Executed People

"Curse the Duma. It’s all Witte’s fault."

"Rioting and disturbances in the capitals and in many localities of Our Empire fill Our heart with great and heavy grief. The well-being of the Russian Sovereign is inseparable from the national well-being; the national sorrow is His sorrow."

"[David Lloyd George] said the Czar only got his deserts—he had ignored the just pleas of the peasants & had shot them down ruthlessly when they came unarmed to him in 1905."

"Is it possible that for twenty-two years I tried to act for the best and that for twenty-two years it was all a mistake?"

"In the midst of the great struggle against a foreign foe, who has been striving for three years to enslave our country, it has pleased God to lay on Russia a new and painful trial. Newly arisen popular disturbances in the interior imperil the successful continuation of the stubborn fight. The fate of Russia, the honor of our heroic army, the welfare of our people, the entire future of our dear land, call for the prosecution of the conflict, regardless of the sacrifices, to a triumphant end. The cruel foe is making his last effort and the hour is near when our brave army, together with our glorious Allies, will crush him. In these decisive days in the life of Russia, we deem it our duty to do what we can to help our people to draw together and unite all their forces for the speedier attainment of victory. For this reason we, in agreement with the State Duma, think it best to abdicate the throne of the Russian State and to lay down the Supreme Power. Not wishing to be separated from our beloved son, we hand down our inheritance to our brother, Grand Duke Michael Aleksandrovich, and give him our blessing on mounting the throne of the Russian Empire. We enjoin our brother to govern in union and harmony with the representatives of the people on such principles as they shall see fit to establish. He should bind himself to do so by an oath in the name of our beloved country. We call on all faithful sons of the Fatherland to fulfill their sacred obligations to their country by obeying the Tsar at this hour of national distress, and to help him and the representatives of the people to take Russia out of the position in which she finds herself, and to lead her into the path of victory, well-being, and glory. May the Lord God help Russia!"

"[On 2 August 1914] I got to Winter Palace Square where an enormous crowd had congregated with flags, banners, ikons, and portraits of the Tsar. The Emperor appeared on the balcony. The entire crowd at once knelt and sang the Russian national anthem. To those thousands of men on their knees at that moment the Tsar was really the autocrat appointed of God, the military, political and religious leader of his people, the absolute master of their bodies and souls. As I was returning to the embassy, my eyes full of this grandiose spectacle, I could not help thinking of that sinister January 22, 1905, on which the working masses of St. Petersburg, led by the priest Gapon and preceded as now by the sacred images, were assembled as they were assembled to-day before the Winter Palace to plead with "their Father, the Tsar"—and pitilessly shot down."

"While the bulk of the Russian forces survived intact and Russia stayed in the war, at least nominally, she lost some of her richest and most populous regions. These defeats generated in Russia a great deal of discontent, especially in liberal and conservative circles. The liberals in parliament (Duma) demanded that the government concede to it the power to appoint ministers. The conservatives wanted Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate in favor of a more forceful member of the imperial family. Rumors spread among the troops and the population at large of treason in high places: the empress, German by origin, was accused of betraying military secrets to the enemy. To compound the government’s troubles, the cities experienced serious inflation, while the deterioration of rail transport caused shortages of food and fuel, especially in Petrograd (as Saint Petersburg had been renamed on the outbreak of the war). The combination of bad news from the front, political disaffection, and economic distress in the urban areas (the countryside was quiet, benefiting from higher prices on foodstuffs) created by October 1916 a revolutionary situation."

