After the ceremony, the king and the empress went to the people gathered outside the walls of the palace. When they appeared on the high balcony draped with red cloths, a huge crowd knelt. Nikolai raised his hand and tried to speak. The front ranks were quiet, but in the latter the excitement and movement of people were too great, and the kings words were drowned in noise. Shocked Nikolai bowed his head.In response, people, under the influence of their overwhelming feelings, sang a national anthem, the melody of which was used by Tchaikovsky in the finale of the Solemn Overture of 1812 God Save the Tsar.
Clutching each others hands, a man in uniform Emperor Autocrat, and a woman in a white dress, the Russian Empress stood on the balcony and cried with the people. For those who were on their knees then, said Paleolog, the tsar was a real autocrat military, political and religious dictator, the absolute master of the soul and body of the people. And so it was throughout the empire: an explosion of inspiration, crowds of people on the streets, laughter, tears, singing, exclamations, kisses. A wave of patriotism swept Russia. Workers left red revolutionary flags and took up icons and portraits of the king. Students left universities and voluntarily left the army. The officers who met on the streets were enthusiastically shaking in their arms.
In St. Petersburg, demonstrations were held every day in support of the tsar and allies. From the window of the French Embassy, Paleolog observed a mass procession of people with flags, icons and exclamations Long live France! Noting the growing anti-German union, the Paleologist, with his inherent Gallic attention to external details, notes that the flags of the three nations merged into one. Consisting of the same colors blue, red and white they are a picturesque and impressive evidence of the allied coalition.
An enormous granite building crowned by two mighty horse sculptures burst into the German embassy, as Count Purtales predicted, an angry mob. However, contrary to what the ambassador had foreseen, the anger of the crowd was not directed against his own government, but against Germany and the German ambassador himself. Having captured the building, the crowd knocked out the windows, torn the carpets and, breaking and breaking, threw out not only furniture, porcelain, antique glass, but also the invaluable collection of Renaissance marble and bronze that belonged to Purtales himself. Equestrian statues on the roof were tied with ropes, hundreds of hands grabbed and pulled them. The Kaisers reared horses fell with a roar onto the pavement.
In these early days of the war, the patriotism of the population was closely linked to the already deep-rooted hatred of the Germans. For faith, the tsar and the Fatherland and For the defense of Holy Russia these appeals reached the barracks, factories, villages.
The war was declared, but so far remained in Russia a concept abstracted. Only huge crowds mobilized from the military presences, unarmed columns of future soldiers inconsistently marching into the barracks and railway stations, the endless prayers of the clergy in all the churches constantly reminded of the victory.The tsars family was going to Moscow to, as the newspapers wrote, according to the custom of the sovereign ancestors, to seek strengthening of the spirit in prayer at the Orthodox shrines of Moscow.
A bald-headed little pouty man representing republican France at the court of the Russian autocrat did not know peace from the day Germany declared war on Russia. The war in his country was not yet legally accomplished, but the Paleologist has already developed vigorous activity in Petersburg salons and with his informants.
In the morning he had breakfast in Tsarskoye Selo with Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich and his morganatic wife Countess Hohenfelsen in the presence of State Councilor Mikhail Stakhovich, thoroughly saturated with ideas of touching friendship with France. Gentlemen, the French sympathizers, without the slightest concealment, answered the questions of the inquisitive ambassador, characterizing him the views of the right and left in the State Duma and in the State Council, and among their friends and among acquaintances
At four oclock the ambassador went on a date with his staff informant Mr. B. from progressive circles and questioned him about how the mobilization was going on in the country, whether there were incidents in the military presence, how the people reacted to the war. He was pleased to learn that there was no unrest, that only in rare factories and factories did strikes continue. True, for this the police had to transplant all the Bolsheviks she knew and exile them to Siberia. True, the Bolsheviks who have not yet been arrested continue to maintain that the war will lead to the triumph of the proletariat. But at the moment the ambassador did not care at all But all the liberals, radicals, progressives and even such extreme democrats as the Mensheviks all united under patriotic banners and prepared to fight for the interests of great France to the last drop of blood of a Russian peasant
Today, heading to the Alexandria villa for an audience that Sazonov arranged for him, and then in the Znamenka Palace, where the Supreme Commander was while, the ambassador wanted to summarize his observations and inform Paris and his friend Poincar how brilliantly he carries out his commission in Petersburg.
