Russia

By: Wendy Ji

Mama said that the French have invaded Russia and took over Moscow just a bit over a week ago. All of her and papa’s friends are talking about what this will mean for us. What will Napoleon do to the peasants? We’ve heard rumors about him starving the people who live in the cities he takes over, forcing them to

comply. The Russian Army is apparently burning land they pass so the French can’t get any food or supplies. Both mama and papa have worked on this land since they were born. My grandpas and grandmas have too.

Mama tells me when I get old enough, this will be my home. I don’t want to be a serf forever. Though our lord isn’t terrible, I hate being tied to this one plot of land. Mama is secretly teaching me how to read and

write. This journal is supposed to help me practice. Today, she showed me a picture of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Frenchman who’s in charge of the French Army. He looks so noble and powerful on his horse. But I’ve

heard my neighbors saying how short he is. I think it’s funny that such a short man can have so much power. Maybe that will happen to me too! I’m only six years old right now, but papa says I’ll be as tall as

him when I grow up!

*Napoleon Bonaparte*http://www.english.upenn.edu/sites/www.english.upenn.edu/files/Projects/knarf/Gifs/napoleon.gif

September 23, 1812

After Tsar Alexander I’s death, Tsar Nicholas I’s

took over Russia. Apparently, Constantine was supposed to take inherit the throne, but he did. Because of this, many military officials revolted on the 14th of December. Papa and mama were

just talking about this last night after a hard day of work. I too, am now working. The lord sees me as a healthy and strong young man, so I try to do most of the heavy lifting assigned to papa since

his back is getting bad. The new Tsar is seen as a “conservative”,

whatever that is supposed to mean. My parents were saying how the rebels are being taken to Siberia. You can see it on this map snippet that the lord’s son threw away. Papa found it in the

trash and stole it for me to help me learn. Siberia is in northern Russia, where it’s freezing all year

long. I’m now much better at writing and I’m learning about history now. One day, I won’t be a

serf anymore and I’ll be prepared to do bigger and better things other than agriculture. Maybe

I’ll do something that will make a difference.

December 20, 1825

*Map of Russia; Serbia is to the north*

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_YFxXSoD0p4E/TKLAXeJLDEI/AAAAAAAAACA/v9id9xHn8Jk/

s1600/AborigineSiberiaMap.png

Russia is at war with the Ottoman Empire. This

war is coming to be known as the Crimean War. It’s appropriately named, since the fighting is on the Crimean Peninsula, which juts out into the

Black Sea. The Ottoman Empire wasn’t respecting people of the Eastern Orthodox faith, so we sent troops out. Britain and France have sent troops to help the Ottomans. Russia wants control of ports

in the south. Each day, I hear news about hundreds of men dying. When will these bloody battles cease? We fight over religion. We fight over power. We fight over land. We fight over

nothing. With our victory at the Battle of Balaclava, we gained a slight advantage. But how

long will we be able to hold it? We’re fighting against some of the most powerful nations in

Europe. And though we may have a lot of territory, we lack a lot in other categories.

March 22, 1855

*Map of the Black Sea in relation to Russia*

http://www.emersonkent.com/images/crimean_war.jpg

Though Russia is still in war with the Ottoman Empire, we managed to take more land from

China. I think this has definitely made the Chinese very angry. Russia is trying to expand their territory while the Ottoman Empire is losing theirs. But the Ottoman Empire seems much more advanced than us. I have heard of many Russian casualties because of the better weapons. The Treaty of Peking has given us a better opportunity for trade and part of Manchuria. I managed

to write some Chinese symbols below. Though I have no idea what any of it means, I think calligraphy is beautiful. Before papa died, he gave me a small book that his merchant friend

smuggled to him. It’s full of symbols and letters of different countries. I will forever treasure that book. My landlord is pushing me harder than ever. More grain needs to be produced. He’s angry that his profits are going down. If he’s so desperate, I think that he should try plowing the land himself. There was talks of a peasant revolt a few months ago on our estate, but it never got put into action. Looking back on my earlier entries, I see that I was very naïve. Who’s to say I

will ever break free of serfdom?