"I admit, the other day, I attempted to shed English blood as a humble revenge for the inhuman hangings and deportations of patriotic Indian youths. In this attempt I have consulted none but my own conscience; I have conspired with none but my own duty. I believe that a nation held in bondage with the help of foreign bayonets is in perpetual state of war. Since open battle is rendered impossible to a disarmed race, I attacked by surprise; since guns were denied to me, I drew forth my pistol and fired. As a Hindu, I feel that a wrong done to my country is an insult to God. Poor in health and intellect, a son like myself has nothing to offer to the Mother but his own blood, and so I have sacrificed the same on her altar. Her cause is the cause of Shri Rama. Her services are the services of Shri Krishna. This War of Independence will continue between India and England so long as the Hindu and the English races last (if this present unnatural relation does not cease). The only lesson required in India at present is to learn how to die and the only way to teach it is by dying ourselves. Therefore I die and glory to my martyrdom. My only prayer to God is: may I be reborn of the same Mother and may I re-die in the same sacred cause till the cause is successful and she stands free for the good of humanity and the glory of God. Vande Mataram!"

"Decades later, when Lloyd George explained to Winston Churchill his admiration for Dhingra’s patriotism, it is said that Churchill exclaimed: ‘Dhingra’s last words are the finest ever made in the name of patriotism’ and even compared him with Plutarch’s immortal heroes."

"Long live Mussolini! Long live socialism!"

"I saw that it was this that tormented him the most: the attraction that fascism exercised upon the extreme left. He had been a teacher with Mussolini in a little Italian village, he knew him well and even while hating him liked him a little."

"Fascism has made grandiose Social Revolution, Mussolini and Lenin, Soviet and Fascist corporate state, Rome and Moscow. Several stands already taken had to be rectified, we have nothing of which to ask pardon for as both in present and past we are impelled by the same ideal: the triumph of work."

"Stalin will never make socialism; rather Mussolini will."

"Mussolini is clever, demagogic, devoid of scruples, and he has learned a great deal from the Russian Revolution."

"Kahit maging sanglibo man Ang buhay n'yaring katawan Pawa kong ipapapatay, Kung inyong pagpipilitang Si Kristo'y aking talikdan."

"If the ruling class thinks that by hanging us, hanging a few anarchists, they can crush out anarchy, they will be badly mistaken, because the anarchist loves his principles more than his life."

"Naturally our party must defend the working classes against the Fascisti. Naturally we must defend them by force of arms, for if the Fascisti gain power they will rivet the chains of Capitalism upon us. They will try to recover their own prosperity at the cost of the manual workers. But it does not follow that we must fight Fascism with arms alone; we must employ political measures likewise. The proletariat must take the initiative in reconstructing the world on a new foundation. This will convince the petty bourgeoisie that a new era is dawning which may save them from their misery. Therefore if we are to conquer Fascism we must win over the petty bourgeoisie. We must convince them that the capitalists and landlords and reactionary army-men are merely using them as tools. Fascism is middle-class Socialism, and we cannot persuade the middle classes to abandon it until we can prove to them that it only makes their condition worse."

"History has prepared our party for various tasks. However defective our state machinery or our economic activity may be, still the whole past of the party has psychologically prepared it for the work of creating a new order of economy and a new state apparatus. History has even prepared us for diplomacy. It is scarcely necessary to mention that world politics have always occupied the minds of Marxists. But it was the endless negotiations with the Mensheviki that perfected our diplomatic technique; and it was during these old struggles that Comrade Chicherin learned to draw up diplomatic notes. We are just beginning to learn the miracle of economics. Our state machinery creaks and groans. In one thing, however, we have been eminently successful – in our Red Army. Its creator, its central will, is Comrade L.D. Trotsky."

"The articulation of universalism with the sense of Jewish identity took varying forms depending on the different revolutionary currents: for internationalists such as Leon Trotsky, Aleksandr Zinoviev, Karl Radek and Rosa Luxemburg, the assimilation of a Jewish revolutionary into the concrete universal party, the dissolution of the 'little difference' into the status of equality of the militant, anticipated the society for which they fought; they did not consider the little difference' as called on to crystallize one day in terms of national identity. Were they blind? Blinkered, certainly, in the sense that they underestimated the national dimension of the Jewish problem in Eastern Europe."

