in color. Presented are photographs of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky, a Russian chemist, a student of Dmitry Mendeleev, an inventor and an innovator and photographer. Of the three black and white images drawn through the image filter, one is assembled, colorfully displaying the reality of the picture. This book presents reference images and text for which we, dear reader, are restoring a voluminous History. The undated photo shows a girl from a village in Central Russia. All in color. Help yourself to the berries. Presumably 1903

Peasant children on a hill in front of a snow-white temple. If the theory of reincarnation is correct, maybe they are you and me. Tver Province, 1909

Part of the Russian Empire, Uzbekistan. The beginning of the twentieth century. From the second half of the nineteenth century, Asian peoples, very poorly adapted to European life, constitute 40% of the population of Russia. They are certainly good, but other people

The Hinduкush Hydroelectric Power Station (present-day Turkmenistan), 1911. The hydroelectric power station was commissioned in the distant 1909, many years before the Bolsheviks declared it their own invention of the “electrification plan of Russia”. The machine room still looks impressive, like a shot from a science fiction film. The capacity of the power plant operating to date (2019) is 1.2 MW.

Employees of one of the river shipping companies of pre-revolutionary Russia. In the photo (1904) the phenotype, and even the imprint of the soul of the Russian person of the given time, is fairly fully represented. We see the conqueror, the suppressor of the proud and the leading philosopher of them. In less than 15 years, this ethnic group will be mowed out by another passionate, biblical nation. The main idea of the Russians is unity for the sake of something indefinitely great. In fact, the centralization of power, without feedback from the people entails many unpleasant excesses. These include, for example, the occupation of state command posts by representatives of alien nationality. Now Russian nobles are alien in Russia. These people communicate with each other in French, go to church as if for a colorful theatrical production, and consider 90% of the population a “mob”

Photo – Emperor Alexander II (1818—1881) on vacation. The Tsar is known for the conclusion of the Parisian Peace that is beneficial for Russia (1856) as a result of the Crimean War, the liquidation of military settlements from the gendarme count Arakcheev, reforms in the field of self-government, the judicial system and education. The most famous actions – the liberation of the peasants from serfdom (1961) and the sale of Alaska. The Asian territories were annexed, the Polish uprising was suppressed (1863), the Caucasian War was completed (1867). The war with Turkey (1877—1878) brings freedom to the Christian peoples of the Balkans, but does not benefit Russia itself (at least as a moral satisfaction from gratitude). Alexander the Second dies in 1881, from a bomb by a terrorist of the Earth and Will organization. The tragic death causes catharsis in Russian society. The moral cleansing, the general rejection of terrorism, and not the “tightening the screws” by Alexander the Third, ensures a subsequent long peace. Alexander the Second points out that the need for the abolition of serfdom has matured, and “it is much better for this to happen from above rather than from below.” The emperor is offered a solution. Two thirds of the landowner’s possessions are pledged under the security of loans taken from the state. It is necessary to pay a small difference in order to buy them, to transfer the peasants attached to the estates of the state, and then release them altogether. But, such a brilliant plan of the state property manager official V. Kiselev, the tsar and nobility is rejected. It would be too much for ordinary people to be magical and clear. Get freedom in one moment, and even the estates of former feudalists to boot? Yes, so you can avoid a revolution, and the physical elimination of the nobility. The answer is no. The Manifesto of the 17 Acts “On the Most Gracious Gift of the Rights of the Condition of Free Rural Citizens to the Serf People”, which is difficult to understand, was made public on March 5, 1861 in Moscow. The main provisions: the peasants are freed, they are transferred their movable property, personal homes and buildings. From this point on, the master does not have the right to sell people, to relocate them, to force them to perform marriages at his own discretion. The landowner allocates field allotment to the rural society of the world (a kind of Soviet collective economy). The council of the community distributes land among the peasants at its discretion. Next, carefully. A person does not have the right to refuse a site taken within nine years, even if he could fully redeem it immediately. As long as the drawn up deed of sale has not occurred, the farmer is obliged to work off the serfdom or pay the rent. He is in a temporary state. For arrears, a house, movable property, but not a means of production – land and cattle – can be taken away. The peasant has the right to immediately give up the right to purchase the land. Then he gets a quarter of the established minimum put on and becomes free, even if without means of subsistence. If after nine years the head of the family refuses the land (5 dessiatinas for a peasant’s soul), he is released from obligations to the landowner and the state. When (no less than nine years later) the peasant feels ready to bear an increased financial burden, and wants to leave the plot, he turns to a government agency that pays the landowner a ransom. Down payment – 20% directly to the owner of the land. Since then, a person, on the one hand, has been tearing up legal relations with a landowner, buying himself and his family, on the other, he is in debt bondage. The borrowed amount has to be paid for 49 years, from 6% per annum. Have you understood anything here, dear reader? The general meaning is that the peasants give two and a half times the market price for their native land. Note: “official tithe” is a rectangle with sides approximately 160 by 60 meters, with an area of a little more than a hectare. Payments stretch until 1905, the time of the only up to now positive Russian revolution.

The photograph of the first Russian military correspondent A. Ivanov is the Guards Artillery Brigade of the period of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877—78. One of the officers seems strangely familiar to you. Is reincarnation a reality? … In this sharp confrontation Russia loses 45 thousand fighters, Turkey 100 thousand. The territorial acquisitions of the Russian Empire proper are minimal (part of Southern Bessarabia, Karsk region, part of present-day Armenia). At the end of the war, the battles of recent allies – Russia and Romania – will almost never take place. Alexander II, an ethnic German by the way, leads rather sluggish negotiations at the Berlin Congress (1878). As a result, huge chunks of the Asia Minor Empire are inherited, not directly related to this military conflict, by Austria-Hungary.

Photography – Alexander the First Bulgarian. The prince of the German dynasty Battenberg, and the general of the Russian army, with the suggestion of Alexander the Second, became the ruler of Bulgaria in 1879. In November 1885, under the new Russian emperor, Serbia, instigated by Austria-Hungary, declared war on Bulgaria. Two weeks later, Serbia is defeated. All this time in the territory of the Balkan Slavic countries liberated from the Ottomans, the special services have been fighting. The idea of Alexander the Third – of course, the inclusion of Bulgaria into the composition of his own Empire. The interests of the Bulgarian people themselves are not in the first place. Theoretically, the material release fee can be included in some open “payroll”. But this is done unpleasantly in secret, indirectly, without disclosing intentions. Of course, direct financial contributions in favor of the Russian wounded and the families of the soldiers-liberators could have been accepted by the Bulgarians. But, ascended to the throne, Alexander the Third seeks to entangle the entire national Bank of a sovereign country with enslaving conditions. The king makes the Bulgarians perform status, as now say the projects. This is not a completely effective railway to Russia, and all that. In August 1886, a group of pro-Russian (or, more precisely, it was Russian) officers organized the overthrow of Alexander Bulgarian. Further action is a mixture of terrorist, nationalist, and even openly criminal speeches. All movements of the Russian monarch can be seen through. They cause quite appropriate national reaction. After everything passed under Turkey, the Bulgarians want to take a sip of at least some real freedom. In the end, Alexander the Third, and at the same time, and, alas, Russia, is losing credibility in the once so friendly Bulgaria. The monarch’s mania leads, a quarter of a century later, to the fact that Bulgaria without any hesitation takes the side of the Fourth Union in the war against Russia

An expressive picture is the assault of the Dagestan aul Gimry by Russian troops during the Caucasian War. Winning this, lasting almost a hundred (or even two hundred) years of confrontation, succeeds only in settling out several hundred thousand incorrigible enemies of Russia from the Black Sea coast to the Ottoman Empire. Almost all wars with Turkey lead to the fact that Russia receives only hostile to it (and indeed, nevertheless, striving for the coziness of civilization, the Ottomans) the territories of the Caucasus and Transcaucasia populated by militant highlanders

Sale of Alaska, a territory in North America, an area of half a million square meters. km., will be held October 18, 1867 issue price – 7.2 million dollars, the cost of a capital three-story building. The path of the proceeds in this way is determined by three equivalent versions. The first is that funds are received for the development of Russian railways. The second is that dollars migrate to the personal use of the king’s relatives. And third, the money goes to the bottom with the Orkney barge carrying it.

Novoarkhangelsk, the capital of Russian Alaska, lithograph of 1963. In these new territories, there was originally no classical serfdom or even police. Undoubtedly, Alaska could become for Russia the same as for Europe – a free colony, a mirror isolated from a stagnant metropolis field of democratic experiments. It has been argued that because of these overseas territories, a war between Russia and the United States could have flared up. However, firstly, Alaska and the United States are divided by a fairly large Canada. Secondly, the same could be indicated regarding any other areas bordering one or another Eurasian countries.

Well-developed sobriety Societies have appeared in Russia since 1958. These are amateur organizations of peasants, to some extent supported by the Orthodox Church. The main problem – the people of the “lower classes”, initially serfs, literally attributed to a particular pub. A person is simply obliged to drink a certain amount of alcohol to bring income to the state, local police and officials. The quality of alcohol and food (if there is the last in the tavern at all) is determined only by the conscience of the owner. Together to deal with this dependence is somewhat easier. In the end, the authorities who sent 11 thousand sobrials to exile understand that repression does not give the proper result. In 1963, Alexander II reformed the system of selling alcohol in such a way as to exclude the element of coercion from it. The quality of alcohol produced by all is increased. The revenues of the state controlling taxes and the composition of the bread wine also increase

Since the 1880s, Russian sobriety societies have found a second wind. Such instructive comics spread among the peasants. Attitudes towards Societies of the authorities are ambivalent. On the one hand, a sober peasant is, in general, good. On the other hand, people in their own sanity, in addition to state circulars, who gather for self-education, music-making, reading, tea drinking, are suspicious as potential revolutionaries. Since ancient times, what the Russian people are doing independently and well, arouses in the central authorities a zealous desire to “keep and not let go.” In addition, a non-drinker has moral superiority over others. The idea of this state of affairs is simply unbearable for the representatives of the ruling class.

Alexander the Third’s family is on holiday in Finland. Finland is part of Imperial Russia, and at the same time virtually independent of any country. Revolutionary terrorists invariably receive here a reliable shelter and considerable financial injections. Despite all the privileges, and even a separate currency – the Finnish ruble, the northern state entity dreams of complete independence. At a critical time for Russia, Finland becomes the outpost of anti-government forces. Somewhat later, this country will show itself as a miniature fascist Germany

Alexander the Third – 99% German by blood. This state of affairs in Russia has been established since Peter the Third (1728—1762). At the same time, according to all the canonical rules, the Romanov dynasty should have been called the Holstein-Gottorp (the house of the Romanovs). Somehow this, not quite pleasant status quo, in the masses can be ignored. Inside Russia there are no brides for monarchs. The last Russian empress, Evdokia Lopukhina (1669—1731), was sent by her husband, Peter the Great, to the monastery (after which he would marry the completely un-born Lithuanian Martha Skavronskaya). The wife of Alexander the Third is Maria Fedorovna (patronymic, after the adoption of Orthodoxy in honor of the family icon), the daughter of the King of Denmark. Be that as it may, the monarch introduces high protective duties for foreign industrial goods, which contributes to the development of domestic industry. Another innovation of the emperor levels the first. This is the “Circular on the reduction of gymnasium education” (1887). The document instructs the principals of educational institutions (above the one-year village school) not to accept children from “ignoble strata of the population”: in this way “the gymnasiums and gymnasiums will be freed from the enrollment of children of coachmen, footmen, cooks, laundresses, small shopkeepers and similar people whose children, with the exception of those who are gifted with genius abilities, one should not at all strive for secondary and higher education.” In part, this idea comes from the chief procurator of the Holy Synod, the overseer of the church, Konstantin Pobedonostsev. The main idea is that students-raznochintsy are more than anyone inclined to revolutionary activity. Later, these office reflections are completely dispelled by noble students, such as V. Ulyanov, his elder brother, and the like. At the same time, Russia is deprived of social elevators, a multitude of loyal citizens, from the lower ranks, as well as enough qualified for high-tech wars of the future soldiers. Another circular of Alexander the Third encourages duels. The participants of fights, even serial killers, Breters, are exempt from punishment. According to the rule introduced by the tsar “On the trial of quarrels that occur in the officer corps” (1894), a person who refuses to accept the challenge is officially affected by his rights (he is obliged to resign immediately). Top commanders, in essence – the state apparatus, have the right to force subordinates, who may already be reconciled, to fight. Similar provisions are projected on nobles who are not military men. Speaking inner thoughts on society becomes a deadly affair. Whatever you say or do, there is always someone who does not like it. Nobles replicate the idea that Roman law is not important and stormy, leading to clarification of the truth of the debate. The one who shoots faster and more accurately is right

Nizhny Novgorod province 1982. The abbot of the Old Believers. Before us is a real Russian person. As is known, the Old Believers from far 1667, after the reform of ritualism and the cruel persecution for the faith of their ancestors, find themselves outside the bosom of the state church. On the one hand, the parishioners are free to choose the abbot of the temple, and are not dependent on the sovereign’s whims (like the one recognized by the blasphemer Peter the Great). This brings them closer to European Protestants, although Russian Old Believers hardly even suspect the existence of these. On the other hand, a hierarchy implying the conciliarity of parishes, perhaps a certain connection with the state, is important and useful. Full independence from society is fraught with the development of heresy. At this time, the Old Believers make up 8—10% of the population of Russia.

