Herbert Bury’s duties took him back to St Petersburg after the Russian revolution of 1917, but all he could think of was how it used to be.
On his visits to Russia in his capacity as the Church of England’s Bishop for North and Central Europe, Herbert Bury had been impressed by Emperor Nicholas II and his wife Alix (Queen Victoria’s granddaughter) and by the worship of the Russian Orthodox Church. Looking back after the unhappy revolution of 1917, one visit to St Petersburg remained with him vividly.
Herbert Bury distinguished two kinds of overseas investment, and only one was worthy of Englishmen.
Herbert Bury, whose duties as an assistant bishop to the Bishop of London took him all over Europe, came to believe that Britain’s place in the world depended not on bending other countries to our will or draining their resources, but on helping them to grow.
Herbert Bury believed that it was the British way to profit with another country, not to profit from it.
In 1912, the Lena massacre in Russia saw 250 gold miners shot during protests over low wages and harsh conditions in a mine backed by British money. Investors were ashamed when they learnt of the systematic exploitation, and Herbert Bury assured Tsar Nicholas II that decent Englishmen wanted Russia’s people to prosper.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna was a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, but to one ordinary Russian she was simply ‘dear Elizabeth’.
Herbert Bury was Anglican bishop for Northern Europe from 1911 to 1926. His duties took him to Russia, where he met Tsar Nicholas II and was deeply impressed by the Royal Family. The following story about the Tsar’s sister-in-law Grand Duchess Elizabeth, who was later martyred by the Communists, shows why.