"Lenin’s greatness lies in his aiming at goals arising out of realities. In this reality he sees a powerful steed which will carry him to his goal, and he trusts himself to it. But he never abandons himself to his dreams. This is not all. His genius contains another trait: After he has set himself a certain goal, he seeks for the means leading to this goal through reality; he is not content with having fixed his aim, he thinks out concretely and completely everything necessary for the attainment of that aim. He does not merely work out a plan of campaign, but the whole organisation of the campaign at the same time."

""we are comrades, aren't we, even if you are not a member of my party?" "But how do you know who I am?" "News travels quickly in Russia," he replied. "You're an anarchist, you are Emma Goldman, and you were driven out of plutocratic America. That's three good reasons to entitle you to my comradeship and assistance"...He was most cordial, assuring me that I could call on him in any emergency."

"Comrades, the question of the relationship between the Communist International and the trades unions is the most serious, most important question facing our movement. The trades unions are the biggest mass organisations of the working class; they play a decisive role in the economic struggles, the chief elements in the disintegration of capital, and after the victory of the revolution the trades unions will be in the forefront of those organisations called on to work at the economic construction of socialism."

"During the French revolution and parallel with its development, the Socialist current gained strength in the depths of society; it was then represented by the party of the “Jacques Roux”, whose history has not yet been written, but which played a very important part in the events of 1793 (the literature on this party is very poor). Robespierre was an avowed and convinced opponent of this movement. In the pamphlets of the Girondist, Brissot, the representative of the commercial bourgeoisie of Southern France, we find not only all the arguments with which the bourgeoisie later fought Socialism, but we also find the mad, raging hatred which is due to the recognition of the power of the Communists in the French revolution. These were backed by a considerable part of those who saved France in 1793."

"LIKE everything else in nature, Lenin was born, has developed, has grown. When Vladimir Ilyitch once observed me glancing through a collection of his articles, written in the year 1903, which had just been published, a sly smile crossed his face, and he remarked with a laugh: “It is very interesting to read what stupid fellows we were!""

"Interestingly, neither our Stalin nor your Pilsudski actually hold any positions that would give them the formal right to rule. They simply rule because both the entire ruling class and the majority of society consider them the best, the smartest and the most brilliant. This is their strength."

"Ready for peace, ready for concessions, Russia waits; ready for peaceful cohabitation with capitalist countries even, as long as Labour in the West suffers the burden of the capitalist system. But Soviet Russia is not a carcase upon which the vultures of Imperialism will sharpen their beaks and claws. Soviet is a power, a power that is firm and growing, and it will compel its enemies to treat it as such and allow it to live in peace."

"The great October Revolution, which marked the beginning of the world proletarian revolution, was the decisive factor in the birth of the Communist International. The October Revolution utilised and extended the great experience of the Paris Commune, the revolution of 1905, and the revolution of February, 1917, began to put, into effect Marx’s slogan of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and created a new type of state, the Soviet type of state."

"It is impossible to be a leader of the working class without knowing the whole history of the class. The leaders of the labour movement must know the history of the labour movement; without this knowledge there can be no leader, just as nowadays there can he no great general who could be victorious with the least expenditure of force unless he knew the history of strategy. The history of strategy is not a collection of recipes as to how to win a war, for a situation once described never repeats itself. But the mind of the general becomes practised in strategy by its express study; this study renders him elastic in war, permits him to observe the dangers and possibilities which the empirically trained general cannot see. The history of the labour movement does not tell us what to do, but it makes it possible to compare our position with situations which have already been experienced by our class, so that in various decisive moments we are enabled to see our path clearly, and to recognise approaching danger."