November 14, 1860

*Chinese symbols*

http://www.chinese-symbols.com/chinese-symbols/e/Everything%20has%20beauty%20but%20not%20everyone%20sees%20it.gif

The new Tsar Alexander II has emancipated us serfs! After losing to the

Ottoman Empire in the Crimean War, I think Russia got a wake-up call. I’ve heard of the superior weapons and machines in the rest of Europe. Though my lord was pushing us serfs past our breaking point, we still couldn’t manage to produce as much grain as he wished. Many of my friends died because of being overworked. I too am getting old. Papa and mama died a long time ago, bound to the land their entire lives. They tried to revolt several times, but those peasant revolts never

accomplished anything. Now most of my life has flashed by, but I am free. What does this mean for me? I have married and have had two

children of my own. I have taught them how to read and write, just like my mama taught me. They have the opportunity to do something

meaningful with their lives now. I am grateful, yet I am angry and scared. Just because I am no longer

bound to this land, does this mean I can do anything else with my life? This is all I’ve done. This is all I know how to do. And I still need to pay

off this land I’m on before I can truly attain freedom.

November 11, 1861

The start of the new year, but still we have a continuation of

an old conflict. We’re at war with Japan now. What about you may ask? Mainly for territorial control over more areas such as Manchuria and Korea. Since I live far inland in St. Petersburg, no one around here heard about this until after we had been fighting for a few months. Nobody was too pleased about it either. I don’t think anyone wanted to go to war in the first

place, and on top of that, we are suffering humiliating losses against such a small country. Our navy is completely destroyed. Many blame Tsar Nicholas II for the war, or

Alexandra. She has extreme influence over her husband and never fails to

realize that. To the left I have pasted a picture of the royal couple that I got from a newspaper. The discontent building in

Russia is reaching its peak. All of the political parties are lashing out- whether through acts of terrorism or strikes. I’m

always fearful that my children or wife will be caught in one of these radical acts and something will happen to them. We are still working on our former lord’s land until we can pay for the land ourselves. It seems like nothing has changed though we

are now technically free.

January 1, 1905

*Nicholas II and Alexandra*

http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/

faberge/images/romanov/nicholas_and_alex.jpg

Tensions have been growing in Russia since the

start of the unpopular war with Japan. As I said earlier, they seemed to have reached and peak, and I was unfortunately correct. Just yesterday, hundreds of demonstrators were killed outside

the Winter Palace. They had no guns or any other types of weapons. They were just

peaceful, ordinary citizens organized by Father Gapon. Yet at Tsar Nicholas II’s order, the

Imperial Guard did not hesitate to kill anyone in their way- men, women, and children alike. The picture shows the guards firing at the unarmed

workers. My eldest son, Peter, was at the demonstration. I told him to stay out of these

conflicts, but he was always stubborn. He wanted to have political rights. He wanted to

work less. He wanted to end the Russo-Japanese War. He was one of the innocent

citizens killed. All he wanted was equal treatment. Was that too much to ask for? I will forever hold the Tsar responsible. Reforms are what Russia needs, yet he is still stubbornly

clinging to the past.

January 23, 1905

*The Imperial Guard outside the Winter Palace*

http://media.photobucket.com/image/bloody%20sunday%20massacre%20russia/

aquirahwindsor/THE%2520ROMANOV/BloodySunday1c.jpg

On May 6, 1906, the First Duma met. The inspiration for this parliament was drawn from

Britain’s parliament that seems to be working very well for them. The Stolypin reforms were put in place to help peasants. Redemption payments are no longer in place. I stopped being able to work a long, long time ago. The recently passed October Manifesto also granted us citizens some liberties. I just recently celebrated my 100th birthday. I thought I was going to die, as a “serf”, much like my parents. I have outlived both my son and wife. The only family

I have left now is my daughter. But she has left the farm with her husband who is taking advantage of these new reforms and dabbling in the market. The Duma seems to have some pull with the government now, but how much time will pass before the Tsar stops listening to other people once again? The road to revolution seems to be extending to infinity. We keep

on pushing and pulling, but no definitive change ever comes from this. (August 12, 1910: I was looking through my entries and thought I would add this to it.

