German flag with a cross. Fascist banners to the mausoleum

Canceled Proportion

The “Third Regulation on the Preliminary Regulation of the Use of Flags” of 16 July 1933 established, in modification of the regulation on German flags of 11 April 1921, that the merchant flag with the Iron Cross was henceforth called the flag for former naval officers as captains of merchant ships (die Flagge für ehemalige Marineoffiziere als Führer von Handelsschiffen) and consists of three transverse stripes of equal width, black on top, white in the middle, red at the bottom, with an image of the Iron Cross on a black stripe, twice bordered by a white border.

The “Order for the preliminary regulation of the use of flags on commercial ships” of December 20, 1933 confirmed that German commercial ships fly a black-white-red flag and a flag with a swastika at the same time and for the first time at the state level a description of the flag with a swastika was established:

Flag with a hooked cross (German) die Hakenkreuzflagge) has a red panel, on the horizontal middle axis of which, closer to the shaft, there is a white circle in which a black hooked cross is depicted (German. das Hakenkreuz, swastika), the hooks of which are rotated 45 degrees. The white circle and the black hooked cross (swastika) have a common center. The hooks of the cross (swastika) are directed away from the shaft (on the reverse side of the panel it is the other way around). The diameter of the white circle is 3/4 of the height of the flag. The length of the crosspieces of the cross (swastika) is equal to half the height of the panel. The width of the crosspieces of the cross and its hooks is equal to 1/10 of the height of the panel. The outer length of the hooks is 3/10, the inner length is 2/10 of the height of the panel. The ratio of the height of the panel to its height is 3 to 5.

1935-1945

On April 11, 1935, the “Regulation on the Standard of the Leader and State Chancellor” established:

The standard of the leader and state chancellor is an equilateral red rectangle bordered in black, white and black, bearing in a white circle framed with golden oak leaves a black hooked cross (swastika) with a black and white border. In the four corners of the standard there are alternately located an eagle on a hooked cross (swastika) in an oak wreath and an eagle of the armed forces, all in gold.

On September 15, 1935, at the NSDAP party congress in Nuremberg, among other “Nuremberg Laws,” the “National Flag Law” (das Reichsflaggengesetz) was adopted, which established:

1. State colors are black, white and red.

2. The state and national flag (die Reichs- und Nationalflagge) is a flag with a swastika (die Hakenkreuzflagge). It is also a trade flag.

3. The leader and state chancellor will establish the uniform of the state military flag (die Reichskriegsflagge) and the state service flag (der Reichsdienstflagge).

On October 5, 1935, a regulation was issued on the state war flag, the flag of warships, the merchant flag with the Iron Cross, the flag of the state minister of war and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces:

The state military flag (die Reichskriegsflagge) is a red rectangular panel, on the middle center line of which, closer to the pole, there is a white circle bordered twice in black and white with an inclined hooked cross (swastika), the lower hook of which faces the pole. Under the white circle lies a cross four times divided by white and three times divided by black, the continuation of the crosses of which are the vertical and horizontal diameters of the white circle. In the inner upper red field (in the roof) there is an Iron Cross bordered with white. The height of the flag is related to its length as 3:5.

Guy of warships (die Gösch der Kriegsschiffe) is a red rectangular panel, on the middle center line of which, closer to the shaft, there is a white circle with a hooked cross placed at the corner, the lower hook of which faces the shaft. The height of the flag is related to its length as 3:5.

Trade flag with the Iron Cross (die Handelsflagge mit dem Eisernen Kreuz) - with the image of the Iron Cross in the upper corner there is a red rectangular panel, on the middle center line of which, closer to the hoist, there is a white circle with a black hooked cross placed at the corner, the lower hook of which facing the shaft. The height of the flag is related to its length as 3:5.

The flag of the State Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces (die Flagge des Reichskriegsministers und Oberbefehlshabers der Wehrmacht) is the state military flag with the following differences: the panel is equilateral, the flag has a white and black frame on all sides, in the upper field at the hoist and in the lower field at the free The edge of the flag depicts the Iron Cross in a white border; in the lower field near the hoist and in the upper field at the free edge of the flag there is an eagle of the armed forces, outlined in white.

On October 31, 1935, the “Regulation on the State Service Flag” was issued, which established:

The state service flag (die Reichsdienstflagge) is a red rectangular panel bearing in the middle on a white circle a black hooked cross with a black and white frame, its lower hook facing the pole. In the inner upper corner of the flag is the black and white highest symbol of the state (das Hoheitszeichen des Reichs). The eagle's head is facing the shaft. The height of the flag is related to its length as 3:5.

