Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy

The Russian Aristocracy has probably gotten its first break since the Russian Revolution. Douglas Smith, who previously had chronicled an event in the Sheremetev family, has turned his attention to what happened to the Sheremetevs, Golitsyns, Obolenskys, Gagarins and all the other fixtures of the royal courts of the Romanovs after the revolution.The impression created of the aristocratic milieu was established after the revolution. Under Lenin and Stalin aristocrats were portrayed in more or less the same terms as a decadent like Felix Yusupov, drug taking gilded youth frequenting fashionable orgies while the country went to hell. The aristocracy saw itself as the guardian of the nation's heritage, cultural and historic. In the end this sense of connection to Russia, its desire to continue to be of service was what undid so many members of Russia's former ruling class. Patriotism proved to be the achilles heel of the old families that served Russia for hundreds of years.The focus of the book tends to be the Sheremetevs and Golitsyns. Both have a long and distinguished history of service to Russia dating back centuries. However, by the time of Tsar Nicholas II, they became increasingly disillusioned with the Romanov dynasty. After the assassination of Tsar Alexander II, Alexander III pushed elements of the empire further away from loyalty to the Russian Empire and unleashed the practice of pogroms onto the Jews who occupied the Pale. Things came to an head with the disastrous outcome of the Russo-Japanese amid the accident prone reign of Nicholas II. Both monarchs were obsessed with the notion that the Russian nation was their personal property and were loath to surrender any prerogatives. If the Russo-Japanese was a disaster, World War I was downright fatal. The end came as a relief.For the nobility, the subsequent years provided an almost daily dose of surprises. It was widely thought that the nobility could continue in some function in whatever form of government that might emerge after the end of the tsar's reign, all was supposed to be revealed with the constituent assembly that would allow the people's representatives to work out the details of the constitution, the form of government and other details. Lenin, however, decided to build socialism regardless and thus began the Civil War.The aristocracy became a very useful means for the Bolshevik regime to explain away all the mistakes and to make the period before the revolution seem more grim than it actually was. The Bolsheviks needed scapegoats because the extent of failure in running the country was so monumental. The lucky members of the aristocracy left as soon as they could. Alexander Golitsyn became a well-known figure in Hollywood. A Prince Obolensky was a fixture in the US State Department (his passport indicated that his first name was "Prince.") The second luckiest died in the Civil War. The least lucky group were those members of the aristocracy who tried to make a life in a country that was actively hostile to its background, religion and future existence. The campaign was not limited just to the living, but also included the dead, as family graves were regularly looted and destroyed.Through the sheer randomness of the campaigns against the aristocracy, some were rounded up, while a few remained at liberty. There remain descendants who are mindful of their duty to the nation in whose affairs their families played such a decisive role. In writing this book, Douglas Smith has done a great deal to correct some of the false notions about the aristocracy that became commonplace through the efforts of Bolshevik propagandists.

For those readers who grew up in the Soviet Union, and who are descendants of the noble families described in the book - it is not an "account" or a piece of "research" - rather, it is a harrowing family story, a worthy tribute to the will to survive and the humble nature of Russian nobles and intelligencia as a whole. I had to put this book down several times because I could literally hear my grandparents speaking and reminiscing about their young years. Those who have not lived through these horrific years (or is personally connected), probably will not understand fully the effects of expropriations, fear, silence, gulags, and the rein of the Great Peasant and the Laborer, are still very much felt in Russia. Even as late as in the 1980, when we were kids, we learned to keep it to ourselves and never fraternize with the "bydlo" (the common folk with aggressive disposition).The author did a fabulous job setting personal stories on the background of political and social events happening at the time (true, it is hard to fugure out who is who).I learned a lot - for instance, that the February revolution was really no surprise for anyone. Nobility was hated by everybody - by the peasants (and workers who mostly had their gripes against the burzhui) who felt being exploited and by the non-titled intelligencia as a whole - who felt let down for the country being badly governed and by the incompetence of the imperial government. The nobles themselves felt guilty for running the country into disaster. In comparison, of course, everyone subsequently understood that it is better to be governed by the incompetent dillusional nobles rather than by the pragmatic Bolsheviks. The author does, however, acknowledge that the Whites and the anti-Bolshevick resistance did not have the positive agenda. It became obvious at some point that the Bolshevicks had more to offer to more people, and the Whites, unfortunately could only offer the status quo - which was unacceptable to anyone. Sad, and a missed opportunity.Purely from the human perspective, I was wondering when does one understand that nothing good will ever happen in their lifetime and things will only get worse? When 1/3 of the family is brutally executed, 1/3 is in prison, 1/3 hiding in a mouse hole in Siberia, all ptoperty expropriated and all legal rights stripped down, when do you finally realize that it's time to flee? Scram? Run for the border? When is enough is enough? Where they dillusional like their relatives governing Russia before 1917? It certainly is a cautionary tale ... And a warning to the new Russian elite - nothing is for ever, disparity and arrogance breeds jealousy and violence.I am also saddened by the loss of Russia's cultural heritage that burned in the flames of 1917. So much was lost! It is amazing that Russia did not degenerate into some primitive society of semi literate traglodites after systemically killing and pushing away their most educated and most intelligent people. Simply astounding.For all the misgivings and faults of this book, it is an excellent work. It is a tribute to those millions killed and humiliated after the 1917, albeit there is no token of any kind that can redeem Russia's grievous debt to those countless people, both noble or not so much, but "byvshie" or "former" nonetheless. This is a small step. I hope it is translated into Russian so that Russian citizens can read it as well (including President Putin, first and foremost).We can never turn the clock back, but when we can better see the past - we can better understand the present and can better foresee what may happen in the future.

