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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 March 2019
Count Sergej Witte claims that the Holy Brotherhood (Svjashchennaja Druzhina) was his idea and he explains it in the following way. On the morrow of the assassination of Alexander II, he wrote a letter to his uncle Fadeev in which he expressed the opinion that the only way to vanquish terrorism was to appeal to counter-terrorism by means of a secret society. Witte at that time was in Kiev in charge of the Southwestern Railroad. In his answer Fadeev told his nephew that his letter was on the tsar's table and that Witte would soon be called to St. Petersburg. Indeed, a few days later Witte received the invitation to come and meet Count I. Voroncov-Dashkov, commander of the bodyguards of the Emperor in Gatchina.
1 Graf S. Witte, Vospominania, Gos. Izdatel'stvo (Leningrad, 1924) III, 103-04.
2 Dnevnik A. S. Suvorina , Krichevskij, M., ed., Izdatel'stvo L. D. Frenkel (Moscow-Petrograd, 1923), p. 26 Google Scholar.
3 “Iz dnevnika V. N. Smel'skago,” Golos Minuvshego, No. 1 (1916), pp. 226 and 240.
4 M. Fedorova “Moskovskij Otdel Svjashchennoj Druzhiny,” Golos Minuvshego, Nos. 1-3 (1918), p. 150.
5 Glinskij, B., “Epokha Mira i Uspokoenia,” Istoricheskij Vestnik (Sept., 1911), CXXV, 626 Google Scholar.
6 Fedorova, op. cit., p. 145.
7 Sadikov, P., “Sviashchennaja Druzhina-Otchetnaja Zapiska,” Krasnyi Arkhiv (1927), XXI, 205 Google Scholar.
8 Fedorova, op. cit., p. 146.
9 As far as one can judge from the numbers, the Central Committee seemed to be composed of members of the Executive and Organizational Committees. If this is so, the attempt to isolate the three committees from one another was only on paper.
10 Article published in Narodnaja Volia, No. 8-9, 1882, quoted in Glinskij, op. cit., p. 618- 19.
11 Fedorova, op. cit., pp. 157-60.
12 Compare Count Valuev, “Diary,” (1881-1883), Istoricheskij Sbornik “O Minuvshem,” p. 430, with V. Bogucharskij, Iz Istorii Politicheskoj Bor'by v 70kh i 80kh gg. XIX veka, pub. Russkaja Mysl’ (Moscow, 1912), p. 305, and Glinskij, op. cit., p. 619.
13 Gen. Smel'skij, op. cit., (Instruction for the members of Dept. Two), No. 1, p. 252.
14 Fedorova, op. cit., p. 145.
15 Sadikov, op. cit., p. 206.
16 Ibid., p. 211.
17 Fedorova, op. cit., p. 170. The Area No. 2 had its center in Moscow and comprised the governments of Moscow, Vladimir, Iaroslavl, Kostroma, Nizhni-Novgorod, Riazan, Tambov, Tula, Kaluga, Smolensk, Kazan, Simbirsk, Samara, Saratov, and Astrakhan. Area No. 1 was centered around St. Petersburg.
18 Sadikov, op. cit., p. 211. Note: This is the only mention of a conservative program which apparently had never been composed.
19 Fedorova, op. cit., pp. 144-45.
The identification badge of the Brotherhood was a golden disc with an enamel image of St. Alexander Nevskij with both of his legs crushed as a reminder of the tragic death of Alexander II . On the other side the name of the owner of the badge was engraved. (Glinskij, op. cit., p. 624).
20 Sadikov, op. cit., p. 208.
21 Ibid., p. 207.
22 Fedorova, op. cit., pp. 150-51.
23 Sadikov, op. cit., p. 206. In the diary of General Smel'skij we find many references to the transformation of the Holy Brotherhood from a secret society into a semi-official organization “similar to the Red Cross” (sic). It is the recurrent theme of his diary for he was the chief proponent of such a reorganization.
24 Ibid., p. 206.
25 “Dnevnik Grafa Valueva,” (1881-1883), Istoricheskij Sbornik “O Minuvshem” (1909) p. 444.
26 Glinskij, op. cit., p. 628 n.
27 Sadikov, , “Proekt Ustava Komiteta Blagonadezhnosti v S. Peterburgskom Universitete,” Krasnyi Arkhiv XXI (1927), 216 Google Scholar.
28 “Dnevnik Smel'skago,” entry for Nov. 16, 1881, quoting Prince A. G. Shcherbatov, Golos Minuvshego, No. 2 (1916), p. 153.
29 Glinskij, , Istoricheskij Vestnik (Sept., 1911), CXXV, 623 Google Scholar. Quoting a certain Vogul who published an article about the Holy Brotherhood in an issue of Rech', August, 11, 1911
30 Sadikov, P., “Ofchetnaja Zapiska,” Krasnyi Arkhiv XXI (1927), 208 Google Scholar.
31 Ibid., p. 209.
32 Ibid., p. 210.
33 Bogucharskij, Iz istorii politicheskoj bor'by, p. 390.
Note: A. P. Mal'shinskij, alias A. P. Krapivin, nicknamed by the Holy Brotherhood as Nikolaev I, had written for the Third Dept. the pamphlet called, “Obzor Social'norevoljucionnago divzhenia v Rossii” published for official use in a limited edition in 1879. Ibid., p. 389, contains a footnote telling us that this Obzor was used by S. Tatishchev in his biography of Alexander II, published first in the Russkij Biograficheskij Slovar’ and then separately. It is item 106 of the sources used; see the Slovar', I, 892.
