ChristopherMaxwell
Rhodesian Bloke
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2006
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November 14, 1917- Petrograd, Russia, at the British Embassy:
Major Oliver Hastings, Attache to the Royal Embassy in Petrogad, watched with considerable alarm, as he witnessed the end of any resistance to the Bolshevik coup. Lenin and his fellow Reds were now in charge of the capital, though, of course, there were plenty of people still opposing him. To get total control of a country the size of Russia, he'd need to be completely ruthless. The trouble was that Major Hastings strongly suspected the former solicitor-turned-revolutionary to be exactly that.
Hastings had little use for Marxism, though he understood that the working-class was mistreated in most countries. He always preferred to avoid ideological solutions. They never made much sense to a pragmatic military man like the Major. Ideology seemed likely to result in fanaticism and bloodshed. It bore chilling reminders of the Jacobins and the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution. Lenin was too similar to Robespierre in Hastings's estimation, save without the Jacobin's nobler tendencies. A lot more people were likely to die in the new Reign of Terror to follow in Russia.
He lit his fag and went back to work on his report, though inwardly determined to see if some way could be found to subvert Lenin and his self-appointed "Soviet of People's Commissars". After all, there were supposed to be elections for a Constituent Assembly soon and Lenin was undermining this transition to a parliamentary democracy. Furthermore, the Bolsheviks were rumoured to be plotting a separate peace with the Kaiser.
Finishing and filing his report, the Major was finally done with his workday, at least officially. That didn't mean that he intended to do nothing. He paid close attention to the streets outside the Embassy, even as he lit a brand-new fag (he was a chain-smoker) and chatted a bit with the Embassy guards closest to his office.
He couldn't overlook the young Russian lady of apparently blue-blooded origins who appeared to be seeking a way to sneak onto the Embassy grounds. Evidently, she was more afraid of the Red Guard than of the British soldiers.
Major Oliver Hastings, Attache to the Royal Embassy in Petrogad, watched with considerable alarm, as he witnessed the end of any resistance to the Bolshevik coup. Lenin and his fellow Reds were now in charge of the capital, though, of course, there were plenty of people still opposing him. To get total control of a country the size of Russia, he'd need to be completely ruthless. The trouble was that Major Hastings strongly suspected the former solicitor-turned-revolutionary to be exactly that.
Hastings had little use for Marxism, though he understood that the working-class was mistreated in most countries. He always preferred to avoid ideological solutions. They never made much sense to a pragmatic military man like the Major. Ideology seemed likely to result in fanaticism and bloodshed. It bore chilling reminders of the Jacobins and the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution. Lenin was too similar to Robespierre in Hastings's estimation, save without the Jacobin's nobler tendencies. A lot more people were likely to die in the new Reign of Terror to follow in Russia.
He lit his fag and went back to work on his report, though inwardly determined to see if some way could be found to subvert Lenin and his self-appointed "Soviet of People's Commissars". After all, there were supposed to be elections for a Constituent Assembly soon and Lenin was undermining this transition to a parliamentary democracy. Furthermore, the Bolsheviks were rumoured to be plotting a separate peace with the Kaiser.
Finishing and filing his report, the Major was finally done with his workday, at least officially. That didn't mean that he intended to do nothing. He paid close attention to the streets outside the Embassy, even as he lit a brand-new fag (he was a chain-smoker) and chatted a bit with the Embassy guards closest to his office.
He couldn't overlook the young Russian lady of apparently blue-blooded origins who appeared to be seeking a way to sneak onto the Embassy grounds. Evidently, she was more afraid of the Red Guard than of the British soldiers.
