S.A. Smith > Quotes

“Joseph Conrad once wrote that ‘it is the peculiarity of Russian natures that however sharply engaged in the drama of action, they are still turning their ear to the murmur of abstract ideas’.106”
― S.A. Smith, Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis, 1890 to 1928

“what is crucial to grasp is that the end of tsarism came about not because of the breakdown in morale in the armed forces—discipline held up remarkably well through the winter of 1916–17, despite growing war weariness—but because of acute disaffection on the home front. Politics”
― S.A. Smith, Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis, 1890 to 1928

“The government hoped that it could carry out modernization whilst maintaining tight control over society. Yet the effect of industrialization, urbanization, internal migration, and the emergence of new social classes was to set in train forces that served to erode the foundations of the autocratic state.”
― S.A. Smith, The Russian Revolution: A Very Short Introduction

“That the autocracy came out of the Revolution relatively unscathed had little to do with clever political tactics.”
― S.A. Smith, Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis, 1890 to 1928

“learning to read awoke a touching thirst for knowledge. ‘Send me a list of books published on comets, stars, water, the earth, and sky.”
― S.A. Smith, The Russian Revolution: A Very Short Introduction

“The collapse of the tsarist regime in February 1917 was ultimately rooted in a systemic crisis brought about by economic and social modernization, a crisis that was massively exacerbated by the First World War.1”
― S.A. Smith, Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis, 1890 to 1928

“In the last analysis, however, the Provisional Government had expired even before the Bolsheviks finished it off.”
― S.A. Smith, Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis, 1890 to 1928

“I thought who really is my enemy: the Germans or the company commander? I still couldn’t see the Germans, but here in front of me was the commander.”
― S.A. Smith, The Russian Revolution: A Very Short Introduction

“Article One of the Fundamental Laws of 1906 declared, ‘The Emperor of All Russia is an autocratic and unrestricted monarch. To obey his supreme authority, not only out of fear but out of conscience, God Himself commands.’18”
― S.A. Smith, Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis, 1890 to 1928

“Of you capitalists, weeping your crocodile tears, we demand that you stop crying about devastation that you yourselves have created. Your cards are on the table. Your game is up.”
― S.A. Smith, The Russian Revolution: A Very Short Introduction

“The source of the woes and unpleasantness that we are currently experiencing is the fact that the Communist Party consists of 10% convinced idealists who are ready to die for the idea, and 90% hangers-on without consciences, who have joined the party in order to get a position.’83”
― S.A. Smith, Russia in Revolution: An Empire in Crisis, 1890 to 1928