Accompanied by the masters ceremonies, Mr. Ambassador arrived on the Strela court yacht at the Peterhof pier. He was already awaited by a carriage with an adjutant of the emperor and a walker in the magnificent clothes of the 18th century. Tired of pitching, the ambassador squeezed into the carriage, and frisky horses carried him to the Alexandria.
The summer palace of the Russian Tsar was buried in flowers. In front of him was the expanse of the Gulf of Finland.
After a few minutes, which seemed to the Paleologist for hours so he wanted to see the emperor sooner the ambassador was invited to the kings office.
Nikolai Romanov was in marching uniform. He stood by the window, rubbing his temple, as if tormented by a migraine.
The ambassador respectfully bowed to the monarch and expected to be invited to sit down. But the king seemed to have forgotten about the leather chairs in the study, and continued to stand. The ambassador also had to stand.
I wanted, Nikolay said quietly, to express to you my satisfaction with the position of France. By showing yourself so faithful as an ally, your country has given the world an unforgettable example of patriotism and loyalty. I ask you, Mr. Ambassador, to convey to the Government of France and especially my friend the President heartfelt gratitude
Is this really all I sank on the yacht and waited in the waiting room?.. the ambassador thinks displeasedly, but with a tender emotion, the old diplomat made a flattering voice.
The government of the republic will be very touched by the gratitude of your Majesty, begins the Paleologist, knowingly knowing that the Russian autocrat cannot even tolerate the word republic. But the ambassador emphasizes it and continues, skillfully giving his voice a thrill that it does not feel at all. My government deserved it by the speed and decisiveness with which it fulfilled its allied duty when it became convinced that the cause of peace was destroyed
The paleologist knows well that he pronounces false and empty words, since France has not yet fulfilled any of her allied duty, but, on the contrary, has done and is doing everything to force Russia to implement the plan of military operations that will be beneficial to France and not at all beneficial to Russia.
On the fateful day, when the unscrupulous enemy declared war on Russia, the ambassador exclaims pathetically, my government did not hesitate for a single moment
I know, I know I always believed the word of France Nikolai interrupted the ambassador. In choosing words, the king slowly and pensively expresses the hope that with the combined power of the Entente in three to four months the Middle Empires will be defeated.
The paleologist agrees with the sovereign, but skillfully translates the conversation to the dangers that threaten France. The Germans have not yet launched an attack on Paris, they are marching around in Luxembourg and are stuck at the Liège forts in Belgium, but the ambassador spares no effort to push the not mobilized Russian army to the fortresses of East Prussia and Thorn in order to pull the German corps to the east.
My dear ambassador, do not worry so much, Nikolai responds to the panic tirade of the Paleologist. As soon as the mobilization is over, I will give the order to go forward. My troops are eager for battle. The offensive will be conducted with all possible force. You, however, know that the Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich has extraordinary energy
The ambassador is pleased. He received the assurances of the autocrat, about which today he will report with an encrypted telegram to Paris. In addition, he has reason to talk about it in all salons. The result is not bad, and the Paleologist is happy to chat about this and that. The conversation didnt bring much pleasure to Nicholas, but he supported her by demonstrating his knowledge of military equipment, the available strength of the German and Austro-Hungarian armies, the positions of Turkey and Italy
Suddenly, Nikolai falls silent, hesitates hesitantly and suddenly wraps the ambassador in his arms.
Mr. Ambassador, let me embrace my dear and glorious France in your face.
Also, suddenly the king releases the ambassador, and it becomes clear to the paleologist that the audience is over.
August frontline reports
August 4, 1914 The East Prussian operation began.