On May 8, 1945, the act of military surrender of the German armed forces was signed, on May 23, 1945, the state existence of Germany was terminated and the occupation authorities of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France banned all types of German flags in all four occupation zones.

In 1949, the FRG and the GDR adopted a black-red-gold flag, which was used in the 19th century as the flag of the German Union and a symbol of German unity, and in 1919-1933 as the flag of Germany (the GDR added the coat of arms of the GDR in the center of the flag in 1959 ).

Sources

Half a century has passed since the end of the Second World War, but the two letters SS (more precisely, of course, SS) are still synonymous for most with horror and terror. Thanks to the mass production of Hollywood and the Soviet film factories that tried to keep up with it, almost all of us are familiar with the uniforms of the SS men and their emblem with a death's head. But the actual history of the SS is much more complex and multifaceted. In it one can find heroism and cruelty, nobility and meanness, selflessness and intrigue, deep scientific interests and a passionate craving for the ancient knowledge of distant ancestors.

The head of the SS, Himmler, who sincerely believed that the Saxon king Henry I “Birdcatcher”, the founder of the First Reich, elected in 919 as king of all Germans, was spiritually reincarnated in him. In one of his speeches in 1943 he said:

“Our order will enter the future as a union of the elite, uniting the German people and the whole of Europe around itself. It will give the world leaders of industry, agriculture, as well as political and spiritual leaders. We will always obey the law of elitism, choosing the highest and discarding the lowest. If we If we stop following this fundamental rule, we will thereby condemn ourselves to and disappear from the face of the earth like any other human organization."

His dreams, as we know, were not destined to come true for completely different reasons. From a young age, Himmler showed an increased interest in “the ancient heritage of our ancestors.” Associated with the Thule Society, he was fascinated by the pagan culture of the Germans and dreamed of its revival - of the time when it would replace the “foul-smelling Christianity.” In the intellectual depths of the SS, a new “moral” was being developed, based on pagan ideas.

Himmler considered himself the founder of a new pagan order that was “destined to change the course of history,” to carry out a “cleansing of the rubbish accumulated over millennia” and return humanity to “the path prepared by Providence.” In connection with such grandiose plans for a “return,” it is not surprising that the ancient . On the uniforms of the SS men they were distinguished, testifying to the elitism and sense of camaraderie that reigns in the organization. Since 1939, they went to war singing a hymn that included the following line: "We are all ready for battle, we are inspired by the runes and the death's head."

According to the Reichsführer SS, runes were to play a special role in the symbolism of the SS: on his personal initiative, within the framework of the Ahnenerbe program - the Society for the Study and Dissemination of the Cultural Heritage of Ancestors - the Institute of Runic Writing was established. Until 1940, all recruits of the SS Order underwent mandatory instruction regarding runic symbolism. By 1945 there were 14 main runic symbols in use in the SS. The word "rune" means "secret script". Runes are the basis of alphabets carved into stone, metal and bone, and became widespread primarily in pre-Christian Northern Europe among the ancient Germanic tribes.

"...The great gods - Odin, Ve and Willi carved a man from an ash tree and a woman from a willow. The eldest of Bor's children, Odin, breathed soul into people and gave life. To give them new knowledge, Odin went to Utgard, the Land of Evil , to the World Tree. There he tore out his eye and brought it to, but this was not enough for the Guardians of the Tree. Then he decided to die in order to be resurrected. For nine days he hung on a branch, pierced by a spear. Each of the eight nights of Initiation revealed new ones to him. the secrets of existence. On the ninth morning, Odin saw rune-letters inscribed on the stone under him. His mother’s father, the giant Belthorn, taught him to carve and paint runes, and from then on the World Tree began to be called Yggdrasil..."

This is how the Snorrian Edda (1222-1225) tells about the acquisition of runes by the ancient Germans, perhaps the only complete overview of the heroic epic of the ancient Germans, based on the legends, prophecies, spells, sayings, cults and rituals of the Germanic tribes. In the Edda, Odin was revered as the god of war and the patron of the dead heroes of Valhalla. He was also considered a necromancer.

The famous Roman historian Tacitus, in his book “Germania” (98 BC), described in detail how the Germans were engaged in predicting the future using runes.

Each rune had a name and a magical meaning that went beyond purely linguistic boundaries. The design and composition changed over time and acquired magical significance in Teutonic astrology. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. The runes were remembered by various “folkish” (folk) groups that spread in Northern Europe. Among them was the Thule Society, which played a significant role in the early days of the Nazi movement.

