WAR MEMOIRS OF DAVID LLOYD GEORGE 1917

134 WAR MEMOIRS OF DAVID LLOYD GEORGE
and handle the labour situation prudently as well as firmly.
That was by no means easy. In this part of the struggle, Mr.
Arthur Henderson became a war casualty.
Because so many differing and indeed violently opposed
forces generally have a share in bringing about revolutions,
the Russian, like all others, was a confused business. There
were Army generals who wanted to make the Czar abdicate,
and secure a regency under which they would be free from
Court intrigues and interference. There were democratic
leaders in the Duma who sought to establish responsible constitutional
government. There were Nihilists and anarchists
whose chief purpose was utter revolt against the existing
order, and international communists who desired to establish
the Marxist State and the Third International. It could not
be foreseen which of these various forces would finally triumph
and grasp the steering wheel of the revolution. The
vast mass of the people in Russia just wanted to be released
from their distresses. They needed food and fuel. They were
looking for efficient and clean government. Most of all, they
were tired of bloodshed and wanted peace. They were not
concerned as to the group from which deliverance came as
long as they got it. Which of the rival factions won depended
on the qualities of leadership and organisation they could
respectively produce.
On March 15th, 1917, our Ambassador at Petrograd, Sir
George Buchanan, sent us a telegram which reflected the uncertainties
of the situation:
Open opposition is likely to develop very shortly between
parties of the Social Revolution and of the Duma. The latter is
for war, and should it prevail quickly, Russia will be rendered
stronger than in the past. Peace at any price is the object of the
former party, and military disaster would follow its advent to
power. Could English Labour leaders be induced to send a telegram
to Duma Labour leaders (Kerensky and Chkheidze) ex-