Work Text
I strongly recommend listening to this while reading:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRnCZI1RQ1c
His reflection in the surface of the Scythian Sea was as if fanned by a dark haze emerging from the deep blackness.Once upon a time, getting to these waters became his age–old dream – at the same time when, having risen from centuries of humiliation, he created a united power from disparate principalities and declared his capital as the Third Rome – in contrast to the ruler who dared to accept the title of Roman emperor, forcing Byzantium to vanish into oblivion.No longer the kingdom of the true Faith, but the Mohammedan power thundered with glory throughout the Mediterranean, making Europe shudder and spreading its might to his own border – Ivan not count how many times he suffered from the raids of the Crimean Khanate, this power’s faithful vassal. But Ivan would have been lying, saying that he did not turn his gaze to the mighty state that lay across the sea from him, whose ruler was a menace not only for the neighboring powers, but for all his subjects, and even the nobility did not dare to say a word against the ruler, in whom the power of the entire state was embodied – and the thought of a power as great blazed in the minds of both Ivan and his princes and tsars.Centuries have passed in an incessant struggle for the right to steer his ships across the seas since then – the Ottoman Empire rose as a formidable force on the distant shore, covered with a sunset haze. But when Ivan stormed onto the shore of the Scythian Sea, having gained never yet seen power, that empire appeared to him dilapidated and torn apart by internal squabbles. Each of the European powers strove to slip its tentacles deeper, to seize the imperial lands and flood the market with their goods. Ivan did not lag behind them, chipping the Balkan principalities in pieces, freeing his brothers, who were brothers not only by blood, but also by faith, striving to capture the straits and seeing the Russian flag over Constantinople in his dreams. The wars against the Ottoman Empire seemed to serve as a refuge for him for many years, promising glorious victories and shelter from internal discord – until the weight of this discord fell on him along with the painful defeat that caught him leaving the stronghold of Sevastopol.He went along the path of inner transformation, long overdue, but therefore no less painful – and in the next war, which broke out twenty years later, his army was not as helpless as before. And although the doubts remained great (his recent reforms were not completed yet, they did not have enough time to take roots), and the memories of the united front of the European powers inspired vague anxiety – still the howling and crying of the Balkan peoples tormented his soul too loudly to close his eyes on them.His army cut through the Danubian Principalities like a knife through butter, and the peoples who shed their blood for freedom flocked to him in waves, ready to stand shoulder to shoulder. The army crossed the full-flowing Danube and covered the Balkan range with blood. And although the Turks fought like lions on Bulgarian soil, his army reached the walls of Constantinople in less than a year.Only wariness of European powers restrained him from taking those walls on assault – and therefore they hurried to conclude peace.They were settled in a village, in a very simple building – however, there was a room in it where they could go private.The rays of the setting sun fell on the table, whose dark wood shone with crimson. Ivan stood at the window – his shoulder was bandaged under his uniform, but his condition was incomparable with his idol of the past centuries. It seemed like every movement brought pain to Sadik, which was read in his olive eyes – or, rather in only one eye; the second was covered with a dressing, and the arm hung lifeless in a bandage. Ivan knew that his injuries were not limited to this: Sadik was limping, and a terrible wound gaped under his fez and under the bandages that he had suffered under Plevna – and Ivan also knew that he himself was to blame for this. Sadik’s cheeks fell in, as well as his eyes – a truly sick man appeared before him.“I must admit, I thought this time you will not keep me company”There was a gurgling sound behind him. Ivan did not turn around, looking at the sharp tops of the cypresses from the window.“Why not?” Sadik asked, in an amiable, ironic voice, as if he was hosting a dear guest, and not an enemy on the threshold of his capital. The sound of the screw cap made the spirit of the Russian Empire turn around and come to the table. There were two glasses in front of Sadik, with a transparent liquid on their bottoms: he poured water from a carafe into each of the glasses, then setting the carafe aside.Exchanging pleasantries while concluding peace – it had become their custom long ago. Sadik would rather strangle himself than neglect hospitality, striving to maintain the external prestige – and Ivan did not know why he, a triumphant, should refuse such offers. Their conversations were unhurried, and sometimes something slipped through them, that made Ivan unable to close his eyes for many more nights, pondering over the words, and sorting through the thoughts that had stirred in his head.