August 5, 1914 The Battle of Galicia began.
August 7, 1914 Counter battle between the Russian and German armies near the city of Gumbinnen.
On August 8, 1914, the battle at Charleroi begins the English and French waxes retreat.
August 9, 1914 Battles at Namur and Mons
August 10, 1914 Russian victory at Frankenau in East Prussia. The Lublin-Kholm operation began, the offensive of the 4th and 5th Russian armies of the South-Western Front against the 1st and 4th Austro-Hungarian
August 11, 1914 British and Belgian troops begin a retreat from Mons
August 13, 1914 Germany defeats Russia at the Battle of Tannenberg in East Prussia
August 17, 1914 Germany captures Amiens.
August 24, 1914 Battle of the Masurian Marshes, East Prussia. German units were repelled by Russian troops.
August 26, 1914 Lviv battle. Russian troops occupy Lviv, the fourth largest city in Austria-Hungary.
On August 31, 1914, the offensive of the French and English armies continued on the River Enes in northern France.
Moscow September 1914
Student Golovin Alexei Mikhailovich externally passed the final exam for the full course of applied mathematics at Moscow University and the other day received a diploma from this very institution. Actually, this was nothing out of the ordinary, except for one circumstance, the young man who graduated from the University was nineteen years old and this promising student managed to finish his studies in three years instead of the prescribed five. Its teachers, associate professors and professors could not help but rejoice at a promising student who grasps any educational material on the fly, and predicted a brilliant scientific career in the future.
Yesterday, the young child prodigy himself was full of plans for his scientific career, and really hurt his scientific work was quite impressive, and most importantly promising.
And just half an hour ago, everything collapsed. No, nothing has changed in his scientific career, his desire to do something at all has changed, the young man wandered the streets of a noisy city in a depressed state, not noticing anything around him. Despair settled in his soul.
He was unceremoniously expelled from the house of a professor, his beloved teacher, and for that because he dared to speak negatively about the war. No, he was not a pacifist, and wholeheartedly wished victory for Russian weapons, but he intuitively felt that this war would end for Russia in great disaster, which he expressed in public. As a result, he was accused of cowardice and almost of betrayal of the Fatherland. And most importantly, his first and so far only love, Verochka, the daughter of a professor, scornfully expressed to him that while Russian people pour blood for him, he dares to talk about the defeat in the Russian war. And made a contemptuous remark whether the German spy, Mr. Golovin, was really German.
His despair knew no bounds, shame and resentment prevented him from concentrating and pulling himself together, he wanted to scream, you people just didnt understand me
In the pocket of the students frock coat, a hand groped some kind of letter, it popped up in my head as an assistant professor Kislitsyn at the exit from the house slipped an envelope to him. Alex recalled the words of support of the associate professor, in the heat of the ears, that they say he believes in him and that they say Alex will prove that he is not a coward and not a traitor, but that he, his good friend, will do him a favor. Here is a letter of recommendation on the address envelope, upon presentation of this letter he will be helped to join the ranks of the defenders of the Fatherland.
So stop, all of a sudden, unexpectedly, as it always happened to him, insight and understanding came that he became a victim of intrigue. The whole picture has developed, well, what a fool he is. This associate professor has long and hopelessly courted Verochka. And today he actually provoked him into frankness about the war.From the very beginning, Alexei did not like the patriotic hat-making fervor permeating Russian society. And not once among his acquaintances he spoke critically about this, but today he was caught as a boy.
Well, the decision is made, Im going to join the ranks of the defenders of the Fatherland, everything is better than being known as a coward. As the saying goes, Ill put on the uniform of the imperial army. Ill go to the professors house, then well see what Verochka will say. But my answer will be unequivocal, Im going to lay my head for Russia, let this patriot cheer
Alexei did not think what would be said and made yesterday by his love, it became easier for him from the decision, and he somehow unexpectedly briskly walked to the specified address. Parting on the go with all his dreams, plans, thoughts, and his civil life yesterday, he even felt a kind of exciting feeling of imminent change.