The lives of Russians: Bismarck in St Petersburg
(Shutterstock)
Wartime coverage on the everyday lives of Ukrainians is extensive and filed by multiple eyewitnesses. Reports on the hearts and minds of ordinary Russians, on the other hand, are rare and often based on second hand accounts. Western observers who want to learn more about Russians have to make do with eyewitness accounts from past times, such as those from the Soviet era. One can do worse than reach for a description that comes from an even earlier period.
In the late 1850s, Otto von Bismarck served as Prussian ambassador in St Petersburg. His memoirs, written many years later, included a chapter on what he encountered there. This chapter, though short, merits rereading. The later Iron Chancellor’s appreciation of the temper of Russian society corroborates contemporary accounts, and one of his reflections resonates in the light of later history.
One aspect that struck Bismarck was the ubiquity of embezzlement through all levels of an organisation. He illustrated this with an amusing anecdote. When Prussian officers once were entertained as houseguests by the Tsar, they were taken aside to be asked discreetly whether they wished for an increase in the quantity of alcoholic beverages supplied to their quarters. The query was put with every sign of respect for their drinking prowess. The offer, however, took these officers by surprise. Some of them happened to be teetotallers. Thereupon a search of their quarters led to discovery of high quality wines “in masses” stashed away in hiding places.
Another conspicuous characteristic that struck Bismarck was how fearful the Tsar was of his subjects. Bismarck had inside information that Tsar Nicholas had once approached Prussia’s King Frederick William IV for a personal favour, asking for despatch of trustworthy individuals to provide him with back massages. “I can handle my subjects whenever I can look into their eyes,” the Tsar confided, “but I would never want to turn my back to them.”
Bismarck added a third anecdote at the end of his recollections about his sojourn in St Petersburg. This closing passage conveyed his respect for Russian culture as well as an admonition to later readers.
Bismarck, shortly after arrival in St Petersburg, enjoyed the onset of spring after a harsh winter, when he heard that the Tsar on a walkabout through the park noticed a soldier standing guard on his own in the middle of the green. The Tsar was curious what the soldier was doing, but all the soldier could tell him in response to his enquiry was: “I am here by order.” The exchange did the rounds at court, but no explanation could clear up what was behind the mysterious order. At last, a long retired guardsman came forward. He remembered that long ago, during the reign of the Tsarina Catherine, she had espied a budding snowdrop raising its head through the snow, and thereupon she gave an impromptu command for a soldier to keep watch over it. That order, he said, had never been rescinded, and so ever since a soldier stood guard on that very spot.
It is telling that Bismarck left this story to come at the end. He added the pointed remark that however improbable though it might sound, readers should take note of the fate of Russian soldiers during the St Petersburg flood of 1825. When they were not relieved, they remained on their post where “some drowned, and others froze to death”. These passages on the lives of Russians in St Petersburg in the late 1850s have stood the test of time.
Incidentally, they also show why Bismarck as a writer of German prose has had many admirers, from the great Austrian writer Hugo von Hofmannsthal to the distinguished German critic Hans Mayer. Bismarck was, of course, well aware that Russians in 1812 thwarted Napoleon by torching Moscow rather than surrender. But he could not have foreseen that in World War II they would thwart Hitler at the sacrifice of 26.6 million lives. (Admittedly, this Soviet figure included Ukrainians and many other non-Russian citizens of the USSR.)
Bismarck closed his chapter with a warning that may resonate with readers today. The story of the soldier guarding a snowdrop, he warned, “incites our criticism and our hilarity, but it reveals the elemental strength and endurance on which the strength of Russians compared to the rest of Europe rests.”
A Message from TheArticle
We are the only publication that’s committed to covering every angle. We have an important contribution to make, one that’s needed now more than ever, and we need your help to continue publishing throughout these hard economic times. So please, make a donation.
