The Romanov succession

Count Anatol’s cold voice cut in. “Even you ought to see that we cannot simply assassinate the Soviet leaders and sit back to quarrel among ourselves afterward. You cannot kill Bolshevism simply by eliminating its leaders. We must provide something that takes the place of the Bolshevik apparatus-otherwise a new Stalin will take over and then what will we have gained?”

Sir Edward Muir said, “You’ve got to present a united movement to the eyes of the Allies. My government are prepared to deal with you as a unified group but you can hardly expect Whitehall to go very far with a loose collection of bickering factions. If you do not settle your differences before you begin, I’m afraid there will be little hope of receiving the support you will need to have when you go into the field.”

Vassily curbed his tongue but Alex knew that expression.

Old Prince Michael stirred and sat upright. “The common enemy is Stalinism. Leon is correct-we must not lose sight of that. Whatever our differences we must all recognize the evil of this monster and the vicious proletarian ideology he pretends to represent. What have the masses ever created? Group intelligence is always far inferior-yes-a civilization achieves its level of greatness in proportion to the amount of significance it gives the individual and his dignity. Yet these heathen atheists glorify the mass spirit, the mind of the mob, as their greatest achievement.”

He stopped to clear his throat and no one interrupted: they gave him their respect because of his birth and the royal house he represented. The Grand Duke Dmitri was one of the three legitimate Pretenders alive; the second was Feodor, infirm and abed in the next room. So long as the houses of these two Grand Dukes spoke with a common voice the weight of the Romanov dynasty supported that voice. But if the two houses divided then the pivotal authority would devolve onto the Grand Duke Mikhail-the only one of the three not represented here because Mikhail lived in Munich and was an ardent Nazi.

Therefore there was no question of curtailing old Prince Michael’s discourse. Having cleared his throat he went steadfastly on:

“The madman has persuaded many of them that they have made great collective strides forward. Give him another ten years and it will be too late to save our country at all-the rot will have gone too deep. So I must say to you that I feel Leon is quite right-it is a cancer consuming Mother Russia and we must destroy it before it is too late.”

The old man paused to examine his audience and Anatol chose the opportunity to speak. “Let us not underestimate the old tribal barbarities of our country. Russia has always been a nation in which a small number of leaders have controlled all policy. Stalin did not invent that-it is the nature of Russia. If we upset Stalin it will be to no avail at all if we do not replace his regime with powerful leadership of our own. Otherwise another Stalin will emerge and that will be that.”

Baron Oleg was scowling. “So we should forestall the rise of a new Stalin by substituting our own Stalin for him. You reactionaries never fail to amaze me. You would negate everything we want to achieve. The idea is to free our country-not replace one tyrant with another!”

“Please.” It was Prince Leon: he said it softly, for emphasis, and eyes swiveled to him.

Leon put both hands on the arms of his chair as if to rise; but he kept his seat when he spoke.

“I believe there is a solution you all may find acceptable.”

Alex watched him. Leon had spent a lifetime holding them all together, preventing the factions from splintering. It was natural and inevitable that Leon would have devised a scheme to catalyze them now.

“I think we agree our immediate goal is to depose Stalin and annihilate the system by which informers are forced to produce names, and the secret police make lists, and mass arrests take place in the night.

“I believe we all agree also that the very first step in any new government in Russia must be to return the farms to the farmers.

“It is a primary rule for any successful revolutionary leader to destroy the forces that brought him to power. Lenin did this by forcing out Trotsky and many others but he made the mistake of keeping Stalin too close. When Stalin took it on he did what Lenin should have done. He wiped out virtually all of the ‘Old Bolsheviks.’ But it has weakened the hierarchy and it makes him vulnerable now.

“We know he has nothing left but a few key people and a horde of nondescript mediocrities. He is afraid to surround himself with capable people-they might prove too dangerous. His sycophants follow him like craven beggars. I think it is clear they go on supporting him because they can count on salvation only so long as he prevails.