Hakenkreutz

SWASTIKA is the Sanskrit name for the sign depicting a hook cross (among the ancient Greeks this sign, which became known to them from the peoples of Asia Minor, was called “tetraskele” - “four-legged”, “spider”). This sign was associated with the cult of the Sun among many peoples and was found already in the Upper Paleolithic era and even more often in the Neolithic era, primarily in Asia (according to other sources, the oldest image of the swastika was discovered in Transylvania, it dates back to the late Stone Age; swastika found in the ruins of the legendary Troy, this is the Bronze Age). Already from the 7th-6th centuries BC. e. it enters into symbolism, where it signifies the secret doctrine of the Buddha. The swastika is reproduced on the oldest coins of India and Iran (BC penetrates from there to); in Central America it is also known among the peoples as a sign indicating the circulation of the Sun. In Europe, the spread of this sign dates back to a relatively late time - the Bronze and Iron Ages. During the era of migration of peoples, he penetrates through the Finno-Ugric tribes to the north of Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltic, and becomes one of the supreme Scandinavian god Odin (Wotan in German mythology), who suppressed and absorbed the previous solar (solar) cults. Thus, the swastika, as one of the varieties of the image of the solar circle, was practically found in all parts of the world, as a solar sign served as an indication of the direction of rotation of the Sun (from left to right) and was also used as a sign of well-being, “turning away from the left side.”

It was precisely because of this that the ancient Greeks, who learned about this sign from the peoples of Asia Minor, changed the turn of their “spider” to the left and at the same time changed its meaning, turning it into a sign of evil, decline, death, since for them it was “alien” . Since the Middle Ages, the swastika was completely forgotten and was only occasionally found as a purely ornamental motif without any meaning or significance.

Only at the very end of the 19th century, probably on the basis of the erroneous and hasty conclusion of some German archaeologists and ethnographers that the swastika sign could be an indicator for identifying the Aryan peoples, since it is allegedly found only among them, in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century they began to use the swastika as anti-Semitic sign (for the first time in 1910), although later, at the end of the 20s, the works of English and Danish archaeologists were published, who discovered the swastika not only in territories inhabited by Semitic peoples (in Mesopotamia and Palestine), but also directly on Hebrew sarcophagi.

For the first time, the swastika was used as a political sign-symbol on March 10-13, 1920 on the helmets of militants of the so-called “Erhard Brigade”, which formed the core of the “Volunteer Corps” - a monarchical paramilitary organization under the leadership of generals Ludendorff, Seeckt and Lützow, who carried out the Kapp putsch - counter-revolutionary a coup that installed the landowner W. Kapp as “premier” in Berlin. Although the Social Democratic government of Bauer fled ignominiously, the Kapp putsch was liquidated in five days by the 100,000-strong German Army created under the leadership of the German Communist Party. The authority of militaristic circles was then greatly undermined, and from that time on the swastika symbol began to mean a sign of right-wing extremism. Since 1923, on the eve of Hitler’s “Beer Hall Putsch” in Munich, the swastika has become the official emblem of Hitler’s fascist party, and since September 1935 - the main state emblem of Hitler’s Germany, included in its coat of arms and flag, as well as in the emblem of the Wehrmacht - an eagle holding in its claws wreath with swastika.

Only a swastika standing on an edge at 45°, with the ends directed to the right, can fit the definition of “Nazi” symbols. This very sign was on the state banner of National Socialist Germany from 1933 to 1945, as well as on the emblems of the civil and military services of this country. It is also advisable to call it not “swastika”, but Hakenkreuz, as the Nazis themselves did. The most accurate reference books consistently distinguish between the Hakenkreuz ("Nazi swastika") and the traditional swastikas in Asia and America, which stand at a 90° angle on the surface.

