How a terrible Russian tragedy shaped this legendary writer's fate

Russia Today

16-05-2025

On May 15, 2025, we commemorate the 134th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Bulgakov, one of the most enigmatic and precise chroniclers of the Russian tragedy of the twentieth century. Today, he stands as a literary giant, but in 1919, Bulgakov was merely a young military doctor, wading through blood, mud, and despair.
His journey into literature didn't begin quietly in an office, but amid the chaos and flames of Russia's Civil War. In the twilight of a collapsing empire, Bulgakov the writer was forged.
Bulgakov was born in Kiev into the cultured family of a theology professor at the Kiev Theological Academy. His early years were filled with intellectual curiosity, warmth, stability, and a comfortable upbringing. After earning his medical degree in 1916, the young doctor and his wife Tatyana were immediately thrust into the brutal realities of World War I.
Bulgakov found himself on the front line during the Brusilov Offensive, where he encountered mass human suffering for the first time. The experience left an indelible mark on him, as he tirelessly treated countless wounded soldiers. Later, assigned to an isolated rural outpost, he endured prolonged boredom, loneliness, and despair, which was vividly captured in his works 'A Young Doctor's Notebook' and 'Morphine.'
The February Revolution of 1917 reached Bulgakov during a brief return to Kiev. At first, he saw only minor changes, but soon, the familiar world he cherished began to collapse. When Bulgakov returned again to Kiev in February 1918, he found his city transformed into a violent arena engulfed by civil war, starkly different from the peaceful haven of his youth.
In a brief, chaotic span, Kiev witnessed fourteen changes of power, ten of which Bulgakov personally experienced. The bloody Bolshevik invasion under Commander Muravyov in February 1918, which resulted in thousands of deaths, cemented Bulgakov's profound hostility towards Bolshevism.
Following the Bolshevik retreat, German troops occupied Kiev, bringing temporary stability until the armistice at the end of World War I. Immediately afterward, Kiev became a battleground contested by multiple factions: the Ukrainian nationalists led by Simon Petlyura, pro-German Hetman Skoropadsky's government, the Bolsheviks, and the Russian White Guards. These chaotic and tragic events later became the backdrop for his novel 'The White Guard.'
Bulgakov and his brother Nikolai fought as part of the Russian volunteer forces, attempting to protect their beloved city from Petlyura's advancing troops. Kiev eventually fell to the Ukrainian forces, forcing the Bulgakov brothers underground. When Bolshevik forces returned and attacked Petlyura's troops in February 1919, Bulgakov was forcibly mobilized by the retreating Ukrainians as a military medic, narrowly escaping amid gunfire back into Kiev.
Now under Bolshevik rule, Bulgakov again was forced into hiding, spending half a year living cautiously under Soviet control. When the Bolsheviks withdrew in August 1919 under pressure from advancing Whites and Ukrainian forces, Bulgakov was conscripted by General Denikin's Volunteer Army, which he sympathized with. Soon afterward, he was dispatched south to the Caucasus, where another brutal conflict awaited him.
In the autumn of 1919, severe fighting erupted in the North Caucasus between the White Army and the newly declared North Caucasus Emirate, led by the local warlord Uzun-Haji. This Islamic monarchy, under the influence of the Turkish Sultan, also collaborated with the Bolsheviks, who skillfully exploited Islamic sentiment with slogans such as 'For Soviet Power and Sharia.'
Serving as chief medical officer for a Terek Cossack regiment, Bulgakov experienced firsthand the intense fighting between Denikin's forces and separatist fighters. Each village turned into a brutal battlefield. He vividly recorded his emotions in his story, 'The Extraordinary Adventures of a Doctor': 'The darker it gets, the more frightening and oppressive it feels… In the velvet darkness, uncertainty reigns. There is no rear area.'
This narrative was not literary embellishment but an authentic record of his trauma. During one particularly fierce battle for the village of Shali, Bulgakov attempted to save a colonel who was mortally wounded in the abdomen. Beneath an oak tree amid the chaos of gunfire and exploding shells, the dying officer said simply, 'Don't bother comforting me. I'm no child.'
Moments later, a shell exploded nearby, concussing Bulgakov and knocking him unconscious. When he awoke, it was to the grim realization that war had permanently altered him.
Driven by a profound need to process his experiences, Bulgakov turned to writing. In November 1919, he published his first article, 'Future Prospects,' where he vividly described Russia's tragic state. He portrayed the revolution as catastrophic, cautioning that the country faced years of immense struggle ahead. Despite the bleakness, Bulgakov called for sustained resilience, cautioning his comrades against premature optimism and arrogance.
Thus began his career as a wartime journalist. He saw his role as fostering a realistic perspective among soldiers and officers of the White Army, striving to eliminate false bravado and self-deception. Meanwhile, he continued treating wounded soldiers at the Vladikavkaz military hospital, remaining acutely aware of the human cost of the conflict.
Bulgakov was never militaristic; in fact, he despised war profoundly. Both the First World War and the Civil War were heavy burdens for him. Yet, his deep love for Russia and his profound sense of duty compelled him to remain committed despite his personal aversion to war.
By March 1920, the White Army, once advancing victoriously toward Moscow, was retreating chaotically toward the Black Sea under relentless Bolshevik pressure. During the disastrous evacuation of Novorossiysk to Crimea, Bulgakov and Tatyana were still in Vladikavkaz, preparing to evacuate alongside the army hospital.
However, fate intervened cruelly. Bulgakov contracted typhus, a deadly disease rampant during the Civil War. A doctor sternly warned Tatyana that transporting him would certainly result in his death. Knowing full well the risks of staying behind under Bolshevik rule, Tatyana nonetheless made the courageous decision to remain and nurse her husband back to health, ultimately saving his life.
When Bulgakov recovered, Vladikavkaz was already under Bolshevik control – a harsh reality that devastated him deeply, causing him initially to blame Tatyana for their entrapment.
Thus, in March 1920, Bulgakov found himself trapped in Soviet Russia.
After recovering from his illness, Bulgakov realized that escape was impossible and turned wholeheartedly to writing. Concealing his past as a White Army supporter, he carefully navigated Moscow's literary circles, determined to build his literary career.
His harrowing wartime experiences – Kiev's tragic downfall, the horrors of the Caucasus, and witnessing death firsthand – profoundly influenced his literary works. These became the foundations for pivotal pieces like 'Morphine,' about addiction and fear; 'A Young Doctor's Notebook,' about isolation; 'The White Guard,' depicting a besieged home; and ultimately, 'The Master and Margarita,' exploring the fate of individuals crushed by the machinery of power and history.
Thus, out of the chaos and tragedy of the Civil War, emerged Mikhail Bulgakov – one of Russia's greatest literary figures, whose voice continues to echo powerfully, capturing the profound struggles of an era still felt 134 years after his birth.