“It seemed to me that fury would finally get the better of you” Ivan replied and took the glass that Sadik pushed across the table to him, like a chess piece. Sniffed. The sweet fragrance tickled his nostrils. “What is it? I don't remember you treating me with this before”“Raki. The Greeks recently started serving it in meyhâne, people really like it” The spirit of the Ottoman empire drank without a wince. “And fury does gets better of me, but it’s not you that it’s aimed at” He snorted, caustically and mockingly. “I thought I would really get a constitution before you; but apparently, it was not meant to be”The rulers who held on to their absolute power to the last, and the ardent officers in secret societies, ready to give their lives for the good of the Fatherland – that was too familiar to Ivan. And the drama that unfolded at the Ottoman court, where greed and subservience to the bureaucrats entered the fray with love for the country, was known to Ivan long since. The young forces that sought to strengthen the Fatherland, adopting the European system, decided to get rid of everything old and stagnant, and suffered blow after blow from the same old and stagnant (as from the sultan, who dissolved the parliament under the pretext of war) – sometimes it seemed to Ivan that he looked at Sadik as if in a mirror.“However” Ivan suddenly saw a grin on the swarthy and exhausted face. “There has never been such a thing with me that I brought the constitution at the point of bayonets for someone, but returned home without it myself”His words hurt more than Ivan would have liked to admit – and they reminded him of the thoughts that rose in his mind when he found out that his officials were busy with the project for Bulgaria. He squeezed the glass in his hands, knitting his blond eyebrows together.“I still have enough strength and bayonets to both bring the constitution and to pacify the rebels, awakened by you, within my borders” He drank, looking his opponent straight in the eyes. The taste of anise spread on his tongue. “What can't be said about you”He suddenly wanted to enrage and hurt him – Sadik clenched his fist and jaw, losing the look of a hospitable host for a moment. No matter how many defeats he suffered over the last century, it was hard to get used to it. It was true that the higher one climbed, the more painful it was to fall. The height that Sadik conquered a couple of centuries ago spread out like a Roman city under the very sky – and therefore it would be a long fall for him, and painful. Even the uprising, an echo of an endless war, that broke out in the Dagestan mountains, as soon as Ivan crossed the Danube, did not help the Ottoman Empire – and the water of mountain rivers mixed with blood, while the troops of the empire were enforcing obedience on the rebellious land.“There was no need for me to wake the highlanders, and we both know it. After the muhajirun who have flooded my land, you better leave your hypocrisy with me” He said firmly; his words were boiling with quiet anger. Suddenly his gaze softened slightly. He looked at Ivan intently, as if deciding to test him. “But yes, a part of your brothers finally broke away from me, thanks to you. You must be...” he shook his glass in his hand, pouring the liquid over the bottom and peering into it. “...Glad for them now”The age–old struggle for freedom was crowned with victory, allowing Romania, Serbia and Montenegro to throw off the Turkish yoke – Ivan remembered how his country roared, demanding from the emperor to defend his Slavic brothers. Separate voices claiming that internal affairs required more attention drowned in the glow of flaming hearts – and Ivan rushed to the war, jumping into the deep end, carrying the long-awaited freedom on bayonets to the suffering peoples.Freedom…Sadik wanted honesty from him – well, he’d show him honesty.“I am even more glad that I managed to outdo Francis and Arthur”“Their ships are already in my harbor. The sky would rather merge with the sea than they would allow you to enjoy the fruits of victory”“I’m aware of that. And yet this time they did not interfere with my plans by now”“That's true” Sadik chuckled. He finished his raki, frowning from the abrupt movement, glancing at Ivan. “So, the freedom of your brothers is just a cherry on the cake”Ivan looked at him without blinking – there was no need to say it openly in order for Sadik to understand him correctly.The tops of the cypresses swayed in the wind, obscuring the golden sky like dark columns. Sadik took up the bottle standing on the dresser, refilled the glass – and diluted the liquid with water.“That's what I thought. Only I didn't know that I would live to see the day when I would sit at the table and gloat with you” He threw back his head and drained half a glass, wincing and shutting his eyes with force. “Do you know, Ivan, why, after your crushing triumphs, I'm talking with you and treating you with alcohol? It is only left to make a hookah and call dancers – and we will look exactly like dear friends in meyhâne, gossiping about their wives”Ivan raised his eyebrows in spite of himself – he did not expect that he’d be asked so directly.