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Symbols of the Third Reich

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To the question, what did the symbol on Hitler's flag mean? given by the author Vlad the best answer is Is that a swastika?
Swastika 卐 (Sanskrit स्वस्तिक from Sanskrit स्वस्ति, svasti, greeting, wish of good luck) - a cross with curved ends (“rotating”), directed either clockwise (this is the movement of the earth around the sun) or counterclockwise (this is the movement of the sun around the earth, from east to west). The swastika is one of the most ancient and widespread graphic symbols. “The swastika symbol crystallizes from the diamond-meander design, which first appeared in the Upper Paleolithic, and then inherited by almost all the peoples of the world.” The oldest archaeological finds depicting a swastika date back to approximately 25-23 millennium BC (Mizyn, Ukraine; Kostenki, Russia).
The swastika was used by many peoples of the world - it was present on weapons, everyday items, clothing, banners and coats of arms, and was used in the decoration of churches and houses.
The swastika as a symbol has many meanings; among most peoples they were positive (before the era of fascism). For most ancient peoples, the swastika was a symbol of the movement of life, the Sun, light, and prosperity.
The swastika reflects the main type of movement in the Universe - rotational with its derivative - translational and is capable of symbolizing philosophical categories.
In the 20th century, the swastika (German: Hakenkreuz) became known as a symbol of Nazism and Hitler’s Germany, and in Western culture it is firmly associated with Hitler’s regime and ideology.

Reply from European[guru]
The swastika is a symbol of eternity...

Reply from Alexander Ivanov[newbie]
It is a rectangular panel of red color. There is a white circle in the center of the flag. It contains an image of a black swastika. The colors of the Nazi flag repeated the colors of the flag of Germany during the Second Reich. However, the interpretation of these colors was different. Thus, the red color meant the social idea of the Nazi movement, the white color - the ideas of nationalism, the swastika - the energy and creative development of the people. The swastika may have been transferred to the flag from the emblem of the Thule Society, a radical nationalist organization that was most active in the 1920s. 1930s The society was created after World War I, then collaborated with the National Workers' Party (of which A. Hitler was a member) and subsequently merged with the National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany. There is information that A. Hitler took a personal part in the development of the design of the flag. The historical interpretation of the swastika is different, as are the places of its distribution - from Siberia to America. There are several hypotheses regarding the meaning of this image - a symbol of the center of the world, a solar sign, a symbol of thunder, universal fire, etc. The origin of the swastika is lost in the darkness of centuries, but it is traditionally believed that it came from India. However, the wide distribution of this symbol in different regions indicates otherwise. In the period 1933-1935. the flag with a swastika was used as a state flag along with the black-white-red tricolor of the Second Reich.

Reply from Benefit[active]
the wheel of life or eternity, but among the Nazis the symbol is turned in reverse. .

Reply from Sleep it off[guru]
4 letters "G" in Russian. Homer (from the cartoon), Hamadryas, Guantanamo, Mushrooms_from_Holland. This is a very smart four...

Everyone knows about the Victory Parade that took place on June 24, 1945. Everyone also remembers the famous newsreel footage and numerous photographs of how 200 German flags and standards, captured as trophies by Soviet troops, were thrown at the foot of Lenin’s mausoleum. But few people know about the further fate of these trophies. There are many legends about this. Some say that the flags were burned along with the platform on which they were thrown, others claim that they personally saw photographs of this. Still others know for sure where these flags were kept, while others saw them with their own eyes in our time. To shed light on this little-known fact, this short article was born.

According to the memoirs of the former Chief of the General Staff, General Shtemenko, the idea of German flags belonged, naturally, to Stalin. Allegedly, at the end of May 1945, he gave instructions to the generals: “Hitler’s banners must be brought to the parade and thrown in shame at the feet of the victors. Think about how to do it." The parade scriptwriters had to urgently do historical research. As a result, our soldiers, carrying fascist banners, had to perform complex formations that were used by the legionnaires of Ancient Rome. And the idea of “public execution” of enemy banners was borrowed from the great commander Alexander Suvorov, in whose troops there was a ritual of “disregard not for the enemy, but for his defeated military distinctions.”

For the battalion's parade box it was necessary to have 200 military banners and standards. However, the military did not have such a number of captured flags at their disposal. It should be noted that in the Third Reich, banners were awarded from 1936 to 1939, one per battalion, squadron or battery. Units formed during the war no longer received banners. The exception was the Fuhrer's guard battalion, which received a banner (standard) on September 30, 1939. Moreover, on August 28, 1944, Hitler ordered the removal of all banners and military flags from front-line zones to Wehrmacht museums. Thus, the Red Army did not have the opportunity to capture the enemy’s battle flags, even in the event of encirclement and defeat of enemy military units.

