Brief psychological characteristic.

Leo Tolstoy (08/28/1828 - 11/7/1910).

Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy - the great Russian writer and philosopher, one of the interesting people late 19th - early 20th century. His name is known to every Russian person. The works of this writer are rich in spiritual content. Of particular interest are his philosophical teachings, which are presented in the later works of the author. They especially clearly show the perception of the world, the views, thinking, thoughts of L.N. Tolstoy. In particular, the most interesting are Tolstoy's reflections on the meaning of life, on the questions of being, on the attitude to life and death, on the experience of loneliness. These topics are important for any person, many scientists, psychologists, philosophers, writers, poets recognize them as the main, paramount.

From the diary and works of the writer, we see that Lev Nikolayevich, like many creative people, does not avoid these questions, trying to understand the essence of human life, destiny in this world. “In searching for answers to the question of life, I experienced exactly the same feeling that a person feels lost in the forest. He went out into the clearing, climbed a tree and clearly saw boundless spaces, but he saw that there was no house there and could not be; went into the thicket, into the darkness, and saw the darkness, and also there is no and no house.

The author of the lines says that in search of the meaning of life, he lived “in madness” for a long time, until “I began to get close to believers from poor, simple, unlearned people, with wanderers, monks, schismatics, peasants ... and fell in love with these people” .

Lev Nikolaevich comes in his thoughts to faith in God as the only truth, but he continues the search, as he still experiences doubts and suffering.

Based on these searches and reasoning, he formulates a religious philosophy. Probably, this religious philosophy is an attempt to sort out special important questions and answer the main one: what is the meaning of life? For each person, the answer to the question of the meaning of life may be different. But, perhaps, for someone, the answer of Leo Tolstoy will become their own personal choice: “faith is the knowledge of the meaning of human life, as a result of which a person does not destroy himself, but lives. Faith is the power of life. If a person lives, then he believes in something.

How did this man's own philosophy originate? Back in 1847, Leo Tolstoy wrote in his diary: “The disorderly life, which most secular people take as a consequence of youth, is nothing but a consequence of the early depravity of the soul.” This indicates that the issues of morality, honor, dignity, fundamental life moments worried the writer much earlier than it might seem at first glance. And in the period of old age, old age, these questions become even more relevant for him. Repentant, he writes: “nothing forms young man, as a connection with a decent woman .... I killed people in war, challenged them to duels to kill, lost at cards, devoured the labors of peasants, executed them, fornicated, deceived ... There was no crime that I would not have committed.

Lev Tolstoy great importance give solitude, mental work on oneself, only then a person, in his opinion, begins to understand the absurdity of his behavior, “takes off his glasses”, and after that, the writer writes in his diary, you can go into society, namely, with good intentions, with integrity souls.

Based on this, it cannot be said that philosophical and religious questions worried the writer only in later times. No, Leo Tolstoy always thought about the inner world of a person: “How many times have I managed to hide in my writings, under the guise of indifference and even mild mockery, those my aspirations for goodness, which constituted the meaning of my life.” But, obviously, the writer could not completely hide his indifference, his inner world. And despite the fact that the writer himself considered his later works related to philosophy and religion to be a more significant contribution than War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Cossacks, it is most likely that later work (Confession, "What is my fault?" and others) are a logical continuation of the entire activity of the writer.

By the end of his life, Lev Nikolayevich cannot come to the point where he does not draw conclusions. After all, the material he collected is huge, so why couldn't the writer come to the conclusion that it is necessary to generalize knowledge, generalize experience? Most likely, this thought pushed Tolstoy to create his own philosophy, did not give him rest, because this man was naturally active, and he was not indifferent to life, both of an individual and of humanity as a whole. He tried to find the meaning of life. There are many discussions about this in his diaries and works.

The writer in his diaries described his inner world. He wrote: “From a young age I began to prematurely analyze everything and destroy it mercilessly. I was often afraid, I thought - I will not have anything whole; but now I'm getting old, and I have a lot of whole and unharmed, more than other people. Whether I had a strong instrument of analysis, or the choice was right, but for a long time I no longer destroy; but the whole remained unshaken with me - love for one woman, children and any attitude towards them, science, art - real, without considerations of greatness ... ". Further, he writes that his friends do not have even a hundredth part of this wholeness. And right there in the diary, he is looking for an answer on what this happens and on what reasons it depends: “If a person thinks that his life is only a transient phenomenon - the sound of Plato's lyre, then this happens because the life of all other people seems to him only a sound lyre, but if he is loved or loves, the meaning of his life will become deeper for him. That is, love for people, the preservation of the integrity of the individual are intertwined in the writer and are one of the central themes of his reasoning.

So, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy was not only the creator of beautiful artistic images, but also an excellent philosophical thinker, a man who never calms down in the face of our common questions and problems, a man who seeks, reflects, gives himself, his world for all to see, is not afraid assessments and claims, and those who strive to be heard, reflect on the issues raised and understand the meaning that he tried to describe and convey.

