Vladimir Burtsev
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Vladimir Burtsev | |
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| Born | Vladimir L'vovich Burtsev November 17, 1862 |
| Died | 21 August 1942(aged 79) |
| Occupation(s) | Revolutionary activist, scholar, publisher |
Vladimir Lvovich Burtsev(Russian:Влади́мир Льво́вич Бу́рцев;November 17, 1862 – August 21, 1942) was a revolutionary activist, scholar, publisher and editor of severalRussian languageperiodicals. He became famous by exposing a great number ofagents provocateurs,notablyYevno Azefin 1908. Because of his own revolutionary activities and his harsh criticism of the imperial regime, including personal criticism of emperorNicholas II,he was imprisoned several times in various European countries. In the course of his life, Burtsev fought oppressive policies fromTsarisminImperial Russia,followed by theBolsheviksand laterAdolf Hitler'sNational Socialism.
Early life (1862–1886)
[edit]Burtsev was born inFort-Aleksandrovsky,in theTranscaspian Oblastof theRussian Empire(present-dayKazakhstan) to a military family. In 1882, he was expelled fromSaint Petersburg State Universityand in 1885 fromKazan State Universityfor taking part in student disturbances. As a member ofNarodnaya Volya,he was imprisoned for two years (for about a year in thePeter and Paul Fortress) and in 1886 exiled to theIrkutskregion of EasternSiberia.
Exile and publications (1888–1914)
[edit]In 1888 Burtsev managed to escape from exile and emigrate toSwitzerland.In 1889 he co-founded magazineSvobodnaya Rossiya(Свободная Россия,A Free Russia) but it survived only three issues. "In 1890... Burtsev, wanted by theczaristpolice, boarded aBritishboat bound fromConstantinopletoLondon.When the ship found itself surrounded byTurkishpolice vessels withRussianson board, the captain refused their demand to hand over the fugitive, announcing: “This isEnglishterritory. And I am agentleman!”[1]
In 1898, Burtsev was arrested by British police for advocating, in his magazineNarodovolets(Народоволец,A Member ofNarodnaya Volya), the assassination ofNicholas II.Burtsev was found guilty and sentenced to 18 months at hard labour.[2]On his release he went on to publish it in Switzerland, resulting in his permanent ban from that country.
In London, he published the two-volume bookZa Sto Let (1800–1896)(За сто лет (1800–1896),For Hundred Years (1800–1896)). He founded and published six issues ofByloye(Былое,The Past), a historical magazine. After theRussian Revolution of 1905Burtsev briefly returned illegally to Russia and founded the Russian version of theByloyemagazine. Upon his return to the West in 1907, Burtsev began publishing the magazineObshcheye Delo(Общее дело,Common Cause) which was a continuation of the foreign edition ofByloyebeginning with the 7th issue.
By exposing numerous Tsaristagent provocateurssuch as Yevno Azef, Burtsev gained fame as acounterintelligenceexpert and became known as "theSherlock Holmesof the Revolution ".
World War I and the Bolsheviks (1914–1921)
[edit]At the outset ofWorld War Iin 1914 he repatriated, was arrested at the border and again exiled to Siberia.Amnestiedin 1915, he returned toPetrograd.
Burtsev strenuously opposed theBolsheviks.In 1917 he accusedLeninand his comrades of being agents ofGermany.In his articleEither Us or the Germans and Those with Them(Russian Freedom,July 7, 1917), he listed the major enemies of Russia:
- Bolsheviks, whose demagoguery puts their own goals above the interests of Russia
- Reactionary forces
- German agents and spies. The Bolsheviks are, and always have been, the agents ofWilhelm II.
On the day of theOctober Revolution,he was arrested on orders ofLeon Trotsky,which led some historians to count him as the firstpolitical prisonerin theUSSR.
Despite their political differences and public disputes in the press,Maxim Gorkypleaded for Burtsev's release and in February 1918 he was indeed freed and left Soviet Russia. Burtsev spent the rest of his life as an emigre, first inFinland,thenSwedenand later inFrance.During theRussian Civil War,he supported theWhite MovementofAdmiral Kolchakand GeneralAnton Denikin.
