Page 100 out of 500: Alexander Gladishev by Stelmak
Writing a history book is often seen as a dull, thankless activity. Most people are not wild about history, but for me, each page comes alive. And so it is with the book about Gladishev, written by Stellmak, who works at the Civil War Museum & Archives in Omsk—a fascinating place that once housed the offices of Kolchak during the Civil War when Omsk was the capital of Russia. The book is a fascinating window into that time and into the mindset of the people. A rebellious spirit and yearning for change were fomenting across society.The book is over 500 pages long, and I've only gotten through 100 pages so far, up to about 1907. Hindsight has 20/20, they say, and it is easy to look back and see clearly, we think, but it is a murky business and not nearly so easy.From the book, we can see the main character, Alexander Gladishev, as a bit of a firebrand. Even as a youth, he seems to have problems with any kind of authority. If he worked as a clerk, he would get in trouble with the boss for not pinching more money out of clients. If he was in class, he would be part of the student group demanding that their ideas be taken just as seriously as the teachers. Or he had illegal materials calling for the overthrow of the monarchy.Now, why is this book interesting to me? Well, I know quite a bit about the Romanovs and some things about the October Revolution, but not so much about the 'softer' parties of Liberal Democrats/Socialists from that time. Indeed, for a while, these parties controlled Russia, but in a chaotic way that quickly fell apart. And then life seems to have radicalized into extremes. Kolchak would come to power as the Supreme Ruler of Russia and set up a capital in Omsk. And the Bolsheviks would come to power and seek to exterminate any trace of the former ruling classes.The more things change, the more they stay the same. This quote can be applied to the Bolsheviks too. The new upper class of party officials would live in semi-splendor. Stalin would have 7 dachas that would make a prince blush, maybe. If you've seen the movie 'Love in the Soviet Union,' you'll get an idea of the new elite class. And after Stalin's death, the whole society seemed to convert into mini-capitalists, almost, finding ways to secure goods and sell them at higher prices. However, that is not to discredit the major achievements of the Soviet Union, not least of which was the doctrine of equality.Nor is it to throw cold water on the Russian Empire. In Nicholas II's time, industrialization was rapidly going forward. A new and often wealthy middle class had sprouted up. Lenin himself was from an educated middle class, and he lived with his sister in a large new flat in a new building in St. Petersburg, which I visited. The dining room lamp had a bell to ring for the maid. Somehow, I was expecting him to be from the working class, but those who pushed atheism on Russia were often from a liberal educated class. Gladishev was also an atheist.The working conditions in the Russian Empire were difficult in factories. But so were they in the U.S. as well. My grandmother worked 7 days a week from early morning till evening with no days off or any other extras for 8 dollars a week. So we have to look at the problems in Russia in the context of the times. Often, writers cite facts, but only in contest with themselves and a certain country's history. I suppose one thing gnawing at many Russians at that time was the feeling that Russia needed to 'update' and be like other nations with a 'democracy' or parliament, but we can see today that these institutions are easily corrupted; read the EU. Indeed, reforms needed to have been done much earlier, such as the abolition of serfdom or the reinstatement of the Patriachate, a traditional counterbalance to the Tsar.Russia today is in the process of finding its own way, while realizing that the West is bankrupt in every way. Meanwhile, the EU is an example of the evil of absolute control of money and power. Where evil is called good. and good, evil.In short, I'm enjoying reading about the tumultuous times in this book and finding much to reflect about.
Writing a history book is often seen as a dull, thankless activity. Most people are not wild about history, but for me, each page comes alive. And so it is with the book about Gladishev, written by Stellmak, who works at the Civil War Museum & Archives in Omsk—a fascinating place that once housed the offices of Kolchak during the Civil War when Omsk was the capital of Russia. The book is a fascinating window into that time and into the mindset of the people. A rebellious spirit and yearning for change were fomenting across society.The book is over 500 pages long, and I've only gotten through 100 pages so far, up to about 1907. Hindsight has 20/20, they say, and it is easy to look back and see clearly, we think, but it is a murky business and not nearly so easy.From the book, we can see the main character, Alexander Gladishev, as a bit of a firebrand. Even as a youth, he seems to have problems with any kind of authority. If he worked as a clerk, he would get in trouble with the boss for not pinching more money out of clients. If he was in class, he would be part of the student group demanding that their ideas be taken just as seriously as the teachers. Or he had illegal materials calling for the overthrow of the monarchy.Now, why is this book interesting to me? Well, I know quite a bit about the Romanovs and some things about the October Revolution, but not so much about the 'softer' parties of Liberal Democrats/Socialists from that time. Indeed, for a while, these parties controlled Russia, but in a chaotic way that quickly fell apart. And then life seems to have radicalized into extremes. Kolchak would come to power as the Supreme Ruler of Russia and set up a capital in Omsk. And the Bolsheviks would come to power and seek to exterminate any trace of the former ruling classes.The more things change, the more they stay the same. This quote can be applied to the Bolsheviks too. The new upper class of party officials would live in semi-splendor. Stalin would have 7 dachas that would make a prince blush, maybe. If you've seen the movie 'Love in the Soviet Union,' you'll get an idea of the new elite class. And after Stalin's death, the whole society seemed to convert into mini-capitalists, almost, finding ways to secure goods and sell them at higher prices. However, that is not to discredit the major achievements of the Soviet Union, not least of which was the doctrine of equality.Nor is it to throw cold water on the Russian Empire. In Nicholas II's time, industrialization was rapidly going forward. A new and often wealthy middle class had sprouted up. Lenin himself was from an educated middle class, and he lived with his sister in a large new flat in a new building in St. Petersburg, which I visited. The dining room lamp had a bell to ring for the maid. Somehow, I was expecting him to be from the working class, but those who pushed atheism on Russia were often from a liberal educated class. Gladishev was also an atheist.The working conditions in the Russian Empire were difficult in factories. But so were they in the U.S. as well. My grandmother worked 7 days a week from early morning till evening with no days off or any other extras for 8 dollars a week. So we have to look at the problems in Russia in the context of the times. Often, writers cite facts, but only in contest with themselves and a certain country's history. I suppose one thing gnawing at many Russians at that time was the feeling that Russia needed to 'update' and be like other nations with a 'democracy' or parliament, but we can see today that these institutions are easily corrupted; read the EU. Indeed, reforms needed to have been done much earlier, such as the abolition of serfdom or the reinstatement of the Patriachate, a traditional counterbalance to the Tsar.Russia today is in the process of finding its own way, while realizing that the West is bankrupt in every way. Meanwhile, the EU is an example of the evil of absolute control of money and power. Where evil is called good. and good, evil.In short, I'm enjoying reading about the tumultuous times in this book and finding much to reflect about.