This is an astonishing book in so many ways. It's very well written and reads like an adventure story and it's from an unusual perspective. Although I've read a few books about Stalin and the Bolsheviks, I've never come across one which gives so much insight into the plight of the Russian aristocracy.For me, this book has helped me to understand how modern Russia has evolved over the last century or so. It explains the old feudal system and the roots of unrest which grew as a result of widespread inequity. The privilege of the well off ruling class in comparison with the poverty and deprivation of the general population is well described. Russia was a country of stark contrast, with pockets of culture and knowledge and in the early 20th century, a world leader in industrial growth. But millions also lived hand to mouth. Whilst the ballet, the arts and literature flourished in St Petersburg and Moscow millions were struggling to eke a living out of a system based on feudal practices. The Revolution put an end to the privileged 'class' and this book tells their story by focus sing specifically on two families.These were real people and I enjoyed the way they're brought to life. The book is rich in vibrant detail which makes the reader feel as if they're experiencing not only the early pleasures, but the horrors they later faced. It feels well researched and the real beauty is that it's not a challenging academic read. This book makes this history very accessible to anyone with an interest and I really enjoyed it.

Having read much about the Russian Revolution and Imperial Russia, this book introduced a new perspective by focusing on the impact upon the nobility. I found the book engrossing, well written and very readable. I would have awarded a 5-star rating but for two points. First, while the book starts with a helpful list of the main characters, I had difficulty keeping track of who was who throughout the narrative, especially with the author's sole reference to personal names in sections. Second, I noted minor errors such as referring to "Grand Dukes" Fyodor Alexandrovich and Roman Petrovich. As great-grandsons of Tsars, these gentlemen bore the title Prince, rather than Grand Duke. As this was a book about the nobility and royalty, I would have expected details such as titles to be exact.

This book is epic in its scope and detail. It breaks new ground: it is the first book written about what happened to the aristocrats and nobility in Russia post revolution. Douglas Smith tells us what befell some of them intelligently, sympathetically and engagingly. He has concentrated on the experiences of two Russian families in particular: the Golitsyns and the Sheremetevs, but also peppers throughout his accounts of these families with details of what happened to some related and un-related families and individuals. All lost practically everything, and they had a lot to lose. Interestingly, many at some stage in their fall from immense wealth, lives lived in luxury and with great formality and often idleness and a great deal of ennui, agreed that the way the system was before, always cambered in their favour, was unjust and could not go on. Some even found that their lives were enriched by the experience. However, in the main the experiences were cataclysmic and devastating. Some no matter how bad things got steadfastly refused to leave Russia their motherland, whilst others saw the writing on the wall and fled to various ‘safe ports’ in the west.Smith’s book must be the result of a profound amount of research, the length of the bibliography bears testimony to this. Of course and necessarily, the account of what happened to the upper layers of Russian society after October 1917 is interwoven with an account of the course of the revolution, the build up to it, the events that comprised it, its main actors and protagonists and what happened afterwards. You might think that the worst crimes against the Russian nobility were committed during and soon after the revolution, but in fact they continued for decades, most intensively under Stalin.So in short this is not only the history of two Russian noble families and others but of Russia itself during the first half of the C20th. No mean feat to pull off, but Douglas Smith certainly does. I believe it will be a reference book for future historians for a long time to come, it is that good. Please don’t be put off my referring to it as a reference book because this is a good read, the pages will quickly turn as you become engrossed in the events that unfold before your eyes. You will quickly develop incredulity at the cruelty that men can exert on their fellow man, his wife and children. There is more than one moving story, but one in particular that is indeed heart searing.I have learnt such a lot by reading this book and feel much less ignorant about Russia and its revolution. It has stimulated in me the desire to learn so much more.This book definitely goes into my ‘a must read’ category.

This is an in depth study of the class war that went on in Russia after 1917 and continued through to the terror of Stalin's dictatorship. the nobility were dehumanized by being classed as " former people " and so could be liquidated and wiped out as a class. It makes chilling reading . This is a well researched study .

This book has been a long time coming, and it was worth the wait. Douglas Smith has continued in the tradition of Solzhenitsyn in the Gulag Archipelago, but focused on the fate of the former aristocrats, and their vicious persecution at the hands of Stalin. I was intrigued at the way the Bolsheviks decried the culture of the Former People, as they classified them, and their lavish lifestyles, yet as soon as they were ejected from their palaces and estates, the Bolsheviks moved in!!! I admired the way that they accepted their fate without undue complaint and tried to adapt to the new way of life under communism. They displayed strong, loving family ties and a committed work ethic. None of this, however, saved them from their fate, as former aristocrats and landowners they were destined to be destroyed.