Ancient societies constitute communities, commonly referred to as “Concord” and “Talk”. On the foundation of the ancient faith are based similarities of the European monastic orders. Such, for example, are the Runners, they are Skrytniki or Podpolniki. The main idea is to break ties with a state hostile to them, the refusal to have a passport, pay taxes, etc. Alas, under Napoleon, in 1812 the old rite community shows itself as a community of collaborators. Subsequently, the Old Believers (of whom more than 90% among Russian millionaires), for a number of reasons, will quite actively manifest themselves in the preparation of revolutions. Photography – Old Believers study the holy scripture in one of their houses of prayer. The construction of full-fledged temples (with own money) is prohibited by the state. We see that in this case the content exceeds the form

Moscow – 1909. Once upon a time, we lived, ate, drank… Yes, I recognize this funny boy in a long apron

Now, 1896. Here is the cinema, it is the “Magic World”, in one of the cities of Russia. New entertainment for people from all classes. On a white canvas with a dazzling beam of light, pictures of another life are projected. Let’s try to feel the colorful time, to be embodied in the past, go inside, meet someone, and get tickets for a session… Already this night

Nizhny Novgorod, presumably 1909. A scene from the life, a fistfight in front of the windows of a doss house. Behaving quietly turns out not always with us. By and large, there is no other kind of entertainment among the people, besides the cinema mentioned above – “The Magic World”. Society constrained caste system. Merchants, aristocracy, industrialists are not available even for the simplest of communication. If you try to say something, say hello, you will get a cold answer like a dog’s nose. Learn to be embodied in the past, friends – please tell everything in detail. It is very difficult to invent something, to open a business, to get rich – what is usually fun in Europe and America, for the “common man”. Among other things, even the word “rich” in Russia still has a clear negative connotation. The song, which you will surely hear from the fighters who have made peace under the windows of the hotel, on a deaf night – “There were happy days” (in our time – “Golden Ring”, listen) …Бывали дни веселые, Золотое кольцо, слушать

One of the villages of the Novgorod province of Tsarist Russia. The peasants organized a wooden spoons production association. Open-air production is a place for easy communication and creation of folklore works (songs, fairy tales, ditties). Hut, at least sometimes sagging, seem to be sturdy and roomy. Go beyond the ordinary mind. What if you go around the corner of the house? Songs that are sung here in the evenings, if you wish, you will now find them by keywords and hear them. “According to the wild steppes of Transbaikalia” (known since the 1890s), let the performer in our case be Jeanne Bichevskaya. She will perform for us “My dear little one” (1911). “The Glorious Sea – Sacred Baikal” (from the 1850s), the choir of trade unions in the city of Oryol, “A cook merchant rode from the fair” (1859). …“По диким степям Забайкалья”, “Миленький ты мой”, Жанна Бичевская, “Когда б имел златые горы”, Надежда Кадышева …слушать

Vagrancy alone or in groups, from one eminent church to another, in search of a miracle, interesting conversations and food – an integral part of the pre-revolutionary Russia. Quite a few Russian writers of the new century, such as Maxim Gorky (Peshkov), have passed this way. Sometimes the church is a bottomless world that reveals your secrets. More often the temple is just such a building.

The Minister of Finance under Alexander the Third and Nicholas II – Sergey Yulievich Vitte. In a photograph taken in 1905, during negotiations with the Japanese delegation, he is third right in a row of representatives of the Russian Empire. Witte’s main idea is an economic “big leap” by any means. In 1897, Russian industrialists and merchants were deprived of protectionism by the state. Moreover, at the suggestion of the Dutchman Witte, it is foreign owners who now enjoy the benefits of doing business. The country is flooded with foreign capital. As a result, 90% of the country’s industrial enterprises are transferred into the hands of foreign owners. In the eyes of the original inhabitants of Russia, the state loses as much as the image of the majestic patriarchal family formed by Alexander the Third.

However, the industrialization of the country really has a place to be. The symbol of industrial growth (first place in the world in terms of development rates) is the railways. In a year, across the country, exactly where it is necessary, 2 thousand kilometers of railways are laid. The maximum achievement of the communist period, in the early 1950s, is one and a half thousand kilometers. Useless tracks like Salekhard-Igarka highway does not count. And, in the first case, the construction is carried out by the forces of self-confident, civilian workers, without false slogans, executions and torture. The photograph shows the locomotive “G”, which was produced for the Petersburg-Moscow railway in 1845—1849. abroad In 1860, this machine is upgraded. Since 1901, Russia begins to produce its own, quite high-quality steam locomotives.

Nikolay Romanov, at the age of twenty, the future emperor of the Russian land. His favorite occupation is quite up to, probably a mature age – playing hide and seek with royal relatives. According to the characteristics of S. Witte “An insignificant, and therefore insensitive emperor. Loud phrases, honesty and generosity exist only for show, so to speak, for the royal exits, and within the soul is petty cunning, childish cunning, fearful deceit.” General Wrangel, the last head of the White Army: “The king had neither precisely defined vices, nor clearly defined qualities. He was indifferent. He did not love anyone or anyone.” The post of the leader of a nation, the emperor, the tsar is not so much a central element of the organization as an example for general imitation. Consciously, or unconsciously, society adopts the subtlest features of the image of a ruler. Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century is a fairly well-established technical state. But there is an acute lack of living water of love and understanding in it. When the level of this life-giving fluid reaches a critical lower point, people no longer sympathize with each other. The fire of war of all against all breaks out

Putilov defense plant, St. Petersburg, the beginning of the twentieth century. Employees of defense enterprises earn up to 160 rubles a month, with an average salary in the country of 27 rubles. The length of the working day at state-owned enterprises is 12 hours, for a private trader, depending on his ideas about humanism, 12—16 hours. The pay of librarians, primary school teachers is 20 rubles, qualified mechanics, turners 50, doctors 80, officers, depending on rank, 80—500, governors 1,000 rubles. Military spending, reaching 30% of the budget, exsanguinates the country. They also become a source of a real internal threat. The price for renting a modest room is 3—5 rubles per month. Lunch, pancakes with caviar in a tavern, to the dump – 1 ruble, 0.5 liters of vodka 15—17 kopecks, potatoes 5 kopecks. kg., loaf of bread 4 kopecks., beef 25 kopecks, cheese 70 kopecks, black caviar 3 rubles 20 kopecks per kilogram. You can live. A cow, a horse, depending on the success of bargaining 40—80 rubles. Further, a shirt is 3 rubles, men’s boots are 7 rubles, a short fur coat is 15 rubles. If you want to attract beautiful women and live luxuriously: the accordion 7.50 p., Gramophone 20—40, a car without bells and whistles 2000 rubles. A chic Russian “Russo-Balt” series K (1909, see photos on the web) will cost the reader traveling by time with the power of thought 5,500 rubles. However, even a very well-to-do young worker, no matter what songs he sang, the chance to win favor with a noblewoman tends to zero

Be that as it may, the Russian Empire produces its steam locomotives, various railway equipment, warships, transport ships, airplanes, automobiles, artillery and rifle systems, electrical wires, pipes, … eventually, gramophones and gramophones, as well as all the necessary to the population hardware. The quality of goods is at a high European level. Railway workers (in the photo) are the elite of the working class. In subsequent revolutions, highly qualified, cohesive corporate ethics, secured “white collars” are reluctant to participate.

Vladimir Ilyich (or even Ivanovich) Ulyanov, later known as “Lenin”, was born in 1870. Hometown – Simbirsk, since 1924 – “Ulyanovsk”. According to the official history, Vladimir is the son of a serf peasant son in the village of Androsovo, Nizhny Novgorod province, and the daughter of a baptized Kalmyk. As is customary in such cases, the versions of the origin of any famous person are seriously different. The official Soviet historian, Marietta Shaginyan, claims that the maternal revolutionary grandfather is a Ukrainian. What is the “Ukrainian” in the Russian Empire? Other researchers put forward versions of the Russified German or the Jew – Alexander Blanca. The true parent of the number two Ilyich may be the home doctor Ulyanov, abandoned by all, and blind by the end of his life, Ivan Pokrovsky. Be that as it may, Ilya Ulyanov, the nominal father of Lenin, moves up the career ladder, and is seeking the rank of state councilor (major general). This status allows you to grant hereditary nobility to all family members. Photography is the house-museum of Ulyanovs. What is it like to imagine Lenin, to pull the door handle towards yourself? To adjust, see the photos of the interior. You have this opportunity. The revolution is understandable. But what could revolutionaries present as the final result of activity? Futuristic utopias in Russian literature – the cat cried. Is, Chernyshevsky’s novel “What to do?”. Volodya Ulyanov read. The fourth dream of Vera Pavlovna: “… But now, the work is over, everyone goes to the building. “We will enter the hall again, let’s see how they will have lunch,” says the older sister. They enter the largest of the huge halls. Half of it is occupied by tables, – tables are already laid, – how many are there! How many diners will there be? Yes, a thousand or more people: “This is not all; to anyone, they dine especially at their place”; Those old women, old people, children who did not go out to the field prepared all this: “to prepare food, do housework, tidy up the rooms is too easy work for other hands,” says the older sister, “it should be done by those who have not yet can or cannot do anything else.” Great table setting. All aluminum and crystal; in the middle lane of the wide tables are arranged vases of flowers; the dishes were already on the table, the workers came in, everyone sat down for dinner, and they, and those who prepared dinner. “And who will serve?” – “When? during the table? what for? After all, only five or six dishes: those that should be hot, put on such a place that does not cool down; you see, in the hollows there are boxes of boiling water, “says the older sister. “You live well, you love a good table, do you often have such a lunch?” – “Several times a year.” – “They have this ordinary: anyone, he has a better, whatever, but then a special calculation; and who does not demand for himself much against what is being done for all, so there is no calculation. And so it is: that everything can be done according to the means of his company, for which there are no calculations; for each particular thing or whim – the calculation. “This is all instructive reading. There is a future planet. Eat together. With aluminum cookware. Work together. Conflicts over partners, money, and who does not have to take out the trash. There are no unusual desires. There are no risky projects. There is no war. Populated by robots

In 1879—1887, the future Lenin studied at the Simbirsk gymnasium presented in the photograph. He ends his studies with a gold medal. Then Vladimir Ulyanov enters the law faculty of Kazan University. It should be noted that training in gymnasiums and universities of Tsarist Russia is conducted in order to select all free time and energy. Ancient Greek, Latin, two foreign languages, and much, much more are being studied. Ulyanov shows extraordinary successes, as he literally quotes Cicero’s speech against Catiline. Practical knowledge is taught on a residual basis. Students are deprived of the opportunity to frolic, communicate with girls, enjoy life and be somehow grateful for this happiness to the state. At the age of 17, including, under the impression of the execution of his brother, a romantic and essentially non-existent terrorist, Vladimir leaves Christianity. Then he enters the organization “Earth and will.” This group is headed by a certain Lazar Germanovich Bogoraz (from a rabbinical family, nominally a “cross”). There is no relief information about the personality of this extraordinary person, the spiritual father of the “leader of the proletariat”. Christianity becomes for Vladimir only at best, the subject of scientific study. In the last years of his life, Nathan Bogoraz headed the Museum of the History of Religions in Leningrad. It is interesting that after the death of a revolutionary – a potential killer of the monarch, Lenin’s mother is paid a state pension for her deceased husband – 100 rubles. Moreover, Vladimir Ulyanov externally enters the law faculty of the Imperial St. Petersburg University. Such a state of affairs is unthinkable in the country of the victorious Revolution – where the relatives of the repressed are subject to destruction, or at least are affected in their rights. The photograph shows the building of the educational institution where V. Ulyanov studied in 1879—1887.

The house of Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashivili, preserved in the Stalin Museum, Gori, Georgia. Modern photography. Birth – December 21 or 18, 1978, Gori, Tiflis Province of the Russian Empire. Father – Vissarion (Beso) Dzhugashvili, a shoemaker by profession. A certain national group is engaged in this craft in Georgia. The surname “Dzhugashvili” literally means “the son of a Jew.” The term “juga” means the essence of “iron sold by a Jew”, or simply “Gorsky Jew”. The name “Joseph” is also definitely running Semitic. Rumors are widespread that Stalin’s parent number two is a researcher from Eastern countries, a Russian officer, Nikolai Przhevalsky. But, an insightful reader need only look at the photo of Vissarion to see the family affinity. The photo of Vissarion-Beso is not given in the book due to its negative effect. The mother of the future leader of nations is Yekaterina Georgievna… a laundress, an embroideress, house attendants. Actually, since Catherine (Keke) is not Jewish, then, according to the provisions of the Torah, her son cannot be considered a full-fledged Jew. Some time Dzhugashvili Jr. suffers from beatings in the family, is found with the company of hooligans. Then the teenager is sent to the Gori religious school. After graduating from it, a potential priest passes exams at Tiflis seminary. Song of Time – “Suliko” in Georgian (listen) …“Сулико” на грузинском, слушать

Tiflis (Tbilisi) Theological Seminary, the beginning of the twentieth century. Now it is a museum of art history. Much later, Joseph Stalin himself testifies in an interview with the German writer Emil Ludwig: “Out of protest against the mocking regime and the Jesuit methods that were in the seminary, I was ready to become and really became a revolutionary, a supporter of Marxism…” Institutions were so bad, or is it the slander of a supporter of Karl Marx? Let us recall in memory the Essays on Bursa, the Russian realist writer Nikolai Pomyalovsky. What happens in a school that prepares spiritual “… A party of about twenty people is going to, and they sneak through the courtyard into the class of parish pupils on November evening. … The parishioner, also sitting in the vestibule, didn’t expect anything., scatter the lean and skorimnye, skits and cuffs. Who beats? For what beats? God knows them and the devil wears them!.. Cry, cry, beating babies! On the desks and under the desks destroyed unhappy young parishioners. It hurts her. In these wild beatings of wickedness committed in the dark, there was, on the one hand, some kind of ridiculous prowess: “Get rid of your shoulder, swing your fist!”, And on the other hand, “Tremble, come, and submit!”. We see something similar in other works by Russian writers, such as the beginning of the “Viy” by N. Gogol (Kiev Seminary) … In the end, despite the desire to see her son as an Orthodox priest, Ekaterina Georgievna takes her son from school

Jacob Sverdlov, also known as Eshua Solomon Movshevich, was born in Nizhny Novgorod on June 3 or 4, 1885. It is interesting that since 1902 the elder brother of Sverdlov became the adopted son of the famous Russian writer Maxim Gorky (Peshkov). Since 1916, for a number of good reasons, Zinovy becomes a French officer, says goodbye to Russia, builds a career, and about his first family, literally: “… he does not want to know anything.” The second brother of Sverdlov, Veniamin, a party functionary, was shot in 1938 by the verdict of the Military Collegium of the USSR Supreme Court as a Trotskyite. Jacob himself, the future “demon of the revolution” ends four classes of the gymnasium, is learning pharmacy business. In 1903, he became a professional revolutionary, a Bolshevik. The photo shows the birthplace of the Sverdlov family, the beginning of the twentieth century.

