Boris Savinkov: And Behold, a Pale Horse

[@Spartan761]

My default response to "why is this an hour long" is gonna be "it's a special episode" despite the fact I know damn well that it's because I can't keep things concise to save my life. The next ones will definitely not be this long. Hopefully

[@nestormakhno18]

Where does this guy rank on the wrestler scale? Also, Please make a long one on Nestor Makhno, because he is an interesting guy.

[@axelven8080]

do bela kun xd

[@Spartan761]

Probably high B at lowest and low A at the highest. Story potential is through the roof tbh.

[@axelven8080]

@@Spartan761 no one really coverd bela kun tough he was crazy good i think in the nvkvd and got killed by them for anti stalinist tought

[@axelven8080]

i belive

[@doronaznible7298]

Honestly wasn’t expecting Savinkov’s story to be this interesting. I’d genuinely be interested in viewing a movie on the guy’s life

[@Злобныйприцеп]

There is a detailed Russian film about Savinkov without idiotic Western propaganda. Just facts

[@SamuraiAkechi]

Savinkov was a major character in several russian and soviet movies, starting with 1924 cartoon called "A tale of a certain disappointment" and, later live action film The Wyborg Side, made in 1939, where he's named Ropshin, after his penname. In soviet movies he's obviously mostly portrayed as an antagonist because of his actions during civil war and official soviet historiography not being vocal about bolshevik involvement in "propaganda by deed", making more emphasis on work within trade unions and Duma. Perestroika and contermporary russian cinema has more conservative bias, portraying both bolsheviks and SRs as morally wrong and politically disasterous movements. You can find the whole list of movies featuring Savinkov on his page in russian Wikipedia. Personally I'd recommend following movies: - 1965 "Special assignment" by Stepan Kevorkov, Soviet Georgia. It's a part of a trilogy about the life of Simon Ter-Petrosyan aka Kamo, a militant bolshevik activist, who used to participate in terrorist activities in 1905-1907 and then was staging anti-White activity during Civil War. I suggest you should watch the whole trilogy if you can. - 1968 "Fall" and "1981 "Syndicate-2", both telling the tale of Artuzov's operation of capturing Savinkov. A similar tale about fake monarchist conspiracy called Operation Trust was made in 1967. It doesn't feature Savinkov, but it's rather interesting and it features Sydney Reilly, a british spy and Savinkov's "partner in crime". - 1981 "December 20th", 1979 "No notable features" and 1980 "The failure of Operation Terror" - all three were written by Yulian Semyonov, a known soviet master of crime fiction and politicla detectives, all three tell tale of Dzerzhinsky's work during different periods. Some parts are more fictitious than other. - 2004 Rider named Death. Just an adaptation of the novel. Not the best of the Shakhnazarov's movies, but it's alright.

[@occam7382]

@@Злобныйприцеп, I found the Russian nationalist, you guys.

[@yumallah]

@@Злобныйприцеп Which one do you mean? There's several

[@artilleriman]

Whats the name?@@Злобныйприцеп

[@willscannell3625]

>Drops same day as red flood teaser You magnificat bastard

[@Spartan761]

There was a Red Flood teaser? My comedic timing is purely accidental I swear

[@dieidiotten]

@@Spartan761 yeah they are moving Savinkov to Kazan

[@OfficialJohnnySinsGaming]

Oh shit, they are turning him into a Fiumanist, hahaha.

[@rhodesianbacon1589]

Link.

[@danielutriabrooks477]

​@@OfficialJohnnySinsGamingSauce of the anime girl?

[@Puggo19]

Now this HAS to be a kaiserreich reference...

[@elisraxd1259]

Yeah because kaiserreich created savinkov

[@SithEmpiredidnothingwrong]

No way, Kaiserreich devs invented Russia only for one, barely known mod!

[@officialromanhours]

C'mon guys... don't feed the kaiserboos...

[@Eboreg2]

He does have a tendency to focus on historical figures from HOI4 mods.

[@metetural9140]

​@@elisraxd1259it's true. His father was Viktor C. Kaiserreich

[@aestimatio2843]

Hour long Russian lore drop Worth the wait

[@bastait]

communists werent even russian ffs lenin was from yugoslavia originally and stalin was georgian HOW WAS IT A RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT RAN BY TWO FOREIGNERS. unreal levels of cope.

