“In St. Petersburg, soon renamed Petrograd on the occasion of the war with Germany... enormous patriotic inspiration reigned, the center of which was undoubtedly the State Duma, in which all parties, except the extreme left, united on the issue of war with Germany. Meetings of the State Duma of that time attracted a huge number of public, shone with the speeches of the best speakers and were solemn in atmosphere: they were almost always attended by representatives of the powers - our allies, in whose honor loud ovations were given in connection with the speeches. There were also personal scenes of expression of hostility to the German enemies: as you know, a street crowd destroyed the building of the German embassy on Mariinskaya Square...”