The workers of sunny Australia hold together rallies and, by a distant bright day, on April 21, 1856, seek to reduce the working day from 12 to 8 hours. Wages remain the same. It turns out, by the way, that the country’s economy is a state of affairs in which people spend more money on a cultural and pleasant pastime, is only good. In 1886, the example of overseas colleagues followed by American workers. Called by the Knights of the Order of Labor, one of the workers’ parties, organized according to the principle of the Masonic Lodge, 40,000 protesters take to the streets of Chicago. Police disperse the crowd. Unrest resumes with a new force after the dismissal of thousands of protesters. Police open fire and kill six people. The next day, on the evening of May 4, a bomb flies from the crowd to constables. According to some, this is a police provocation, with the aim of veiling the case of the previous shooting of the protesters. One cop dies. Guards of the order shoot indiscriminately at everything that moves, and kill about forty demonstrators. As a result of the “friend fire”, or including the protesters ‘shots, six policemen are killed. A person with an explosive device can not be established. However, four people are sentenced to death. Such rigidity in relation to people who are not the direct killers of the policeman makes a deep, dual impression on society. By and large, simple American workers win. Most of their requirements, rather sooner than later, are met. However, such overtly extremist appeals as “Destroy the animals in human form, calling themselves authorities! A merciless death to them!”, Representatives of workers’ organizations no longer spread. In 1889, the First Paris Congress of the Second International decided to hold demonstrations on May 1 of each year. The Day of International Solidarity of Workers is celebrated annually in 142 countries of the world. Photography – manifestation on Haymarket Square, Chicago, early May 1886

The coronation of Nicholas II Alexandrovich and his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna, will be held on May 26, 1896 in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Before the beginning of the ceremony, Nikolai sits on the throne of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich (first in the Romanov dynasty), the empress-mother Maria Fedorovna – on the throne of Alexei Mikhailovich Tishayshy (father of Peter the Great), Alexander Fedorovna – on the throne of Grand Duke Ivan the Third (Great). Photography is a solemn procession near the walls of the Assumption Cathedral. A total of 100 million rubles are spent on the coronation of the seemingly immense and indestructible Empire.The new emperor is married to Victoria Alice Elena Louise Beatrice of Hesse-Darmstadt, daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse (German Empire) Ludwig the Fourth and Duchess Alice, daughter of the English Queen Victoria. Wedding and honeymoon occur less than a month after the death of Alexander the Third, November 26, in an atmosphere of mourning and memorial services. Spouses have children – four daughters and, a patient with hemophilia, son Alex. Alexandra’s relationship with the imperial court does not add up. The Empress considers herself infallible, and intolerant to the opinions of others. A born Danish woman, popular in the light of Alexander the Third’s widow, does not like the Germans (who at one time brought a lot of suffering to her historic homeland). This feeling extends to the sister-in-law. At one time, he did not approve of the fascination with the German and the emperor-father. Nicholas insisted on choosing, threatening to abdicate the throne and accept the monastic rank. Nevertheless, having become a monarch, and not a monk, the young emperor points out about the “inadmissibility of senseless dreams of the fate of representatives of zemstvos in the affairs of internal administration.” Speech “anointed” is accompanied by applause. But this performance becomes the benchmark for the rise of general discontent.

На фотографии – Ходынское поле перед началом празднованияAfter 4 days, May 30, solemn events are organized on the Khodynka field. For the people prepared gifts. Gingerbread cookies, a pound bun, sweets, 200 g of sausage, nuts, raisins, prunes and a porcelain cup are wrapped in a calico scarf. At five o’clock in the morning on the field of one square kilometer from 500 thousand to 1 000 000 people gather. A rumor is rolling that the bartenders are handing out gifts to “only their own.” The people rush to the wooden buildings, 1,800 police officers are unable to contain them. The direction of flow is along the ravine and pits left over from the dismantled pavilions. People fall into the hollows, all new human waves roll over them. The death toll, according to official data – 1383 people, according to unofficial – 4000. In addition, about one and a half thousand are injured and mutilated. By noon, the crash site is cleared of traces of drama. At two o’clock Nicholas II arrives, he is met by new crowds and sounds of the orchestra. In the evening, the festivities continue in the Kremlin Palace. Then the crowned spouses dance at the ball of the French ambassador. For reasons of the king, although the Khodyn catastrophe is the greatest misfortune, it should not darken the bright celebration of the coronation. Entry in the diary of Nicholas II; “I found out about this at 10 1/2 am before the Vannovsky report; disgusting impression left of this news. … Going around the tables, we left for the Kremlin. … Let’s go to the ball to Montebello. It was very nicely arranged, but the heat was unbearable.” On the photo – Khodynskoe field before the start of the celebration

The imperial family donates 90,000 rubles to the victims and 1000 left after all the banquets, bottles of Madeira. The principle of building a relationship of the royal family with the people will be presented from the correspondence of Alexandra Feodorovna with her grandmother, the British Queen Victoria. Victoria: “I rule for more than 50 years, and, nevertheless, I have to think every single day about what I need to do in order to preserve the love of my subjects and make it stronger… Your main duty is to win their love and respect.” Alexandra Alice: “You’re mistaken, dear grandmother. Russia is not England. Here we have nothing to do to deserve the people’s love. The Russian people worship their king as a divine creation. “Photography – victims of the crush on Khodynka. To the beat of time – on the search bar the hymn “God Save the Tsar” (listen) …“Боже царя храни”, слушать

The first congress of the future RSDLP – the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party will be held in 1898, in Minsk, in the safe house of one of the railway employees. There are 9 delegates from the “Unions of struggle for the liberation of the working class” of several large cities of the Empire, as well as the “General Jewish Workers’ Union in Lithuania, Poland and Russia” (Bund). The congress was initiated by Peter Berngardovich Struve, son of the Astrakhan governor, philosopher and Marxist. If it is interesting to you, in 1918, with the beginning of the Red Terror P. Struve leaves Russia across the Finnish border. In emigration, he censured the tsarist government with foaming at the mouth for the gentleness he showed towards revolutionaries. Lower row, from left to right: V. Starkov, the future trade representative of the USSR in Berlin, G. Krzhizhanovsky, compiler of the Electrification Plan of Russia (GOERLO), Deputy Commissar of Education, V. Ulyanov and Y. Martov (Tsederbaum). The latter, since 1918, has sharply criticized the Bolshevik leadership for its lack of democracy and cruelty, and condemns the shooting of the royal family. Tribesmen to criticism did not react. In 1920, terminally ill with tuberculosis, Julius Martov moved to Germany

Photography is the home of Pavel Rumyantsev, a railway worker who sympathizes with the revolutionaries. This one, presumably, a fairly well-off worker, does not participate in the meetings. Meetings are held under the guise of celebrating the birthday of his wife Rumyantsev, Olga. The establishment of the RSDLP is already celebrated with a festive dinner – with libations, toasts and songs. The manifesto of the new party says: “Both the movement and the socialist direction, the Russian Social-Democratic Party continues the work and traditions of the entire preceding revolutionary movement in Russia; setting the most important of the immediate tasks of the party in its whole – the conquest of political freedom, social democracy goes to the goal, clearly outlined by the glorious leaders of the old “People’s Will”. But the means and ways that social democracy chooses are different. Their choice is determined by the fact that it consciously wants to be and remains a class movement of organized working masses. She is firmly convinced that “the emancipation of the working class can only be his own business,” and will consistently align all his actions with this basic principle of international social democracy. Long live the Russian, long live the international social democracy! “Comrades, to tune in to the wave of time – the Internationale (listen). I ask everyone to stand up. … Another couple of glasses and, suppose, the host of the house, Pavel Rumyantsev, timidly approaches the festive table. “Tell me, honestly, for whom are you doing all this? Do you really love us, the workers? Can I sit next to you?”

Lev Davidovich Trotsky (Bronstein), the future world-famous revolutionary, Lenin’s ally, the founder of the Red Army. Birth – 1879, November 7, the village of Yanovka, Kherson Province. Information about any profession Bronstein, practical, working activities, no. At the end of school education (Nikolaev), Trotsky, outside of any work experience, declares himself a friend of the proletariat, a professional revolutionary. Now, when Ulyanov-Lenin speaks at the First Congress of the RSDLP, he is 19 years old. Leib Bronstein is busy reviving the South Russian Workers’ Union. Soon he will be sent to Siberia for four years. The royal link is not a gulag. Soon enough, Trotsky escapes, not protected by guards and rows of barbed wire. In Europe – Vienna, London, articles written by Bronstein during his wanderings around Siberia have already gained popularity. Revolutionary becomes one of the editors of the newspaper Iskra

Jacob Sverdlov (Eshua Solomon Movshevich). Persistently scribbling on the violin, communicating among themselves in the spirit of the Torah, regularly, and attending the synagogue on their own, the Jewish boys have an advantage over the boys of all other religious denominations of Russia in organizing their own destiny. In this photo, our hero is 29 years old. By the time of the first congress of the RSDLP, Jacob is 23 years old. The first task from the party is the leadership of the Urals and, note, the Ekaterininburg committees of the RSDLP (b). The largest Motovilikha cannon factory in the country is enveloped in a fiery revolutionary spirit. One of his employees, Gabriel Myasnikov, will later become the murderer of the last de jure Russian emperor, Mikhail Romanov.

Upon exclusion from the seminary, I. Dzhugashvili receives a certificate that he has completed four classes and can work as a teacher in elementary public schools. For some time, Joseph has been working as a tutor, and even an “observer-calculator” at the Tiflis Physical Observatory. Actually, this is the entire experience of practical, generally useful work of the future leader. Even at the seminary, Dzhugashvili led the propaganda of Marxism in the workers’ circles, from a certain moment he began to receive money for it. Since 1901, now Koba (nickname – after the name of a romantic Georgian robber) goes to the illegal position. The first undertakings of the revolutionary – the publication of the newspaper “Struggle” and the organization of a large-scale strike of oil workers in Baku (1904), can be considered productive. Since 1903, the time of the Second Congress of the RSDLP, Stalin is a recognized revolutionary, now a “Bolshevik”, and spends most of his time abroad. Foreign voyages alternate with links – by the standards of the Stalinist GULAG “childish,” a few months a year, with the ability to run whenever they like. In 1906, Dzhugashvili was apprehended by a tragedy – the death of his wife, Catherine (Svanidze), from typhus, 8 months after the marriage. The personality of a revolutionary undergoes irreversible changes to excessive rigidity and asceticism. The son, Jacob, later nicknamed Stalin’s “Teen Wolf”, was raised by his mother’s sister until 1921. In March 1917, under a general amnesty from the organizers of the February Revolution, Stalin arrives in St. Petersburg

At the beginning of the twentieth-century turbulent exhaust gas, 95% of Russian and more than 50% of global oil production falls on Baku. The tycoons registered in Russia – Nobili, Rothschilds, Mantashevs (Russians of Armenian descent), make huge profits. Sometimes they donate to theaters and museums, but the “simple man” is outside the scope of their understanding. Meanwhile, the salary of a worker does not reach the ruble a day, he has to work and live in terrible conditions. The photograph depicts something resembling the landscape of Mordor – a forest of oil rigs and swamps of earthen tanks filled with oil. The wells are poisoned. For drinking you have to collect rainwater. Unpaid overtime work, 12—15 hour working day, endless fines, dwelling-barracks with rooms for 80 people. Such a tremendously low level of life, on the one hand, devalues life, on the other hand, makes possible the solidarity of representatives of thirty nationalities, ensures readiness for struggle. … Cossacks called by the authorities dispersed a 40,000-strong mob, killed 8 and wounded 40 workers. Workers, in turn, are detrimental to businesses. In the end, the first collective agreement is drawn up in Russia. A 9-hour working day is established, wages are raised to one ruble. Such a thing as a four-day paid vacation is realized as something fantastic before. The tsar’s reaction is interesting, according to one of the government documents: “… the pliability shown by the oil owners… drew the attention of his imperial majesty the sovereign emperor, since this compliance may have extremely adverse consequences on other factory and factory districts”

N-Japanese war of 1904—1905 becomes the catalyst for many subsequent revolutionary events. The initial psychological reason for the confrontation with the ambitious Eastern Power is as follows. During a trip to Japan, Nicholas II receives saber blows from a samurai, who believes that excessive honor is given to a foreign emperor. The attacker dies three months after the sentence is pronounced (life imprisonment), but the monarch harbors a fierce grudge against all Japanese. The external reason is the unrestrained advance of the Russian troops in Korea, the construction of military fortifications, contrary to the treaties with Japan. In addition, the intention of the samurai to saddle the 450 millionth China and lay the foundation of the world superpower with unclear objectives, causes the desire to somehow stop them. Before that, in the First Japanese-Chinese War, as well, for control over Korea, the Japanese gain experience in waging war at sea with armored ships. In the autumn of 1894, a battle will take place at the mouth of the Yalu River (north-west coast of Korea), with approximately equal forces (12 and 18 pennants, respectively). Japan has 4 ships seriously damaged, 100 people killed. China loses 5 sunk cruisers, and 650 sailors. The Qing Empire wins the battle – drives the Japanese squadron away from the transport ships. However, fearing new demoralizing losses, the government of the Celestial Empire forbids the fleet to go to sea. In early 1895, the battle for Weihaiwei (now the administrative district of the PRC) will take place. The Japanese attack the surrounded Chinese fleet (27 pennants, two battleships of Italian construction), destroy it completely, together with 2000 sailors, losing 200 fighters and 2 destroyers. A serious shortcoming of the Chinese fleets is the lack of high-explosive fragmentation projectiles. Available armor-piercing pigs inflict minimal damage to the enemy. Russian officers do not bother themselves with a detailed analysis of instructive battles of the “Asian powers”. The photo shows a map of the alignment of forces and major battles of the Russo-Japanese War

Port Arthur is an important Russian naval base in China. Photograph of 1904. During the First Japanese-Chinese War of 1894, the city was captured, and Japanese troops showed incredible cruelty to civilians. A year later, at the request of the Russian empire patronizing China, Japan returns the territories. But, from this time on, the Japanese harbor anger toward Russia. The militarization of the Land of the Rising Sun is gaining an incredible scale. It should also be noted that in 1867 Japan successfully carried out the Meiji restoration (the westernization of society). If at one time American Indians would have done social and technical changes according to the progressive European model, then the presidents, or indeed, the leaders of North America, would now be Vinita and Chinganchguky. Unlike the Iroquois and Sioux, samurai find the strength to change in order to remain themselves. In 1897, by the sole decision of Nicholas the Second, contrary to the resolution originally agreed upon with Witte (to leave friendly China alone), a Russian squadron was advanced to Port Arthur. The ruling dynasty is unable to resist the invasion. The self-rule of the king does not benefit the relations of the two great powers. Since 1901, Russia has received a completely rebuilt military base on the part of the planet where serious passions are boiling, and where the interests of the Russian people themselves are viewed the least

On the night of February 9, 1904, without waiting for the government of Nicholas II to clarify the reasons for the deployment of Russian garrisons in Korea under the guise of foresters, despite the agreement, and not listening to the assurances in the style of “They-there-no,” Japan begins the war. Two days later, diplomats from the Land of the Rising Sun officially report on the state of affairs. Photography – shelling of the Russian fleet in Port Arthur, from the dominant heights. I must say that four out of every five 11-inch Japanese shells do not explode. This and other factors allow the Port Arthur garrison to last 320 days. The irretrievable loss of Russia – 10 thousand people, 23 thousand prisoners, Japan – 35 thousand dead

