The Praetorian Option 253
with death and devastation on an unprecedented scale-on Russian soil, invaded
from the west for the first time in a century. The younger Glinka notes that of
an evening he and his comrades would gather at the billet either of General
M. A. Miloradovich or of their colonel 'in order to read, draw, talk, and
joke'; these impromptu soirees were 'distinguished by our commander's kind-
liness and by an agreeable informality'.^19 Active service attenuated the rigid
social conventions that normally governed communication between officers of
different rank. A. I. Antonovsky, a subaltern in the 26th Chasseurs, found it
surprisingly easy to make contact with people in other units, who would some-
times share their last crumbs with a stranger; after experiencing one such act of
charity, he vowed that he would never forget 'this most noble trait'.^20
The recently published diary of another lieutenant, A. V. Chicherin of the
Semenovsky regiment, is particularly revealing on the mentalite of the military
intelligentsia during the war. Illustrated with sketches from his own pen, it has
an authenticity Jacking in more sophisticated 'literary' accounts. The author
was killed in action at the age of 20, so fulfilling his ambition 'to give my life
for the heart of my Fatherland'.^21 The young Chicherin's ardent patriotism is
accompanied by an equally sincere humanistic sentiment, expressed in such
simple but moving phrases as 'man is born to live among people like himself',
or that it is everyone's duty 'to make others happy' and 'to try to be useful'.^22
A casual mention of the social contract reveals the ultimate source of these
ideas. Our diarist is familiar with Rousseau and carries Swift's Gulliver's
Travels in his knapsack. His reading leads him to reflect on the contrasting
destinies of officers and men in the ranks. Initially he tries to convince himself
that social privilege does have some rational basis in natural disparities of
character; but a few.d~ys later, struck by the sight of his soldiers trying to catch
some sleep in a waterlOgged bivouac, he exclaims pathetically: 'if only I could
share with them the comforts I enjoy! '^23 Later he makes a practice of visiting
the wounded, doing his best to cheer them, and handing out what little food or
money he can spare. The men's gratitude reinforces his sentiments of charity
and paternalistic concern.^24
Of particular interest is Chicherin's emotional response to the horrors of
warfare. On first perceiving soldiers dying without any medical care, he wants
'to turn aside, perhaps with a sigh, and seize the least excuse to forget'; but not
long afterwards he finds that he cannot get used to the heaps of frozen corpses
and begins to question the morality of war.^25 Other writers, too, initially seemed
content with an aesthetic concern for their own sensibilities; but as time passed
they developed compassion for the innocent victims of the struggle, respect for
19 Glinka, Pis'ma, iv. 241-2.(^20) Antonovsky, 'Zapiski', p. 45.
21 Chicherin, Dnevnik, p. 14.
22 Ibid., pp. 35-6.
23 Ibid., pp. 21, 26.
24 Ibid., pp. 133-6.
2' Ibid .. pp. 48, 67, 130.