"FASCISM is no longer a fruit peculiar to Italian soil, but an international phenomenon. Italy is merely the first country where the Fascisti have seized the government, just as Russia is the first country where the proletariat has seized power. But the Fascisti flood is rising in Germany, in Czechoslovakia, and is beginning to stir in the United States, and France, and Austria. Fascism, as we shall show, is a pettybourgeois reaction against post-war conditions – a petty-bourgeois reaction that Big Capital is using to fortify itself wherever its rule is threatened. The difference in the condition of the petty bourgeoisie in different countries is much greater than the difference in the condition of the working classes; and the policies of the former therefore vary more than the policies of Labor."

"You have expelled us from the Party and sent us away as counter-revolutionaries without reckoning that the older ones among us fought for Communism for a quarter of a century and that the younger ones were in the ranks of the October revolution from the first moment of their conscious life. This fact does not give me the right to appeal to your sentiments, but since the time when you decided on the incredible step of expelling us from the Party, with an accusation which dishonors not us but those who have made it, and exiling us – from that moment it is time that you draw the balance and render an accounting on the whole matter."

"Manucci described Sambhaji’s tragic end shortly afterwards (1689 ck) at the hands of Aurangzeb, Aurangzeb ordered him to be bound strongly upon a camel, and on his head was placed a long cap covered with little bells and rattles. This was meant for mockery of the Hindu princes and the Brahmans, who usually wear pointed caps, but without rattles. ... The camel was made to run, so that the rattles made a great noise and aroused everyone’s curiosity, and thus men issued from their tents to see who it was coming. In the course of the procession they made the camel turn from time to time with such suddenness, that the person on it looked as if he must fall from the various movements he made, but the cords with which he was bound prevented it and at the same time wearied him out. Finally, when the perambulation of the royal camp had been completed, the tyrant ordered him to be dragged into his presence. When there he ordered his side to be cloven open with an axe and his heart to be extracted. The body was then flung on a dunghill and abandoned to the tender mercies of the dogs ."

"He (Sambhaji) was ordered by the Emperor to embrace Islam. He refused and was made to run the gauntlet of the whole Imperial army. Tattered and bleeding he was brought before the Emperor and repeated his refusal. His tongue was torn and again the question was put. He called for writing material and wrote 'Not even if the emperor bribed me with his daughter!' So then he was put to death by torture."

"In South India when the Maratha King Sambhaji and his minister Kavikalash were taken prisoner, "that very night his (Sambhaji's) eyes were blinded and the next day the tongue of Kavikalash was cut out. After a fortnight's torture their limbs were hacked one by one and their flesh thrown to the dogs""

"SHAMBHUJI RAJA TO RAJA RAM SINGH OF AMBER Shri Shambhu Raja craves your friendship and after enquiring about your welfare communicates to Your Highness his own words in this letter. We have received your communication and understand your object to mean that no opposition should be offered to the Emperor of Delhi… Thereafter you came to know how your son Krishna Singh met his ruin for having intrigued with Sultan Akbar ; and after full consideration of the political situation you again wrote to us in laudable terms that we acted rightly in offering shelter in our dominion to Sultan Akbar, that you approved the course we followed and that as we are Hindus, you signified your readiness to execute whatever was considered expedient in the circumstances. If such indeed is your real intention, then you yourself ought to take take lead in this affair. The present wicked Emperor believes that we Hindus have all become effeminate and tint we have lost all regard for our religion. Such an attitude on the part of the Emperor we cannot any longer endure. We cannot put up with anything derogatory to our character as soldiers (Kshatriyas). The Vedas and the codes enjoin certain injunctions of religion…which we cannot allow to be trampled underfoot, nor can we neglect our own duty as kings to our subjects. We are prepared to sacrifice everything, our treasure, our land, our forts, in waging war against this satanic Emperor. We have killed many a brave captain of the Emperor, imprisoned several, released some after exacting ransom, and some out of compassion; several effected their escape by offering bribes. In this way the imperial commanders have proved themselves utterly incompetent. The moment has now arrived when the Emperor himself can be captured and made prisoner with the result that we can rebuild our temples and restore our religious practices. We strongly assure you that we have resolved to execute all this in the near future. But we are in comparison with you young and inexperienced. We have seen and heard so much about your valour and your zeal for religion. You at present fully possess the seven arms of kingship, so that if you muster courage and co-operate with us in the task of annihilating the power of this Emperor, we can accomplish anything! When we ponder on this situation, we feel extremely surprised to find that you keep yourself so quiet and so unmindful of your religion. We are planning to dispatch [Muhammad] Akbar…into Gujarat, so that you on your side must courageously execute whatever is possible. Shah Abbas of Persia has signified his willingness to support the cause of Akbar; but it does not…behove us to accept Muslim help in this cause and enable Abbas to gain the credit. Was it not your own revered father Jai Singh who gained the honour of helping Aurangzeb to capture the throne of Delhi? You can now follow the same example and obtain the same credit by helping Akbar (to the throne). If he becomes the Emperor of Delhi with the help of the Muslims of Persia, they will gain predominance. It is necessary to prevent such a contingency. If you and we join our forces and place Akbar on the throne, we shall get the opportunity of protecting our religion and on your part, you will shed lustre on the house of Jai Singh. My ministers Kavi-kalash and Janardan Pandit are writing to you separately at length…"