The armored cruiser “Thunderbolt” (“Gromoboy”), one of the best ships of the First Russian Squadron (and with a relatively happy fate). To enjoy your gaze. The manufacturer – the Baltic factory, St. Petersburg. It is quite characteristic of its time the ship was launched in 1899, put into operation a year later. The displacement is 12,500 tons, the length is 147 meters, the width is 21 meters, the total power of the machines is 15,500 hp, the travel speed is 36 km. hours, autonomous navigation distance of 15 000 km. The main armament is four 203 mm., Sixteen 152 mm., Twenty four 75 mm. guns, four torpedo tubes. Crew 872 people. During the battle in the Korean Strait, the cruiser loses 91 sailors killed, but remains on the move and, after repair, becomes operational. In 1922, “Thundercaster” was dismantled for metal. In the First Worldwide Ships with Mixed Weapons, Dreadnoughts are pressed, they are also battleships with a displacement of 17,000 tons, the main trump card of which are large-caliber guns (305 mm and above). Russia manages to produce several battleships for the Great War

Japanese torpedo boats. It is these small ships that, for reasons that are not completely understood, lead a mystical horror to Admiral Rozhdestvensky. During a hike to Vladivostok, off the coast of Great Britain (Dogger Bank district in the North Sea), at night, the commander orders open fire on English trawlers, who traditionally conduct fishery here and how much they look like Japanese destroyers. This incident costs Russia a loss of face, almost war with the queen of the seas, a lot of money, as well as the delay in following the squadron. Some researchers consider the incident a very skillful provocation. Britain refuses to let Russian ships through the Suez Canal, because of which the path becomes several thousand kilometers longer. The fleet does not have time to help the besieged Port Arthur. After receiving the news of the surrender of the garrison, he is sent to break through to Vladivostok

In May 1905, the famous Tsushima battle will take place. About 85 ships of the Japanese fleet are attacking the following 38 pennants of the 2nd Pacific squadron of Admiral Rozhdestvensky following Vladivostok. The Mikasa flagship gets 40 hits of large-caliber (305 mm.) Russian shells, but thanks to their stiff fuses and the excessively “safe for travel in the tropics” moisture of pyroxylin, it does not have any serious damage. Formed in the armor holes, the Japanese plug in traffic jams. The ships of the Pacific squadron, after several discouraging clashes, one by one break through to their destination, fight, are thrown on a sandbank, or surrender. Only three of them come to Vladivostok. Admiral Z. Rozhdestvensky, the carrier and distributor of sacrificially suicidal feelings throughout the Russian fleet, climbs aboard the Mikas… Japan loses two or three destroyers in this battle. In the photo – Japanese ships during the battle of Tsushima. Tsushima is a small island in the Korean Strait, and its name translates as “Donkey Ears.” In total, about one hundred main and auxiliary ships take part in the battles of the Russo-Japanese war from each side. The loss of the Russian fleet 64 pennants, the Japanese squadron 24. Most of the latter destroyed by mines. After exhaustion of forces (the Japanese foreign debt increases fourfold, the Russian one third) and the huge losses – the Japanese army – 80,000 killed, the Russian army 60,000, September 5, 1905, both sides, with the mediation of Theodore Roosevelt, make peace. The militarists receive half of Sakhalin, Korea and the territories of modern China.

The reasons for Russia’s defeat are the uncertainty of the goal of the war for the people, and so possessing significant undeveloped territories. The lack of initiative of Russian naval commanders. The maneuvers, the real combat training, are usually considered by them as an “game of war” unworthy of a respectable officer. The main thing – to keep the gloss and without unnecessary trouble to live to retirement. The transfer to the reserve of gunners who had learned to shoot accurately for 7 years – leaving them on long service would have meant an increase in salary. The Japanese artillerymen, while training, shoot two barrels of guns at full wear and remain in service, as the main value of the fleet. The content of explosive in Japanese projectiles, shimozy, is three times the mass of pyroxylin in Russian projectiles (48 kg. Vs. 15 kg. Of the main caliber). They deploy armor not with their kinetic energy, but, above all, with a powerful explosion. Russian shells are set to explode only after penetrating thick armor, very often they do not work when they hit a weakly armored hull or water. Correction of fire in this regard is extremely difficult (the effectiveness of the shooting is not assessed by the command in advance). The photo shows a hole from the explosion of a Japanese shell in the hull of a Russian ship. In addition, thick smoke shimozy closes optical devices sights and makes it impossible to efficient firing

The squadron battleship “Eagle” after the Tsushima battle in the Japanese port of Madzuru, 1905. According to averaged data, the ship receives two and a half times less hits than the “Mikasa”. However, these shells explode. Russia loses the war. As some consolation, it can be recalled that in 1915, Germany surrendered the strategic naval base of Qingdao to the Japanese. After another quarter of a century, Japan gets involved in a fight with Britain, the United States, New Zealand, China, and right up to the Battle of Midway Atoll in June 1942, confidently defeats them. To finally pacify the samurai, tank armads of the USSR in the Celestial Empire, landings on the Kuril Islands, and nuclear bombardments from the United States will be needed. Even more effective than bombs is domestic and foreign policy. In November 1941, the American government put forward an ultimatum: to clear China and a number of islands in the Pacific Ocean from the Japanese presence. The whole world knows about the terrible massacre in the city of Nanjing (1937), when within a month the samurai kill at least 250 thousand civilians. The list of war crimes is constantly growing. To save people, even distant and unfamiliar, from a horrible death is a weighty, but not the only reason to participate in the war. The second argument is the welfare of US citizens. The Yankees are confident that the government will take care to use the fruits of victory for their full prosperity. Indeed, with the end of the war, the dollar becomes the leading currency, and the Americans, for the most part, are the wealthiest people on the planet. Russian soldiers realize that in the event of triumph over Japan, they and the descendants would receive only a burden – feeding the eastern protectorate. The third success factor for the United States is a democratically organized society. To some extent, an effective feedback system works in the States Army. If the American commanders understood that something was wrong with their shells, undoubtedly, they would have found a way to bring this fact to the attention of the leadership.

The cruiser “Varyag” after the battle on the roads of the Korean port of Chemulpo becomes the hero of famous songs based on poems by the Austrian poet Rudolf Greinz. After the war, the Japanese climbed the ship from the seabed and assigned it the name “Soy.” Later, Russia buys Varyag. In 1917 he was under repair in the British port. In 1925 in Ireland, the sea, the ship breaks down from the towing cables and disappears in the depths. In the photo – “Varyag” as “Soya”

The battleship Potemkin-Tavrichesky, photo 1904. The ship was built in 1898 on the stocks of the Nikolaev Admiralty (Russian Empire). Displacement 13,500 tons. As it is known, on July 8, 1905, a conflict of officers, who by all means save their food for subordinates and ordinary sailors, leads to the armed seizure of an ironclad. For some time the ship rushed along the northern coast of the Black Sea, gathering around itself even a small squadron at the height of its glory. Over time, the enthusiasm of the sailors decreases, the team surrenders to the Romanian authorities. Greed and very low emotional intelligence of naval commanders, among other things, lead to a huge damage to Russia’s reputation on the world stage. For lovers of a happy ending there is a wonderful plot. One of the sailors of the battleship Potemkin, young Ivan Beshov, conjured over documents, moves from Romania to Ireland. Here he founds a network of popular (to date) “Fish & Chips” eateries, later “Beshoffs” and lives 104 years, until 1987

Virtually the only conductor of the First Russian Revolution (1905) is George Apollonovich Gapon (Agathon), a native of the Poltava province, a priest who decides to establish heaven on Earth by quite earthly means. In his youth, George tries to establish a church order dedicated to serving the people, but he does not receive blessings from the hierarchs. In cooperation with both the authorities and the parties of the Socialist Revolutionaries and the Bolsheviks, the revolutionary priest is taken to create a prototype of the trade unions. During the events of Bloody Sunday, Agafon is going to hand the petition directly to Nicholas the Second, so that it “would not be put on the shelf.” The main idea is the convocation of the national representation, a kind of Constituent Assembly, deciding questions of state life together with the king. Protesters, at the request of Gapon, do not even carry penknives with them. Soldiers meet the torrent of people with rifle fire. Passionate priest is wounded in the arm. In order to avoid arrest, Georgy Apollonovich emigrates to England, where he publishes the “Story of My Life”, dreams of overthrowing the existing system, purchasing transport with weapons for Petersburg workers. In the same place, Agafon meets with the leaders of the revolutionary movement, including Lenin, with whom he conducts detailed discussions. Over time, Gapon cools down somewhat and begins to reflect on the peaceful resolution of the conflict between the people and the authorities, develops the idea of cooperatives as an alternative to trade unions and the entire bureaucracy.

“Bloody Sunday”, January 21, 1905. The Tsar leaves St. Petersburg without bothering to appoint a representative to receive the petition. Just a day later, he was from Nicholas the Second to become Nicholas the Bloody – and even does not seem to understand what had happened. It is known that without loud protests and self-sacrifice nothing in this world changes. Doors open knocking. Prior to that, the Russian State Church has for centuries called the people to silent humility before earthly princes. Century after century flow in mental and physical slavery. Maybe this is the situation people take for the test of their long-suffering, which is necessary for entering Paradise?

Nicholas II on vacation, first, or already the last in a series of persons of blue blood. Actually, leisure, entertainment, beloved family or a mistress-ballerina occupy the first place in the list of affairs of the monarch. While the Russian society with shudder meets the news of the fall of Port Arthur, the king remembers scenes from past hunts, jokes and laughs. Characteristic entry in the diary, May 8, 1905. “Sunday. The day stood cold and gray. At 11 o’clock we went to dinner and had breakfast with everyone. Received a maritime report. Walked with Dmitry for the last time. Killed a cat. After tea, he received Prince Khilkov, who had just returned from a trip to the Far East. After lunch, we parted with Ella and the children and escorted them to the station. Returning home, engaged. “By the way, local peasants supply stray cats and dogs for royal hunting in the vicinity of the palace, by thousands. A day after the events of Bloody Sunday, Nikolai makes a short entry in his diary “Oh, how terrible and painful it is” – and goes on to describe the tea ceremony. By January 19, the confidants still persuade the emperor to talk to the common people. Reception of the delegation of 34 people held in Tsarskoye Selo. On the question of raising wages, the monarch replies that the workers themselves should negotiate with the industrialists. On the request for the reduction of the working day, he reports that he works a lot, and if the workers shorten the working day, they will start to engage in politics, and the king does not want to tolerate it. The task of the workers is to work, not to think about themselves. The king is aware of the needs of the workers, but must be tolerated. And, yes, literally: “I believe in the honest feelings of the working people and in their unshakable devotion to Me, and therefore forgive them their guilt …". The next day, Russian newspapers describe the reception of the king by the delegates. The workers are happy with the meeting and are completely happy.

The priest receives support from the Chairman of the Council of Ministers S. Witte and his subordinate, police officer S. Zubatov. For the creation and arrangement of legal workers’ organizations, the first Russian trade unions, large sums are allocated from the treasury. Agathon makes an appeal “To stop on the achieved”, and to build the future nevertheless, in cooperation with the state. The idea of interaction with the government, in the conditions of the fact that the Duma already exists and the parties legalized, George proposes to his acquaintances, militants – the Social Revolutionaries. This, quite a reasonable sentence “friends” perceive as an act of recruitment. In addition, the priest demands an open trial of himself. Here, perhaps, the financial frauds of one of the leaders of the Social Revolutionaries, and the real agent of the Security Department, Yevno Azef, would be revealed. The Black Azef gives the order to the Social Revolutionary Pinkhas Rutenberg to kill G. Agathon. This is happening, clumsily and cruelly, on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, on March 28, 1906. After the October Revolution, Rutenberg himself, fearing the flywheel of terror, which he himself made efforts to unwind, emigrated to Europe and Palestine, where he became one of the leaders of Jewish self-defense “Hagan”. In the photo – Sergei Zubatov, a revolutionary monarchist, the founder of the trade union movement in Russia. At the peak of his career, Sergei Vasilyevich loses mutual understanding with the leadership. In 1917, a retired officer is not able to survive the abdication of Nicholas

Rally in St. Petersburg, 1905 In the midst of the people high school students are visible (a characteristic semi-military form). The number of primary and secondary schools has increased from 1894 from 70 thousand to 105 thousand in 1915. To a large extent this is a merit of the First Russian Revolution. Less than a year after Bloody Sunday, October 30, there is a legislative assembly that guarantees the rights of citizens – the State Duma. The completely edible fruits of G. Agafon’s movement are as follows: 1) The formation of political parties, the creation of the State Duma, 2) The working day is limited at state-owned enterprises to 9.9 hours (about 42 minutes), 3) Reduction of the rent for land. The peasants are finally exempt from the payments for the purchase of land plots from landowners since 1861, 4) At least without enthusiasm, Nicholas II signs a document on freedom of assembly, speech and conscience, 5) The creation of cooperatives, trade unions, insurance companies protecting rights workers, 6) Peasants are exempted from corporal punishment, 7) The policy of Russification of the population is softened. According to S. Witte’s considerations, the state should cease to patronize the church dominant in Russia in order to push the latter to at least some kind of reforms. For ostentatious magnificence and ritual hiding the reluctance to communicate with people. The ROC refuses tedious spiritual leadership. The second consideration looks like real separatism. Russia should reject Asian and other foreign provinces in order to “even out the national composition” and thereby avoid many shocks.

The royal manifesto of October 17, 1905 – the proclamation of political freedoms and the formation of the Duma, makes contradictory impressions on Odessa. On the one hand, the demonstrators are tearing royal portraits, on the other, there is a semblance of the Religious procession; loyalists take an oath of loyalty to the throne. A procession of port workers heading for the cathedral comes under fire. The child carrying the icon dies. Jewish youth Black Shirt self-defense groups attack two other processions. As a result, Jewish pogroms erupt throughout the city and beyond. 400 representatives of this nationality die, tens of thousands lose their homes. Another step of the reaction is forcing opponents to abandon the Hutspa (a special sense of Jewish superiority). People realize that no one should consider themselves superior to others. In this case, the parties to the conflict are horrified by what happened, and swear not to repeat this. One can argue about methods and goals, but this is how Odessa consolidates its status as a cosmopolitan city.