Used Books

1. Leo Tolstoy "Selected Diaries" http://www.100bestbooks.ru/files/Tolstoy_Izbrannye_dnevniki.pdf

2. L.N. Tolstoy "Confession".

http://az.lib.ru/t/tolstoj_lew_nikolaewich/text_0440.shtml

A memorial plaque to Alexander Kolchak was installed today in St. Petersburg after a long preparation and approval. This was announced today to TASS by the coordinator of the memorial, educational and historical and cultural center "White Delo".

Listen only: "White business". And you can also listen to those people who saw the "acts" of Kolchak and described them. So, in 1920 in Paris, the right SR D.F. Rakov published a pamphlet with the eloquent title "In the dungeons of Kolchak." It should be noted that Rakov himself visited these dungeons, which means he understands perfectly what he describes:

Omsk just froze in horror. While the wives of the murdered comrades were looking for their corpses in the Siberian snows day and night, I continued my painful sitting, not knowing what horror was going on behind the walls of the guardhouse. Killed ... there were an infinite number. Entire wagonloads of corpses were transported through the city, as sheep and pig carcasses are transported in winter. The main victims were the soldiers of the local garrison and the workers.

N-yes. The picture is very unflattering for the illustrious admiral. Well, although Rakov is right, he is still a Social Revolutionary, which means he could lie somewhere to heighten the propaganda effect.

Then you just need to read what Kolchak's allies wrote. All the same, the Socialist-Revolutionaries are troublemakers, and their own will not "drive a blizzard". Here is William Sidney Graves, a major general in the US Army, who wrote America's Siberian Adventure (1918-1920) in retirement. In it, he writes the following about Kolchak's power:

... terrible murders were committed, but they were not committed by the Bolsheviks, as the world thinks. I would be far from any exaggeration if I say that for every one killed by the Bolsheviks in Eastern Siberia account for a hundred killed by anti-Bolsheviks.

Here is a quote from the same book:

... the floor of the room where these men were beaten was covered in blood, and all its walls were spattered with blood. The wire and rope loops that tied their necks still hung from the ceiling and were covered in blood. I also found that some of the men were doused with boiling water and burned with red-hot irons heated in a small oven that I found indoors. I visited the place where these men were shot. They were lined up and shot, each with at least three bullet holes, some with six or more. Obviously, they were first shot in the feet, and then higher in the torso.”

It is not surprising that the attitude of the population towards Kolchak's army was appropriate:

The methods used by the Kolchakites to mobilize the Siberians aroused a fury that is difficult to calm down. They went to the service, embittered by fear, but not before the enemy, but before their own troops. As a result, after the issuance of weapons and uniforms, they deserted to the Bolsheviks in regiments, battalions and one by one.

Again, the book was written by a living person, somewhere he could make a mistake, somewhere he could not finish, but the documents do not lie:

"To the chiefs of military detachments operating in the region of the uprising:

1. When occupying villages previously captured by robbers, demand the extradition of their leaders and leaders; if this does not happen, and there is reliable information about the existence of such, then shoot the tenth.

2. Villages, the population of which will meet government troops with weapons, burn; to shoot the adult male population without exception; property, horses, carts, bread, and so on, to be taken away in favor of the treasury.
Note. Everything selected must be carried out by order of the detachment ...

6. Take hostages among the population, in case of action by fellow villagers directed against government troops, shoot hostages mercilessly.

(excerpt from the order of the governor of the Yenisei and part of the Irkutsk province, General S. N. Rozanov, special representative of Kolchak in the city of Krasnoyarsk, dated March 27, 1919).

And it’s pointless to deny that Kolchak, who surrounded “himself with former tsarist officials” (quote from Graves), could not do without repression - after all, the Russian people finally took power into their own hands, and the tsarist officer could not allow the “plebs” to decide his fate.

Kolchak was not famous for his democracy or Christian "love of neighbor." Kolchak was famous for his repressions, his mediocre administration and his connections with the interventionists. Summing up, I will give an excerpt from the Great Russian Encyclopedia, published not by the "damned Bolsheviks", but in our time.

The "white terror" reached its highest scope in Siberia against the peasants during the punitive actions of parts of the armies of Admiral Kolchak in the areas of action of partisans, detachments of the Czechoslovak Corps were also used in these actions.

At the same time, the State Duma approved the renaming of the city of Tutaev to Romanov-Borisoglebsk. Probably, the city is not worthy to bear the name of a simple hard worker and soldier.

In this regard, the question arises: what kind of heroes does the current government consider “their own”? There is a strong feeling that they are white. Indeed, it is not for the Reds to look for support. Reds are people who stood and stand for equality and social justice. It is obvious that these ideas by no means can be accepted by the current government. Similarly, inequality and other charms of the regime can cause nothing but rejection in the left. Yes, this is not surprising.

But with the right of all sorts (and historical periods), relations are developing just fine on the basis of common interests - both economic and political. That's power and "whitens", glorifying gentlemen like Kolchak. Of course, sometimes you have to turn a blind eye to the "white terror" and other historical facts for this, but what can you do to save today's Russia! That is why we have various interesting situations: either they will erect a monument to Wrangel, or a plaque to Mannerheim.

The main thing is that officials in their offices should not forget that history does not tolerate the subjunctive mood...

