Overtaken by the Night by Richard G. Robbins Jr

Author:Richard G. Robbins, Jr.
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780822983224
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

Absorbed by the May riots in Moscow and Rasputin, Dzhunkovsky appears to have been largely oblivious to the political currents and maneuverings that were swirling around him. Thus, Maklakov’s dismissal came as an unexpected and painful shock. Dzhun learned about the tsar’s decision only the day before the order was officially announced when Maklakov called him in and told him the news. Although he believed that his chief had made serious mistakes and had come under harmful influences, he saw Maklakov as a friend, a man of principle, who loved his sovereign and his country “with every fiber of his being.” Maklakov was far more conservative than Dzhunkovsky, especially in regard to the Duma, but he had given his assistant minister a completely free hand in dealing with security matters. Dzhun worried that Maklakov’s successor, Prince Nikolai Shcherbatov, might be more intrusive.41

At the time Dzhunkovsky did not know he was being considered as a replacement for Maklakov and was on the “short lists” of both the Krivoshein group and the tsar himself.42 Later, he learned from Goremykin that Nicholas had told his prime minister: “I have two candidates—Prince Shcherbatov and Dzhunkovsky. Ask Shcherbatov if he agrees to be minister of internal affairs. If yes, send out the order for his appointment. If Shcherbatov refuses, draw up an order [appointing] Dzhunkovsky without asking him.” In his memoirs, Dzhun reflected on what he saw as good fortune: Shcherbatov’s willingness to take over the MVD had saved him from what would have been a “nightmarish . . . assignment.”43

Dzhunkovsky had reservations about his new chief, however, who he felt was “insincere and crafty.” He worried that he might not have the same independence he enjoyed under Maklakov. He asked Shcherbatov if he had his own candidate for the position of assistant minister, and if so he would immediately resign. But Shcherbatov urged him to stay and assured him of a continued free hand. Dzhun told the new minister to be straightforward and let him know at once if they differed on any important matter. It soon turned out that Shcherbatov displayed little interest in the work of the ministry and left Dzhun to his own devices. Still, he always sensed that Shcherbatov was not fully trustworthy.44

Events in June convinced Dzhunkovsky that he enjoyed the full confidence of both his sovereign and Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich. On June 9 he left for Stavka a day in advance of the tsar’s visit there. The war news was grave; Lvov had just fallen. “All Russia was agitated and shaken,” he recalled. Nikolai Nikolaevich gave Dzhun a warm welcome, and they discussed the situation on the home front at length. The grand duke told him that he planned to ask the tsar to remove Minister of War Sukhomlinov and replace him with General Aleksei Polivanov. Sukhomlinov had not supplied the army with the equipment it needed and was under a cloud because of the Miasoedov affair. Dzhun learned that the grand duke also intended to propose a broader shake-up of the Council of Ministers with the dismissal of Shcheglovitov and Sabler.

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