(Book 1) Les dernières années de la cour de Tzarskoié-Sélo 1909
CHAPTER I8
SUMMARY. — Year 1909. — The Ministers in Yalta. — General Sukhomlinov. — Sukhomlinov and Kokovtsev. — Reception of a zemstvo delegation. — Dombadze and the regicides. — Trip to Racconigi. — In Italy, awaiting the Emperor. — The Bolsheviks. — Arrival and reception of the Tsar. — Secret treaty. — The Tsarina without the Emperor. — The memorable day of 10 October. — The Crimean regiment. — The Emperor tests the soldiers’ equipment. — In Chayr, with Grand Duke Nicolas Nikolayevitch. -- In Yalta, during Their Majesties’ stay, — Yalta’s salons. — General Bogdanovitch and his salon. — The brief romances within the retinue. — The Hereditary Grand Duke’s illness. — The attention shown by the Empress to my family. — The last weeks in Yalta. — Departure from the Crimea. — The Tsarina meets the Crimean regiment along the way. Return to Petersburg. — Funeral for Grand Duke Michael Nikolayevitch. — His children, the Grand Dukes Nicolas Mikhailovitch and Sergey Mikhailovitch.
During the Emperor’s stay in Livadia, the Ministers would Generally send their reports by courier, but occasionally, certain Ministers were allowed to come and provide a verbal report. The Ministers would usually come down to the ‘Rossia’ hotel, provide their reports at the set time, be invited to the Imperial table, and then return to Petersburg. They were never kept for too long.
Only the war Minister Sukhomlinov, who had been appointed to his position in the spring, had spent a slightly longer time in Yalta. He had stayed with his wife in a large apartment on Suuk-Su. Sukhomlinov’s wife was pretty, made a great impression, and loved nice clothes; but as she had the misfortune of not belonging to the Petersburg high society, all sorts of malicious rumours circulated about her. It must be said that the faults of which she was accused did'nt warrant the unhappiness she must have felt by being isolated by Petersburg society. It was by attacking his wife that people began undermining Sukhomlinov’s position. He was, however, a very educated, intelligent and talented General of Staff who had attended an excellent school, undergone administrative training, made a name for himself in military literature, and previously been highly regarded by the military authority such as General Dragomirov senior. Sukhomlinov loved the Emperor, would openly proclaim this, and would always put the Emperor’s name above all else. This displeased many people, particularly in the Imperial Duma, where Sukhomlinov had a mortal enemy in A. I. Guchkov, who disliked the Tsar, as did all of his followers. Things were very strained between Sukhomlinov and the Minister of finance, V. N. Kokovtsev. According to Sukhomlinov, Kokovtsev refused to give him, the war Minister, the amounts necessary for armaments. He complained a lot about this, and openly spoke about it in Yalta, criticising Kokovtsev for granting advances to left-wing parties, and seeking to please the Duma, without caring about Russia’s military preparations.
The Emperor was very kind, even affectionate, towards Sukhomlinov. My superior Dediulin and other people from the court who were in Yalta proved him right, even though it was no secret to anyone that Grand Duke Nicolas Nikolayevitch did not like the war Minister. In his disagreement with the finance Minister, Sukhomlinov had strong support from the Court, where finance Minister Kokovtsev had few friends. The Tsar would receive various delegations and some polititions. A rather amusing incident took place one day, created by Dombadze. Marshal of the Nobility, Popov, obtained the Emperor’s approval, through the Court Minister, to present a ‘zemstvo’ delegation to him. This delegation included Mr. Winberg and Mr. Keller, and Popov. The Emperor received the delegation with only the Court Minister present, he was very kind, and spent a long time talking to them about local needs. Keller gave a detailed presentation on the issues relating to viticulture and the vineyards, which were greatly troubling the region at the time, and managed to arouse the Tsar’s interest. Winberg ‘Vladimir Karlovitch’, of Swedish origin, but whom Gvozdevitch and Dombadze took to be a Jew because of the sound of his name, was known as being a left-wing man, and attended the Emperor’s reception rather sceptical, indeed with a certain sentiment of hostility. But the reception was such that, on leaving, Winberg could not help but say ‘he could not have been more gracious with us.’ Tears shone in the eyes of Winberg the republican. Keller, who was also known as a left-wing man, and Popov, were no less touched by the Emperor’s welcome. Everything thus went well, and, it seemed, all matters were settled.