Gertrud Richter

Successor position A. I. Denikin (did not officially take office) First in office A. V. Kolchak Last in office A. V. Kolchak Residence Omsk Appointed according to the results of elections held by the All-Russian Council of Ministers Established November 18, 1918 abolished April 4, 1920 Current Challenger Not

Postcard with a portrait of the Supreme Ruler A. V. Kolchak

Supreme ruler- a temporary position of the head of the Russian state, established as a result of a coup d'état on November 18, 1918 and recognized by all leaders of the White movement. the only person who held this position was Admiral A. V. Kolchak.

background

On the morning of November 18, the Council of Ministers, which gathered at an emergency meeting with the participation of two members of the Directory - P.V. Vologodsky and V.A. Vinogradov, having discussed the current situation, recognized the Directory as non-existent, announced the assumption of all the fullness of the supreme power and came to the conclusion that "the complete concentration of military and civilian power in the hands of one person with an authoritative name in military and public circles." It was decided in principle to “transfer temporarily the exercise of supreme power to one person, relying on the assistance of the Council of Ministers, giving such a person the name of the Supreme Ruler”, after which it was developed and adopted “ Regulations on the temporary structure of state power in Russia”(the so-called “Constitution of November 18”), which established, in particular, the order of relations between the Supreme Ruler and the Council of Ministers.

By secret ballot of the members of the Council of Ministers, Vice Admiral A. V. Kolchak, Minister of War and Naval Affairs, was elected to the post of Supreme Ruler, who was simultaneously promoted to the rank of full admiral. Kolchak declared his agreement with the election and, with the very first order in the army, announced that he had assumed the title of Supreme Commander-in-Chief and determined the main directions of the forthcoming work as the Supreme Ruler:

Having accepted the cross of this power in the exceptionally difficult conditions of the Civil War and the complete breakdown of state affairs and life, I declare that I will not follow either the path of reaction or the disastrous path of party spirit. main goal I put the creation of a combat-ready army, the victory over the Bolsheviks and the establishment of law and order

A new government was formed, which went down in history as Omsk, or the Kolchak government, which lasted until January 4, 1920.

Versions about the origin of the title

Russian historian V. V. Zhuravlev, analyzing different approaches to the question of the origin of the title of the Supreme Ruler, accepted by the admiral A. V. Kolchak, came to the conclusion that there is no unequivocal answer to this question in the research literature, “moreover, it is the ambiguity of its genesis that constitutes the main difficulty in interpreting its ideological load” .

Some researchers (V. Zh. Tsvetkov, A. B. Zubov) expressed the opinion that the concept of "Supreme Ruler" was not an innovation, but a category of the Basic Laws of the Russian Empire.

Historian V. Zh. Tsvetkov drew attention to the fact that the term "Ruler" was provided for by the Basic Laws of the Russian Empire. According to Articles 41, 42 and 43, the minor Heir, in case of accession to the Throne, was appointed the Ruler and Guardian, "in one person together" or "in two persons separately." After the act of non-acceptance of the Throne by Mikhail Alexandrovich, the Provisional Government turned out to be the bearer of the temporary supreme power, and since the Ufa State Conference declared its succession to the Provisional Government, then, following the principles of actual succession, Kolchak received the status of "Ruler" from the all-Russian power, expressed by the Council of Ministers of the Provisional All-Russian government. Thus, Kolchak nominally became the regent - the Ruler of the State under the vacant Throne, until the newly elected Constituent Assembly decides on the form of government and hands over power to an elected person or body. The title "Supreme Ruler", according to Tsvetkov, is more correctly identified with the throne tenant, but not as a person "occupying" the Throne. The position of “Provisional President” had a similar status in the “Regulations on the Provisional President” developed on the eve of the convocation of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly in the fall of 1917, whose tasks would include the expression of domestic and foreign policy and the protection of state sovereignty until the final approval of the foundations of the political system by the Russian Constituent Assembly .

Lieutenant General D. V. Filatiev wrote in his memoirs about this:

On November 18, in Omsk, although in an unsuccessful procedural form, something happened that, according to the logic of state reason, should have happened in Petrograd after the abdication of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. Had the Supreme Ruler been elected by the State Duma at the same time as the bearer of power irremovable until the Constituent Assembly, Russia would not have fallen into the abyss.

It is significant how Kolchak himself assessed his new position as the Supreme Ruler. In a letter to his wife S.F. Kolchak dated October 15, 1919, he wrote in Paris:

It is strange for me to read in your letters that you ask me about representation and some position of yours as the wife of the Supreme Ruler ... I am not on any side a representative of hereditary or elected power. I look at my rank as a position of a purely official nature.

terms of reference

The powers of the Supreme Ruler largely copied Russian pre-revolutionary legislation. According to Article 47 of the Code of Fundamental Laws, “The Ruler of the State was entitled to the Council of the Government; and as a Ruler without a Council, so a Council without a Ruler cannot exist.” According to Article 48, the members of the Council were appointed by the Ruler himself. The competence of the Council included “all without exception cases subject to the decision of the Emperor himself and all those that both come to Him and to His Council” (according to Article 50 - all cases relating to the direction of internal and foreign policy). According to Article 51, "The ruler has a decisive voice" when discussing all issues.