[@grumpyoldcat8302]

I hate when people refer to history as lore. This is real life

[@bobitoi]

Real-life lore

[@drossant2591]

​@@grumpyoldcat8302calm down buddy

[@nickfontaine6601]

The Russian Civil War is truly a tale of personal tragedy after personal tragedy. It’s interesting to note that the Grand Duke Sergei wasn’t necessarily ‘cocky’ about being assassinated, but rather he held some rather strong religious views. He rationalized that if he was assassinated then it was god’s will, so no sense taking any extra precautions against it.

[@HffFhj-nm7jv]

That’s based af

[@abercrombieblovs2042]

"God has decided the time and place of my demise. It is because of this that I am as comfortable in the heat of battle, as in my own bed." - some Confederate soldier I agree, this is based AF (even if it might be hazardous)

[@Kazako83]

LMAO. That sounds similar to Nicholas the II’s response to life in general, and why so many people hated working with him. I recall an instance from on of the Dumas, where he took a proposal he was supposed to sign, waited an entire day thinking it over then returned it with a note, containing a paragraph basically saying “God told me not to sign this, therefore I will not sign it”.

[@HffFhj-nm7jv]

@@Kazako83 based asf ngl. Russians have a very interesting view of death. It’s a cultural thing for them to not gaf about dying. Makes sense if you know their history.

[@HffFhj-nm7jv]

@@Kazako83 they actually canonized tsar Nickolas II and his family in the Russian Orthodox Church as well for their meekness during captivity. I think history got the wrong impression of Nicholas, a pious man, but certainly no leader.

[@Pelior]

the fact there was a Gerasimov in high position back then is very ominous.

[@ok9_5788]

I wonder how he handled amunition back then

[@dmitrygerasimov7869]

Well, you know, "Gerasimov" is pretty common surname in Russia.

[@feb4252]

Gerasim was a somewhat common name, this surname is basically "Son of Bob". The most famous Gerasim is a literary character, a mute peasant who drowned his dog because it was annoying his master, and he wasn't one for rebellion.

[@StandingTNT]

Now I want to play Kaiserreich

[@wzvy]

SHOIGU! GERASIMOV! WHERE IS THE FUCKING AMMUNITION?!

[@NightspeakerR]

Bro everytime someone or something tries to correct the White Armies issues to defeat the communists they automatically get blue balled by insane misfortune💀

[@dvnk6971]

just saw the part with Kerensky, this is insane 💀

[@NightspeakerR]

@@dvnk6971 Ikr-

[@miguelfranceschi9072]

the USSR was a canon event

[@giovannicervantes2053]

​@@miguelfranceschi9072had to

[@giovannicervantes2053]

​@@dvnk6971seriously shows we live in the dumbest timeline cause in a rational world the Bolsheviks would've been thrown on their faces and forgotten cause of the bs they pulled

[@benjamintimmons8013]

I love the fact you indirectly called him death, by quoting the revelation.

[@Spiterman488]

"Life may be meaningless but death gives it purpose" that line goes hard

[@Hasdy]

boris savinkov is a clear example of what happens when a man is forcefully sent to france too many times.

[@paul7432]

brott?

[@sethleoric2598]

Azef is quite possibly my favorite figure in this story, played both sides and got epically rich, was almost never caught, and escaped to live a happily ever after, or at least as happy as an Eastern European man could get.

[@SamuraiAkechi]

Parvus was a big time swindler compared to Azef

[@giovannicervantes2053]

Endless wine and what not

[@eyeblech2001]

I agree, he's probably one of the only men in history to betray everyone he knew yet still live a happy life. If he was a fallout character, his luck, charisma, and intelligence would crash the game because of the 32 bit integer

[@RedXlV]

He died of renal failure at the age of 49, so not that happily ever after.

[@jeebusthegreat8819]

Bro's making documentaries now 😳

[@DarkIsTheNight-046]

I AM NOT WATCHING ALLAT… maybe

[@darrellmazurok7487]

Im watching, Allata

[@randomgai7531]

And it's working

[@bastait]

its still white washing communist dogshit dont worry.

