Russia: Marx, Lenin, and the Death of an Illusion - The Wise World Traveler: Becoming a Part of All that You Meet - page 128

9. Russia: Marx, Lenin, and the Death of an Illusion
Russia is “...a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”
— Winston Churchill, BBC Radio Broadcast, 1 October 1939
Figure 9.1. The Kremlin, Seat of Government
EUROPE DISCOVERS THE OLD RUSSIA
In 1553 Sir Richard Chamberlain, English merchant-adventurer, was searching for a north-
ern sea route to China. Beating eastward in the White Sea, storms forced him to land near
Archangel. Fishermen, terrified but curious, told him of their king in a far-off city. Cham-
berlain headed south, endured vicious cold, and eventually arrived in Moscow, the fortress-
city of King Ivan. The latter's nobles, bearded, wearing long caftans, disdained the stranger,
but after nearly a fortnight's wait, Chamberlain was conducted into the city through massive
gates and was staggered by what he heard and saw: an army of 200,000 mounted archers
and courtiers dressed in gold. The supreme monarch wore a gold crown, and his symbol of
office, a gold scepter, was studded with jewels. Dinner was served on gold plates, attended
by servants too numerous to count.
The king was Tsar Ivan IV, and his cruelty and caprice would bestow on him the name
Ivan the Terrible. Directly under his command was a secret police force that rode black stal-
lions. They dressed in black, a dog's severed head on the saddle pommel, and they killed
and looted on Ivan's orders. They terrified all whom they encountered. Always fearful of
rebellion, Ivan was convinced that the city of Novgorod was plotting against him. In 1570
he ordered the entire city of 60,000 put to death. The secret police ( Oprichnina) were his