According to the "Constitution of November 18, 1918" , legislative power and initiative were exercised by the Supreme Ruler and the Council of Ministers "cumulatively". The Council of Ministers was charged with conducting preliminary discussions of all laws, and without its sanction not a single law could come into force. At the same time, the Supreme Ruler had the right of "absolute veto". In the event of the refusal of the Supreme Ruler from the title, a long-term absence or a “serious illness”, his functions were performed by the Council of Ministers (en corpore).

Symbolism of the Supreme Ruler

On May 9, 1919, the Omsk government approved the symbols of the Supreme Ruler - a flag and a braid pennant with a double-headed eagle, but without signs of "royal" power: 38.

Termination of powers

Corner form of official letters of the Supreme Ruler and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Admiral A. V. Kolchak

At the beginning of December 1919, A. V. Kolchak raised the issue of "renunciation in favor of Denikin" with his government. December 22 Council of Ministers Russian government adopted the following resolution: “In order to ensure the continuity and succession of all-Russian power, the Council of Ministers decided: to assign the duties of the Supreme Ruler in the event of a serious illness or death of the Supreme Ruler, as well as in the event of his refusal from the title of Supreme Ruler or his long-term absence to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in the South Russia Lieutenant General Denikin".

As Denikin himself testifies in his memoirs, in an environment severe defeats Armed forces of the South of Russia and the political crisis, he considered completely unacceptable "the adoption of the corresponding name and functions" and refused to accept the title of Supreme Ruler, citing his decision "lack of official information about events in the East."

In the summer of 1920, A. I. Guchkov turned to Denikin with a request to “complete a patriotic feat and endow Baron Wrangel with a special solemn act ... successive all-Russian power,” but he refused to sign such a document.

see also

Notes

Literature

• Zhuravlev V.V.“Having assigned such a person the name of the supreme ruler”: On the question of the title adopted by Admiral A.V. Kolchak on November 18, 1918 // Anthropological Forum. - 2008. - V. No. 8.

Categories:

• Titles
• State of Russia during the Civil War
• white movement
• Omsk government
• Civil War in Russia

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See what "Supreme Ruler" is in other dictionaries:

SUPREME RULER- (Supreme Governor) the highest position in the state. Existed in non-Bolshevik Russia in 1918 1919 ... Power. Politics. public service. Dictionary

Abolished state position Coat of arms of Russia (1919) ... Wikipedia

SUPREME, highest, highest, superior in rank, power, rank, value, by right. Supreme ruler, sovereign. High priest. | Psk spun or woven from the upper reaches, from the first linen combs. supremacy of women. property, condition Dictionary Dalia

"Kolchak" redirects here. See also other meanings. Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak November 4 (16), 1874 February 7, 1920 Supreme Ruler of Russia and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Admiral A. V. Kolchak Place of birth ... Wikipedia

The head of state, country or other separate territory who has power. The word "ruler" is devoid of any additional meaning, does not have a foreign language origin, and therefore is acceptable to refer to the head of state ... ... Wikipedia

Supreme ruler- a temporary position of the head of the Russian state, established as a result of a coup d'état on November 18, 1918 and recognized by all leaders of the White movement. The only person to hold this position was Admiral A. V. Kolchak.

background

On September 23, 1918, the “Act on the Formation of the All-Russian Supreme Power” of the Ufa State Conference created the Provisional All-Russian Government (“Ufa Directory”) and established that this government would be “until the convening of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly ... the only bearer of supreme power throughout the state Russian". On November 4, 1918, the executive body of the Directory was formed - the All-Russian Council of Ministers.

Transfer of power

The Directory ceased its activities as a result of the events on the night of November 17-18, 1918, when a group of military personnel of the Cossack units stationed in Omsk arrested the Chairman of the Directory N. D. Avksentiev, a member of the Directory V. M. Zenzinov, a deputy member of the Directory A A. Argunov, as well as Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, head of the secret service E. F. Rogovsky. All those arrested were members of the Party of Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs).

On the morning of November 18, the Council of Ministers, which gathered at an emergency meeting with the participation of two members of the Directory - P.V. Vologodsky and V.A. Vinogradov, having discussed the current situation, recognized the Directory as non-existent, announced the assumption of all the fullness of the supreme power and came to the conclusion that "the complete concentration of military and civilian power in the hands of one person with an authoritative name in military and public circles." It was decided in principle to “transfer temporarily the exercise of supreme power to one person, relying on the assistance of the Council of Ministers, giving such a person the name of the Supreme Ruler”, after which it was developed and adopted “ Regulations on the temporary structure of state power in Russia”(the so-called “Constitution of November 18”), which established, in particular, the order of relations between the Supreme Ruler and the Council of Ministers.

By secret ballot of the members of the Council of Ministers, Vice Admiral A. V. Kolchak, Minister of War and Naval Affairs, was elected to the post of Supreme Ruler, who was simultaneously promoted to the rank of full admiral. Kolchak declared his agreement with the election and, with the very first order in the army, announced that he had assumed the title of Supreme Commander-in-Chief and determined the main directions of the forthcoming work as the Supreme Ruler:

Having accepted the cross of this power in the exceptionally difficult conditions of the Civil War and the complete breakdown of state affairs and life, I declare that I will not follow either the path of reaction or the disastrous path of party spirit. My main goal is to create a combat-ready army, defeat the Bolsheviks and establish law and order.