[@abovesewbelow6664]

It's AMAZING Like Zoomer Historian... Lol... Lmao

[@cior8837]

I keep telling people the RCW is a world war within a world war that is as interesting as the world wars. Good video as always Spartan on one of the more interesting characters of this whole conflict Cant wait for Makhno :)

[@dominikbt7891]

This man is average main character in russian novels from 19 century

[@OfficialJohnnySinsGaming]

The one prominent HOI4 mod leader that has so many ideologies that he has been portrayed with. From Radical Socialist, to full-blown Leninist Socialist, to "Nationalist Socialist" as Red Flood puts it, to Social Liberal in Fuhrerreich, and of course, National Populist in Kaiserreich. Edit: Red Flood's gonna add a new update where he can be Fiumanist Accelerationist as well as being Nationalist Socialist. I just can't, hahaha.

[@goldenfiberwheat238]

Is red flood baisically a jreg video?

[@OfficialJohnnySinsGaming]

@@goldenfiberwheat238 It's a jreg video shot in a mental hospital, essentially.

[@Abs0luteCha0s]

@@goldenfiberwheat238short answer: yes. Long answer: mostly but not fully.

[@SlinkVI]

I’ve never heard of Boris Savinkov before playing Kaiserreich but I never could’ve imagined that the real guy was so fascinating. There are so many contrasting elements to his personality. A humane terrorist. A revolutionary socialist who hates tankies. A volkist who tolerates Jews. I would love to sit down with this guy and pick his brain.

[@Mcnuke1453]

Describing Kerensky’s choice during the kornilov affair to arm the Bolshevik’s as “getting rid of a cockroach by giving a shotgun to a home invader” is the best way you could possibly describe the fiasco 😂😂😂.

[@Sergei_taboritsky]

Got here so early karinksky still around

[@danielutriabrooks477]

A comment that will ring across the world

[@Sergei_taboritsky]

@@danielutriabrooks477How berbaric

[@Sergei_taboritsky]

Barbaric*

[@isaiahscobel]

don't worry bro alexei is still alive trust me m8

[@John.McMillan]

An hour long documentary on one of the maddest lads of the Russian Civil War? Fuck. Yes. This just flung your ass to the top of my youtube list so fast you might somehow get whiplash in person.

[@paronzoda]

Holy shit we got a full 1h one!

[@ivanaznar6495]

I enjoyed this, it's interesting to think that Savinkov looked all his life a solution to a problem; even changing opinions of his ideals when he noticed that in practice they didn't work. A seeker of a better future for his country

[@everyday8161]

Can i add other one in your list? I highly recommend Puey Ungphakorn. This man's life is extremely interesting, from being a Thai economics student in England to being part of the Free Thai movement before working for the military dictatorship. At the same time, he is a supporter of democracy.

[@PseudoCommando]

We are so back

[@praporbarton3961]

It's actually kind of crazy how there were more opposition parties in a fricking autocratic tsardom than in today's Russia

[@Yaguar-lr1nl]

Autocratic russian empire was less autocratic than modern russia or modern european countries, or modern anything tbh. You've fell for a psyop dude, monarchies were extremely humane unlike whatever leftist hell that the americans, communist or the n4zies wanted for the humanity. Capitalism is a seizure of state monopoly on production by bourgeoisie, democracy is a facade of choice to seize the states monopoly on violence by the bourgeoisie. Commie or n4zies just didnt hid it at all unlike the democrats. Monarchism fell when nobility decided to abolish the responsibilities of being the ones to go to war and kept all the privileges.

[@Onionblast1000]

I just got done binging literally all your videos like 2 or 3 days ago, this was much needed. Thank you brother lol

[@Oliver-ld3ei]

Loved how long this video was. You’re style of telling history is so entertaining.

