ewhere out of reach of the public. It
has been said that the Government instigated the uprising in order to
bring about a separate peace with Germany. No direct proof has as yet
been produced to substantiate this charge, and the only testimony that
I have bearing on this case is the statement made by commander-in-chief
Alexeiev in a confidential interview with a journalist already quoted.
[FN: There is not the least bit of evidence to show that the
Emperor himself was mixed up in these intrigues. Among the papers of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs there is but one document that throws
any light on the question of a separate peace during the time of the
monarchy. It is a letter from the minister of the German Court to the
minister of the Russian Court insinuating a separate peace. This letter
was shown, as was intended, to the Tsar, who read it, put it aside, and
did not answer it. This, however, does not mean that Sturmer, Protopopov
and the clique of the Empress were not planning to bring about a
situation which would compel a separate peace.]

These four points--the encouragement of a revolt by the secret agents,
the impersonation of Miliukov, the concealment of food in the factory
districts, the desire of a separate peace with Germany--make out a
fairly good case to show that the Government was behind the disturbance.
Aside from the reason already given for the desire of a separate peace,
the other reason for the action of the ministry was this: It feared that
the revolutionary movement, if permitted to take its natural course,
would develop such strength that it could not be put down when it broke
out, and, therefore, the Minister of the Interior decided to take it in
hand and at the right moment crush it with such force that it would be
a long time before it could raise its head again. Before it was over he
hoped to drag in prominent members of the Duma (or the Duma itself) and
other revolutionary leaders, and make an end of them. This plan need not
astonish us, for this method, in one form or another, had been made use
of by the autocracy time and again. Protopopov overreached himself, his
scheme miscarried, the soldiers about the capital went back on him, and
the little comedy that he had staged in which he was to play the leading
part became a tragedy and the shot which was intended for the revolution
hit his royal master and brought autocracy to the ground. In view of the
fact that Protopopov has since become in