“I have been asking this question for a couple of decades”“I'm calling you” Sadik lifted the glass towards the window, to the rays of the sun – and looked at it, squinting, as the gold was refracted in his glass, as if he was proposing a toast to someone unknown. “Since you have always stated your intentions to tear my empire apart and take possession of the straits directly, without exchanging pleasantries. While your European brethren have filled my markets with their goods, and have taken all the benefits and trade fees into their hands, which made my state only more impoverished, and all this – without shutting up about my «territorial integrity»”“Bold of you to assume they are my brethren” Ivan answered, looking at his enemy quietly. “But I am grateful, nevertheless”If it hadn't been for Arthur, and Francis, and Roderich, Ivan would have realized his intention long ago – and the banner with the two-headed eagle would have fluttered over Hagia Sophia again. But his “friends” trembled more for the imperial “integrity” than for their own lives, even though that empire served them as nothing more than a market for their industrial goods. And even though progressive reforms had been going on for half a century, which were supposed to raise Sadik to the level of his enemies and readjust the state governance according to European standards, the inconsistency of those reforms and indecision of the court plunged Sadik even deeper into the abyss of crisis, turning him into a puppet – and serving as a bitter reminder to Ivan, what would have become of him if he had not…Therefore, Ivan's surprise was so great when he heard Sadik's words that with his liberal reforms Ivan was only one step away from him – and he froze, staring at his enemy.It was ridiculous. How could he, the power, whose will was if not considered, then looked back at, and be like him, the one that turned into the shadow of the shadow... No, what a nonsense; was he really…“You're blind in the second eye if you're trying to equate us both. I've been one step ahead of you for a century”“So you and I are only one step apart?” Sadik raised his head, looking at his enemy seriously. “The distance is not long at all”Silence settled again, interrupted by the sounds of gulps and the rustle of leaves.Ivan was sitting with his gaze directed into his glass. He talked to a loser, to the one who managed to let his power to be torn to pieces, – Ivan tried so hard to remind himself that; Sadik’s army was defeated, his sultan usurped power, and the fetters with which the European powers entangled him, became only tighter – what could he do but wag his tongue, brightening up his defeat with fantasies? Even thinking about it was stupid – then why…Then why did his thoughts turn to the anger, the anger so hidden that he was afraid to admit it even to himself, although the whispers in his mind were getting stronger, and the voices in his soul sounded louder and louder, which became increasingly difficult to dismiss…...Rumbling at the corruption of the authorities, who left the soldiers on the Shipka Pass to freeze without supplies and food, and at the mess that reigned in the headquarters. At the projects that were created in corridors of power not for him, but for those to whom he won the freedom with his blood and sword. A tight knot, painful, twisted in his chest, squeezing his throat with pain – at the tsar (he finally admitted to himself), who went much further than his predecessors in the matter of his liberation, but was reluctant to give up his power, first stepping forward, then nullifying progress with going two steps back....Maybe that was why a vague anxiety gripped his heart for fifty years, when he gazed into the Black Sea waters and at the land on the distant shore, hidden by a haze.“The only good thing about my decline” A hoarse voice crashed into Ivan’s disturbed mind. “Is that my impotence is clearly visible to me. As for you... let's drink to the fact" Anger suddenly erupted in Sadik’s voice, mocking and caustic, like a drink in his glass. “That after all your illustrious reforms, you managed to bring a complete wreck to its knees! That's a great victory! That's the power, striking the minds! Why aren't you glad, my friend? Isn't that supposed to convince everyone how far you have gone from me?”Ivan looked at him with compressed lips, at his evil smile, at his burning eyes – and got up, putting his glass on the table with force.“If it really weakens the bitterness of your defeat, you can entertain yourself with such reasoning. But don't think I'm going to sit here and listen to your nonsense”With these words, he turned around and left, slamming the door too hard – and ran down the stairs, leaving the house, rushing into the air.It was only when he was halfway to the sea, consumed by thoughts, trying to suppress his rage, only then Ivan suddenly realized – in the middle of these black waters and on this land he could not hide from his reflection anywhere.
