Rostopchín, who had thought himself an outstanding administrator of Moscow, becomes upset and blames others when the course of events shows this not to have been the case.
Rostopchín, who had thought himself an outstanding administrator of Moscow, becomes upset and blames others when the course of events shows this not to have been the case.
Book 11, Chapter 24
Rostopchín, who had thought himself an outstanding administrator of Moscow, becomes upset and blames others when the course of events shows this not to have been the case.
Summary:
Rostopchín is distressed, offended, and surprised when Kutúzov does not invite him to participate in the council of war, and when he realizes Kutúzov has no interest whatsoever in Rostopchín’s offer to help defend Moscow. All Kutúzov wants is that Rostopchín send police officers to guide the troops as the army retreats through the town. Rostopchín should not have been surprised by this. He knew that Moscow would have to be abandoned, since all the generals after the battle of Borodinó told him it was impossible to fight. What really upset Rostopchín, in fact, was that he has been thinking of himself as a brilliant administrator who was running the city superbly. But the course of events and Kutúzov’s actions to abandon Moscow made clear that Rostopchín had not acted well while commander in chief of Moscow. Rather than admit this, however, Rostopchín for the remainder of his life continued to blame others for his own poor judgements.
quote from the chapter:
Ever since the enemy’s entry into Smolénsk he had in imagination been playing the role of director of the popular feeling of the heart of Russia. Not only did it seem to him (as to all administrators) that he controlled the external actions of Moscow’s inhabitants, but he also thought he controlled their mental attitude by means of his broadsheets and posters, written in a coarse tone which the people despise in their own class and do not understand from those in authority. Rostopchín was so pleased with the fine role of leader of popular feeling, and had grown so used to it, that the necessity of relinquishing that role and abandoning Moscow without any heroic display took him unawares and he suddenly felt the ground slip away from under his feet, so that he positively did not know what to do. Though he knew it was coming, he did not till the last moment wholeheartedly believe that Moscow would be abandoned, and did not prepare for it. The inhabitants left against his wishes. If the government offices were removed, this was only done on the demand of officials to whom the count yielded reluctantly. He was absorbed in the role he had created for himself. As is often the case with those gifted with an ardent imagination, though he had long known that Moscow would be abandoned he knew it only with his intellect, he did not believe it in his heart and did not adapt himself mentally to this new position of affairs.
Click here to read full text of this chapter.
Please help improve this shared document by posting your suggested corrections, clarifications, and changes below. Thank you!