A way out of the situation was found by SMERSH employees, who kept records and control of both army regalia and museum valuables taken as “reparations”. 900 banners were “borrowed” from museums in Berlin and Dresden, as well as from trophies collected by SMERSH units. They were brought and stored in the gym of the Lefortovo barracks. From these, a special commission selected 200 banners and standards for the parade. They were selected according to their shape and “beauty”. As a result, about 20 banners of military units from other historical periods ended up on Red Square, including two Prussian cavalry standards from 1860 and 1890, as well as a banner of the people’s militia from the 1860s. Many standards had nothing to do with the Wehrmacht, but belonged to various divisions of the Nazi Party, public organizations, or were simply state flags of the Third Reich. However, they had a colorful appearance and a suitable size. So the flags of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, the German Labor Front, the Imperial Labor Service, and the Hitler Youth were included in the parade. Since at that time there were simply no specialists who understood the intricacies of Nazi symbols, therefore it is pointless to present any claims to them today. SMERSH compiled lists of the selected banners for the parade, which have survived to this day, and indicate that a number of banners were attributed to military units that never existed in nature. There is an opinion that the list was compiled based on the inscriptions on the banner brackets, and not on the flags. At least, only 20 banners participating in the parade can be reliably identified, thanks to photographs of the first rank of the parade battalion.

During the “public execution” of enemy flags, another symbolic action was used, which is still “savored” by journalists, memorialists and writers on military topics. Allegedly, the front-line soldiers, some of whom were among the standard bearers, flatly refused to pick up the banners of the “lepers,” and in order to find a consensus with them, the entire battalion was given gloves. Yes, not simple ones, but leather ones, brown in color according to the regulations. But leather of this color was not found in the entire Union; it had to be urgently imported by plane from abroad. Whether this is true or not, in the photographs all the standard bearers are wearing gloves. Leather or not, you can’t tell.

According to the parade scenario, Nazi flags were to be thrown into designated places to the left and right of the mausoleum onto the bare asphalt. Today there is a version (you can easily find it on the Internet) that they threw the banners onto a special wooden platform so as not to desecrate the asphalt, and then they burned the flags along with it. True, the photographs clearly show that there is no platform. Eyewitnesses and participants also do not remember him. And the account they burned is already obvious nonsense. If they were burning, they would have taken photographs, otherwise, why organize an action if not for PR. But there is not a single photograph. And secondly, some of the allegedly burned flags still exist today.

There were also “eyewitnesses” who saw how the battalion of standard bearers took off their gloves and threw them into special boxes, which were then burned outside the city. There is, of course, no evidence to the contrary, but it is hard to believe that in a post-war country, where trousers were in short supply, soldiers would burn such foreign goods. If they themselves were disdainful of wearing it, they could easily exchange it for something substantial. There was no time for “fat” at that time.

After the parade,” recalls Elena Anisimova, senior researcher at the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (CMAF), “about 500 captured banners, according to the inventory, were transferred to the Central Museum of the Red Army. “These were not only the banners of the Wehrmacht, but also the state and party flags of Nazi Germany. In the 50-60s, by decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, they were transferred to representatives of the GDR (more than 100 banners), to the museums of the Bulgarian People's Army and the Polish Army. And in the early 90s - to US museums (about 10 units),” the curator concludes her story.

According to some reports, some of the Nazi flags and standards ended up in the Theater of the Soviet Army. Subsequently, they, too, were allegedly transferred to the Central Military District, but no documentary evidence of this was found.

Nowadays, 200 flags and standards of the Third Reich are part of the Banner Fund of the Central Military District, most of which are stored in storage rooms. Which part of them is genuine and which part has been replaced with dummies and copies is unknown, since storing banners is a very troublesome business and they break down very quickly, which is why they are vacuumed once every few years. In addition, the demand for such German Nazi paraphernalia on the black market is very, very high.

Based on materials from the sites: http://www.bolshoyvopros.ru; https://www.crimea.kp.ru; https://kv-bear.livejournal.com; http://www.naslednick.ru; http://inosmi.ru.

1935-1945

On April 11, 1935, the “Regulation on the Standard of the Leader and State Chancellor” established:

The standard of the leader and state chancellor is an equilateral red rectangle bordered in black, white and black, bearing in a white circle framed with golden oak leaves a black hooked cross (swastika) with a black and white border. In the four corners of the standard there are alternately located an eagle on a hooked cross (swastika) in an oak wreath and an eagle of the armed forces, all in gold.

Wermacht Commander-in-Chief flag.svg

Flag of the Minister of State for War and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
1935-1938

On September 15, 1935, at the NSDAP party congress in Nuremberg, among other “Nuremberg Laws,” the “National Flag Law” (das Reichsflaggengesetz) was adopted, which established:

1. State colors are black, white and red.
2. The state and national flag (die Reichs- und Nationalflagge) is a flag with a swastika (die Hakenkreuzflagge). It is also a trade flag.
3. The leader and state chancellor will establish the uniform of the state military flag (die Reichskriegsflagge) and the state service flag (der Reichsdienstflagge).

