To Break Russia's Chains: Boris Savinkov and His Wars Against the Tsar and the Bolsheviks by Vladimir Alexandrov

Author:Vladimir Alexandrov [Alexandrov, Vladimir]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Criminals & Outlaws, Social Activists, history, Russia & the Former Soviet Union
ISBN: 9781643137193
Google: NdEHEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2021-09-07T23:36:07.216441+00:00

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On Saturday, October 28, Krasnov scattered the Bolshevik forces in Tsarskoye Selo and occupied the town. The following day passed quietly as he waited for reinforcements from the front that Kerensky had promised. But none arrived and when, on Monday the thirtieth, Krasnov tried to advance on his own against the neighboring town of Pulkovo, he realized that he would have to fall back. Trotsky was in charge, and the force he sent against Krasnov was not only many times larger but also fought well.

Ironically, this setback proved to be the opening Savinkov had been looking for. He was committed to helping Krasnov in any way that he could but was unable do anything because he was a civilian. Krasnov remedied this by giving him an “official” position and sent him as an emissary to Kerensky’s headquarters to find out about the reinforcements. Savinkov immediately initiated a series of rapid trips back and forth, attempting to move people and events in the direction he wanted. The result was a lot of frantic effort, confusion, anger, communication at cross purposes, and very little substance.

Kerensky did not know where the reinforcements were and announced that he would go to the front himself to get troops. Savinkov had to warn him not to because it would look as if he was abandoning Krasnov’s Cossacks, who barely tolerated him anyway. He also accused Kerensky to his face of being responsible for the Bolshevik coup and Russia’s ruin.

At one point, Savinkov even tried to persuade Krasnov to arrest Kerensky and to appoint a new head of government when they returned to Petrograd; he mentioned two distinguished socialists and himself as possible candidates. Krasnov replied that to his regret the Cossacks could not be relied upon to support such a move, in part because they resisted fratricidal fighting.

With no reinforcements in sight, at noon on Tuesday, October 31, Kerensky summoned a “military council” in which he included Savinkov, who had been elected commissar of Krasnov’s tiny staff and confirmed in this position by Kerensky himself. Even with their world crumbling around them, with only an insignificant plot of territory under their control and a handful of troops, both still acted as if such actions meant something.

They met in Gatchina Palace, another of the imperial residences near Petrograd that dated from the eighteenth century. Kerensky was in a state of nervous exhaustion. He had recently appointed himself commander-in-chief, a completely illusory title under the circumstances, and kept changing his mind, issuing orders of little or no consequence, only to rescind them a moment later. The atmosphere around him was one of bewilderment and disorder. There was a growing conviction that the cause was lost, and people were beginning to panic.

Kerensky announced that in the present situation the only thing left was to enter into negotiations with the Bolsheviks. Savinkov and several others bristled at this idea. Refusing to give up hope, he argued they could buy time by what he called “honest treachery,” or beginning discussions with the Bolsheviks and then breaking them off and attacking when reinforcements arrive.

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