Fall Of Giants

Ethel Williams, like her brother Billy, is a natural leader and a heroic character. Also like Billy, she believes passionately in social reform and dedicates much of her life to campaigning for the working class. She grew up in her family’s modest miner’s cottage in the town of Aberowen, Wales. Later, she lived at Ty Gwyn, where she worked as a servant and then as head housekeeper. Her organization and intelligence are immediately evident to Fitz, as she ably undertakes the significant administration associated with the king’s visit to Ty Gwyn.

Ethel is publicly disgraced by her pregnancy; Her father prohibits her from ever stepping foot in their home again, and she must leave Aberowen to move to London. She has a son, who she names Lloyd after the politician Lloyd George. Later, Ethel marries Bernie Leckwith, and they have another child.

Ethel’s harsh treatment when she is revealed as an unwed mother illustrates the power structures that privileged men and the aristocracy. While Fitz’s life continues uninterrupted, Ethel is shunned by her friends and family and must start over in London. Ethel is a dynamic character, who is shaped by her experiences. She becomes committed to improving women’s rights, and this commitment was clearly shaped by her own mistreatment. Ethel’s natural leadership is evident when she advocates for better working conditions at the sweatshop where she works with a group of women sewing army uniforms. Later, she campaigns for fairer treatment for soldiers’ wives in her role as editor of The Soldier’s Wife, campaigns for votes for women, and works for the Garment Workers’ Union. Ethel is passionately against the war and is ejected from the House of Commons for yelling the names of dead servicemen when Lloyd George announces that Britain will remain in the war. Ethel also bravely speaks out against the secret British operation in Russia and orchestrates the Hands off Russia campaign. Like her brother, Ethel represents the intelligence and collective determination of the working class. Her election to the House of Commons is a symbolic moment of triumph over the societal power structures that disempowered both women and the working class.

Maud Fitzherbert comes from a rich and powerful aristocratic family, yet she is passionate about the rights of the working class. She is also passionate about improving rights for all women and campaigns for the suffragette movement. Like Fitz, she is extremely stubborn and principled, though she advocates passionately for the opposite side of politics from her brother. She is always dressed beautifully and daringly in the latest fashions. She is intelligent and a deep-thinker and is well connected among London’s politicians and intellectuals. Maud is passionately against the war, fearing for the lives of her husband Walter, her brother Fitz, and countless other young men.

Maud runs a clinic in London’s East End for unwed young mothers and also owns and runs the publication The Soldier’s Wife. She campaigns passionately for women’s rights but refuses to support the bill presented to Parliament on women’s votes. Maud believes the bill, which only includes women over 30 who are homeowners or the wives of homeowners, is exclusionary and inherently undemocratic. This causes a rift in her and Ethel’s friendship. It is typical of Maud to idealistically strive for an inclusive bill rather than to favor a “practical politics” approach of campaigning to make the bill more inclusive once it has been voted in.

Controversially, Maud falls in love with Walter Von Ulrich, a German. She hopes that their union after the war will send a strong message of peace and unity. Instead, she is cut off by her angry brother Fitz and hissed and jeered at by London’s high society. Maud moves to Germany to live with Walter. They live in a modest apartment in Berlin with their children Erik and Hieke. Post-war Germany is in economic recession with extreme inflation and political unrest. Maud must learn to cook and clean and must work to support her family. In spite of this, she loves Walter immensely and does not regret her choice to marry him.

Earl Fitzherbert, the “ninth-richest man in England” is confident that “God intended the Fitzherberts to rule over their fellow men” (29). He is an earl by birth and therefore is a member of the House of Lords. He is extremely handsome and is always well dressed in traditional suits or in the pressed uniform of an aristocratic officer. He lives between his ancestral home in Wales, Ty Gwyn (the largest private house in Wales), and a second home in London. He values tradition above all else and is deeply suspicious and fearful of social reform and revolution. He is extremely stubborn and believes himself to be a gentleman ruled by principle. Fitz has three children: his two sons with his Russian wife Bea, Boy and Andrew, and he has a son he refuses to publicly acknowledge, Lloyd, with Ethel his former housemaid.

Fitz works as an intelligence officer on the western front in London after he is injured at the Battle of the Somme, and then he leads the British support forces in Russia against the Red Army. In spite of Fitz’s dramatic life, he is a relatively static character. He does not soften or change his stance on the need for society to be ruled by a strict social hierarchy, of which he occupies the top tier. He is extremely concerned when the bill for women’s votes is passed because he believes men should lead public life and that a woman’s place is in the home. Similarly, he is shocked and disturbed with working-class participation in political life, believing that political power should be retained by the House of Lords rather than with the ever-expanding House of Commons.

Grigori is one of the heroes of the story. He is caring, empathetic, and a natural leader. He grew up in a poor peasant family in the Russian countryside. When his father and then his mother died, Grigori became the sole care-giver for his younger brother, Lev. Grigori and Lev move to Saint Petersburg (later renamed Petrograd) where they work in a factory. Lev and Grigori act as foils to one another. Grigori cooks for himself and Lev every night. While Lev goes out to drink with girlfriends or play cards with friends in his spare time, Grigori attends lectures on socialism and atheism. This characterizes him as an intellectual and thoughtful character as opposed to Lev’s hedonistic behavior.

Grigori’s interest in politics as a young adult foreshadows his role in the Bolshevik Party later in the story. Grigori, already vengeful after the cruel deaths of his mother and father under tsarist rule, becomes even more resentful of the aristocratic class during the war. He is led by stupid and cruel men, who occupy their roles due to birthright rather than any inherent skill with leading men in battle. Grigori became a non-commissioned officer and is later voted to be the leader of his division when the revolutionaries call upon soldiers and workers to elect leaders to the soviet. Grigori falls in love with Katerina, and they raise Katerina and Lev’s son, Vladimir, as their own. Katerina and Grigori then have a daughter, Anna. Grigori occupies an important position within the new Bolshevik government, and he and his family are given a comfortable apartment.

Walter, a German from an aristocratic family, works at the German embassy in Britain. He was schooled in Britain at Eaton, where he met Fitz. He is characterized as “not so conservative” and “very clever” (49). Walter favors diplomacy over war and perceptively understands how catastrophic the war could become. He represents young, intelligent, and worldly Germans who did not want the older generation of aristocrats to pull Germany into a devastating war. He believes in democratic process, in modernizing Germany, and moving away from imperialistic empires and monarchies.

Controversially, Walter falls in love with an English woman: Maud Fitzherbert. His father strongly opposes the match, so they got married hastily and in secret just before the outbreak of war. During the war, Walter led divisions of men ably as a commanding officer in the German army. He also managed the delicate and secret diplomatic mission where Germany sponsored the Bolshevik revolution to bring about Russia’s withdrawal from the war.

Walter is reunited with Maud in the aftermath of the war. The two move to Berlin, where they live a life radically different from their respective aristocratic upbringings.