War Ensign of Germany 1938-1945.svg

National war flag
1938-1945

National- und Handelsflagge 1935-1945 (HK links versetzt).svg

Guys of warships
1935-1945

Handelsflagge mit dem Eisernen Kreuz 1935.svg

Trade flag with iron cross
1935-1945

The state military flag (die Reichskriegsflagge) is a red rectangular panel, on the middle center line of which, closer to the pole, there is a white circle bordered twice in black and white with an inclined hooked cross (swastika), the lower hook of which faces the pole. Under the white circle lies a cross four times divided by white and three times divided by black, the continuation of the crosses of which are the vertical and horizontal diameters of the white circle. In the inner upper red field (in the roof) there is an Iron Cross bordered with white. The height of the flag is related to its length as 3:5.

Guy of warships (die Gösch der Kriegsschiffe) is a red rectangular panel, on the middle center line of which, closer to the shaft, there is a white circle with a hooked cross placed at the corner, the lower hook of which faces the shaft. The height of the flag is related to its length as 3:5.

Trade flag with the Iron Cross (die Handelsflagge mit dem Eisernen Kreuz) - with the image of the Iron Cross in the upper corner there is a red rectangular panel, on the middle center line of which, closer to the hoist, there is a white circle with a black hooked cross placed at the corner, the lower hook of which facing the shaft. The height of the flag is related to its length as 3:5.

The flag of the State Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces (die Flagge des Reichskriegsministers und Oberbefehlshabers der Wehrmacht) is the state military flag with the following differences: the panel is equilateral, the flag has a white and black frame on all sides, in the upper field at the hoist and in the lower field at the free The edge of the flag depicts the Iron Cross in a white border; in the lower field near the hoist and in the upper field at the free edge of the flag there is an eagle of the armed forces, outlined in white.

On October 31, 1935, the “Regulation on the State Service Flag” was issued, which established:

The state service flag (die Reichsdienstflagge) is a red rectangular panel bearing in the middle on a white circle a black hooked cross with a black and white frame, its lower hook facing the pole. In the inner upper corner of the flag is the black and white highest symbol of the state (das Hoheitszeichen des Reichs). The eagle's head is facing the shaft. The height of the flag is related to its length as 3:5.

On May 8, 1945, the act of military surrender of the German armed forces was signed, on May 23, 1945, the state existence of Germany was terminated, and the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France banned all types of German flags. German ships temporarily used the “Charlie” flag from the set of flags of the international code of signals instead of the state flag, which repeated the colors of the flags of the Western Allies.

