Today marks the 135th anniversary of Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov's birth

Ancient and Modern Russia
О древней и новой Россіи

Now that our unfortunate homeland finds itself at the very bottom of the pit of shame and disaster into which the 'great social revolution' has driven it, many of us are increasingly confronted by the same thought.

This thought is persistent.

It is dark, gloomy; it rises in the mind and imperiously demands an answer.

It is simple: what will happen to us next?

We have analyzed our recent past. Oh, we have studied almost every moment of the last two years very well. Many have not only studied it, but also cursed it.

The present is before our eyes. We want to close these eyes. Not to see!

All that remains is the future. A mysterious, unknown future. Indeed: what will happen to us?...

In the West, the Great War between the great nations has ended. Now they are licking their wounds.

They are forging the might of the world, replacing the machines that still exist. Recently, while sowing death and destruction, they forged the might of victory.

Of course, they will recover very soon!

And to all whose minds have finally cleared, to all who do not believe the pathetic delirium that our malignant disease will spread to the West and afflict it, the powerful upsurge of the titanic work of peace will become clear, which will elevate the Western countries to unprecedented heights of peaceful power.

And we?

We will be late...

We will be so late that perhaps none of the modern prophets will say when we will finally catch up with them, or whether we will ever catch up at all.

For we are punished.

It is unthinkable for us to create now. We face the grave task of conquering, of taking back our own land.

The reckoning has begun.

Volunteer heroes are tearing Russian soil from Trotsky's hands, inch by inch.

And it will be liberated.

For there is no country without heroes, and it is a crime to think that one’s homeland is dead.

But much fighting will have to be done, much blood will be shed...

We must fight.

And while the machines of creation pound away in the West, machine guns will pound from one end of the country to the other.

The madness of the last two years has pushed us onto a terrible path, and there is no stopping, no respite. We have begun to drink the cup of punishment, and we will drink it to the dregs.

There, in the West, countless electric lights will sparkle, pilots will drill into the conquered air, there they will build, explore, print, study...

And we... We will fight.

The scoundrels and madmen will be expelled, dispersed, destroyed.

And the war will end.

Then the bloodied, ruined country will begin to rise... Slowly, painfully.

Those who complain of "fatigue," alas, will be disappointed. For they will have to "get tired" even more...

They will have to pay for the past with incredible labor, with the harsh poverty of life. They will have to pay both figuratively and literally.

Pay for the madness of the March days, for the madness of the October days, for the independent traitors, for the corruption of the workers... for everything!

And we will pay.

And only when it is already too late will we begin to build something again, to become fully-fledged, to be allowed back into the halls of Versailles.

Who will see these bright days?

We?

Oh no! Our children, perhaps, and perhaps even our grandchildren, for the sweep of history is vast, and it "reads" decades as easily as individual years.

And we, representatives of the unfortunate generation, dying as pitiful bankrupts, will be forced to tell our children:

“Pay up, pay up honestly, and never forget the social revolution!”

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Image: © S. Rubtsov. Alexander Nevsky on Lake Pleshcheyevo; О древней и новой Россіи. Translation. In line with our policies, we address notices of alleged violations under the United States "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" (DMCA). If you believe that your copyright has been infringed on our site, please contact us, and we will promptly remove your photo from display. editor@a-w-i-p.com. AWIP: https://a-w-i-p.com/index.php/2026/05/17/today-marks-the-135th-anniversary