“Through all these horrible days, I constantly met Witte. We very often met in the early morning to part only in the evening when night fell. There were only two ways open; to find an energetic soldier and crush the rebellion by sheer force. That would mean rivers of blood,

and in the end we would be where had started. The other way out would be to give to the people their civil rights, freedom of speech and press, also to have laws conformed by a

State Duma - that of course would be a constitution. Witte defends this very energetically.” That quote apparently came from Tsar Nicholas’s journal from when the Manifesto was

passed. I seems as though he was hesitant to embrace these reforms.)

October 20, 1906

I have learned that the last part of the Tran-Siberian Railroad

is finally complete. I remember when construction began in 1891 under Count Sergei Witte. I’m trying to recall what the original plan was…I think I was to connect Russia to Siberia.

This way we could ship supplies. Construction was very tough. I remember hearing about how prisoners were used

and how many died carrying out the task. How we ever managed to get across all those natural barriers, like rivers, I

will never know. Looking back, this enormous task has definitely helped our economy. Moscow is now connected to Europe and Asia. I’ve heard estimates of the railway’s length

to be close to 6,000 miles! When a was a young boy, this wouldn’t even be possible. It’s amazing how far we’ve come.

Today, it’s possible to get from one end of Russia to the other in just a week. This would have taken months before.

My first entry in this journal talked about Napoleon’s invasion. If he had the help of a railway during his time, his troops wouldn’t have froze to death from the cold Russian winter. He probably would have successfully conquered

Russia. What would life be like for me today if that happened? Nearing my life, I think about all these “what ifs”. I feel as though my life was luckier than some, yet there is

so much I never got to do.

June 2, 1916

*Map that shows the routes of the Trans-Siberian Railroad*

http://www.us-passport-service-guide.com/image-files/

trans_siberian_railway_route.jpg

This will be my last entry. I am in the hospital with some illness the

doctors cannot diagnose- they think it’s pneumonia but say they “aren’t positive”. I am not even supposed to be journaling- the

doctors say I should conserve what little energy I have. The world is at war. This Great War has involved all the European powers- Russia

included. On June 28, 1914, the heir to the Austrian-Hungary throne was assassinated by a Serbian rebel. All the alliances we struck up

over the years pulled us into this conflict. Russia mobilized their troops to help out, but this seemed to force Germany into declaring war on us

and France. Our loyalties lie with Serbia and France. But we are fighting against Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy. Europe is power-hungry. My entire life has been marked with conflicts. Now, as I lay in my hospital bed, I am again journaling about conflict. Looking through my entries, I have noticed how history seems to repeat itself over and over again. My hope is that someone else will notice this as well and

try to learn from the mistakes that others in the past have made.

September 30, 1914

"The Russo Japanese War." History Learning Site. N.p., 2011. Web. 25

Feb 2011. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/russo-japanese%20war.htm>.

Stearns, Peter N., Michael Adas, Stuart B. Schwartz, and Marc Jason Gilbert. World Civilizations AP Edition: The Global Experience. 4th ed. New York: Pearson Education, 2006. 382-383. Print.

Gascoigne, Bamber. "History of Russia." historyworld.net. History World, 2001. Web. 25 Feb 2011. <http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=mjr>.

"Chronology Through 1917." bucknell.edu. Bucknell University, 2008. Web. 26 Feb 2011. <http://www.bucknell.edu/x20138.xml>.

"Trans-Siberian Railway Express." U.S. Passport Service Guide. USPSG, 2008. Web. 26 Feb 2011. <http://www.us-passport-service-guide.com/trans-siberian-railroad.html>.

Works Cited