One and a half months after the formation of the first convocation of the Duma, from December 20, 1905, two then-friendly parties, the RSDLP b) and the Left Social Revolutionaries, organized a political strike in Moscow. The main idea of Lenin and his associates – “the worse, the better.” No agreements with opponents or even possible allies, a boycott of the legislature, a course on terror and an armed uprising. 150 thousand people go on strike. Not working transport, institutions, shops. From December 22, government troops use artillery against militants blocked in the building. City authorities, as well as the townsfolk, withdraw from participation in the opposition. The rebels are supported by merchants – the Old Believers. The struggle of 8 thousand military men and 2 thousand Bolsheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries, and Caucasian students lasts 10 days. The losses of the rebels – 1 000, government troops – 120—130. As a result of this gradually fading small civil war, until 1911, 18,000 people were killed on both sides. Photography – artillery shelling barricades in the Presny area. The picture is apocalyptic. Moscow, December 1905

Barricade on Presnya Street (now Krasnaya Presnya), 1905, and its defenders. In addition to activists of the RSDLP (b) and left-wing Socialist Revolutionaries, militants of the Polish Socialist Party, the Finnish Party of Active Resistance, the Socialist Jewish People’s Party, the Bund, the Armenian Dashnaktsyutun, the Georgian National Democrats, the Latvian Forest Brothers, and many others, nominally Russian, participate in the fighting national socialist organizations

Barricade on Malaya Bronnaya Street, Moscow, December 1905. Random look at the camera. Hello! Randomly selected photo. It seems that the velvet walk with Mademausel N scheduled for this evening is canceled

See photos of the peaceful life of the Russian Empire (RI). Outdoor dining room, “obzhorka” for ordinary people, street children and free tramps. The main meal in such a fast food – not eaten from a nearby restaurant. Slices of sausage alternate with slices of bread, boiled eggs, herring, remnants of delicacies and “cheek”, cut from boiled bovine heads. With additional heat treatment, if necessary, it is not poison. You can have lunch in a “Swedish” or, more correctly, “Russian” table in just one or three kopecks. In the tavern with a rank higher, you will be fed to the dump for 25—30 kopecks. Salt is free. The saying of the relevant time – “In Russia, no one has ever starved to death”

Street drinking, photo 1904—1905 Central Russia. In the center of the exhibition is a serviceman who was injured an eye, presumably, during the Russian-Japanese war. The need for this kind of sedatives, in this case, can not cause any other emotions except deep sympathy. Song of Time – “On the hills of Manchuria” (listen) …вальс “На сопках Маньчжурии”

Coachers in sheepskin coats and felt boots for tea drinking, not dated photograph, 1910s. It seems that people are happy with what they already have. We found those who live well. To set for a while, pour into a deep saucer of strong sweet tea.

These Russian high-school students, with all the attributes of adulthood, are most likely not going to take the path of the revolutionary struggle. In the noisy hall of the restaurant. What is listening to our golden youth? Perhaps a romance performed by Nadezhda Plevitskaya “The Seagull” (1908)? Photo 1910 …Надежда Плевикая, романс Чайка, слушать

The best position in the world (1910—1914) is occupied by the workers and peasants of France. The franc is the leading currency of the planet, everywhere it is, even if you break the trade balance you can buy something useful. Having experienced more than one revolution, the Empire (or the Republic, anyway) is inclined to share goodness with its French citizens in the colonies. The United States is gazing at France, also wishing to raise the “bucks” to an inaccessible height. The workers of North America do not feel, as they say, “ordinary people.” Like ordinary soldiers of Napoleon, they carry marshal batons in their satchels. Every American is free to join the national sport – free enterprise. For this, there are conditions, including the laws that go to man (and not against him), and the Spirit of Success that is made up of many stories and myths. And yes, besides the marshal’s batons, US citizens have something hotter. “Since a well-organized militia is necessary for the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms should not be violated” (Second Amendment to the Bill of Rights, 1791). Both the state and the capitalist ministers are forced to take this into account. Ironically, England, the cradle of European democracy from the 11th century, ranks only third in the ranking. The last revolution took place in the time of Oliver Cromwell. The local aristocracy and the bourgeoisie have the ambition and privileges, the colonial benefits are unevenly distributed, the social elevators are stalled. As a result – the difficult situation of workers. Since 1910, waves of rallies and strikes have rolled through the Foggy Albion. Sometimes some people throw stones at the trains, switch the railroad switches, and cut off the telegraph lines. Authorities use force. In August 1911, 5 protesters died. Photography – striking transport workers (railway workers), Wales, August 22, 1911

The authorities send cavalry to the miners’ strike… A young bulldog interferes in the course of events (excuse me, this is a common, and not at all offensive, nickname) Winston Churchill. “If the soldiers start shooting at civilians, it will be a disaster.” It seems that the events of “Bloody Sunday” in Russia are reaching first of all the consciousness of British politicians. Receiving the appropriate instructions, respected by the people, the police calm the demonstrators. Both the bourgeoisie and the government are making concessions. Before crumpled up, the dialogue between citizens and the authorities resumes. Such a course of events is possible when the national composition of the country is fairly homogeneous. The same France, after the Second World War, opened the door to the flow of migrants from the colonies, has collided, and will still face many un-acceptable in principle requirements. In the photo – workers of coal mines stop the strike. England, Wales, 1911. It’s time to drink a little whiskey

Not only terrorist revolutionaries throw fuel into the fire of the Civil War. On the photo is the Aleksandrovsky mine of the Lenzoloto joint-stock company, 1910. More than 70% of the shares of a profitable enterprise (production is hundreds of tons) belong to the English company Lena Goldfield ltd. To be precise, the managing director of the “partnership” is Baron Alfred Goratsievich Ginzburg, director of the board M.E. Meyer, G.M. Shamnanyer, and the like. Working day – at least 11.5 hours, excluding time to the road to the mine and back. Weekend – one or two per month. Salary – 1,5 – 2,5 rubles per day. Cherry on the cake – the highest injury and heavy fines for any reason

To the call of the workers to stop supplying them rotten meat, the search administration refuses. Activists create a strike committee and stop metal mining. On April 4, 1911, a rally of two thousand people with “conscious notes” will take place (the prosecutor demands that each worker hand over the confirmation of the petition to him personally). At this time, the captain of the Gendarme Corps (a kind of modern Rosgvardia) someone Treshchenkov gives the order to the soldiers to open fire to kill. 270 people die. The event has a wide resonance. In the end, the workers leave the “black spot”, the mines are empty, and the capitalists stuck in stupid greed are left with nothing

A protest rally in St. Petersburg, Nevsky Prospect, April 15, 1912. Note that the capital of the great “Eurasian” Empire looks quite decent. There are electric lights on the streets, almost indistinguishable from modern trams go… still can be very good. Lady N or X or Y, agree to come on a date today. To begin with, we will talk about revolutionaries and the great future of the Russian Republic. Girls like romantic, not like everyone, conspirators

A protest demonstration, April 15, 1912, in connection with the shooting of workers at the Lensky mine. Irkutsk Province. The photograph shows senior students. We see marked by the stamp of anger, but also quite humane faces. Are you among them? Where will fate lead these people from 1917? In Russia, civil society, bar associations and deputies are being formed, ready to intercede for the people. But public consensus is still weak, as if a nestling had just been hatched. It is quite possible that, step by step, the Russian ethnos would have come to this state of things, which now exists in America. Former slaves, black citizens of the United States, now have almost more rights than white Americans, ex-gentlemen. In any case, there are reasons to bow to the opinion that any serious changes for the better do not go without manifestations and human victims. The preacher Martin Luther King, the American equivalent of the Russian George Agathon, dies in 1968 from a sniper’s bullet. The subsequent powerful wave of black unrest for a long time, if not forever closes the topic of official racial segregation. As we will see later, the reconciliation of the social strata of Russia has for some time been actively hampered by a certain ethnic group. First place in the top 10 songs of the time – “Varshavyanka” 1905 (listen)

The cultural life of pre-revolutionary Russia is developed, although it is marked by one-sidedness. The first feature film made in Russia – “Poniznaya Freemen” or “Stenka Razin and the Princess” lasts 6 minutes. Since the release of the film on the screens of “electro-theaters” in 1908, Russian cinema has begun to catch up with Europe and the USA in terms of the quantity and quality of films. For the year removed 150—200 gaming and popular science tapes. Already in 1911, the full-length film “Defense of Sevastopol”, 100 minutes, was released in the film company A. Khanzhonkov. Producers, scriptwriters and directors are addicted to the themes of life in high society – like “Anna Karenina” (1914), “Noble Nest” (1915), “Queen of Spades” (1916) – and all that jazz. There is no so-called “common man” of such independent Charlie Chaplin characters aspiring to social justice, adapted to Russian realities. Photography – shot from the film “Stenka Razin and the Princess”, 1908

The auditorium of one of the St. Petersburg cinemas. People gathered here can be workers, merchants, industrialists, girls of easy virtue, romantic grammar-school girls and cadets of military schools. Cinema unites all. But, alas, only to a certain extent. … Where does the notorious N go?

The room of the projectionist in one of the Russian “electro-theaters”, 1912—1914. Apparently, the technique already looks quite technologically. “What are you doing now?” We ask the projectionist. Since 1914, the image of the Little Tramp is shown on the screens of world cinemas. Refinement, clothes and a cane of a gentleman are combined with low social status. In addition to laughter, there are true crepes – warmth and love. Now, in the spring of the fourteenth year, we can already see “Children’s car racing.” The highest achievement of Charlie Chaplin, actor, screenwriter and director – “Lights of the big city” (1931). How to reach such heights? Let us read an excerpt from Charles’s letter: “… I learned what hunger is, what it is to not have a roof over my head. Moreover, I experienced the humiliating pain of a wanderer-jester, in whose chest a whole ocean of pride was raging, and this pride hurt hurled coins. And yet I am alive, so leave it. Better talk about you. After your name – Geraldine – should be my last name – Chaplin. With this surname for more than forty years, I am amused people on earth. But I cried more than they laughed. Geraldine, in the world in which you live, there is not only dancing and music! At midnight, when you leave the huge hall, you can forget the rich fans, but do not forget to ask the taxi driver, who will take you home, about his wife. And if she is pregnant, if they have no money for diapers for an unborn baby, put the money in his pocket. I ordered the bank to pay these your expenses. But all others pay strictly on the bill. From time to time, take the subway or bus, go on foot and explore the city. Look at the people! Look at widows and orphans! And at least once a day, say to yourself: ‘I am the same as they are.’ Yes, you are one of them, girl! Moreover. Art, before giving a person wings so that he can fly up, usually breaks his legs. And if a day comes when you will feel higher than the public, immediately leave the stage …”.

The photograph is frozen in time by the trading house of the Eliseevs, St. Petersburg, Nevsky Prospect, 56, presumably 1912—1914. One of the most famous auditoriums of the capital of Ingushetia is located here. Come in now. Carefully move the square, there are still no traffic lights. A languid evening can be crowned with a trip to a restaurant with Mrs. Y. “Vienna”, Pea 8, or “Astoria” on Morskoy 39? Walk so walk. “European” on Mikhailovskaya 1. There are rooms for guests. See photos of restaurants of old Petersburg, dear reader. Do you think she will agree? Returning to the theme of Charlie Chaplin, we note that in the countries of the Anglo-Saxon world a unique system of counterbalances has been developed, which allows one to restrain the self-conceit of the Jewish people and sublimate it into something really valuable. The song of time – “Hey, the driver, drive to Yar”, performed by A. Tkachev (listen). …“Эй ямщик, гони ка к Яру”, А. Ткачев

From October 1910, part of the Khodynsky field was transferred to the Moscow Society of Aeronautics. Flights on airplanes become a kind of spectacle, the attraction “takes off, does not take off?”. Four years later, from the form of entertainment, aviation will turn into a new, terrifying and awe weapon. At first, French aircraft were used in Russia, but already in 1913, the Russian-Baltic Plant (present-day Riga) produced the world’s first heavy, or even the strategic bomber Ilya Muromets (option – a comfortable passenger airliner). Photography – Khodynskoe field, 1910

Book store A. Zinserling, department of fiction. Petersburg, 1913 Book publishing in pre-revolutionary Russia is at a high level. In particular, the reader receives thick, beautifully illustrated, informative and entertaining popular science journals. Periodicals of the late Soviet period seem only to be their faded reflections. I guess this is a good place to meet intelligent ladies.

Writer Leo Tolstoy in a relaxed position at the railway station, 1909. Russian literature of that time is busy clarifying the relationship between a man and a woman (with a dog, or not) in high society. The worker, the peasant, the soldier are presented as passing, insignificant figures. In the noble nest, the young lady reprimands her husband, “Well, why, why didn’t you know how to understand me?” – at that time, one must assume, a peasant child dies nearby, without medical assistance. The latter simply falls out of sight of the literary aristocrats. The young nobleman bypasses the homes of “his” peasants, criticizes them for the wretchedness of life and morals. Definitely, Leo Tolstoy himself is indignant when an elderly and sick peasant, that’s terrible, asks for permission to sit down in the presence of the landowner. The topic of the centuries-long enslavement of Russians by Russians is considered not so forbidden, but definitely not comme il faut. Silence awakens the terrible Beast

Grocery store of pre-revolutionary Russia. It seems now earlier morning. In the foreground – fish and canning departments. Next – groceries and fruit. Come in, we have everything for you. Or do you not like the smell of fish? Catfish, kilogram 20 kopecks., Salmon 80 kopecks., Black granular caviar, kilogram 3 p. 50 kop., Red 2 p. 50 kopecks If you are a good worker, a liter pot of first-class caviar is the essence of your two-day salary. In addition, across the road is the Venskoye draft beer, 10 kopecks a liter. Today is a day off, you can walk

Shop of the Russian electric society “Dynamo”. Department of lamps. Fontanka Embankment 65, 1911. The look pleases the abundance of electric lamps of various designs. After 10 years, the Bolsheviks create a legend about their exceptional role in the electrification of Russia. The so-called “Illich lamp” is an incandescent lamp whose cartridge is attached to the ceiling and hangs down. The lampshade of such a lamp is missing. The switch, if any, is located in the body of the cartridge

Petersburg, Liteyniy Prospekt 43, 1914. As can be seen, with taste, high-quality outdoor advertising does not spoil, as they say now, the “historical appearance of buildings”. The appearance of Russian stores, their quite rich content is not inferior to the same establishments in London, Paris, Berlin or Vienna… Let’s walk here with an attractive man of the opposite sex? Dear young lady, do you know that I am from the future? Yes, the year 2019. Would you like to ask me anything? About the revolution?

