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''150 000 000'' (Russian: ''Sto pyat'desyat millionov'') is a poem by
Vladimir Mayakovsky Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (, ; rus, Влади́мир Влади́мирович Маяко́вский, , vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ məjɪˈkofskʲɪj, Ru-Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky.ogg, links=y; – 14 Apr ...
written in 1919–1920 and first published in April
1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...
by GIZ (Gosizdat) Publishers, originally anonymously. The poem, hailing the 150-million-strong
Russian people , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...
's mission in starting the
world revolution World revolution is the Marxist concept of overthrowing capitalism in all countries through the conscious revolutionary action of the organized working class. For theorists, these revolutions will not necessarily occur simultaneously, but whe ...
(represented here as an allegorical battle of Russian Ivan and the American president
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
, the embodiment of the
capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
evil) failed to impress the Soviet revolutionary leader
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
who apparently saw in it little but a pretentious
Futuristic The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...
experiment.


History

Mayakovsky conceived and started writing the poem in the first half of 1919 and completed it in March 1920. Among its several working titles were "The Will of the Millions" (Воля миллионов), "The Tale of Ivan" (Былина об Иване) and "Ivan The Bylina. The Revolutionary Epic" (Иван Былина. Эпос революции). On 5 March 1920 Mayakovsky recited fragments of the poem at the event celebrating the opening of the All-Russian Union of Poets Club in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. He read it in full on the 4th and the 20th of December of the same year, at the
Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
House of Arts and
Polytechnic Museum The Polytechnic Museum (russian: Политехнический музей) is one of the oldest science museums in the world and is located in Moscow. It showcases Russian and Soviet technology and science, as well as modern inventions. It was fo ...
in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
, respectively.Makarov, V., Zakharov, A., Kosovan, I. Commentaries to 150 000 000. The Works by Vladimir Mayakovsky in 6 volumes. Ogonyok Library. Pravda Publishers. Moscow, 1973. Vol.II, p. 567 The poem first appeared in fragments in ''Khudozhestvennoye Slovo'' (Artistic Word) magazine's October 1920 issue. As a separate edition it came out in April 1921, published by Gosizdat (GIZ) without the name of the author mentioned. The reason for this anonymity was explained in the poem's first two stanzas: "150 millions is the name of this poem's master / Bullet is rhythm, flame's a rhyme jumping from house to house. / 150 millions speak through my mouth / Masses marching over the stepping-stone paper is the offset duplicator machine getting these pages printed. // Who'd enquire the Moon and the Sun of what makes them bring out day and night, who’d demand the name of creator genius? / The same's with this poem: it hasn't got one single author."''150 000 000''. The Works by V.V.Mayakovsky in 6 volumes. Ogonyok Library. Pravda Publishers. Moscow, 1973. Vol.II, pp.119-168 "Completed 150 Millions. Published it anonymously, so that everyone could add things and improve it. Nobody did, everybody knew the name of the author anyway. Well, whatever. Now it comes out with my name on," Mayakovsky commented in ''I, Myself'' autobiography ("Year 1920" chapter).