A new government was formed, which went down in history as Omsk, or the Kolchak government, which lasted until January 4, 1920.

Versions about the origin of the title

The Russian historian V. V. Zhuravlev, analyzing various approaches to the question of the origin of the title of the Supreme Ruler, adopted by Admiral A. V. Kolchak, came to the conclusion that there is no unequivocal answer to this question in the research literature, the main difficulty in interpreting its ideological load.

Some researchers (V. Zh. Tsvetkov, A. B. Zubov) expressed the opinion that the concept of "Supreme Ruler" was not an innovation, but a category of the Basic Laws of the Russian Empire.

Historian V. Zh. Tsvetkov drew attention to the fact that, according to Articles 41, 42 and 43 of the Basic Laws Russian Empire in case of accession to the Throne, the minor Heir was appointed the Ruler and Guardian, "in one person jointly" or "in two persons separately." After the act of non-acceptance of the Throne by Mikhail Alexandrovich, the Provisional Government turned out to be the bearer of the temporary supreme power, and since the Ufa State Conference declared its succession to the Provisional Government, then, following the principles of actual succession, Kolchak received the status of "Ruler" from the all-Russian power, expressed by the Council of Ministers of the Provisional All-Russian government. Thus, Kolchak nominally became the regent - the Ruler of the State under the vacant Throne, until the newly elected Constituent Assembly decides on the form of government and hands over power to an elected person or body. The title "Supreme Ruler", according to Tsvetkov, is more correctly identified with the throne tenant, but not as a person "occupying" the Throne. The position of the “Provisional President” had a similar status in the “Regulations on the Provisional President” developed on the eve of the convocation of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly in the fall of 1917 (the bill “On the organization of temporary executive power at the Constituent Assembly ...”), whose tasks would include the expression of internal and foreign policy and protection of state sovereignty until the final approval of the foundations of the political system by the Russian Constituent Assembly.

Symbolism of the Supreme Ruler

Termination of powers

At the beginning of December 1919, A. V. Kolchak raised the issue of "renunciation in favor of Denikin" with his government. On December 22, the Council of Ministers of the Russian government adopted the following resolution: “In order to ensure the continuity and succession of all-Russian power, the Council of Ministers decided: to impose the duties of the Supreme Ruler in the event of a serious illness or death of the Supreme Ruler, as well as in the event of his refusal from the title of Supreme Ruler or his long-term absence to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in the South of Russia, Lieutenant General Denikin.

As Denikin himself testifies in his memoirs, in the context of the heavy defeats of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia and the political crisis, he considered it completely unacceptable to "accept the appropriate name and functions" and refused to accept the title of Supreme Ruler, motivating his decision by the "lack of official information about events in the East" .

In the summer of 1920, A. I. Guchkov turned to Denikin with a request to “complete a patriotic feat and endow Baron Wrangel with a special solemn act ... successive all-Russian power,” but he refused to sign such a document.

see also

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Notes

Literature

• Zhuravlev V.V.// Anthropological forum. - 2008. - Issue. No. 8.