[@dode3614]

This dude is like a historical fiction character that meets a bunch of famous historical figures that the audience can recognize

[@shinimekekemee5828]

"ha thats a funny name i wonder what everyone calls them instead" "the cheka" oh fuck

[@m.streicher8286]

"fighting both the Tsardom and the Bolsheviks" superior lifeform right there nothing else to say

[@SamuraiAkechi]

1:48 It could be called occupied if there would be war or there would be some sort of polish government in exile. Back then nobody disputed russian, austrian and prussian claims on the Poland, except for polish independence movement. Felix Dzerzhinsky, the future head of Cheka, man of many talents and one of the few men who could appreciate Savinkov's literary talent as well as be his nemesis, was an extreme polish nationalist at the start. And he also was Kalyaev's friend. 1:58 Knowing languages was a MUST back then for anyone educated and with plans for good career. 11:15 And supposedly he was geh. Rumours were circulating and the facts say that Sergei Alexandrovich had a wife but no kids of his own. 13:21 It's no surprise, considering the fact that the bomb was basically a canister of explosive gel with a detonator - no fragmenting jacket, no ball bearings stuffed in there - and that it went into carriage through the window and went off inside. 17:00 the 1906 attempt wasn't organised by Savinkov, but by splinter Maximalist faction of SRs. The bomb was made in a bolshevik bomb shop, organised by Leonid Krasin (a Siemens engineer, who would become a major soviet diplomat after 1917), guarded by Kamo (an armenian revolutionary, personal friend of Stalin and the guy who cheated the mental health commission after he was arrested in 1907), in the apartment of Maxim Gorky (a worldwide famous writer and playwriter, who used to help both bolsheviks and SRs). 22:05 I'd say, his "What never happened" novel is much better than "Pale Horse" as well as its sequel. 22:18 There's also a 1989 movie, which is much worse than the 2004 one. 23:15 About that time he got close with Merezhkovsky and Gippius, a family of Symbolist writers, with their own system of religious beliefs. Neither of them supporterd October Revolution and some time before his death Merezhkovsky has vocally expressed his support of Hitler. Also Savinkov used to hang out at La Rotonde, a Paris cafe where lots of intellectuals used to spend their time - Mark Shagal, Trotsky, Diego Riviera, Jean Cocteau, Picasso, Ilya Ehrenburg etc. 59:11 At the same time Artuzov used to oversee Operation Trust, another major fake operation meant to lure in immigrant and western intelligence agents and resources. BTW it's kinds weird that Sidney Reilly doesn't appear in this video, who was captured by GPU during Trust actions and also used to work with Savinkov.

[@jyryk4623]

I'm very glad you made this video. I've only heard of the man in Alexander Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago, and he was only mentioned briefly. i couldn't find much info on him online either although i didn't search very hard. It's nice to have his story told in such a fashion.

[@Agomacule]

Savinkov looking deep into my eyes every time makes me feel things.

[@command_unit7792]

Russia always feels like its full of protagonists competing for supremecy...

[@augustuslunasol10thapostle]

Its really fucking funny the countries full of mini Caesars all fighting for glory

[@sergeantdornan3833]

I have played a shittonne of kaiserredux wandering what his life was actually about or even if he was real at all but it seems he's depiction is pretty accurate with the differences that he didn't die and became more extreme

[@Sergei_taboritsky]

W hour long video

[@eyeblech2001]

tf u doin ere?

[@thorpeaaron1110]

He finally did a video on the Vozhd himself!

[@scare2064]

''shockingly, everyone was a child once'' is funny too me for no reason

[@olegoose574]

Who else checks his biography before starting a Russia playthrough in the new Kaiserreich update?

[@Artur_M.]

What can I say? A fascinating life in insane times and a really good video. I love the proper bibliography in the description.

[@minhtam-wv8wv]

Kalyayev is the inspiration for the character of the same name - Kaliayev in Albert Camus's novel 'The Just Assassins'. It is a story about life, love and idealism

[@sebiinc.4086]

Yes one hour but time has passed quickly with your narrating skills🗿

[@Faehen]

This is actually really high quality, I like this, good job!

[@VVV44497]

A great video! Thanks so much for your effort! Although I have to say that I don't share many points of views and strongly disagree with some of ideas regarding both the personality of Savinkov as well as my country's historic path, it's pretty exciting to see people putting so much work to illustrate all nuances and complexities of the Russian history. Especially when it's done as meticulously as you have. Thanks a ton! your other vids are cool too ! love your topic selection and the focus on the Russian/Ex-Russian Empire historical figures and events! Always a pleasure to see a person who is interested in your country's history.

