T HE veil which had been drawn over Russian affairs for
several days was removed at the end of last week, when the details of a tremendous revolution were made known. The refusal cf a regiment of soldiers in Petrograd to fire upon a demonstraticn of strikers and onlookers in the street had been the signal for a surprising and rapid procession of events which ended in the abdication of the Tsar and the establishment of a National Government. The Duma, the Army, and the people—extremists, both reactionary and visionary, of course excepted—are all working together. This vast transforma- tion of the whole form of Russian life so far promises well for the more determined conduct of the war, for the better distribution of food (of which there is no real lack), and for the re- organization of Russian administration on a broad basis of de- mocracy. This mighty political blow, in complete accordance with the aims and spirit of the Allies, is also incidentally a blow against the whole Prussian doctrine of life. The Kaiser must sit more un- easily upon his throne because of it, and the better elements in the German system grasp fresh hopes from the example. We have written elsewhere on the facts of this most important event.