An excerpt characterizing the Supreme Ruler

"Villain, why are you doing this?" shouted the host, running up to the cook.
At the same instant, women wailed plaintively from different directions, a child began to cry in fright, and people silently crowded around the cook with pale faces. From this crowd, the groans and sentences of the cook were heard most audibly:
- Oh, oh, my darlings! My doves are white! Don't let die! My doves are white! ..
Five minutes later there was no one left on the street. The cook, with her thigh shattered by a grenade fragment, was carried into the kitchen. Alpatych, his coachman, Ferapontov's wife with children, the janitor were sitting in the basement, listening. The rumble of guns, the whistle of shells, and the pitiful groan of the cook, which prevailed over all sounds, did not stop for a moment. The hostess now rocked and persuaded the child, then in a pitiful whisper asked everyone who entered the basement where her master was, who remained on the street. The shopkeeper, who entered the basement, told her that the owner had gone with the people to the cathedral, where they were raising the miraculous Smolensk icon.
By dusk, the cannonade began to subside. Alpatych came out of the basement and stopped at the door. Before a clear evening, the sky was all covered with smoke. And through this smoke a young, high-standing sickle of the moon shone strangely. After the former terrible rumble of guns had fallen silent over the city, silence seemed to be interrupted only by the rustle of steps, groans, distant screams and the crackling of fires, as it were spread throughout the city. The groans of the cook are now quiet. From both sides, black clouds of smoke from fires rose and dispersed. On the street, not in rows, but like ants from a ruined tussock, in different uniforms and in different directions, soldiers passed and ran through. In the eyes of Alpatych, several of them ran into Ferapontov's yard. Alpatych went to the gate. Some regiment, crowding and hurrying, blocked the street, going back.
“The city is being surrendered, leave, leave,” the officer who noticed his figure said to him and immediately turned to the soldiers with a cry:
- I'll let you run around the yards! he shouted.
Alpatych returned to the hut and, calling the coachman, ordered him to leave. Following Alpatych and the coachman, all Ferapontov's household went out. Seeing the smoke and even the lights of the fires, which were now visible in the beginning twilight, the women, who had been silent until then, suddenly began to wail, looking at the fires. As if echoing them, similar cries were heard at the other ends of the street. Alpatych with a coachman, with trembling hands, straightened the tangled reins and horses' lines under a canopy.
When Alpatych was leaving the gate, he saw ten soldiers in the open shop of Ferapontov pouring sacks and knapsacks with wheat flour and sunflowers with a loud voice. At the same time, returning from the street to the shop, Ferapontov entered. Seeing the soldiers, he wanted to shout something, but suddenly stopped and, clutching his hair, burst out laughing with sobbing laughter.
- Get it all, guys! Don't get the devils! he shouted, grabbing the sacks himself and throwing them out into the street. Some soldiers, frightened, ran out, some continued to pour. Seeing Alpatych, Ferapontov turned to him.
- Decided! Russia! he shouted. - Alpatych! decided! I'll burn it myself. I made up my mind ... - Ferapontov ran into the yard.
Soldiers were constantly walking along the street, filling it all up, so that Alpatych could not pass and had to wait. The hostess Ferapontova was also sitting on the cart with the children, waiting to be able to leave.
It was already quite night. There were stars in the sky and a young moon shone from time to time, shrouded in smoke. On the descent to the Dnieper, the carts of Alpatych and the hostess, slowly moving in the ranks of soldiers and other crews, had to stop. Not far from the crossroads where the carts stopped, in an alley, a house and shops were on fire. The fire has already burned out. The flame either died away and was lost in black smoke, then it suddenly flashed brightly, strangely clearly illuminating the faces of the crowded people standing at the crossroads. In front of the fire, black figures of people flashed by, and from behind the incessant crackle of the fire, voices and screams were heard. Alpatych, who got down from the wagon, seeing that they would not let his wagon through soon, turned to the alley to look at the fire. The soldiers darted incessantly back and forth past the fire, and Alpatych saw how two soldiers and with them a man in a frieze overcoat dragged burning logs from the fire across the street to the neighboring yard; others carried armfuls of hay.
Alpatych approached a large crowd of people standing in front of a high barn burning with full fire. The walls were all on fire, the back collapsed, the boarded roof collapsed, the beams were on fire. Obviously, the crowd was waiting for the moment when the roof would collapse. Alpatych expected the same.
- Alpatych! Suddenly a familiar voice called out to the old man.
“Father, your excellency,” answered Alpatych, instantly recognizing the voice of his young prince.
Prince Andrei, in a raincoat, riding a black horse, stood behind the crowd and looked at Alpatych.
– How are you here? - he asked.
- Your ... your Excellency, - Alpatych said and sobbed ... - Yours, yours ... or have we already disappeared? Father…
– How are you here? repeated Prince Andrew.
The flame flared brightly at that moment and illuminated Alpatych's pale and exhausted face of his young master. Alpatych told how he was sent and how he could have left by force.
“Well, Your Excellency, or are we lost?” he asked again.
Prince Andrei, without answering, took out notebook and, raising his knee, he began to write with a pencil on a torn sheet. He wrote to his sister:
“Smolensk is being surrendered,” he wrote, “the Bald Mountains will be occupied by the enemy in a week. Leave now for Moscow. Answer me as soon as you leave, sending a courier to Usvyazh.
Having written and handed over the sheet to Alpatych, he verbally told him how to arrange the departure of the prince, princess and son with the teacher and how and where to answer him immediately. He had not yet had time to complete these orders, when the chief of staff on horseback, accompanied by his retinue, galloped up to him.
- Are you a colonel? shouted the chief of staff, with a German accent, in a voice familiar to Prince Andrei. - Houses are lit in your presence, and you are standing? What does this mean? You will answer, - shouted Berg, who was now assistant chief of staff of the left flank infantry troops the first army - a very pleasant place and in plain sight, as Berg said.
Prince Andrei looked at him and, without answering, continued, turning to Alpatych:
“So tell me that I’m waiting for an answer by the tenth, and if I don’t get the news on the tenth that everyone has left, I myself will have to drop everything and go to the Bald Mountains.
“I, prince, only say so,” said Berg, recognizing Prince Andrei, “that I must obey orders, because I always fulfill them exactly ... Please excuse me,” Berg justified himself in some way.
Something crackled in the fire. The fire subsided for a moment; black puffs of smoke poured from under the roof. Something else crackled terribly in the fire, and something huge collapsed.
– Urruru! - Echoing the collapsed ceiling of the barn, from which there was a smell of cakes from burnt bread, the crowd roared. The flame flared up and illuminated the animatedly joyful and exhausted faces of the people standing around the fire.
A man in a frieze overcoat, raising his hand, shouted:
- Important! go fight! Guys, it's important!
“This is the master himself,” voices said.
“So, so,” said Prince Andrei, turning to Alpatych, “tell everything as I told you.” And, without answering a word to Berg, who fell silent beside him, he touched the horse and rode into the alley.

