“Remember the mountain again”: as dying and resurrected leader of the world proletariat
Exactly 95 years ago retired from the life of Vladimir Lenin. And a legend was born.
Monday, January 21, marks 95 years since the death of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. The person who left the deepest mark not only in Russian but also in world history, in large part defining its development throughout the twentieth century. As the dying and resurrected leader of the world proletariat — see the article “Izvestia”.
The last days
The Chairman of the CPC dangerously ill in the spring of 1922, and December, in fact, ceased to lead the Soviet government and the party… What is there! Treated of Vladimir Lenin best doctors and domestic, and was discharged from Germany — headed by neuroscientist Otfried Förster. In may 1923, the bulletins about the health of the “leader of the world proletariat” were published daily. By the time Lenin almost lost it. He, falling into despair, after supporters attempted suicide, refused to take food and medicines. Politburo denied him this “favor”.
Despite his rationalism, Vladimir Ilyich was skeptical about the doctors ‘ efforts. Obviously, they knew that against his illness the medicine is helpless.
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But after a few months of suffering, awoke in him the will to live. He again thought, read, tried to write. Read aloud to him and his wife, Nadezhda, who was the best nurse and speech therapist. Gradually Lenin returned to work, constantly trying to delve into the nuances of political life — and made good progress in the recovery of speech.
Practiced it zealously. Doctors even had to limit it to exercises that the patient is healthy. Close again increasingly heard him laugh — sometimes good-natured, often sardonic. In the autumn of 1923, many thought that a senior patient has embarked on the path of recovery.
In the first days of the new, 1924 the health of the Chairman of the CPC caused the anxiety, the hope. All this time, all the time when it was the wife… Posted her detailed records, quite Frank.
Two days before Lenin’s death, she read to him the story of Jack London “Love of life”:
Very strong thing. Through the snowy wilderness, where the foot of man has not walked, making his way to the pier of the great river dying of hunger, sick man. Weaken his strength, he is not alone, and crawling, and crawling next to him is also starving wolf, and so between them the fight, the man wins half-dead, half-mad gets to the target. Ilyich this story like extremely.
In the Hills in January of 1924 too was constantly snowing. This story became a classic of Soviet Leniniana.
He still enjoyed walks in the woods, gunshots satellites — like in a real hunt. Such fun Ilyich arranged to the last days. Even if he couldn’t walk, certainly spent some time in a chair on the balcony.
January 13, the patient was intensively engaged in trying to overcome the difficulties in the letter. Krupskaya testifies: “the Improvement was continuous. Restored mirrored it — said Lenin in his normal voice with normal intonation, everything was better read aloud, was a great success in the letter, created a solid Foundation for self-speech. Professor Feldberg believed that by the summer of Vladimir Ilyich will speak. If Vladimir Ilyich something was upset, he started to play and it comforted him.”
Every day he demanded of Newspapers, thinking about the new Constitution, wanted someone to argue with. But at the end of the third week of January has visibly sad.“Monday came to an end…”
It’s faster still tired, were less sociable. All these months, Lenin and looked so emaciated, but then attentive Nadezhda Konstantinovna said that he was very pale and wilted.
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Refer again to the records Krupskaya: “Monday came to an end. Vladimir Ilyich morning still got up twice, but immediately lay down again. 11 hours drank black coffee and went back to sleep. Time I got mixed up somehow. When he woke again, he could not quite say, gave him soup and coffee, he drank greedily, then calmed down a bit, but soon ran red-hot through his chest. More and more bubbled in his chest. I had it first for a hot wet hand, then only looked at the blood stained handkerchief, as the seal of death fell on the deathly pale face. Professor förster and Dr. Elistratov was injected camphor, tried to maintain artificial respiration did not work, it was impossible to save”.
At the meeting of the XI Congress of Soviets on January 21, 1924 on Lenin’s death, in a trembling voice said Mikhail Kalinin, more recently, assures his comrades, that Lenin is on the mend.
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The official report stated the cause of death was “widespread atherosclerosis on the basis of their premature wear”. Since then, a host of late diagnoses and versions, but in our time, the experts confirm the correctness of the first official reports.
In Moscow at the Paveletsky railway station, Lenin’s coffin was taken by special funeral train. In 1923 Lenin — the patient — was awarded the title of driver of this locomotive U-127.
The coffin was placed in the hall of columns, where for five days and nights the people said goodbye to the head of state.