"In spite of all his huge army, Aurangzeb found that he could not by force of arms accomplish his purpose; for Sambha Ji continuously evaded giving battle in the field, and was satisfied with plundering everywhere, never remaining many days in the same place. Relying on the activity of his horses, already trained to go long distances and eat little, he wore out and incommoded the Mogul commanders and soldiers. Aurangzeb became aware that he would never succeed in this campaign, except by his usual intrigues. He therefore set to work, and wrote letters to Cabcales (Kab Kalish), the chief minister of Sambha Ji, and by large bribes and presents so far succeeded, that this minister undertook to make over Sambha Ji to him alive…"

"He [Kab Kalish] told Sambha Ji that two leagues away there was a village where abode a lovely married woman. This was enough. Sambha Ji resolved to halt at this place, in order to secure his impure desires. As soon as Kab Kalish knew his master’s resolve, he warned Aurangzeb to send at once five thousand horsemen, and without fail Sambha Ji would fall into his power. The eager king did not fail to send the soldiers…[Sambha Ji] found himself encircled by his enemies, who took him and carried him away to the camp of Aurangzeb. Let the reader hear how this king rewarded those who had worked in his favour. The first to pay for the capture of Sambha Ji was the selfsame Kab Kalish, who by a horrible death proclaimed to all the world the barbarity of the man who had already drunk so much blood, as may be seen from the rest of my history. Aurangzeb ordered that the tongue should be pulled out by the roots from the throat of the traitorous Kab Kalish, so that he might be unable to state that this great treason had been plotted at his (Aurangzeb’s) instigation. What could Sambha Ji hope for when his first minister, against whom the war had not been waged, came to such a miserable end! He well understood that death must be the end of all his doings. But he did not foresee the mockery he should have to suffer before he died. Aurangzeb ordered him to be bound strongly upon a camel, and on his head was placed a long cap covered with little bells and rattles. This was meant for mockery of the Hindu princes and the Brahmans, who usually wear pointed caps, but without rattles. The licentious man having been thus bound, Aurangzeb directed that he should be paraded through the camp. The camel was made to run, so that the rattles, made a great noise and aroused everyone’s curiosity, and thus men issued from their tents to see who it was coming. In the course of the procession they made the camel turn from time to time with such suddenness, that the person on it looked as if he must fall from the various movements he made, but the cords with which he was bound prevented it and at the same time wearied him out. Finally when the perambulation of the royal camp had been completed, the tyrant ordered him to be dragged into his presence. When there he ordered his side to be cloven open with an axe and his heart to be extracted. The body was then flung on a dunghill and abandoned to the tender mercies of the dogs. Thus did the licentious Sambha Ji pay for interfering with others."

