Of Courage and Struggle

The late historian, Dmitri Volkogonov, in his revealing biography of Lenin (which drew heavily on secret archives) concluded that “indirect evidence shows that the order to execute the royal family was given verbally by Lenin and Sverdlov.” Given Lenin’s pronouncements before and after the revolution, and given the murders, persecution and forced exile of hundreds of thousands of gentry after 1917, this revelation should not be surprising.

What is perhaps more surprising is that there are still remnants of a Russian gentry. And that they have the courage and tenacity to struggle to regain their prestige and traditions in the Russia of 1996. Their story, related by Andrei Polyakovsky, is our cover story this month. It begins on page 4.

This month’s Travel Journal on Vyazma echoes these themes of courage and tenacity. Bequeathed an unenviable geographical position along a main battle route with the west, Vyazma has, for a millennia, suffered the ravages of war and empire-building. William Brumfield has brought us a wonderful look at the architectural sites that have endured.

We also offer up our second special fiction insert this month. Rather than featuring the work of a new, lesser-known writer, we opted for lesser-known works of a well-known writer, Anton Chekhov. The stories revolve around maslenitsa, ‘butter week,’ the week of feasting and celebration just prior to Lent. More specifically, they center on the primary cuisine of that period: bliny.

But February is not just a time for consumption of bliny in Russia. This deepest, darkest month of winter also contains an important anniversary: Russian Army Day, celebrated February 23. The date is such to commemorate Lenin’s 1918 speech, on February 22 (also his birthday and also, through the Soviet era, a revered anniversary), urging the defense of Petrograd. Given universal conscription in the Soviet Union and Russia, it is very much the masculine counterpart to Women’s Day (celebrated March 8 in Russia). Russian Life will take a close look at the Russian military later this spring, at the time of spring draft inductions.

Finally, in this issue we answer your letters and present some of the results of our November survey of readers. The response to the survey was overwhelmingly positive and has provided us with a solid view of what you would like to see in Russian Life.