The Russian national bourgeoisie before the October Revolution of 1917 were, in general, quite good, prudent and hard-working people. But the Russian bourgeois are not the vanguard of the revolutionary movement, as in Europe. Some of them are trying to direct the process of social transformations, donating money to terrorists, Social Revolutionaries, Bolsheviks. However, steel is stronger than gold. In such an interaction, the one who holds a revolver or bomb in his hand soon becomes the main one. The offspring of Russian industrialists, merchants do not want to get involved in the intrigues of intrigue. They do not have their own, secret or explicit organization. The purpose of life is to meet a lady from high society, go to a restaurant, organize a chic party, and the like. Photography – bourgeois of Chelyabinsk, 1910

The king, who was fenced off from the people, his closest circle, the family, subconsciously, nonetheless, are looking for some common points with common people. At this time, Grigory Rasputin, a native of Tobolsk Province, the son of a driver and, perhaps, not an ordinary person, travels a lot around Russia, visits Mount Athos and Jerusalem. He arrives in Moscow, where the bishops accept him. They spread a rumor about the abilities of “God man.” The good news reaches the ears of the Empress. At the tea party, November 1, 1905, the first meeting of the emperor and ladies of high society with Rasputin takes place. Further meetings with the entire imperial family are held once a month. Not that the king loved the pilgrim with all his heart, but he is the only one who can calm Alix’s tantrums with his power. Gregory publishes readable works for his time – “The Life of an Experienced Wanderer”, “My Thoughts and Thoughts”. Among the prophecies of 1916, the most important thing is the testament: “… I feel that I must die before the New Year. But I want, nevertheless, to reveal to the Russian people, the Father, Mother Russian and the Children, what they have to do. If I will be killed by simple robbers, by my brothers, Russian peasants, then you, Tsar of Russia, do not be afraid, stay on the throne and rule, and do not fear for your children, for they will reign for another hundred years and beyond. If the nobles kill me, then my blood will remain in their hands, and they will not be able to wash it off for 25 years (until 1941). They will have to leave Russia. Then the brothers will kill the brothers, and kill each other. And 25 years will not be nobles in the state. … If your relatives lead to my death, then no one from your family – neither children nor relatives will survive in two years. They will all be killed by the Russian people …». Photography – Rasputin in the aristocratic circle

In 1912, the Second Balkan War begins. Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Montenegro push the Great Porto, strive to pinch off a piece and from each other. The forces of the parties – Turkey 475 thousand people, the Balkan Union – 620 thousand. Battles are fierce. In the course of the first time go combat aircraft; they drop bombs on ships. The Balkans besieged the native Turkish cities, approaching Istanbul, bring turmoil into the souls of the Ottomans, give rise to a political crisis. The losses are 30 thousand people killed on each side. Turkey is losing its possessions in Europe. Serbia never gets access to the sea. Now it is hampered by Albania, which was formed from the “nobody’s” territory, as well as Austria-Hungary, which has entered for this newly formed country. Russia collects donations, provides the Balkan Union of volunteer pilots, makes diplomatic efforts, but, by and large, does not interfere in the conflict. The reason for this – the influence of Grigory Rasputin on the king. Exhortations of the “common man” put off the beginning of the First World War for two years. Photography – Serbian guns in a combat position

Serbia and its surrounding countries in 1913. More recently, on the site of Albania and Macedonia, the possessions of the powerful Ottoman Empire extended. Serbia is freed from the protectorate of Porta, seizes land inhabited by recollected peoples, but, at the insistence of Austria-Hungary, stops at some distance from the coveted Adriatic Sea. This situation is very, very disliked by the Serbs. Radical sentiments are ripening in society. The government cannot and does not seem to want to fight the ubiquitous terrorist organization Black Hand.

Peter L. Bark (1869—1937), ethnic Balt, the last Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire, the initiator of the introduction of the inhuman “Prohibition”. What should he say if it suddenly became possible? It is a pity, he probably will not hear you, now he will turn around and tapping with a cane, podachaet in the restaurant “Maxim”. Since 1920, Peter L. is in perpetual emigration. Next, the ex-minister accepts British citizenship, is awarded the title of knight and baronet. Photography – Peter Bark, Paris, 1915

On July 12, 1914 in the village of Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk Province, the mentally ill Khioniya Guseva stabs Rasputin with a knife. Three years later, this woman will be released from the hospital. In 1919 she would make an attempt on the life of Patriarch Tikhon. Thereafter, her tracks in History are lost. Rasputin is in the Tyumen hospital until August 17, and this time he is unable to reason with the tsar. Its main provisions sound crazy in this world. This is a rejection of foreign Poland and the Baltic states, a withdrawal from the Russian-French-British alliance, a separate peace with the then sane Germany. Somewhat later, on December 16, 1916, Gregory was killed in the Yusupov Palace, from the bullets of Russian nobles and (control shot in the head) by British agent Oswald Rainer. England wants Russia to wage this war. An alternative version – Dmitry Pavlovich (Romanov), cousin of Nicholas II, sends a bullet in the forehead. Empress Alexandra gives the order to arrest the murderers. But, they all possess immunity as the highest nobles, and, after the intervention of the king, “in order not to provoke society,” are released. Photo, from left to right, prince (and, by the way, homosexual) Felix Yusupov, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, grandson of Alexander II

The queue before the institution “Treasury wine shop.” The photo was taken in 1914, shortly before the disastrous “Prohibition”. The first swallow arrives in the people on July 16 of the same year – a regulatory act, a royal decree on the complete prohibition of the trade in alcohol during the mobilization period. The confirmation follows as the “Highest Commandment (Sovereign Emperor) of August 22, 1914” On the extension of the prohibition of the sale of alcohol, wine and vodka for local consumption in the Empire until the end of wartime”. Consumption of alcohol is reduced from 4.7 liters per capita per year to 0.3 liters. (now 12 l.) Other warring European countries, despite the fact that they drink there no less than in Russia (or even much more, like in France), they don’t even think to introduce anything like that

Peasants, petty bourgeoisie, part of the bourgeoisie have to forget about the times of cultural wine drinking, companionship in taverns, fraternization classes. Hundreds of distilleries are being closed or repurposed. 300,000 people employed in this industry lose their jobs. A photo for memory – restaurant “Kontan”, Moika Embankment, 58, 1913. Oh, what are all these self-confident, respectable people. Where will they be after just five years? What should they tell? Even two years later, if they remain alive, respectable gentlemen will be ready to give up all their fortunes for a single boiled chicken.

However, trade in alcohol, according to special articles of the Resolution, continues in restaurants of the first category and aristocratic clubs. In other words, the nobility, as well as the priesthood, does not affect the Russian “dry law”. This state of affairs, as a matter of course, causes a split in society. Further, if in 1913 the income from the sale of alcohol makes up 28% of the state budget, then in 1916 (the peak of the military campaign) 1.5%. The peasants, with very low efficiency, allow a significant part of the grain to produce mash and moonshine. Hidden consumption of alcohol (extremely poor quality) increases many times. Above all, previously law-abiding citizens become accustomed to the thought of opposing the state, which sets a non-child term of five years for moonshine making. In the capital of the Empire, power over the minds of civilians and the military, firmly occupied by cocaine. The city on the Neva becomes the recognized center of the criminal world. The photograph – a banquet of Russian officers, 1916

The state of things in the world on the eve of the First World War. England seems to be the tip of the iceberg, in comparison with its numerous and generally well developed colonies (burgundy color). The area of the Empire – 32 million square meters. km., population, including Aboriginal people – 480 million people. It is followed by France (blue) with its 39 million citizens and Portugal (dense green). Russia – the largest continental power area of 22 million square meters. km and a population of 170 million people (1916). The area of the German Empire (brown) before the Great War is 0.55 million square meters. km., population 68 million people. Its closest ally is Austria-Hungary, 0.7 million sq. M. km., population 53 million people. Once the founder of the Second Reich (since 1866, from the Battle of Sadow), Chancellor Bismarck urges the German people not to get involved in the seizure of colonies, so as not to lose blood purity. But, for some time now, Germany has taken over the territory in Africa. Its appetites are hampered by Britain and France, which have already divided the Black Continent between themselves. But this is not the main thing. In Germany, the generation of 43-year-olds has been shaken, from the moment of birth (1871) who did not know what a real war is – and who yearn for it. The Germans like to fight, this is their national hunt. Such sentiments dominate throughout Europe. In addition to Russia, the people of which are nauseated at war with Japan and are more concerned with their own problems.

Paris first half of 1914 in color. In all of Europe, the war between civilized, cohesive economic and cultural ties and states remains unthinkable. In sophisticated Vienna, you drink coffee in a street cafe, smiling at passersby. In Berlin, you read a newspaper, eat a sausage with cabbage, drink a delicious beer – and no one bothers you. After moving to London, you rent a room with a view of Big Ben – and the receptionist does not care if you are English, Russian, German, Italian or Hungarian. This is the case throughout Europe, until July 28, 1914. A month earlier, headlines appear about the murder of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and his wife. The capital of Bosnia, Sarajevo? Show it on the map – Herr, Monsieur, Sir… Why should this disturb us?

After the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, the Serbian government agrees with all the points of the German ultimatum, except for just admitting the Austrian police to its territory. In response, on July 28, the Austro-Hungarian heavy artillery begins shelling Belgrade. The idea – just play muscles, not implemented. At the same time, infantry units of Austria-Hungary, with the support of gunboats, are organizing a crossing over the Danube. The photograph shows the calculation of a large-caliber mortar before the start of the war, in the vicinity of Belgrade. The end of July – the beginning of August 1914.

Began… Austrian guns bombard Belgrade, July 28, 1914

Already on July 31, general mobilization is announced in Russia. At that time, such a behavior of a country means its imminent, inevitable entry into the war. The German Kaiser issues an ultimatum to Nicholas II on the return of the status quo. The king responds to Wilhelm with a meaningless telegram, and considers that his duty fulfilled. In addition, the Russian sovereign cherishes the idea of the straits of the Bosporus and Dardanelles, the Mediterranean islands, which can only be captured in the context of a major war. The movement of troops also ensures a strong attachment of the Russian aristocracy to foreign capital, owning 90% of profitable enterprises in Russia. Some historians still believe that Nicholas II acted wisely, without stopping mobilization, showed solidarity with foreign friends. All of us should be judged by the fruits. In just four years, the Russian Empire, outside of valor and glory, will lose 40% of European territory, and a reasonable king in this century will end his days in the Ipatiev house. In the photo – mobilized workers. August 1914. Music of the time – “Farewell of the Slav” (listen) …“Прощание славянки”, слушать

To a certain extent, the mood of the street also influences the decisions of Nikolai Romanov. In conservative Russia, where there has long been an acute shortage of at least some news, almost any event meets with joy. In the cities of the Empire dominated by a patriotic attitude. Just a month later, with news of the first major casualties, this attitude will change to a deep despondency.

Germany declares war on France on August 3, 1914. The bases of the decision are partial mobilization in this country, as well as the “air bombardments of Germany” invented by Berlin. A day later, German troops invade Belgium, which refused to give an ultimatum to pass the German forces to the border with France. A real, full-scale war begins, to which, at its discretion, more and more new countries of the planet join. The Germans are extremely annoyed with the unexpected resistance of a small but proud country. Their artillery destroys everything in front of them. The behavior of the soldiers in the occupied territories even then resembles the actions of the Wehrmacht and the SS in the East during the Second World War. In total, 60,000 Belgian soldiers and as many civilians are killed in this massacre. Photo – outskirts of Antwerp destroyed by shells, autumn 1914

Antagonistic blocks are formed. Entente – Great Britain, French Republic, Russian Empire. The fourth alliance is the Germanic, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman empires, and, yes, the Bulgarian kingdom, recently liberated from the Ottoman yoke. The battle involved 38 independent states. The new trend in the organization of hostilities – the massive use of machine guns. These rapid-fire, deadly, compact mechanisms capable of destroying soldiers in the tens and hundreds, within one minute. Even after the most brutal artillery preparation, in the trenches as many machine guns and fighters are searched as necessary to shoot the next platoon, company, battalion, regiment or division. Photography – German machine-gunners bombard Russian soldiers forcing the Vistula, 1914

According to the allied German-Turkish treaty of August 2, 1914, on August 10 of the same year, the German cruisers “Goeben” and “Breslau” enter the Dardanelles. Almost immediately the army and fleet of the Ottomans fell under the control of the Germans. The Minister of War of Turkey, Ismail Enver, better known as Enver Pasha, literally of his own accord, in November of the same year, declares a “holy war” to the countries of the Entente. However, such a decisive act is consistent with the desires of the majority of Turks who are dissatisfied with the fact that earlier Britain and France have taken over the territory of the Great Porte. Russia, with which Turkey has 20 wars of various degrees of tension, also falls into the number of enemies. With the Germans, then not so ardent colonialists, the Turks formed cordial relations lasting for the time being. Photography – German cruiser “Goeben” on the roads of Istanbul, 1914

From August 7, France invades Alsace and Lorraine, a former province lost during the Franco-German war of 1870—71. It was here that the French command expected to meet the main attack. However, by the end of August the French army could not withstand the counterattacks of the reserve German forces and retreated. Above all, these military units of the Republic are needed in the main sector of the enemy’s breakthrough – in Belgium. Germanic armies sweep away everything in their path and clearly intend to take Paris in giant ticks

Germany succeeds primarily due to the large-scale use of heavy artillery. Neither France, nor Britain, nor Russia for some reason paid due attention to the development of this area of military affairs. Photography – German 170 mm. gun fires in the vicinity of the river Marne

From August 17, at the request or at the insistence of the Allies, Russia will proceed to active hostilities in East Prussia. The offensive has initial success. In the battle of Gumbinnen (the current city of Gusev, Kaliningrad Region), the Germans lose 14,000 men, the advancing Russians – 16,000. The German command issues an order to transfer 120,000 troops from the Western Front. What happened saves Paris and France, but Russia suffers a cruel defeat. The two advancing along divergent directions the Russian armies neglect reconnaissance, are partially surrounded and destroyed. The front stabilizes at the positions preceding the attack. In total for the East Prussian operation of 1914, the German troops lose 25,000 people killed, the Russians – 42,000, and 100,000 prisoners

Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia on August 6. After a series of border battles, on August 18, the army of General Brusilov developed an offensive and in 6 days overcomes 90—100 km. Reflecting several counterattacks, the Russian units make a dash through the Carpathians. The front stabilizes after contact with reinforcements from the German Empire. Austro-Hungarian troops lose 100,000 people killed, the same number of prisoners. Russia’s irretrievable loss – 60,000 people, 40,000 prisoners. The number of light and medium guns per thousand soldiers in the Russian army is only slightly less than in the German one. As already mentioned, the situation with heavy artillery is much worse. Here the score is 10 to 1 in favor of the Germans. The countries – participants of the conflict, develop their stocks of projectiles by the end of 1914. The weapon plants of the German Empire succeed in overcoming the shell hunger faster than the others. The photo shows a Russian artillery battery in Galicia, 1914.

