Russian Civil War between Reds and Whites

The Russian Civil War between Reds and Whites is invoked as one item in a compressed history of national upheaval. The Count places it among the crises that had touched Russia in the seventeen years since the Treaty of Portsmouth, making the conflict part of the shared burden behind a gathering otherwise marked by celebration.

Place in a Period of Upheaval

The reference is anchored to September 1905, when the Treaty of Portsmouth ended the Russo-Japanese War. In the seventeen years that followed, Russia had experienced a world war, the Russian Civil War between Reds and Whites, two famines, and the Red Terror. The narration gives no account of the Civil War’s course; its force here comes from its place in this accumulating list of hardships.

Political Division and Shared Hardship

The Count recognizes that the guests’ good cheer cannot be explained solely by his narrow escape. Their circumstances and political leanings differ: some may be left or right, Red or White, and personal fortunes may have improved or worsened. Yet the history he recalls has spared none. The conflict therefore belongs to a reckoning that crosses political lines rather than to an account of one faction’s victory or loss.

Meaning in the Gathering

Against this background, the proposed toast to the nation is not merely a celebration of the evening. It acknowledges a country emerging from years in which war, famine, and political terror had affected people across divisions. The Russian Civil War between Reds and Whites is significant in the passage as part of that collective history: named briefly, but placed among the forces that make shared endurance—and a toast to the nation—meaningful.