The foreign correspondent as observer and participant: Harold Williams and the Russian Revolution.
Item
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Title
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The foreign correspondent as observer and participant: Harold Williams and the Russian Revolution.
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Identifier
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AAI3103086
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identifier
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3103086
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Creator
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Brady, Dorothea Louise.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Abraham Ascher
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Date
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2003
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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History, European | Journalism | History, Asia, Australia and Oceania | Biography
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Abstract
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Harold Whitmore Williams (1876--1928) was a distinguished journalist, philologist, and linguist. Originally from New Zealand, he became a foreign correspondent in Russia and chose to make his residence there for fifteen years. Emotionally drawn into the struggle for Russian freedom against the autocracy, he made that struggle the focal point of his existence. As an eyewitness to both the 1905 and 1917 revolutions and the civil war, he displayed deeper first-hand knowledge of Russia than any other foreign correspondent there during those three upheavals. Before he fled Russia and its new authoritarian regime in 1920, his advice had been sought by diplomats, politicians, and the military; his linguistic brilliance had made him invaluable as a translator; his dispatches had earned him a byline in the most prominent newspapers in the English-speaking world including the Manchester Guardian, the London Daily Chronicle, and the New York Times . Williams also wrote Russia of the Russians (1914), a study of pre-Bolshevik Russia, and together with historian Bernard Pares (1867--1949) he established the Slavonic Review, one of the earliest scholarly journals in English devoted to the study of Russian history, politics, and culture.;While Williams stands out as a model of clarity, scholarship, and humanitarian concern, he was also committed to a cause. He welcomed the overthrow of the autocracy, suffered with the struggles of the fledgling democracy, and despaired over its collapse when Bolshevism prevailed. His dispatches revealed this bias as he redefined the responsibilities of a journalist to include moral commitment. To simply report the news was never enough for him, and he often added the insight and commentary of a compassionate observer.;Because scholarship on Williams is scarce, this study attempts to provide a wider view of a self-effacing man who nevertheless gave significant testimony to the momentous events in Russia between 1905 and 1920. It is the purpose of this study to resurrect from obscurity a neglected but important eyewitness to a dramatic period in Russian history. The study pieces together Williams's early life and religious education, emphasizing their impact on what he later witnessed and interpreted. Although not a professional historian, he was aware of the historical context of his coverage and conveyed it to his readers in great detail. By examining his dispatches, the study ultimately focuses on Williams's principled journalism and its link to partisan involvement.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