[@justgaming7679]

Honestly, he seems a lot better than I thought, my prior knowledge on him was the fact that he was the National Populist leader of Russia in Kaiserreich, so that ain't saying much Edit: Also, make more long-form videos like this, it was very good

[@jandoever2727]

Finally!! Something worth to watch while waiting oversimplified new video

[@dankmemes212]

Legitimately one of the best history videos out there

[@skeletonknight5429]

This video is the first one I got a notification from after subcribing. And well done this was definitely worth the wait. Probably the best video you've posted thus far.

[@zombieranger3410]

The idea of a French embassy being filled with 10 different Russian ambassadors each having conflicting interests sounds really funny to me, every day the validity of all of them is in question, one gets killed and a new one joins them. The French officials that stop by are completely baffled and have no clue who belongs to which region or if they are even ambassadors at all.

[@Kayneth962]

10/10, was on the edge of my seat the entire time

[@vitalidontcare9329]

Random Russian guy decides to go on little, insignificant, calm journey episode 57

[@marklamoreaux6932]

To better put into perspective Savinkov's support of Mussolini, it is important to remember that at this point Italian Fascism was widely praised in various mainstream Western European circles. Churchill was an early admirer of Mussolini and would remain such until the early 1930's, and George Bernard Shaw (despite being very progressive) also admired Mussolini at this point. Until Italy invaded Ethiopia, there were many members of polite western society that were pro-Mussolini. Furthermore, Mussolini had yet to adopt any of the racist ideology that he adopted upon his alliance with Germany in 1938.

[@pitstop_pug9311]

25:47 holy shit, never did i expect to see my cities name in one of your videos

[@wfcoaker1398]

"In fucking France". Lol. I love your style.

[@jimboslicereal]

Holy, great content. I love the documentary, thank you!

[@Someone_somewhere12]

FINALLY A NEW UPLOAD

[@iGamezRo]

Bro simply wanted freedom. Not just for him but for his country. He hated captivity and senselessness. He needed a purpose, something to make him active. Whatever he did or wanted to gave him that.

[@szymonraczkowski9690]

glad you're back

[@travissutherland8502]

Damn this dudes content is very good.

[@octopusguy5648]

Savinkov was a baller, that's at least one thing we can agree on

[@Air_Serpent]

Best history teacher of all time

[@TheKaiserofeurope]

I would a lot of the facts here are kinda overexageratted to false, but it's a good bases

[@splotchycrib997]

Holy shit, amazing video dude I love your video style!

[@crowux]

I love you, even if you are a Canadian ❤

[@CMitchell808]

Lmao

[@Ghostfire666]

This americans

[@geopardo5410]

Its nice to see how your videos get more professional. Thanks for new content 🫡

[@пидарасина_228]

Dear Spartan761, I sincerely thank you for this wonderful long-ass 1 hour video. But please, the next time check out the way stress is made in russian words. It is quite unobvious and is different from the english language, so you make a lot of mistakes. It kinda hurts to hear that and this discomfort stands out from the whole joy of watching your video. Thank you for you work. Greetings from Russia

[@mrboop8905]

Man i love your stuff. I dont even play hoi4 i just love people based history, and you deliver it so well. Thank you

[@garflied]

Awesome video, would love to see more long form content like this sometime 💯💯

[@davidgarland-f7m]

Julius Martov, one of the central Menshevik leaders, wrote several weeks later: “Understand, please, that before us after all is a victorious uprising of the proletariat - almost the entire proletariat supports Lenin and expects its social liberation from the uprising”.

[@voiceinthewilderness7596]

Say ing that Azef lived the rest of his live in comfort is overstating it. He lived comfortably until World War 1 started and was then interned as a hostile alien.

[@Laurencemardon]

Excellent video ... just came across your channel ... all the best.

[@Eamonshort1]

Holy shit! Meaning absolutely no offence to your other works but you really stepped it up on this one. I don't expect you'll ever see this, but on that off chance, I have to ask, are you a one man operation? Because I can't imagine how must work must go in to something like this.

