Konrad and Alexandra (pdf) - Rolf Gross

his best to bring some kind of stability to the politically chaotic and restive Transcaucasus.
Vorontsev first brought the politically powerful Armenian bourgeoisie on his side. He
then made peace with Noe Jordania, the moderate leader of the Georgian Socialists, who had
rallied the land-starved Georgian peasants.
Jordania, a wily Mingrelian seasoned by decades of underground existence in Georgia
and France, understood that a conservative, practical Socialism with strong Georgian
nationalist overtones would be the formula for his success in Georgia. He considered Lenin’s
autocratic posturing as merely another manifestation of Russian imperialism, and in the great
schism of Russian Socialism sided with Trotsky’s comparatively democratic Mensheviks.
Another reason for Jordania to distance himself from Lenin’s Bolsheviks was their local leader,
the ruthless, criminal, co-Mingrelian Soso "Stalin" Djugashvili.
Stalin had, a year earlier, masterminded a gangster-style bank robbery in Tiflis to
support his subversive operations in Georgia. He was Lenin’s Georgian henchman. This
association and the robbery cost the Bolsheviks whatever appeal they had among the small
Georgian peasants who filled the ranks of the Georgian Socialist Party.
The time was ripe to clean out the Georgian Bolsheviks. After Stolypin’s accession in St.
Petersburg Vorontsev began with Jordania’s active help a sweeping roundup of Stalin’s
followers in Georgia. Stalin and his close guard went underground in the British-owned oilfields
of Baku.
The traditional political influence of the Georgian landowners was waning. The laws of
1848 that had abolished serfdom in Russia and redistributed the possessions of the lower
Russian nobility had so far not been enforced in Georgia. Time was running out fast.
Ilia Chavchavadze had stood for a seat in the new Duma. In his campaign he fought
tooth and nail against both Jordania and Vorontsev. As a result, the viceroy simply ordered him
to the Crimea until after the elections.
Deda entreated Alexandra to come to Tiflis: foolish Uncle Ilia was in real danger. This
time he found himself threatened from two sides. The Okhrana had been bad enough, but the
Socialists, who were inimical to the landowners and tired of Ilia’s old-fashioned paternalistic
nationalism, were dangerous criminals.
Her letter ended with the ominous exclamation. "Can you imagine? Ilia is swearing to
secretly slip back into the country during the elections. We are all very worried about him."
Alexandra, as much as she wanted to see her family again and sympathized with Ilia’s
problems, was against a visit to Georgia. She argued that once she had opened a medical
practice she would be needed in St. Petersburg for at least a year. Behind this argument hid
the fact—a surprise for Konrad—that Alexandra had adopted St. Petersburg. She loved the
excitement of the life in the cosmopolitan city. To her Tiflis now appeared a dead, provincial
backwater. She feared to once again lose her hard-earned personal freedom.
She would not readily admit that, but Konrad sensed it. For him Georgia had lost none
of its exotic appeal, and professionally Tiflis promised a comfortable, unpressured life. He very
much wanted to visit Georgia and renew his connections with the people who worked for a
Georgian University. But above all else, he dreamt of an expedition to Svaneti.
The tug of war between them went back and forth for a while. Konrad reminded
Alexandra that Uncle Mouravi and her father were getting old. God only knew how long they
would live.
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