NationStates Jolt Archive

i know this is sort of an odd request, but i'm currently writing a new song called "Red, White - 1919". there's a verse from a bolshevik soldier, and a verse by a loyalist white guard officer, intent on restoring the monarchy. the problem is that i know virtually nothing about the white guard, other than that they were poorly organized, ideologically disparate, and were eventually defeated. my attempts to do some research online have produced little of value.

so my question is: does anyone know anything about these soldiers? and, of you had been one of them (some were monarchists, some were moderate socialists, and some just knew that they hated the reds) what would be on your mind right before a battle? what would you think of yourself as fighting for? or against?

the point of the song - if it matters - is that while both soldiers are dedicated to their cause and believe in the importance of the war that they are fighting, what they both really long for is simply to return home to their lives and loved ones. which, in turn, is supposed to subtlely point out that most of us are, essentially, the same, and that we want the same things, regardless of our disagreements about politics or economics or religion.

any suggestions would help. i'm just really suffering from some writers block here.

thanks.

Read this
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Russian-Civil-War

It's got two nice posters of the time too.

I am a Russian history lover, so I'm eager to share my thoughts.

First of all I'd like to translate a Russian song, written long after the Civil War, where the poet took a stanpoint of a common White Guardsman. Of course, I'm no poet, and I don't intend to encourage plagiarism either, but I think it can be still helpful to understand those times... and something in that song may well serve as an inspiration fo you.

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GENTLEMEN OFFICERS by A Dolsky


You're still going and going, and you're burning bridges.
Where is truth, and there is lie? Where is glory, and where is shame?
And Russia is lying flat, the dusty roads are her scars,
And Russia is shaking from the hoofs and the boots.

Gentlemen officers, blue-blooded nobles!
I am not the first one, and I am not the last.
Gentlemen officers, I ask you to consider -
The one who hasn't strained his nerves, hasn't saved his honour.

I'll find out somehow who is my enemy and who is my brother,
I'm a Russian soldier, my way is straight and right.
I've forgotten my mother and father, I've forgotten my brother,
But I won't forget Russia - until getting the lead in my chest.

Gentlemen officers, I'm not sad, oh no!
Gentlemen officers, I ask you to consider -
The court of the people, or the Court of God
In a thousand years won't save your honour.

I have no other lot, either in love or in fight,
But your unrest, oh my Russia.
And Russia is lying flat, the dusty roads are her scars,
And Russia is shaking from the hoofs and the boots.

Gentlemen officers, blue-blooded nobles!
I am not the first one, and I am not the last.
Gentlemen officers, I ask you to consider -
The one who hasn't strained his nerves, hasn't saved his honour.