Ten Days That Shook the World · Chapter
5: Ridicule of the New Regime explained
This chapter presents a satirical piece from the Menshevik newspaper Drug Naroda, mocking the Bolsheviks' early attempts at foreign policy.
What happens
This chapter presents a satirical piece from the Menshevik newspaper Drug Naroda, mocking the Bolsheviks' early attempts at foreign policy. It caricatures Trotsky and Uritzky as bumbling figures chasing after former officials and trying in vain to get a response from the Allied ambassadors, highlighting the perceived absurdity and isolation of the new regime's peace initiatives.
Themes in this chapter
Struggle for Legitimacy and Power
The satire underscores the Bolsheviks' difficulty in being accepted as legitimate rulers, both domestically and internationally.
Characters to notice
- Leon Trotsky
Satirized as 'Robespierre-Trotsky,' depicted as comically inept in his pursuit of peace and foreign recognition.
- Mikhail Uritsky
Portrayed as 'Marat-Uritzky,' Trotsky's assistant who suggests launching another decree as a substitute for real diplomacy.
- Anatoly Neratov
Former official who is the object of a comedic chase by Trotsky in the satire.
Key passages
“The story of the 'immediate peace' of the Bolsheviki reminds us of a joyous moving-picture film. … Neratov runs—Trotsky pursues; Neratov climbs a wall, Trotsky too; Neratov dives into the water—Trotsky follows; Neratov climbs onto the roof—Trotsky right behind him; Neratov hides under the bed—and Trotsky has him! He has him! Naturally, peace is immediately signed.”
The Bolsheviks' promise of immediate peace is portrayed as a farcical chase, with Trotsky relentlessly pursuing the elusive Neratov, culminating in a laughable claim that peace is thus achieved.
This passage uses slapstick imagery to mock the Bolsheviks' diplomatic efforts as unserious and futile.
“All is empty and silent at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The couriers are respectful, but their faces wear a caustic expression.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is depicted as hollow and inactive, with staff silently mocking the new regime.
Highlights the isolation and lack of real diplomatic engagement faced by the Bolsheviks.
“How about arresting an ambassador and signing an armistice or a Peace Treaty with him? But they are strange folk, these ambassadors. They keep silent just as if they had heard nothing. Hola, hola, England, France, Germany! We have signed an armistice with you! Is it possible that you know nothing about it?”
The Bolsheviks are shown as absurdly trying to force peace by arresting ambassadors, while the ambassadors ignore them completely.
Emphasizes the lack of recognition and the comedic disconnect between Bolshevik proclamations and international reality.
“In the enormous and empty Ministry of Foreign Affairs are to be heard only the sound of two typewriters. With his own hands Trotsky is conducting an active foreign policy.”
The grand ministry is now a hollow shell, and Trotsky's 'active foreign policy' amounts to typing letters that go unanswered.
A final ironic jab at the futility of the Bolsheviks' diplomatic initiatives.