His numerous attempts to bring all anti-Bolshevik forces together under one ideological umbrella did not succeed.
Later life and death (1921–1942)
[edit]In 1921 Burtsev co-founded and became chairman of the Russian National Committee.
In 1930s, Burtsev fought againstfascismandantisemitism.In 1934–1935 he was a witness in theBerne Trial,exposing theOkhrana's role in creating the infamous fraudThe Protocols of the Elders of Zion.In 1938 in Paris he published a bookThe Protocols of the Elders of Zion: A Proven Forgery.Burtsev died in poverty inParisin 1942 from a blood infection.
Publications
[edit]- Белый террор при Александре III (White Terror under Alexander III,1890?)
- Долой царя! - London, 1901 (Down with the tsar!)
- Историко-революционный альманах (Historical-Revolutionary Almanach)
- О войне (About War,1916)
- Проклятие вам, большевики! Открытое письмо большевикам. "(Condemnation on You, Bolsheviks! Open letter,Stockholm, 1918)
- В борьбе с большевиками и немцами. (Fighting with the Bolsheviks and Germans,Paris, 1919. Issue 1 of newspaper "Общее дело" (1917)
- Articles in the newspapersБудущееandОбщее дело(1917).
- Борьба за свободную Россию: Из воспоминаний (1882–1924). Vol. I. - Berlin: Гамаюн, 1924. (Struggle for Free Russia. Memoirs)
- Юбилей предателей и убийц (1917–1927). (Jubilee of Traitors and Murderers)
- В погоне за провокаторами. М.-Л., 1928. (Репринт - М., 1989) (In pursuit of provocateurs.)
- В защиту правды. Перестанут ли клеветать? Дело генерала П.П. Дьяконова. Дело полковника А.Н. Попова и полковника И.А. де Роберти. Заговор молчания. - Paris: Общее дело, 1931. (In Defense of the Truth. Will They Stop the Slander? The Case of Gen. Diakonov)
- Боритесь с ГПУ! - Paris: Общее дело, 1932. (Fight the GPU!)
- Браудо Александр Исаевич (1846–1924): Очерки и воспоминания. - Paris. (Braudo Alexander Isayevich)
- Кружок русско-еврейской интеллигенции в Париже, 1937. (one of authors). (Circle of Russian-Jewish Emigration in Paris)
- «Протоколы Сионских мудрецов» - доказанный подлог. - Paris, 1938 (The Protocols of the Elders of Zion: Proven Forgery) (Republished by Слово, 1991).
- Преступления и наказания большевиков. По поводу 20-летнего юбилея предателей и убийц. – Paris: Дом книги, 1938. (Crimes and Punishments of the Bolsheviks. 20 Year Jubilee of Traitors and Murderers)
Editor and publisher
[edit]- «Былое» (The Past)
- «Общее дело» (1909–1910) (The Common Cause)
- «Будущее» (1911–1914) (The Future)
- «Общее дело», «Наше общее дело» (1918–1922, 1928–1933) (The Common Cause,Our Common Cause)
- «Борьба за Россию» (1926–1931) (The Struggle for Russia)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Doherty, Brian(2010-12-17)The First War on Terror,Reason
- ^Old Bailey Proceedings Online(accessed 2019-01-26),Trial of VLADIMIR BOURTZEFF, KLEMENT WIERZBICKI.(t18980207-174, 7 February 1898).
External links
[edit]
Media related toVladimir Burtsevat Wikimedia Commons
- The Sherlock Holmes of the Revolutionby Rita T. Kronenbitter, CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM, RELEASE IN FULL, September 22, 1993.
- Okhrana: The Paris Operations of the Russian Imperial Police:by Ben B. Fischer, History Staff Center for the Study of Intelligence, CIA (declassified), 1997.
- (in Russian)Bioat hrono.ru
- Vladimir L'vovich Burtsev papersat theHoover Institution Archives
