Mikhail Bulgakov - Political Views

Political Views

There is conflict in the studies regarding how conservative Bulgakov was. A classmate of Bulgakov's said he had been called a "jingoistic monarchist" and that he did not attend discussion groups, however as this classmate was an anarchist as a schoolboy his judgement can not be considered objective. Anarchists of the time commonly considered anyone other than those with communist or anarchist sympathies as monarchist, and by default jingoistically so. Lesley Milne points out that one of "Bulgakov's semi-autobiographical heroes affirms in almost the same breath that he is 'monarchist by conviction' and 'against the death penalty'", and interprets this to reflect Bolgakov's political leanings as liberal monarchism.