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Flags of the German states

Historical flags

An excerpt characterizing the Flag of the Third Reich

- M"apportez vous de tristes nouvelles, colonel? [What news did you bring me? Bad, Colonel?]
“Bien tristes, sire,” answered Michaud, lowering his eyes with a sigh, “l"abandon de Moscou. [Very bad, Your Majesty, abandonment of Moscow.]
– Aurait on livre mon ancienne capitale sans se battre? [Have they really betrayed my ancient capital without a battle?] - the sovereign suddenly flushed and said quickly.
Michaud respectfully conveyed what he was ordered to convey from Kutuzov - namely, that it was not possible to fight near Moscow and that, since there was only one choice left - to lose the army and Moscow or Moscow alone, the field marshal had to choose the latter.
The Emperor listened in silence, without looking at Michaud.
“L"ennemi est il en ville? [Has the enemy entered the city?],” he asked.
– Oui, sire, et elle est en cendres a l"heure qu"il est. Je l "ai laissee toute en flammes, [Yes, Your Majesty, and he is turned into a conflagration at the present time. I left him in the flames.] - Michaud said decisively; but, looking at the sovereign, Michaud was horrified by what he had done. The Emperor began to breathe heavily and quickly, his lower lip trembled, and his beautiful blue eyes instantly became wet with tears.
But this lasted only one minute. The Emperor suddenly frowned, as if condemning himself for his weakness. And, raising his head, he addressed Michaud in a firm voice.
“Je vois, colonel, par tout ce qui nous arrive,” he said, “que la providence exige de grands sacrifices de nous... Je suis pret a me soumettre a toutes ses volontes; mais dites moi, Michaud, comment avez vous laisse l"armee, en voyant ainsi, sans coup ferir abandonner mon ancienne capitale? N"avez vous pas apercu du decouragement?.. [I see, Colonel, in everything that is happening, that Providence requires great sacrifices from us... I am ready to submit to his will; but tell me, Michaud, how did you abandon the army that was leaving my ancient capital without a battle? Have you noticed any loss of spirit in her?]
Seeing the calmness of his tres gracieux souverain, Michaud also calmed down, but to the sovereign’s direct, essential question, which also required a direct answer, he had not yet had time to prepare an answer.
– Sire, me permettrez vous de vous parler franchement en loyal militaire? [Sir, will you allow me to speak frankly, as befits a real warrior?] - he said to gain time.
“Colonel, je l"exige toujours,” said the sovereign. “Ne me cachez rien, je veux savoir absolument ce qu”il en est.” [Colonel, I always demand this... Don’t hide anything, I definitely want to know the whole truth.]
- Sire! - said Michaud with a thin, barely noticeable smile on his lips, having managed to prepare his answer in the form of a light and respectful jeu de mots [play on words]. - Sire! j"ai laisse toute l"armee depuis les chefs jusqu"au dernier soldat, sans exception, dans une crinte epouvantable, effrayante... [Sire! I left the entire army, from the commanders to the last soldier, without exception, in great, desperate fear...]
– Comment ca? – the sovereign interrupted, frowning sternly. – Mes Russes se laisseront ils abattre par le malheur... Jamais!.. [How so? Can my Russians lose heart before failure... Never!..]
This was just what Michaud was waiting for to insert his play on words.
“Sire,” he said with a respectful playfulness of expression, “ils craignent seulement que Votre Majeste par bonte de céur ne se laisse persuader de faire la paix.” “Ils brulent de combattre,” said the representative of the Russian people, “et de prouver a Votre Majeste par le sacrifice de leur vie, combien ils lui sont devoues... [Sir, they are afraid only that your Majesty, out of the kindness of his soul, will not decide to make peace . They are eager to fight again and prove to Your Majesty by the sacrifice of their lives how devoted they are to you...]
- Ah! - the sovereign said calmly and with a gentle sparkle in his eyes, hitting Michaud on the shoulder. - Vous me tranquillisez, colonel. [A! You reassure me, Colonel.]
The Emperor, with his head down, was silent for some time.
“Eh bien, retournez a l"armee, [Well, then return to the army.],” he said, straightening up to his full height and turning to Michaud with a gentle and majestic gesture, “et dites a nos braves, dites a tous mes bons sujets partout ou vous passerez, que quand je n"aurais plus aucun soldat, je me mettrai moi meme, a la tete de ma chere noblesse, de mes bons paysans et j"userai ainsi jusqu"a la derniere ressource de mon empire. “Il m"en offre encore plus que mes ennemis ne pensent,” said the sovereign, becoming more and more inspired. “Mais si jamais il fut ecrit dans les decrets de la divine providence,” he said, raising his beautiful, gentle and brilliant feelings eyes to the sky, - que ma dinastie dut cesser de rogner sur le trone de mes ancetres, alors, apres avoir epuise tous les moyens qui sont en mon pouvoir, je me laisserai croitre la barbe jusqu"ici (the sovereign pointed his hand to half his chest) , et j"irai manger des pommes de terre avec le dernier de mes paysans plutot, que de signer la honte de ma patrie et de ma chere nation, dont je sais apprecier les sacrifices!.. [Tell our brave men, tell all my subjects , wherever you go, that when I no longer have a single soldier, I myself will become the head of my kind nobles and good men and thus exhaust the last funds of my state. They are more than my enemies think... But if only. It was destined by divine providence that our dynasty should cease to reign on the throne of my ancestors, then, having exhausted all the means in my hands, I will grow a beard until now and would rather go eat one potato with the last of my peasants than dare to sign the shame of my homeland and my dear people, whose sacrifices I know how to appreciate!..] Having said these words in an excited voice, the sovereign suddenly turned around, as if wanting to hide from Michaud the tears that had come to his eyes, and walked into the depths of his office. After standing there for a few moments, he returned with long steps to Michaud and with a strong gesture squeezed his hand below the elbow. The sovereign’s beautiful, meek face became flushed, and his eyes burned with a gleam of determination and anger.
“Colonel Michaud, n"oubliez pas ce que je vous dis ici; peut etre qu"un jour nous nous le rappellerons avec plaisir... Napoleon ou moi,” said the sovereign, touching his chest. – Nous ne pouvons plus regner ensemble. J "ai appris a le connaitre, il ne me trompera plus... [Colonel Michaud, don’t forget what I told you here; maybe someday we will remember this with pleasure... Napoleon or I... We can no longer reign together. I recognize him now, and he will not deceive me anymore...] - And the sovereign, frowning, fell silent. Hearing these words, seeing the expression of firm determination in the eyes of the sovereign, Michaud - quoique etranger, mais Russe de c?ur et d"ame - felt. himself at this solemn moment - entousiasme par tout ce qu"il venait d"entendre [although a foreigner, but Russian at heart... admiring everything that he heard] (as he said later), and in the following expressions he portrayed himself as his feelings, as well as the feelings of the Russian people, whom he considered himself authorized.
- Sire! - he said. - Votre Majeste signe dans ce moment la gloire de la nation et le salut de l "Europe! [Sovereign! Your Majesty signs at this moment the glory of the people and the salvation of Europe!]
The Emperor bowed his head and released Michaud.

