Michael S. Farbman

“ The Revolution was neither bellicose nor pacifist. It came not for the sake of a better prosecution of the war nor to end the war. The only aim of the Revolution was to save Russia from ruin and destruction. But, in view of Russia's exhaustion and the process of disintegration, the Revolution had only one way out—i.e., a speedy conclusion of the war. And the revolutionary democracy was able in about a fortnight's time after the Revolution to formulate the purpose of the Revolution with a clearness and prophetic foresight such as is only possible in moments of spiritual exaltation. ”

“ Why are the peasants so indifferent? Why do they suffer this humiliation? Why do they allow themselves to be robbed of the Tsardom which is the means and end of their perfection?" The Revolution was in fact a day of great anxiety and bitter disappointment to the whitewashers. Their ten years' labour of justification and glorification of Tsardom was torn to pieces. But they were not willing to give up their theory. When they had satisfied themselves that the Tsar's abdication was definite, they made a desperate attempt to save the glory at least of the Tsardom. ”

“ There are logically only two ways: either evolution or revolution. Arrest evolution, and revolution is inevitable. Unfortunately the majority of the propertied and power-possessing classes conceive "evolution" merely as a sanction of their "eternal and holy rights." At any rate, "evolution" is not disposed to keep up with the growth of the new order by satisfying its claims. "Holy Russia" was not unique. Many things are Holy in this sense. There are too many such sanctities. Land ownership is certainly "Holy." The wage system is "Holy." ”

“ To-day we know too much about the causes and the meaning of the Revolution to need seriously to consider the attempts to save the theory of Holy Russia and to represent the Tsar as a martyr to his love for "his" people and for the Allied cause. ”

“ The Revolution was pacifist, not in principle, but as a matter of necessity. If the Revolution had taken place a year or two before, the same revolutionary democracy of Russia would certainly have conducted a revolutionary war. ”

“ The more we know about the Revolution and the forces that brought it about, the more we become convinced that the Revolution was not a dramatic and sudden act. The Revolution was not the beginning of a new development, but rather the end of a process begun long ago. ”

“ For them the war was but a means of liberation, and, whether all Russians were conscious of it or not, the great enthusiasm shown at the beginning for the war was only to be explained by the belief, hope or foreboding that the war would somehow or other lead to a new and better world. ”

“ The speech of the British Ambassador during the first official reception by the Provisional Government aroused universal indignation, and was equally sharply criticised in the Liberal and in the Socialist Press. ↑ We live, without any doubt, in a revolutionary epoch, and the Russian Revolution is only the forerunner of the great changes which await the world. ”