Russian soldiers on a halt in Galicia. In this region, Russia’s presence is justified by getting rid of the genocide of the inhabitants of the region, once called Chervonnaya Rus. Even then, the actions of the Austro-Hungarians are similar to the punitive operations of the SS and Ukrainian collaborations in World War II. In total, in Galicia, before the arrival of the Russian troops, and after their departure, 60,000 Ruthenians were killed in the villages circled in red pencil on the map with mass executions. The surviving Austrians, Hungarians, Poles, are commanded to call themselves “Ukrainians, and only Ukrainians.” After the experienced shock, Galicia turns into its opposite, for a long time, if not forever, becomes an outpost of the forces hostile to Russia. So, in the fields of this region Russian soldiers feel the importance of their mission and fight well. Another thing is that for their heroism, the rank and file do not receive at least any material compensation. Pay attention to the song of time: Galician fields, performance by V. Ulin (listen) …“Галицийские поля”, В. Улин, слушать

Japan hears the admonitions of the British government, and with considerable energy enters the war on the side of the Entente on August 23, 1914. An ultimatum ordering Germany to free Qingdao’s naval base (not so far from the once Russian Port Arthur), Shandunsky Peninsula, and other Pacific colonies, the Kaiser government rejects with indignation. Japan carries out a methodical bombardment of a German base from large-caliber guns, as well as, for the first time in the world, bombardment from hydroplanes (a floating base is the first aircraft carrier similarity). The picture shows the flagship Suvo, a Japanese squadron blocking Qingdao, the former Victory seized in Port Arthur. The production ship of the Baltic plant (1900) looks quite impressive.

Japan’s entry into the war allows Russia to transfer Siberian and Far Eastern divisions to the European theater of operations. For its western neighbor, the Land of the Rising Sun is becoming a major supplier of weapons and raw materials. As a sign of reconciliation, the Japanese return two battleships and a cruiser captured during the Russo-Japanese WarOn the photo are Japanese soldiers equipping a position for a siege weapon. Qingdao, 1914

The German garrison has only 4,000 men. The morale of command and soldiers is high. Meanwhile, from September 12, the race begins to capture the German Pacific possessions. The Japanese are tidying up the hands of the Caroline, Mariana, Marshall Islands. Landing on Samoa, and those a little ahead of the insatiable samurai, units of New Zealand. Britain hardly reconciles the parties to the clinch. In May 1915, Japan put forward a number of requirements, essentially turning great China into a dependent country. Beijing has to accept this shameful ultimatum. From now on, the Japanese are free to live in the Middle Kingdom, move around its territory, establish various enterprises, and rent land plots as they like. Photography – German machine-gun crew, around Qingdao, summer-autumn 1914

British naval commanders are skeptical of a new type of weapon – submarines. Their delusions are scattered on September 22, 1914, when the German U-9 submarine (type U-5 Series II) sends three British armored cruisers to the bottom for one and a half hours. British ships patrol the North Sea when one of them, the Abukir, is hit by torpedoes. Initially, the British explain the explosion by the action of a sea mine. The two cruisers, in spite of the signals from the captain “Abukir” who understood the mistake, are approaching to lift the sailors aboard. Maneuvering, U-9 takes the most advantageous position to attack. Almost all of her torpedoes find targets. Thus, a submarine with a displacement of 600 tons, a crew of 28 people and a total of six torpedoes destroys three cruisers with a displacement of 36,000 tons and 1,459 sailors without loss. The British Admiralty is reviewing its dogmas. The photo – German open-sea submarine, type U-5 Series II

So, on September 1, 1914, the 1st German Army, 40 kilometers short. to Paris, turns to the east and pursues the British to the river Marne (60—80 km. east of the capital). Bridges not blown up by the British seem to instill in German soldiers faith in never-passing fortune. Throwing away the thought that a significant part of the forces had been deployed on the Eastern Front, the German forces were organizing a pursuit. The French themselves are preparing to withdraw beyond the Seine River. But the commandant of Gallieni, who is responsible for the defense of Paris, having received air reconnaissance data, under personal responsibility, convinces the French commander-in-chief to launch a counterattack. The battle erupted on September 6 at the tributaries of the Marne. A day later, the standoff culminates. At some time it seems that the French are suffering a crushing defeat. Reinforcements from the colonies can be transferred to the front line thanks to the dedication of the French taxi drivers. More than 600 of the Renault AG-1 taxis mentioned in this picture make 2 flights each, bringing the soldiers almost to the battlefield.

.Deprived of reserves, the German field marshal withdraws troops from a vast area of the front. It also does not remain unnoticed by the allies. The French and the British are wedged into the gap between the German armies. Both sides are extremely exhausted. In the end, the German units depart 60 kilometers, on September 12 they occupy the defenses along the banks of the rivers Ain and Vel. Front stabilized. Perhaps for the first time in the history of wars, troops create solid lines of defense for hundreds of kilometers. The irretrievable losses of France are 80,000, Great Britain – 2,000, Germany – 75,000. The photograph shows French troops in the vicinity of the Marne River, September 1914.

In order to help its defeated Austro-Hungarian allies, Germany is organizing an offensive against the then Russian Poland. From September 28, 1914, the German armies inflict a number of powerful blows on the Russian corps and, in spite of their own high losses, reach the outskirts of Warsaw. Here the allies get stuck in positional battles and miss the counteroffensive of the Russian armies. Organized waste sometimes turns into a total escape. By November 8, Austro-Hungarian and German troops occupy the line of defense preceding the offensive. Allies lose 35,000 people, 23,000 prisoners, Russia – 32,000. In the photo – Russian troops force the Vistula

Famous photograph of the First World War, the British military among the forest, destroyed by German artillery. Flanders, autumn 1914. The battle on Marne organically flows into “Running to the Sea” – a chain of battles in Flanders (western Belgium), which aim to outflank the enemy. By November 15, the front is buried in the North Sea and stabilized. Over 700 km. parties to the conflict equip rows of trenches, barbed wire, dugouts and long-term gun emplacements

Somehow it happened that, despite all the efforts, Germany is not a great maritime power. However, newcomers are lucky. Perhaps that is why, on November 1, 1914, the battle at the Chilean port of Coronel is in favor of the Open Sea Fleet. Two armored, three light German cruisers are engaged in raiding. Their main goal is to prevent the admission of Chilean nitrate to British weapons factories. The forces of the English seem to be commensurate; two armored and two light cruisers. The undoubted courage of the British admiral Cradock prevails over his prudence. The squadron is sent to intercept the Germans are not sufficiently prepared, not in full force. Grand Fleet attacks in the evening, when its ships are illuminated by the setting sun, and the Germanic gray-painted cruisers hide the dark background of the coast. The Scharnhorst and the same type Gneisenau, whose commanders, in contrast to most British reservists, received excellent training, achieve hits of 210 mm and 150 mm. airborne guns. Two armored cruisers are sailing to the bottom. It is still in the custom of time to rescue teams of sunken enemy ships, but this is not the case. In icy, 9—10 degrees Celsius water, 1654 British sailors die. Sanitary losses of the German fleet – two wounded. On the photo is the German armored cruiser Scharnhorst.

…At the opposite theater of military operations, before the commandant of Qingdao decides on the surrender of the fortress, the Japanese spend tens of thousands of large-caliber shells on this fort. When trying to break through the German destroyer torpedoes the Japanese cruiser. However, on November 7, 1914, after the depletion of ammunition stocks, Qingdao capitulated. The human irretrievable loss of Germany is 300 people against 1200 in Japan. However, the Europeans for the second time, after the Russian Empire, are defeated by the ambitious East Asian tiger. Europe and the United States are on their guard. Photography – the Japanese visiting the German citadel. In the foreground are carts containing charges for large-caliber guns.

Since July 28, the Austro-Hungarian units have advanced some distance in Serbia, but already on August 19 they have suffered a crushing defeat. The second, more powerful wave of the Austrian offensive, November 30, 1914, overwhelms Belgrade. Ammunition and foodstuffs from France and Russia allow the capital to be liberated by December 15, 1914. The front stabilizes at the frontier of the Sava and Drina rivers. In total, by this time the Austro-Hungarian Empire was losing 28,000 people killed, 46,000 prisoners, Serbia – 22,000 permanently, 19,000 prisoners. In the photo – the Serbian soldiers in the trenches. Neighborhood Kolubar, November 16, 1914

So, after the Turkish fleet fired on the Russian cities of Sevastopol, Odessa, Feodosiya and Novorossiysk, on November 11—12, 1914, Russia declared war on Turkey. Three days later the same declare England and France. On December 22, 1914, after an unsuccessful offensive a month earlier, a defensive operation of the Russian Caucasian Army starts at the Sarykamysh point of the Karr region. Due to the frosts, lack of uniforms and food, the Turkish army suffers significant non-combat losses. In a series of battles, the Russian army captures the initiative and goes over to the counter offensive. Already on January 4, 1915, the Headquarters received reports on the complete defeat of the Turkish corps. Total Ottomans lose 28,000 dead and 25—30,000 prisoners. Irrecoverable losses of the Russian Empire – 15,000 people. A side effect is that the Turks launch the mechanism of the mass genocide of Armenians. The blame for the defeat of the army, its commanders need to shift to someone. The guilt of ethnic Armenians lies only in the fact that they are loyally greeted by Russian troops. The photograph shows the Russian units in the trenches near Sarykamysh. It is still a combat-ready, disciplined and general rush army

A German squadron of familiar to us armored “Scharnhorst”, “Gneisenau” and three light cruisers, two transport and one hospital ship sent to the Falkland Islands to strike at the British base of Stanley. The main idea is to deprive the enemy, so necessary for the voracious ship’s fireboxes, of coal. However, an unpleasant surprise for the German crews is the news of being in the raid of the object of attack, which arrived on the eve of a strong British squadron. In the photo – the British cruiser Invisible (“Invincible”). The salvo weight is 3,000 kg., 3.8 times higher than the similar characteristics of Scharnhorst guns.

Immediately, seven British cruisers and an battleship rush to intercept German ships. The fire contact is established on December 8, 1914. Further, quite straightforwardly, the caliber of the guns affects the course of the battle. Size matters. At a distance of 12 kilometers 305 mm. British guns can confidently hit enemy ships, and 210 mm. guns of German cruisers – no. In the photo – the old, but formidable British battleship “Canopus”, the port guard, firing from 12-inch guns. Initially, the Germans expected to see at Port Stanley only this one, which has a rather weak booking

The Scharnhorst gets 40 hits and goes down. Of the 860 sailors, no one is saved. Two hours later, the same fate befalls Gneisenau. Survive 187 people. In addition, two light German cruisers and transports are killed in fire and water. One cruiser and hospital ship manages to escape. The total human losses of the Germans – 2110 people, 212 prisoners. The British squadron loses 6 sailors. Somewhat later, on August 28, 1915, in the battle near the island of Helgoland, the British allowed four German ships to the bottom and finally restore the reputation of their fleet.Photography – sailors from the Gneisenau are looking for salvation on the British cruiser Inflexible

Size matters. On the left – guns of the Invincible cruiser, on the right – the Scharnhorst

Since February 19, 1915, after the preliminary “raids”, seven Anglo-French pennants fired at Turkish forts. Thanks to both the actions of spies and their own logic, the Ottomans strengthen the citadels in advance. In the morning, February 18, despite an unfavorable forecast, the allied fleet attacks the Turkish coastal fortifications. The main idea of the initiator of the operation, then still quite young lion (or even a bulldog) of W. Churchill: “Turkey is an Asian power over which progressive Europe, led by Great Britain, will easily triumph.” It is supposed to land troops on the Gallipoi Peninsula (North-West Coast of Asia Minor), 80,000 people, in order to open a sea connection with Russia and force Turkey to peace. As a prize for all-round assistance, the notorious Straits (free communication of the Black and Mediterranean Seas) are offered to Emperor Nicholas II, even if veiled, Photo – French squadron battleship Charlemagne. In the foreground are soldiers of the Entente who are preparing to disembark on the Turkish coast. January 1915

As a result of the counteraction of the Turkish coastal batteries, a series of battles, explosions on mines, the ten pennants of the Allied fleet very quickly go to the bottom. Be that as it may, a large-scale landing of naval assault forces has been carried out since April 25. Already on the first day of the operation, under heavy machine-gun fire, the allies lose at least 18,000 people alone with those killed. Somewhat later, Turkish artillery collects a heavy harvest. Britain still does not believe in the failure of the ambitious operation and is pushing the “last battalion” – an additional 10,000 paratroopers. German-Turkish guns devour them as well. The command of the Entente recognizes the catastrophe and withdraws the troops. The evacuation continues from December 7, 1915 to January 9, 1916. Britain loses 40,000 people, its allies from the dominions 10,000, France 10,000, Turkey 100,000 (but it wins). The photo is a British battleship doddornoot “Irrenzistable”, suffered damage from a sea mine, coastal batteries of the enemy, gone to the bottom on March 18, 1915.

