Power and Potential: Richard Washburn Child’s Assessment of Russia, 1916

• In Event: Americans in Revolutionary Russia: Three Visions of Freedom and Liberation

Abstract

Richard Washburn Child was an American author and diplomat who served as the US ambassador to Italy between 1921 and 1924 during the rise of fascism in that country. Earlier, however, Child visited Russia on the eve of the revolution, and he was greatly impressed with what he saw. He praised the Russia people for their spirit and independence. He optimistically believed that Russia was a dormant force ready to liberate itself from its feudal past and spring forward into modernity. He urged the United States to establish partnerships in Russia and create opportunities with this powerful nation before other countries beat them to it. He acknowledged rumors of a stirring revolutionary mood, but he did not believe they were accurate. Reading his observations, given what we know would soon happen, is both fascinating and poignant.

Author

• Lee A. Farrow, Auburn U at Montgomery