34 Novyi Enciclopedicheskij Slovar', Brokhaus and Efron, undated, XVI, 741. Bol'shaja Sooetskaja Erwiclopedia XXIII (1931), 380. The autobiography of M. P. Dragomanov can be found in Byloe (June 1906), pp. 182-312.
35 Iz Arkhiva P. B. Axelroda-Russkij Revol. Arkhiv (Berlin, 1924), II, 25 Google Scholar. Letter of P. L. Lavrov to P. B. Axelrod, Paris, Aug. 24, 1881. Axelrod quit Vol'noe Slovo in April, 1882, on account of an article written by Dragomanov which derided the senselessness of terrorism.
36 Bogucharskij, op. cit., p. 416.
37 D. Zaslavskij, “M. P. Dragomanov i Vol'noe Slovo,” Byloe, Leningrad, No. 27-28 (1924), p. 118. This reference contains the report of Count P. Shuvalov where he openly states the object of the Zemstvo Union.
38 V. Bogucharskij, , “Zemskij Sojuz ili Svjashchennaja Druzhina?” Russkaia Mysl' No. 9 (1912), p. 114 Google Scholar.
39 This can be explained by the fact that the Vol'noe Slow received money from the Holy Brotherhood through V. A. Gol'cev (later editor of the Russkaja Mysl’) himself a liberal and a Zemstvíst.
40 Sadikov, P., “Otchetnaja Zapiska,” Krasnyi Arkhiv XXI (1927), 210.Google Scholar
41 M. P. Dragomanov, “Vospominanie o peregovorakh Dobrovol'noj Okhrany i Ispolnitel'nago Komiteta Russkoj Soc. Rev. Partyy v 1882 g.,” Byloe (Le Passé), No. 13 (1910), Paris, p. 41.
42 D. Zaslavskij, “Vzvolnovannye lobotrjasy: I. Redaktor Klimov,” Byloe, No. 25 (1924), Leningrad, p. 91.
43 Sadikov, “Otchetnaia Zapiska,” p. 210.
44 Shishmanov, I. D., “O Roli Grafa P. P. Shuvalova v konstitucionnom dvizhenii 80 gg.,” Vestnik Evropy , No. 1 (1914), p. 213.Google Scholar
45 Ibid., No. 2 (1914), p. 184.
46 Gen. Smel'skij, op. cit., p. 231.
47 See Bogucharskij, op. cit., p. 299, and also the correspondence of Saltykov with Belogolovyi in which Count Loris-Melikov is named as the source of information in Rosenberg, V., Zhurnalisty Bezvremenia (Moscow, 1917), pp. 53–66 Google Scholar. A letter of Kropotkin to the author is included and supports the same contention.
48 P. A. Kropotkin is quoted in ibid., p. 303.
49 Matin (No. 9268, 1909) quoted in ibid., p. 285.
50 Gen. Smel'skij, op. cit., Entry for Nov. 11, 1881, Golos Minuvshego, No. 2 (1916), p. 144.
51 Constantin Pobedonoscev, Mémoires politiques, corresp. officielle et documents inédits a l’histoire du règne de l'Empereur Alexandre III de Russie, Payot (Paris, 1927), p. 214.
52 Count Valuev, op. cit., entry for Dec. 3, 1882, Istoricheskii Sbornik “O Minuvshem,” p. 449,
53 Gen. Smel'skij, op. cit., entry for Dec. 7, 1881, Golos Minuvshego, No. 3 (1916), p. 173.
54 Mrs. O—ia, “Neraskrytoe Delo,” Istoricheskij Sbornik—Nasha Strana (St. Petersburg, 1907), p. 308.
55 Glinskij, op. cit., p. 615.
56 Gen. Shebeko, Khronika Socialisticheskogo Dvizhenia v Rossii 1878-1887, pub. by V. M. Sablin (Moscow, 1907), p. 189.
57 Bogucharskij, op. cit., p. 369.
58 Bogucharskij, Izpoliticheskoj bor'by … op. cit., pp. 391-95. (Zapiska o protivopravitel'- stvennykh obshchestvakh ne stol’ vrednykh).
59 Bogucharskij, op. cit., pp. 373 and 380, and General Smel'skij, op. cit., Gobs Minuvshego, No. 5-6(1916), pp. 103-05.
Bogucharskij's book was published in 1911, whereas the diary of Gen. Smelskij was published in 1916.
60 Bogucharskij, op. cit., pp. 381-82.
61 Count Valuev, op. cit., p. 448.
62 Novoe Vremja, No. 2422, Nov. 24, 1882. The editorial is reproduced entirely in Bogucharskij, op. cit., pp. 373-78, or Glinskij, op. cit., pp. 1088-91.
63 A. S. Suvorin, op. cit., p. 26.
64 V. Bogucharskij, op. cit., pp. 382-83.
65 Constantin Pobedonoscev, op. cit., p. 218.
66 Count Valuev, op. cit., pp. 449 and 471. The Holy Brotherhood was formed on March 12, 1881, eleven days after the assassination of the tsar Alexander II. The tsar ordered the Brotherhood to disband in December, 1882, but its liquidation was terminated only on January 1, 1883, old style.