From January 20, 1915, the Russian and Austro-Hungarian armies almost simultaneously begin their offensive in the Carpathians. The result of a chain of battles that do not differ in diversity is 250,000 dead Russians, 230,000 Austrians and Hungarians. The garrison of the fortress of Przemysl exhausts food supplies, eats up the last horses, and surrenders. This is the last inspirational victory of the Russian army, won by small forces with acceptable losses. 120,000 soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are taken prisoner. On the photo – frames of the Russian aerial photography, one of the forts of Przemysl, March 1915

Storm of the Carpathians, winter of 1915. Russian soldiers. Randomly selected photo

Emperor Nicholas II and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army Nikolai Nikolayevich (grandson of Nicholas I). It seems that still can be very good. Already very soon, the royal personages will visit the islands of Imbros, Tenedos in the Aegean Sea, will reverently enter the church of St. Sophia. Petrograd streets fill out festive demonstrations. In the temples solemn prayers are held. But we know that this is the peak of the achievements of our great and at the same time terrible past of the Empire. Further decline and collapse of the state. Neighborhood of Przemysl, March 1915

On February 7, 1915, the German armies began an offensive in the area of the Russian, and now Polish, city of Augustine. The maximum task is to surround and destroy the entire 10th Russian army, 155 thousand people. This plan is implemented only in part. One of the corps (38,000 fighters) gets into the environment, then a prisoner. Three other corps are moving to a new line of defense. Russia is losing 20,000 dead, 35,000 prisoners, Germany 5,000, and 4,000 prisoners. The territorial acquisitions of the German army are not large. The result of the subsequent Prasnysh operation is the counteroffensive of the Russian troops. By March 30, German troops return to their original line of defense. Russia’s irretrievable losses are 25,000, Germany’s 22,000. The photo shows Russo-Balt armored cars in the Prasnysh operation, March 1915. The armor is penetrated by rifle bullets from 30 meters, although their prohibitive action is already small. Russian, machine-gun and cannon armored cars that shoot Germans point-blank, have a decisive influence on the success of the counteroffensive

For the first time, the heavy bombers “Ilya Muromets” take off on February 14 (27), 1915. Most of the targets are located on the territory of modern Latvia. Initially, the aircraft factory as a branch of the famous Russo-Balt was located in Riga. In 1915 he was evacuated to Central Russia. The production of airplanes continued until 1918, with the domestic aircraft engines Russobalt, which replaced the German Argus. In the civilian version, the revolutionary C-22 was designed to transport a dozen passengers with all imaginable amenities. The bomber has a takeoff weight of 5 tons. Crew – 5—7 people, 4—6 machine guns, 350—500 kg. bombs. Engines are protected by armor 5 mm. The maximum speed of 135 km. hours, the flight duration of 4—5 hours, the ceiling of 3 000 meters. Built 83 copies

A squadron of 60 cars makes 400 combat sorties, drops 65 tons of bombs, shooting down 12 airplanes. The first “Ilya of Murom” was lost in aerial combat on September 12, 1916, in a battle with four German fighters. In this case, three enemy aircraft C-22 can be shot down. The effectiveness of the bombing of “Ilya Muromets”, according to the assurances of British experts, reaches 90%. For some time, the “backward” Tsarist Russia waged a high-tech war. Be that as it may, the airplanes wear out, and their entry into the troops is difficult due to the exacerbated political situation. By 1917, only four such aircraft remained on the front line. Designer Igor Sikorsky and the tsarist government are selling a license to design the heavy bomber Entente. The last flight, like a training airplane, “Ilya Muromets” makes October 10, 1922 over the city of Serpukhov

Russian soldiers in worship, spring 1915. The army obeys orders and is considered Christian. However, ceremonial as a thing in itself prevails over content. A called peasant, a worker does not speak heart to heart with a regimental priest. So just historically not accepted. Why do you need to shoot at the Germans, because they are the same people like us? Is it possible to consecrate the murder weapon? The priests are friends of the officers, they talk to them, they dine and drink with them

The first four months of the new, 1915, the parties to the conflict are gathering strength on the Western front. Then, for the first time in history, Germany applies the novelty of military thought – it releases one hundred and fifty gas cylinder batteries, 6 km from hundreds of cylinders. front line, 180 tons of toxic chlorine. The lungs of people caught in this fog are filled with a caustic mucous liquid. Following a cloud of yellow-green gas, in bandages soaked with protective compounds, German soldiers are marching. Such an apocalyptic picture discourages the British and the French not for long. Pull up reserves, already have some means of chemical protection. German troops stop, and the gap in the line of defense of the Entente is healed. As early as September 25, 1915, the Allied forces were conducting their “test” chemical attack. From 22 April to early May, a total of 10,000 Entente soldiers are injured by poisonous gases, 5,000 die. The photo is a snapshot from an airplane. German teams release chlorine from cylinders at the junction of British and French troops. The neighborhood of the city of Ypres, April 22, 1915

Fritz Gaber, outwardly cinematic Dr. Evil (Ivl), head of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Physical Chemistry, developer of chemical weapons, inspirer of use. The wife of a scientist does not stand up to the thought that thousands of people perish through torture through the fault of her husband, and he commits suicide. Thirty years later, in the concentration camps of the Third Reich, the gas Cyclone B, developed by the same chemist, killed tens of thousands of tribesmen Haber

Two years later, all of the same long-suffering Belgian city of Ypres, the Germans use a chemical warfare agent, called yperite (mustard gas), respectively. Shipping method improved. Now they are mines made of mortars, filled with oily liquid. One of the actions of the reagent in non-lethal doses is the complete or partial loss of vision. In the future, such an ignoble weapon does not take root, the countries that use it become international outcasts. In the photo – British soldiers struck by agents hold each other as they proceed to the hospital, the second half of July 1917.

“Louisiana”, a British passenger vessel operates commercial flights during the war. According to some maritime laws of our time, it should not be torpedoed. The cabins are barely half full, and yet almost 2,000 people are aboard the liner. At 48 kilometers from the coast of Ireland, in a fog “Luizitania” reduces the course to 25 km. h. At this speed, the attack of submarines is already possible. Hungry for new victories, the captain of the German U-20 submarine gives the order to attack the “big four-pipe vessel”. Torpedo gets into the right side. In a few minutes, a much more powerful internal explosion follows. Due to the strong roll and the course of inertia, it is possible to lower only 6 of the 48 boats. The vessel goes to the bottom 18 minutes after the attack. Photography – “Luizitania” in the port of New York, before departing on its last 201st flight, May 1, 1915

So, for some time by inertia, the liner continues to move to the coast. Desperate distress signals reach the recipients. More than a dozen fishing vessels rush to the site of the tragedy. It is possible to save 763 people, the remaining 1197 find death among the waves. Among them are 128 US citizens. Somehow the situation can be settled. America is not yet ready for a real, full-scale war. In addition, skeptics are sharpened by a worm of doubt – is everything so clear in a sea catastrophe? There were 5,000 boxes of rifle cartridges aboard the Luizitania – this is not denied. They could not detonate at the same time even under the action of a powerful torpedo charge. Small arms for transportation is not prohibited. Is it really a provocation of Great Britain, which so skillfully put the ship under a torpedo attack (the fact of torpedoing the German submarine is not disputed), which finished off with a special charge? It will take another two years of war with the homeland of the Anglo-Saxons, even an attempt on the territorial integrity of the United States, in order for North America to still enter World War I. Photography – the death of “Luizitanii”, May 7, 1915, the Celtic Sea. This is really a photograph.

The next, very gloomy battle of the First World War is the Second Battle of the French settlement of Artois (May 9-June 18, 1915). The sides of the conflict, civilized Christians, exchange stunning artillery strikes. The bodies spill over like jelly. The British, the French are irretrievably losing 70,000 people, the Germans 50,000. The battles of Artois, Ypres, Marne repeat each other six months or a year later, differing only in the increasing number of victims. The psychological foundations of the New Chronology, which reduces several important events of the Middle Ages to the reign of one monarch or a single major battle, are now completely understandable. We have to stop the madness, prescribing a potent medicine to humanity – the World Revolution… It seems that the attitude of the workers and peasants of the Russian Empire is exactly that. Photo – Entente fighter who died in one of the many faceless battles of Artois, 1915

The Supreme Command of Russia (General Headquarters), despite intelligence data, is inertia preparing for an offensive in the Carpathians. The southern flank of the so-called Warsaw salient remains without reinforcements, with a small number of artillery and shells. Literally every shot from the Russians on the bill. At the same time, the combined German and Austrian troops are densely saturated with all types of guns, and have no problems with the supply of ammunition. On May 2, Austro-German troops inflicted a powerful blow near the town of Gorlice, with a general direction to Lviv. Taken with such general enthusiasm Przemysl left June 16. Lviv Russian troops leave June 22. Some consolation – on May 23, after long hesitations, Italy enters the war against the Fourth Alliance. However, she prudently does not lead active actions. The photograph shows a large-caliber German gun in the vicinity of Gorlice, the Carpathians, May 1915.

From June 26, 1915, the Austro-German troops were expanding the front of the attack on all of Poland and East Prussia. The well-fortified fortress Novogeorgievsk surrenders practically without a fight, after shelling from heavy guns and bombardment with the then rather primitive airplanes that are not a decisive weapon. 83,000 people are taken prisoner, including 23 generals and 2,100 officers of lower rank. In addition to all that, the enemy is transferred 1,200 guns and a million shells that are so scarce in the Russian army. A conspiracy theory is born in Russian society. As a result, Nicholas the Second became the Supreme Commander three days after the surrender. And, this is also not the best solution. Warsaw Russian troops leave on August 4. The great retreat continues. The photo shows a Russian artillery crew near a field 3-inch gun. Somewhere in Poland, summer 1915

By the end of the year, the Eastern Front turns into a straight line connecting the Baltic and Black Seas, passing west of Riga, the Russian military-industrial center. According to the memoirs of General A. Denikin: “Spring 1915 will remain in my memory forever. The great tragedy of the Russian army – a retreat from Galicia. No ammo, no shells. Day by day, bloody battles, day by day, hard transitions, endless fatigue – physical and moral; then shy hopes, hopeless horror …». On the photo are Russian soldiers captured during the Great Retreat. Summer-Autumn 1915

The support of Riga continues to be provided by the still efficient Russian fleet. Since August 8, more than 80 pennants of German squadrons are invading the Gulf of Riga (the first Moosund or Irben operation in 1915). Russian pilots find German minesweepers from the air. Soon a fire contact is established between the visitors and the approached squadron battleship Slava. Two minesweepers sink. Later in the battle enters the British submarine. She drowns the German battle cruiser. There is a series of sea surface battles. German ships, going at random through minefields, suffer serious damage from mines and enemy gunfire. By the end of August the invasion fleet leaves the Gulf of Riga. Germany loses 7 pennants, incl. Battleship and two light cruisers, 50 sailors. The loss of the Russian Empire – gunboat, damaged battleship and three destroyers, 70 people. The photograph shows the battleship Slava, one of the best ships of the Russian fleet.

On October 14, 1915, Bulgaria joined the war on the side of the Central Powers. Allied Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian forces are pushing the Serb army out of their own country. At the beginning of the next year, 150,000 troops are evacuated to Corfu Island, to mainland Greece, to Thessaloniki, where they form the Thessaloniki Front. The fighting in Serbia is described by some historians as “lethargic,” but during the First World War this country lost a tenth of the population. By Christmas, the rush of the Germans and the Austrians on the Eastern Front is choking. There is a lull. The loss of the Russian army – 700,000 killed, 400,000 prisoners. Germany is losing 67,000 people, with a minimum number of prisoners, the Austro-Hungarian Iimperia 230,000 killed and some thousand prisoners. Photography is a Russian expeditionary corps on the Thessaloniki Front, 1916. Some strategists at GHQ believe that the Bulgarians will not shoot at the Russians. These illusions are scattered

We are aboard the Russian dreadnought “Catherine II”. From December 1915 the ship participates in raids on the Turkish coast. During the patrol of the Black Sea, on January 8, 1916, Catherine the Great met with the nominal owner of the water area from Turkey, the heavy cruiser “Geben” (to delight the ears of the Ottoman allies, Yavuz Sultan Selim). After several hits of fragmentation shells 305 mm. the guns of the “Empress”, with 20 km., German-Turkish cruiser leaves the scene of the battle. Do you hear the hubbub, the hum of mechanisms and the splashing of waves? Music of the time – waltz “Amur waves” (listen) … вальс “Амурские волны”, слушать

Erzurum offensive operations of the Russian troops (the Caucasian army) were preceded by successful defensive actions – the Alashkater operation on July 9-August 3, 1915, and the Battle of Keprikeo on December 28, 1915 – January 7, 1916. The attacking Turkish corps were bled off territory), or else and significantly pushed aside. Part of Persia is occupied. In order to avoid the entry of this country into the war, the troops of the Russian Empire go on the line of direct attack deep into Turkey. In the photo – the commander of the Caucasian army, General N. Yudenich (center) with a group of officers, 1915.

The city-fortress of Erzurum is the center of the eponymous administrative region of Turkey (approximately in the center of the area highlighted in red). The plans of the Russian command include the re-creation of the well-known Great Armenia known since ancient times, as well as the inclusion of some especially tasty regions of the Ottoman Empire directly into Russia. First of all, the General Headquarters, led by Nicholas II, is interested in the Straits and Constantinople-Istanbul. As part of the Russian army, despite some restrictions on the admission of volunteers, thousands of ethnic Armenians are fighting. Some of them take up arms before the beginning of the Armenian Genocide by the Turks, others after, so that the cause and effect of the first state terror in the twentieth century are difficult to establish. It should be noted that the Armenians themselves are cruel to the Muslims under their rule. It is precisely for this reason that Russians, who at the present time bear the cross of the highest tolerance in the world, do not seek to accept Armenians into the ranks of their units.

Russian soldiers visiting the Armenian settlement destroyed by the Turks. The surroundings of Erzurum, 1915

The forces of the opponents are comparable. The Caucasian army has 180 thousand fighters, the 3rd Turkish army is 135 thousand. Turkey sends a certain number of troops to Mesopotamia (northeast of modern Syria), to defeat the British. After that, the Ottomans intend to do away with the army of Yudenich. Russian commander acts on the lead. On January 7, after the artillery preparation, units of the Caucasian army begin the offensive. In a series of brutal attacks and counterattacks, the Ottoman morale is cracking. Photography – Russian battalion takes place in battle formation, Northern Turkey, 1916

Russian units use the latest military news of their time. Aerial photography of enemy positions is conducted from airplanes. In the course of the whole range of artillery – from light cannons, suitable for moving on mountain slopes, to heavy 152 mm. siege mortars. Troops are constantly working out the interaction. Yudenich creates mobile assault detachments, saturated with tools and machine guns suitable for carrying out a particular operation, and possessing engineers. Photo – a mountain platoon with a field gun advancing on the approaches to Erzurum, winter 1916.

The storming of the fortress is carried out on the night of February 11, under the cover of a blizzard. Russian soldiers dressed in white camouflage coats. The enemy’s fire causes minimal damage to the units of the Caucasian Army. Total irretrievable losses since February 10: Russia – 2,400 people, Turkey – 25,000 killed and 15,000 prisonersPhoto – city-fortress Erzurum, 1916

A half-faded, faded photograph of a century ago – Russian troops are entering Erzerum. Turkish banners bow in humility. And, this is the last victory of Russian weapons in the First World War in the South-East

Russian soldiers at the guns of the Erzerum fortress. First half of 1916. Randomly selected photo.

At the beginning of 1916, the main idea of the German command was to cut off the ledge of the French defense near the city of Verdun, surround 8 enemy divisions, and develop an offensive against Paris. Another version of military historians – the Germans are going to draw, one by one, the Allied Anglo-French armies into the slaughterhouse, in order to bleed the Entente with the help of their superbly developed heavy artillery. The operation starts on February 21, 1916. After an 8-hour ruthless artillery preparation, the German infantry units begin to storm the enemy’s trenches.

German battalions advance in three lines 80—100 m apart. Scouts, assault groups and sappers are ahead, then dense groups of the actual, infantry, reinforced by flamethrowers, and machine-gun subunits. In one day, one can advance one to two kilometers in this way. Photography – German columns moving to the front line, Verdun, early 1916

Further, from February 27 to March 6, according to a kind of “Road of Life”, or even literally “Sacred Road” (La Voie Sacrée) to a single highway, for 6,000 vehicles, the French deliver 190,000 people and 25,000 tons of military cargo. In the course comes heavy artillery Entente. At the beginning of the campaign several large forts surrender almost without a fight. However, the entire Verdun is a single, fairly extensive fortified area. For some time now the battle has resulted in a chain of fiercest battles for every French bastion. Germany depletes not only the units of the Entente, but also itself. By June 23, 1916, the offensive stops. The photograph is a large-caliber French gun. Verdun, 1916

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