The troops continued to retreat from Smolensk. The enemy was following them. On August 10, the regiment, commanded by Prince Andrei, passed along the high road, past the avenue leading to the Bald Mountains. The heat and drought lasted for more than three weeks. Curly clouds moved across the sky every day, occasionally obscuring the sun; but towards evening it cleared again, and the sun set in a brownish-red mist. Only heavy dew at night refreshed the earth. The bread remaining on the root burned and spilled out. The swamps have dried up. The cattle roared from hunger, not finding food in the meadows burned by the sun. Only at night and in the forests the dew still held, it was cool. But along the road, along the high road along which the troops marched, even at night, even through the forests, there was no such coolness. The dew was not noticeable on the sandy dust of the road, which was pushed up more than a quarter of an arshin. As soon as it dawned, the movement began. Convoys, artillery silently walked along the hub, and the infantry up to their ankles in soft, stuffy, hot dust that had not cooled down during the night. One part of this sandy dust was kneaded by feet and wheels, the other rose and stood like a cloud over the army, sticking to the eyes, hair, ears, nostrils and, most importantly, the lungs of people and animals moving along this road. The higher the sun rose, the higher the cloud of dust rose, and through this thin, hot dust it was possible to look at the sun, not covered by clouds, with a simple eye. The sun was a big crimson ball. There was no wind, and people were suffocating in this still atmosphere. People walked with handkerchiefs around their noses and mouths. Coming to the village, everything rushed to the wells. They fought for water and drank it to the dirt.
Prince Andrei commanded the regiment, and the structure of the regiment, the well-being of its people, the need to receive and give orders occupied him. The fire of Smolensk and its abandonment were an epoch for Prince Andrei. A new feeling of bitterness against the enemy made him forget his grief. He was completely devoted to the affairs of his regiment, he was caring for his people and officers and affectionate with them. In the regiment they called him our prince, they were proud of him and loved him. But he was kind and meek only with his regimental officers, with Timokhin, etc., with completely new people and in a foreign environment, with people who could not know and understand his past; but as soon as he ran into one of his former staff members, he immediately bristled again; became malicious, mocking and contemptuous. Everything that connected his memory with the past repulsed him, and therefore he tried in the relations of this former world only not to be unjust and to fulfill his duty.
True, everything was presented in a dark, gloomy light to Prince Andrei - especially after they left Smolensk (which, according to his concepts, could and should have been defended) on August 6, and after his father, who was sick, had to flee to Moscow and throw away the Bald Mountains, so beloved, built up and inhabited by him, for plunder; but, despite the fact, thanks to the regiment, Prince Andrei could think about another subject, completely independent of general questions - about his regiment. On August 10, the column, in which his regiment was, caught up with the Bald Mountains. Prince Andrey two days ago received the news that his father, son and sister had left for Moscow. Although Prince Andrei had nothing to do in the Bald Mountains, he, with his characteristic desire to exasperate his grief, decided that he should call in the Bald Mountains.
He ordered his horse to be saddled and from the crossing rode on horseback to his father's village, in which he was born and spent his childhood. Passing by a pond, on which dozens of women, talking to each other, beat with rollers and rinsed their clothes, Prince Andrei noticed that there was no one on the pond, and a torn-off raft, half flooded with water, floated sideways in the middle of the pond. Prince Andrei drove up to the gatehouse. There was no one at the stone entrance gate, and the door was unlocked. The garden paths were already overgrown, and the calves and horses were walking through the English park. Prince Andrei drove up to the greenhouse; the windows were broken, and the trees in tubs, some felled, some withered. He called Taras the gardener. Nobody responded. Going around the greenhouse to the exhibition, he saw that the carved board fence was all broken and the plum fruits were plucked with branches. An old peasant (Prince Andrei had seen him at the gate in his childhood) was sitting and weaving bast shoes on a green bench.
He was deaf and did not hear the entrance of Prince Andrei. He was sitting on a bench, on which the old prince liked to sit, and beside him was hung a bast on the knots of a broken and withered magnolia.
Prince Andrei drove up to the house. Several lindens in the old garden were cut down, one piebald horse with a foal walked in front of the house between the roses. The house was boarded up with shutters. One window downstairs was open. The yard boy, seeing Prince Andrei, ran into the house.
Alpatych, having sent his family, remained alone in the Bald Mountains; he sat at home and read the Lives. Upon learning of the arrival of Prince Andrei, he, with glasses on his nose, buttoning up, left the house, hurriedly approached the prince and, without saying anything, wept, kissing Prince Andrei on the knee.
Then he turned away with a heart to his weakness and began to report to him on the state of affairs. Everything valuable and expensive was taken to Bogucharovo. Bread, up to a hundred quarters, was also exported; hay and spring, unusual, as Alpatych said, this year's green harvest was taken and mowed - by the troops. The peasants are ruined, some have also gone to Bogucharovo, a small part remains.
Prince Andrei, without listening to the end, asked when his father and sister left, meaning when they left for Moscow. Alpatych answered, believing that they were asking about leaving for Bogucharovo, that they had left on the seventh, and again spread about the farm's shares, asking for permission.
- Will you order the oats to be released on receipt to the teams? We still have six hundred quarters left,” Alpatych asked.
“What to answer him? thought Prince Andrei, looking at the old man's bald head, shining in the sun, and in his expression reading the consciousness that he himself understood the untimeliness of these questions, but asked only in such a way as to drown out his grief.
“Yes, let go,” he said.
“If they deigned to notice the unrest in the garden,” Alpatych said, “then it was impossible to prevent: three regiments passed and spent the night, especially dragoons. I wrote out the rank and rank of commander for filing a petition.
- Well, what are you going to do? Will you stay if the enemy takes? Prince Andrew asked him.
Alpatych, turning his face to Prince Andrei, looked at him; and suddenly raised his hand in a solemn gesture.
“He is my patron, may his will be done!” he said.
A crowd of peasants and servants walked across the meadow, with open heads, approaching Prince Andrei.
- Well, goodbye! - said Prince Andrei, bending over to Alpatych. - Leave yourself, take away what you can, and the people were told to leave for Ryazanskaya or Moscow Region. - Alpatych clung to his leg and sobbed. Prince Andrei carefully pushed him aside and, touching his horse, galloped down the alley.
At the exhibition, just as indifferent as a fly on the face of a dear dead man, the old man sat and tapped on a block of bast shoes, and two girls with plums in their skirts, which they picked from greenhouse trees, fled from there and stumbled upon Prince Andrei. Seeing the young master, the older girl, with fright expressed on her face, grabbed her smaller companion by the hand and hid behind a birch together with her, not having time to pick up the scattered green plums.
Prince Andrei hastily turned away from them in fright, afraid to let them notice that he had seen them. He felt sorry for this pretty, frightened girl. He was afraid to look at her, but at the same time he had an irresistible desire to do so. A new, gratifying and reassuring feeling came over him when, looking at these girls, he realized the existence of other, completely alien to him and just as legitimate human interests as those that occupied him. These girls, obviously, passionately desired one thing - to carry away and finish eating these green plums and not be caught, and Prince Andrei together with them wished the success of their enterprise. He couldn't help but look at them again. Thinking they were already safe, they jumped out of the ambush and, holding their skirts in thin voices, merrily and quickly ran across the grass of the meadow with their tanned bare legs.
Prince Andrei refreshed himself a little, having left the dusty area of ​​​​the high road along which the troops were moving. But not far beyond the Bald Mountains, he again drove onto the road and caught up with his regiment at a halt, by the dam of a small pond. It was the second hour after noon. The sun, a red ball in the dust, was unbearably hot and burned his back through his black coat. The dust, still the same, stood motionless over the voice of the humming, halted troops. There was no wind. In the passage along the dam, Prince Andrei smelled of the mud and freshness of the pond. He wanted to get into the water, no matter how dirty it was. He looked back at the pond, from which cries and laughter were coming. A small muddy pond with greenery, apparently, rose a quarter by two, flooding the dam, because it was full of human, soldier, naked white bodies floundering in it, with brick-red hands, faces and necks. All this naked, white human meat, with laughter and a boom, floundered in this dirty puddle, like crucian carp stuffed into a watering can. This floundering echoed with merriment, and therefore it was especially sad.