Reception

Mayakovsky's public recitals in Moscow and Petrograd had great success, but in higher places the publication caused controversy. Vladimir Lenin, for whom Mayakovsky was just "one of those Futurists" (whom he reviled) was outraged with the fact that Gosizdat printed 5 thousand copies of the poem which he found "pretentious and dodgy." On 6 May 1921 in the course of one of the Soviet government's meetings Lenin forwarded a note to
Lunacharsky Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky (russian: Анато́лий Васи́льевич Лунача́рский) (born Anatoly Aleksandrovich Antonov, – 26 December 1933) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and the first Bolshevik Soviet People' ...
: "You should be ashamed of yourself, having supported the printing of 5 thousand copies of Mayakovsky's ''150 000 000''. Its nonsensical, utterly silly and pretentious. I reckon no more than 1 of 10 books of this ilk should be published, and in 1500 copies maximum, for libraries and oddballs who enjoy reading such things. You, Lunacharsky, should be caned for your Futurism. Lenin." On the flip side of the paper there is Lunacharsky's written reply: "For me personally this particular thing holds little appeal. But – 1) no lesser poet than Brysov expressed his delight and demanded for 20 000 opiesto be printed, 2) the poem, as recited by its author, had great success - mind you, with the workers' audience." Indeed, in August 1920 Bryusov sent a letter to the Gosizdat leadership: "The board of directors of the
Narkompros The People's Commissariat for Education (or Narkompros; russian: Народный комиссариат просвещения, Наркомпрос, directly translated as the "People's Commissariat for Enlightenment") was the Soviet agency charge ...
' Literary and Publishing Department (ЛИТО) received the manuscript of c(omrade) Mayakovsky's ''150 Millions'', found the poem extremely important from the propagandistic point of view and suggests that it should be published as soon as possible."The Complete V.V.Mayakovsky, 1939, vol.VI, pp. 352—353. Lenin, obviously dissatisfied with Lunacharsky's reply, sent to Gosizdat's director M.N.Pokrovsky a similar note, demanding that the publication of the works by "those Futurists" should be curtailed. The note ended with the question: "Would it be possible for us to find some reliable anti-Futurists?" There is evidence, though, that Lenin still professed some interest to Mayakovsky's poetry, at least occasionally. According to the Soviet literary historian E. Naumov, there is one "still unpublished verbatim account of one of the disputes under the Lunacharsky's chairmanship, concerning the Left Front of the Arts (LEF). The Gosizdat director N.L.Meshcheryakov, having credited the LEF writers with supporting the revolution, added: "I recall one curious episode. After his poem's ''150 000 000''s release, Mayakovsky took one copy, wrote upon its cover: "To Comrade Vladimir Ilyich with our ComFut greetings, Vladimir Mayakovsky" and sent it. Lenin, a lively, open and curious man, upon reading it, commented: "But it's an intriguing kind of literature, you know. It represents one very special brand of communism. It's the hooligan communism."


Plot

Driven by hunger, rage and hatred for the hostile outside world, people of Russia leave their homes to march all over the land, joined by animals, machines and even whole
gubernia A governorate, gubernia, province, or government ( rus, губе́рния, p=ɡʊˈbʲɛrnʲɪjə, also romanized ; uk, губернія, huberniia), was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire. After the empir ...
s, all merging into one sweeping force, intent on "doing this old romantic world in." In
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, a monstrously rich wonder-city, the world revolution's worst enemy
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
abides in a giant hotel, sporting a bowler-hat "higher than
Sukharev Tower The Sukharev Tower (Сухарева башня) was a Moscow landmark until its destruction by Soviet authorities in 1934. Tsar Peter I of Russia had the tower built in the Moscow baroque style at the intersection of the Garden Ring with Sretenk ...
." Among his servants
Adelina Patti Adelina Patti (19 February 184327 September 1919) was an Italian 19th-century opera singer, earning huge fees at the height of her career in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851, and gave her la ...
,
Fyodor Chalyapin Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin ( rus, Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин, Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin, ˈfʲɵdər ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂɐˈlʲapʲɪn}; April 12, 1938) was a Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass v ...
and
Ilya Mechnikov Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, or Ilija (russian: Илья́, Il'ja, , or russian: Илия́, Ilija, ; uk, Ілля́, Illia, ; be, Ілья́, Iĺja ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is Yahu/ Jah. ...
are notable. The rumor of a storm coming from the
Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
spreads among the people of Chicago, sunbathing on the ocean beach. Soon it transpires that the reason behind this cataclysm is mysterious Ivan's approaching them, walking on water. Wilson makes a decision to confront the enemy face to face, gets all of his fat turned into muscles by some magic ointment and arms himself with revolvers and a 70-blade sabre. The world gets divided into two: half of it joins Ivan (in fact, merges with him, physically), the other half runs away for Wilson's protection. Ivan steps upon the beach without having wetted his feet, and challenges Wilson, now clad in armory, for a showdown. The "World Class Struggle Championship Final" takes place on Chicago's central square. Wilson strikes first and slashed armless Ivan, but out of the wound, instead of blood, peoples, machines, gubernias, et cetera start to pour out to attack the old world. Wilson, sieged in his palace, spreads out famine, diseases and, worst of all, "ideas" to ward the enemy off, but to no avail. He dies, gets "scorched out" and the rejoicing world marches into the Future, ruled by "a genius
Cain Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He wa ...
." A hundred years on, and everybody (the visiting
Martians Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s as the Moon was evidently lifeless. At the time, the pred ...
included) is celebrating the victory, remembering "the Revolution's bloody Ilyad."


References

{{Vladimir Mayakovsky 1921 poems Poetry by Vladimir Mayakovsky