In contrast to the ruler who dared to accept the title of Roman emperor, forcing Byzantium to vanish into oblivion – After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Mehmed II the Conqueror proclaimed himself Kayser-i Rum, literally "Caesar of Rome". Mehmed's claims were based on the concept that Constantinople was the royal residence of the Roman Empire, after the transfer of its capital to Constantinople in 330 AD and the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Mehmed also had a pedigree from the Byzantine imperial family. Ivan refers to the emergence of the “Moscow, the Third Rome” concept, which served as the semantic basis of ideas about the role and significance of Russia, which developed during the rise of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. The Moscow grand dukes (who had claimed the royal title since Ivan III) relied on the successors of the Roman and Byzantine emperors, largely because by the end of the XV century Russia remained the only independent Orthodox state. There is another opinion: Historian Nikolai Ulyanov noted that in its modern (political) form, this concept developed only in the XIX century. According to his point of view, the political idea of Moscow as the third Rome in reality goes back to the socio-political discourse of the reign of Alexander II, that is, it is connected with the Eastern question and the development of Russian imperialism of Modern times.
But Ivan would have been lying, saying that he did not turn his gaze to the mighty state that lay across the sea from him, whose ruler was a menace not only for the neighboring powers, but for all his subjects – the authoritarian features inherent in the Russian statehood, such as firm autocratic power, state violence and mobilization structure were borrowed in the XV-XVI centuries from the Ottoman Empire, which was then the strongest state of the era. Statesman Ivan Peresvetov, talking about the order of the Ottoman Empire, offered to take an example from it and created a blueprint for reforms. The main point of this project was a call for the establishment of an autocracy designed to protect the “justice” with the help of a “menace”.
Each of the European powers strove to slip its tentacles deeper, to seize the imperial lands and flood the market with their goods – In the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire was in social, political and economic decline, from which the great European powers were happy to derive benefit. Russian government, using the liberation movements on the Balkan Peninsula against the Turks, sought either to annex the Balkan territories to Russia, or to create a state with the capital in Constantinople, under the Russian protectorate. The difference in the Russian and Western European approach was that Russia wanted the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and the so-called "European concert" (England, France, Austria and Prussia) wanted to preserve it, in order to exploit it with all possessions and use it as a market for its goods. The Ottoman sultans carried out reforms to save the situation, but they ended up being incomplete, half-hearted and inconsistent, so that not a single problem was solved, and the empire sank deeper into the abyss of crisis.
He went along the path of inner transformation, long overdue, but therefore no less painful – it is referred to the Great liberal Reforms of Alexander II, which solved a number of long-standing socio-economic problems, cleared the way for the development of capitalism in Russia, expanded the boundaries of civil society and the rule of law, but were incomplete.
Still the howling and crying of the Balkan peoples tormented his soul too loudly to close his eyes on them – the beginning of the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878 was preceded by the national conscious-raising in the Balkans. News of the brutality with which the Bosnian-Hercegovinian (1875) and the April uprisings in Bulgaria (1876) were suppressed aroused sympathy and indignation in Russia. The aim of the war was declared the proclaim of freedom of the Orthodox Slavs from Turkish rule. Indignation at the actions of the Turks led to a mass volunteer movement (which is reflected on the pages of the novel “Anna Karenina”). Doctors Sklifosovsky, Pirogov and Botkin, writers Garshin and Gilyarovsky went to the front as volunteers. 60-year-old writer Ivan Turgenev said: “If I were younger, I would go there myself”, and 50-year-old Leo Tolstoy: “All of Russia is there, and I have to go”
And although the Turks fought like lions on Bulgarian soil – a reference to the siege of the Bulgarian fortress of Plevna, during which the Turkish garrison put up fierce resistance. The military commander Osman Nuri Pasha, nicknamed the «Lion of Plevna» for his valor, commanded the defense of the fortress. Emperor Alexander II returned his saber to him as a reward for his courage.
The Greeks recently started serving it in meyhâne, people really like it – a strong alcoholic drink, considered Turkish national. In the Ottoman Empire of the late XVIII – early XIX century, raki was served in meyhâne (pubs), which owners were usually non-Muslims. The Muslim population of the empire began to visit meyhâne frequently during the Tanzimat period, when the influence of religious anti-alcohol prescriptions on daily life began to weaken. By the end of the XIX century, raki had already overtaken wine in popularity.
The rulers who held on to their absolute power to the last, and the ardent officers in secret societies, ready to give their lives for the good of the Fatherland – despite all the shortcomings of the reforms, bourgeois relations in the Ottoman Empire began to develop. The road to secular education, political and cultural life opened, Turkish literature and journalism appeared in the 1860s. In the 1870s, a vague, but still existing protest against the current situation began to take shape in the advanced strata of society. In 1865, a secret political organization was created in Istanbul, which aimed to achieve the establishment of a constitutional system in Turkey. The members of the organization called themselves the “new Ottomans” (in Europe they were known as the Young Turks). They tried to force the Sultan to adopt the constitution, but in 1865 their conspiracy was discovered, some of the “new Ottomans” were arrested, some fled abroad. Ivan, accordingly, looking at the Young Turks, recalls the Decembrists.