- (Supreme Governor) the highest position in the state. Existed in non-Bolshevik Russia in 1918 1919 ... Power. Politics. Public service. Dictionary

"Kolchak" redirects here. See also other meanings. Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak November 4 (16), 1874 February 7, 1920 Supreme Ruler of Russia and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Admiral A. V. Kolchak Place of birth ... Wikipedia

The head of state, country or other separate territory who has power. The word "ruler" is devoid of any additional meaning, does not have a foreign language origin, and therefore is acceptable to refer to the head of state ... ... Wikipedia

From top to bottom, left to right: Armed forces South of Russia in 1919, the hanging of workers by Austro-Hungarian troops ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see Marks. Mark of the High Command Voo ... Wikipedia

A concept that denotes the extreme forms of the repressive policy of the anti-Bolshevik forces during the Civil War. The concept includes a set of repressive legislative acts, as well as their practical implementation in the form of radical measures ... Wikipedia

See also: Revolution of 1905-1907 in Russia Change of power in Russia in 1917-1918 ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see Intervention (meanings). Military intervention in Russia Civil war in Russia ... Wikipedia

Military intervention in Russia Civil war in Russia American troops in Vladivostok ... Wikipedia

Books

• Supreme Ruler of Russia. Documents and materials of the investigation file of Admiral A. V. Kolchak,. The collection includes the main key documents from an extensive investigative file, which significantly expand the source base for objective coverage of the history of the anti-Bolshevik ...
• , Sinyukov Valery Vasilievich. The book is devoted to a burning topic modern Russia- patriotism, selfless service to the Fatherland. A. V. Kolchak in Tsarist Russia went from midshipman and explorer of the Arctic to admiral ...
• Alexander Vasilievich Kolchak. Scientist and patriot. In 2 parts. Part 2. Commander of the Black Sea Fleet and Supreme Ruler of Russia, V. V. Sinyukov. The book is dedicated to the burning theme of modern Russia - patriotism, selfless service to the Fatherland. A. V. Kolchak in Tsarist Russia went from midshipman and explorer of the Arctic to admiral ...