"It seemed as if the death of Sambha Ji was bound to secure Aurangzeb’s lordship over all the lands of Hindustan down to the sea. But the commanders of valorous Shiva Ji, father of this unfortunate man, were by this practiced in fighting the Moguls, and expert in the way of dealing with those foreigners (? Persians and Central Asians) who deserted from his side. They determined to continue the campaign and uphold the cause of Ram Raja, younger brother of the deceased. Therefore they took him out of prison and made him their prince."

"[H]e remains the Reformer par excellence of his own day, the Chief Advocate of the Working Classes, the Defender of the Poor, the Leader of the Educational Movement, an Administrator who endeavoured to exterminate the corruptions in the Civil Service, and an Ecclesiastic who proposed to widen the boundaries of the English Church."

"He is an excellent man, for he is very just, incorrupt, and above all, mistaken by the erring world."

"His little grace the Bishop of Canterbury, that great enemy of God and his people, his head was cut off on a scaffold on Tower Hill."

"I saw that the English Church had a theological idea or theory as such, and I took it up. I read Laud on Tradition, and thought it (as I still think it) very masterly."

"I have been entreated by Mr. Governor and the rest of the merchants of Exon, to make known unto yourself and the merchants of the towne how far I have waded in the prosecution of the suit unto the King and the Lords, for some course to be taken to suppress the Turks and secure the trades. I have, therefore, sent you herewith enclosed the copies of all the petitions which have been preferred... Unto this my Lord Archbishop (Laud) hee gave this answer, striking his hands upon his breast, that while he hath breth in his bodie he would, to the uttermost of his power, advance a business so necessarie and consequentiall, and has assured me that his Majestie would take such course as that within this twelve months not a Turkish ship should be able to putt to sea; and at the Board his Grace was exceeding heartie in the business."

"From these two volumes [Laud's Diary and The History of his Troubles and Trial] it may be said that the great Tory and Church movement which was so striking a feature of the age of Anne received no inconsiderable part of its strength. The great figure round whom the later Caroline divines, the eminent writers of the reign of Charles II and the learned and chivalrous non-jurors, clustered, was undoubtedly William Laud, in whom the Church principles which they held dear seemed to be personified and hallowed. The publication of Laud's Works, and particularly his Devotions, exercised on Church feeling a parallel influence to that exercised on politics by the immortal history of Clarendon."

"Doctor Young the Lord Bishop of Rochester that Ordained him, finding his study raised above the Systems and Opinions of the age, upon the nobler foundation of the Fathers, Councils, and the Ecclesiastical Historians, easily presaged, "That if he lived he would be an instrument of restoring the Church from the narrow and private principles of modern times, to the more free, large, and publick sentiments of the purest and first Ages.""

"His book against the Jesuit will be his lasting epitaph."

"The greatest calamity ever visited upon the Church of England."

"Do you know whom I find the most tolerant churchman of that time? Laud! Laud got Davenant made Bishop of Salisbury, and he zealously befriended Chillingworth and Hales. (There was some other case, which I forget.)"

"The Parliament was certainly far from faultless. We fully agree with Mr. Hallam in reprobating their treatment of Laud. For the individual, indeed, we entertain a more unmitigated contempt than for any other character in our history. The fondness with which a portion of the church regards his memory, can be compared only to that perversity of affection which sometimes leads a mother to select the monster or the idiot of the family as the object of her especial favour."

"He was the last of the great ecclesiastical statesmen, perhaps because his example acted as a deterrent to any future aspirants to that position."

"I was borne and baptized in the bosome of the Church of England established by Law; in that profession I have ever since lived, and in that I come now to dye; This is no time to dissemble with God, least of all in matter of Religion; and therefore I desire it may be remembred, I have alwaies lived in the Protestant Religion, established in England, and in that I come now to dye. What Clamours and Slanders I have endured for labouring to keepe a Uniformity in the externall service of God, according to the Doctrine and Discipline of this Church, all men know, and I have abundautly felt."