I thought I would really get a constitution before you; but apparently, it was not meant to be – against the background of the Balkan crisis of 1875-1876, the new Ottomans became more active and attracted the famous statesman Mithat Pasha to their side. Through his efforts, Sultan Abdul Hamid II was elevated to the throne, and Mithat Pasha received the title of Grand Vizier along with permission to draft a future constitution, which was adopted in December 1876. Abdul Hamid initially encouraged the constitutional movement, because he believed that the introduction of the constitution would help disrupt the conference of European powers on the Balkan issue, but this did not happen, and the sultan did not need either the constitution or its author anymore. Midhat Pasha was forced abroad, the new Ottomans were sent into exile. Abdul Hamid used the disastrous beginning of the Russian-Turkish war to virtually eliminate the “Mithat constitution”. He arrested and expelled some members of parliament and announced that from now on he would rule the country autocratically. Parliament was no longer convened until the revolution of 1908. Not formally abolished, the constitution in Turkey has actually ceased to operate.
And they reminded him of the thoughts that rose in his mind when he found out that his officials were busy with the project for Bulgaria – the first Constitution of Bulgaria (the Tarnovo Constitution) was adopted in 1879. Its initial draft was developed by the Russian authorities, which carried out the temporary administration of Bulgaria, and then finalized in St. Petersburg. After the war, many segments of Russian society, attacked the government for various reasons. Liberals were indignant that the constitution was brought to Bulgaria on Russian bayonets, and yet the tsar did not dare to grant the constitution to Russia itself. According to the well-known liberal Ivan Petrunkevich, the Russians “made yesterday's slaves citizens, but they themselves returned home as slaves”
Side note: I imagine Russian emperors in 19th century something like that: “Constitution for you… Constitution for you… Wide autonomy for you… Ivan! *slap* Get away your grabby hands, this is not for you, this is for Bulgaria!”
Even the uprising, an echo of an endless war, that broke out in the Dagestan mountains, as soon as Ivan crossed the Danube, did not help the Ottoman Empire – it is referred to the uprising of the peoples of Chechnya and Dagestan in 1877, which in terms of scope, coverage of the territory, the number of participants is considered the largest protest against the power of the Russian Empire on the territory of Dagestan (even Imam Shamil had fewer adherents). The cause for the uprising was that in June 1877 the Turks occupied the Black Sea coast of Abkhazia (they were pushed out only by August), but the reasons were the predatory and exploitative policy of the imperial administration in the Caucasus. The uprising was bloodily repressed.
After the muhajirun who have flooded my land, you better leave your hypocrisy with me – it is referred to the Circassian genocide – the mass forced resettlement (muhajirism) of the Circassian people to the Ottoman Empire during and after the end of the Caucasian War, committed by the authorities of the Russian Empire. The resettlement was accompanied by mass murder, which is why there is reason to talk about the genocide committed by the Russian Empire.
Rumbling at the corruption of the authorities, who left the soldiers on the Shipka Pass to freeze without supplies and food, and at the mess that reigned in the headquarters – despite the fact that a large-scale military reform was carried out before the war, the Russo-Turkish war revealed the vulnerabilities of the Russian army and showed the incompleteness of reforms, as well as the embezzlement of officials, which was an acute problem during the last Crimean War. All this was figuratively manifested in the painting by the battle artist Vereshchagin “Everything is calm on Shipka” (see below). With these words – "Everything is calm on Shipka" – General Fyodor Radetsky reported to his superiors, when in fact hundreds of soldiers and volunteers were freezing and starving on Shipka Pass, lacking supplies, food and uniforms. The consequences of the war left an imprint on the entire social thought of the Russian Empire.
At the tsar (he finally admitted to himself), who went much further than his predecessors in the matter of his liberation, but was reluctant to give up his power, first stepping forward, then nullifying progress with going two steps back – despite the glory of the tsar-liberator, Emperor Alexander II did not want to hear anything about the limitation of autocracy. In many ways, he still rather continued the policy of his father, the conservative Emperor Nikolai I, so that at the level of rhetoric and ways of representing power, the changes were deeper than in reality.