[@Spartan761]

One man who does this on the side in his free time. It's a lot of work but I am the master of procrastination so it's not too bad when it's spread out lmao And thank you :) Good to know I have improved!

[@christianmumpower5502]

Day 1 of requesting you do "The Last Hussar," August von Mackensen, Imperial Germany's arguably best field commander in the Great War, a veteran of the Franco-Prussian War, and an all-around long-lived individual who saw the rise of Imperial Germany in 1871, fought in WW1, and saw the fall of the Third Reich in 1945 a few months before he passed.

[@PLUDER47G]

Спасибо за мою биографию, сколько воспоминаний....

[@emperorofwends8875]

36:35 glad to see my opinion on Keransky represented

[@Captain_M77]

I CANT BELIEVE THEY MADE THE KAISERREICH DUDE REAL!

[@i_gor_shumov]

The man with magnificent life. Didn’t watch yet, but this video already deserves respect ❤

[@gilpolin3261]

Really good vid and fascinating character Enjoyed the longer documentary style You should keep it

[@patrickvanmeter3318]

Also, I loved how you used a picture of my alma mater for Heidelberg... That's Heidelberg in Tiffin Ohio but not Heidelberg, Germany. Thank you very much. You've made me giggle.

[@dustingh]

Where girls cried: Titanic Where boys cried: Avengers: Endgame Where men cried: 58:43

[@noblest_sir]

His entire story makes me feel like Patchy the Pirate after watching the lost spongebob episode

[@InquisitorXarius]

YES SPARTAN UPLOADED

[@sampel3660]

Might I suggest Zhang Zongchang video? =D

[@lactosetheintolerant.]

It would be pretty baller if you did a video for William H. Murray.

[@travisgardner8339]

The greatest Governor

[@thomaswatson1739]

We need this so bad! Alafa Bill

[@ptrq3743]

Really enjoyed this video. I feel very adequately informed.

[@abercrombieblovs2042]

Do you think you could do a bio on Ernst von Saloman, the former Freikorps member and author of "The Outlaws"? I really liked the detail of his book and I really think post-WW1 Germany could use some more coverage.

[@dstem6]

Great video, really like the long form

[@nafanarefour4564]

Your videos on Russian civil war and interwar history are excellent! Is the Vonsiatsky video going to come any time soon?

[@Buckeyjohnston]

And on the fourth horse, the most pale of them all, there sat Death.

[@folkloristofthefuture8152]

Holy shit hell yeah hour long Spartan vid, time to say goodbye to my last scrap of sanity

[@nowakonstruktywnakrytyka7938]

Ok, this was some good shit, plz do more special episodes like this man i live this

[@Veetrill_UKR]

FYI, Kornilov is pronounced as "car-knee-love" 🙂

[@jackbrown6589]

Loving these bro

[@zolandia5262]

I saw the mini-series "Reily - ace of spies" when it came out. But I believe their was a lot of dramatic liberty in that series.

[@crocve]

My suggestion for a next video: do one on Valery Yemelyanov. That guy was just...I can't even describe. As for Savinkov: I would describe him as an old-style Jacobin republican, but who being active in a 1917-1918 context, tried to compromise with the Whites probably due to a "lesser-evil" strategy, since he saw Bolshevism as a new type of tyranny on Russia and with the Whites, he still saw a chance of restoring the Russian Republic. However his position only led him to suffer from hostility from both sides of the political spectrum, so he was not able to achieve a relevant position in the White movement and get what was left of the non-Bolshevik left to unite behind the same movement (a significant part of the SR party eventualy joined the Bolsheviks).

[@waluigitime2141]

Someone really likes Kaiserreich

[@ConqueredBread]

Les go new video

[@Proudfeet2701]

Savinkov unlocked Twitter in 1904

[@ananomalocaris1682]

Just to let you know, this video is getting some flak on the KR discord because apparently the main source (“To Break Russias Chains” by Vladimir Alexandrov) is *very* biased in favour of Savinkov. I’ve admittedly never read it so I myself can’t say, but just thought it was important to mention.

[@REGENT-88]

Holy moly, it’s the funny Kaiserreich leader himself!

[@lecrapchap_6060]

i need you to do a 24 hour rant video about russian history