While Russia was half conquered, and the inhabitants of Moscow fled to distant provinces, and militia after militia rose to defend the fatherland, it involuntarily seems to us, who did not live at that time, that all Russian people, young and old, were busy only with to sacrifice oneself, save the fatherland or cry over its destruction. Stories and descriptions of that time, without exception, speak only of self-sacrifice, love of the fatherland, despair, grief and heroism of the Russians. In reality this was not the case. It seems to us that this is so only because we see from the past one common historical interest of that time and do not see all those personal, human interests that the people of that time had. Meanwhile, in reality, those personal interests of the present are so much more significant than general interests that because of them the general interest is never felt (not even noticeable at all). Most people of that time did not pay any attention to the general course of affairs, but were guided only by the personal interests of the present. And these people were the most useful figures of that time.
Those who tried to understand the general course of affairs and wanted to participate in it with self-sacrifice and heroism were the most useless members of society; they saw everything inside out, and everything they did for the benefit turned out to be useless nonsense, like the regiments of Pierre, Mamonov, plundering Russian villages, like lint plucked by the ladies and never reaching the wounded, etc. Even those who, loving to be clever and express their feelings, they talked about the present situation in Russia, involuntarily bearing in their speeches the imprint of either pretense and lies, or useless condemnation and anger at people accused of something for which no one could be guilty. In historical events, the most obvious is the prohibition of eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Only unconscious activity bears fruit, and the person who plays a role in a historical event never understands its significance. If he tries to understand it, he is struck by its futility.
The significance of the event that was taking place in Russia at that time was all the more unnoticeable, the closer human participation was in it. In St. Petersburg and provincial cities distant from Moscow, ladies and men in militia uniforms mourned Russia and the capital and talked about self-sacrifice, etc.; but in the army that was retreating beyond Moscow, they hardly spoke or thought about Moscow, and, looking at its conflagration, no one swore revenge on the French, but thought about the next third of their salary, about the next stop, about Matryoshka the sutler and the like...
Nikolai Rostov, without any goal of self-sacrifice, but by chance, since the war found him in the service, took a close and long-term part in the defense of the fatherland and therefore, without despair and gloomy conclusions, looked at what was happening in Russia at that time. If they had asked him what he thought about the current situation in Russia, he would have said that he had nothing to think about, that Kutuzov and others were there for that, and that he had heard that the regiments were being recruited, and that they would probably fight for a long time , and that under the current circumstances it would not be surprising for him to receive a regiment in two years.
Because he looked at the matter this way, he not only accepted the news of his appointment on a business trip for repairs for the division in Voronezh without regret that he was deprived of participation in the last struggle, but also with the greatest pleasure, which he did not hide and which his comrades understood very well.
A few days before the Battle of Borodino, Nikolai received money and papers and, sending the hussars ahead, went to Voronezh by mail.
Only those who have experienced this, that is, have spent several months without ceasing in the atmosphere of military, combat life, can understand the pleasure that Nicholas experienced when he got out of the area that the troops reached with their forages, supplies, and hospitals; when he, without soldiers, wagons, dirty traces of the presence of the camp, saw villages with men and women, landowners' houses, fields with grazing cattle, station houses with fallen asleep caretakers. He felt such joy as if he had seen it all for the first time. In particular, what surprised and pleased him for a long time were women, young, healthy, each of whom had less than a dozen officers looking after her, and women who were glad and flattered that a passing officer was joking with them.