A textbook became in the USSR the poem of Vera Inber:
And drip crowds,
Carrying banners in front,
To look at profile yellow.
And red medal on his chest.
The pilgrims really had a lot — about half a million people.
Appeared in print many poems on the death of Lenin. The rational poet Valery Bryusov, was his Requiem during the life of Vladimir Ilyich.
These poems were supposed to sing to the music of Mozart:
Woe! Woe! Lenin died.
Here he is, sadly mortal.
Remember the mountain again!
/Woe! Woe! Lenin died!
Here he is, sadly mortal.
Remember again, again!
In “Izvestia” of January 25, flashed and this note: “the Sacred Synod of Russian Orthodox Church expresses its sincere regret at the death of the great liberator of our nation from the Kingdom of great violence and oppression in the way of full freedom and samostroya. Yes, living constantly in the hearts of the remaining bright image of the great fighter and Martyr for freedom of the oppressed, the idea of genuine universal brotherhood and brightly shines for all in the struggle to achieve full happiness people on earth. We know that he loved people… Future ages will not wipe out people’s memory in the way to his grave, the cradle of freedom for all mankind.”
And in the “Evening Moscow” Patriarch Tikhon explained that “Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was not excommunicated from the Orthodox Church, the highest Church authority, and because every believer has the right and the opportunity to remember him.”
Live forever
The idea of preserving Lenin’s body for the long term at the official level first submitted to Stalin. It was in the autumn of 1923. Then many party gurus were skeptical about this idea, and even denounced it as popovstvo, noting the analogy with the relics of saints. Among the supporters of the embalming necessary to mention Leonid Krasin — known Bolshevik, who showed interest in the prospects for the physical resurrection of the dead.
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After Lenin’s death, the idea was supported by almost all first persons of the state. Played a role panihida emotion, an understandable desire to somehow preserve not only the memory of the man, but also its appearance.
“Bury Lenin’s body — it would be too unbearable!”, exclaimed in those days, Grigory Zinoviev, initially criticized the idea of embalming. Existed in this case and political reason. Associates saw in the plan of the mausoleum of powerful propaganda potential.
The news of Lenin’s death has inspired many opponents of the Soviet regime. Therefore, it was necessary to demonstrate the unity of the party and the people, the power of the successors of the leader and the powerful potential of his ideas. For this, the ceremonies fit best. The mass pilgrimage to the hall of columns, and then in the Mausoleum was another good argument in favor of the fact that the Bolsheviks settled in power for the long haul.
Hammered interpretation of those prihidni maneuvers already developed deep in Stalin’s time: “Lenin’s days in the country was a new impressive demonstration of the moral-political unity of the Soviet people, their unbreakable unity around the Leninist-Stalinist party, which keeps as the Apple of his eye, Lenin’s precepts, tirelessly and steadily carry them out”.
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But the main role in the campaign was intended to be the mausoleum. The project of Lenin’s tomb quickly sketched the architect Alexei Shchusev who, by the way, at the time, created the tomb of Peter Stolypin. And an urgent task to build on red square, the Mausoleum Shchusev received directly at the tomb of Lenin in the hall of columns. The architectural solution he found from a strict stepwise form, causing the Association with ancient religious buildings. For the construction of the Mausoleum, the builders had three days. 27 Jan there, in a small room, smelling of freshly-planed planks, put the body of Lenin.
The first monument to Lenin on 22 January opened the workers of Glukhovskiy textile factory. They were going to place a statue of the leader, but came the news of Lenin’s death — and it turned out modest, but the monument. First in the world. He is in the city of Noginsk… Modest, even funny, but the first.
Another way of mobilizing the death of the leader was the so-called Lenin’s call in the ranks of the Bolsheviks. In two months, there were over 350 thousand applications to the party. True, took not all. Still, the party became significantly massive.
Funerals without undertakers
And here on January 27 at the red square near the Kremlin wall, the Mausoleum is very modest in size, made of wood, but caught the attention of a bold, simple architecture. There and set the coffin with the embalmed body of Lenin.
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The lack of Leon Trotsky goodbye Lenin proved fatal to the career of the former narkomaania. But Stalin managed to score. On January 26, was assigned the opening of the II all-Union Congress of Soviets, which was to accept the first Constitution of the USSR. There, in the Bolshoi theatre, Stalin uttered his famous oath, addressed to the dead leader.
