On a sunny January morning in 1905, thousands of Russian citizens marched toward the Tsar's Winter Palace. The unarmed marchers were there to present a petition asking their Little Father to right the wrongs of his people. As the marchers neared the palace, they were met with hundreds of sword-wielding Cossack bent on preserving order. In the ensuing attack, hundreds of marchers were killed and hundreds more wounded. The event became etched in Russia's soul as Bloody Sunday.
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| Bloody Sunday |
Eleven years later, the populous of Petrograd, pushed beyond tolerance and filled with courage spawned by desperation, again marched against the Tsar's government. Their demand was simple - food. In my novel,
Banners: For God, Tsar and Russia, the story of this event is told through the actions of Valentina Kondakova.
* * *
When twenty-year-old Valentina Kondakova left
her tenement in the Vyborg district of Petrograd, she did not intend to bring
down a government. All she wanted was to
participate in the International Woman’s Day and demonstrate for bread and
justice.
* * *
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| Women's Day Protest for Bread and Justice |
I created Valentina to represent those caught up in historic events. Valentia was not a fiery radical, but a simple worker who found courage in necessity and numbers. She and the other women from the Neva Thread Mills Workers' Soviet were among those who unfurled their banners and began a determined march toward the Winter Place and destiny. What lay before them could have become another Bloody Sunday.
* * *
Valentina could not stop now if she wanted. The crush of the women behind her forced her
forward and even the fierce sound emanating from the soldiers could not stem
their advance. Valentina had resigned
herself to die, but then understood the soldiers weren’t taunting―they were
cheering.
“Keep coming, sisters,” one
shouted. “Press harder,” yelled
another. Soon all the shouts blended
into one single, irresistible chant, “Freedom!
Freedom! Freedom!” The powder keg had exploded.
* * *
While I never participated in a demonstration, as did Valentina, I vicariously experienced the anti-war marches of the sixties and the outpour of hatred against George Bush in the early part of this century. I found it easy to write from Valentia's desperate resolve, but I hesitated to attempt the vitriolic attacks exhibited by individual activists and such organizations as Code Pink. I simply could not find the words to convey my characters raw hatred.
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| A century later, demonstrations continue |
Early in
Banners, I introduced a Cossack named Alexander Dukov, who progressively became an ardent and passionate Communist. I was never comfortable with Sasha, for his single-minded dedication to a cause was foreign to me. I always see two sides to a story and cannot embrace the concept of total righteousness. Writing from Sasha's point of view stretched my imagination.
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| Cossack |
* * *
“No!” Sasha hammered
his fist into the table. “We can’t allow
any of them to escape. We must crush
them like the bugs they are. We should
level the palace and kill them all. It
will be a lesson to anyone who stands before the will of the people.”
Cossacks. Can’t
anyone tame them?
* * *
My other character in the demonstration scene was modeled after a military friend of mine. The young officer I penned faced a dilemma. Does he fire one women who could well be his sisters or does he follow his orders?
* * *
“Tell the men to lower their weapons and stand down,”
commanded Shatbs-kapitan Guddenov. It
took a moment for the noncoms to realize his meaning before they passed it
on. At first the company greeted the
command with stunned silence, then suddenly a spontaneous cheer rose from the
ranks."
* * *
When I presented the scene to friend, he disagreed with my character's action. He claimed he would have followed orders to halt the marchers by any means necessary. I hope he was joking.
