Page:Michael Farbman - Russia & the Struggle for Peace (1918).djvu/113

Rh between the soldiers and the people, which made the Revolution such an absolute success, was at once a hint to point out the way for counter-revolution. If only this union could be destroyed, if only the confidence between the soldiers and the people could be undermined, there was hope for a counter-revolution. Unfortunately the condition of the Russian army nourished the illusion that this was possible. I refer to the fact that it was not the army as a whole, but only the soldiers, who joined the Revolution. The cleavage and the sense of mutual distrust between the soldiers and their officers had been the most tragic fact in old autocratic Russia. And this cleavage was destined to destroy the greatest hopes of the Revolution.

Generally speaking, when in a Revolution the army is said to have gone over to the side of the people, it is understood to mean that the officers went over, either inspiring or simply leading the soldiers after them. Such was the famous attempt at revolution by the Decembrists under Nicholas I., when a group of the most enlightened idealists among the Russian officers tried to lead the soldiers to revolt. And it was generally held in Russian revolutionary circles that, though the soldiers might mutiny, such a mutiny of soldiers without the co-operation of their officers could never be transformed into a Revolution. During their long years of dogged and stubborn preparation, the Russian revolutionists carried out an incessant and unflinching propaganda among the soldiers. But they considered that for the success of the Revolution it was necessary to get the support of the officers. This accounts for the pessimism which was so frequently prevalent in Russian revolutionary circles. They saw the difficulty of relying on the officers in case of revolution. And, indeed, the Russian Revolution was the first revolution ever to be achieved by the soldiers going over to the people not only without the co-operation of the officers, but actually against their will. The Revolution was a soldier's revolution. It was a revolution of the workers,