The then Ambassador of Latvia in Moscow Karlis Ozols, not reputed to be an ardent fan of Stalin, recalled: “When, after Lenin’s death in 1924, Stalin at the Congress of Soviets at the Bolshoi theatre said in a funeral speech-the oath, I heard him for the first time. This oath has made me a very strong impression. “Departing from us, comrade Lenin adjured us to hold high and guard the purity of the great title of member of the party”. He then raises his right hand and continues: “I Swear to you, comrade Lenin, we shall fulfil with honour thy commandment… Departing from us, comrade Lenin adjured us to guard the unity of the party as the Apple of his eye”. Hand raised: “I Swear to you, comrade Lenin, we will honorably fulfill this thy commandment.”
Many years later the words of this oath put to the music of Sergei Prokofiev. Here the situation itself helped directing. But the style of Stalin — after all, vyuchenik Gori Seminary — better meet the pathos of farewell to the leader of the revolution. However, no less impression on the audience made a speech, acclaimed speaker Zinoviev.
And then there was the funeral. Lenin’s Mausoleum was buried. Except that it was not necessary to dig, the gravediggers took. On 27 January, the cold has hit with renewed force. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, it was the coldest day that winter. The fact that in such severe weather, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to say goodbye to the Chairman of the CPC, made a strong impression. Sounded a funeral speech, beat guns…
“We lost at Calvary. Two hours remained until the funeral minutes. Approached, became new. Growing crowd… it was Nearing the hour… That’s three… three and a half… a quarter to four… ten… five… two… one minute… And suddenly burst into tears in the air the plaintive siren, densely howled factory whistles. Became creepy. Majestic. Solemnly. Someone near cried, writhed in hysterics. It was picked up and carried into the ambulance,” recalled Dmitry Furmanov.
It was the beginning of Soviet ritual of a state funeral: heart-breaking factory whistles, black-gun volley, a rally on red square.Mournful date
The first Mausoleum stood for long. In the spring he was replaced by a more permanent building. A current — granite — appeared in October 1930. In the country formed the cult of Lenin and the Mausoleum became a Shrine to the Soviet state. This phenomenon is often associated with various occult associations. But much more important was very different emotions. The Bolsheviks — at least, the most sincere of them believe that forming a new, unseen person. Man of the future. And will help to break in the bright future of science that will change the world beyond recognition, make it fairer and more comfortable. Who knows, maybe in twenty years or thirty venerable red professors learn to resurrect people. At least the most great and necessary.
Here’s the handy embalmed body. If the doctors are unable to save Lenin from a mysterious illness, it may be the science of the future will help to bring him out of the camp of the dead?
But this is in the distant future, but reality demanded constant praise. The image of the Mausoleum was always present in the primers and alphabets in the pages of “Murzilki” and even “Funny pictures”, not to mention all the other media. The leader of worship loved — it is admitted even by his opponents. When sounded intemperate praise it in the irritation went out. And yet the cult of Lenin began to take shape during his lifetime. All this does not correspond to Marxist ideas about the role of personality in history, but where to go.
It was clear that the people are not ready for the idea of comprehensive partisanship, he needs not only leaders, but also a kind of icon. Significant in this sense was the 50th anniversary of “our Ilyich”, which, however, the hero of the occasion almost did not participate. If there is a cult, so the holidays — with hilarious, and tragic essence.
January 21 annually in the USSR celebrated the Day of death of Lenin. Black ribbons with flags are removed and the 22nd, when I recalled not only the leader of the revolution, but also of the victims of Bloody Sunday in 1905.
It was the mourning days, days of national mourning — and so they celebrated in the popular tear-off calendars. And even the phrase “bitter cold” was often replaced by a new concept: “Lenin days”. At the beginning of the 20-th of January, and indeed often became cold.
Until 1970-ies every Soviet schoolboy knew pitifully little song:
Gave APR from the garden
A memory of red roses.
And you, Jan, not happy —
Friend, you took from us.
In the black box, singing Blizzard,
The coffin under the banner carried.
In January there was another
All workers of the Earth.
On the radio these days often passed and “Apassionata” — known Beethoven Sonata, which was so fond of Lenin. Her chords, the funeral March of Chopin memorial and the revolutionary song “You fell a victim” — this is the music of this day, this historic point.
Arseny Zamostyanov
Deputy chief editor of magazine “Historian”.