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<head>Appendix to Chapter II</head>
<div type="numeric" n="1">
<head>First paragraph</head>
<p>The Kornilov revolt is treated in detail in my forthcoming volume, “Kornilov to
Brest-Litovsk.” The responsibility of Kerensky for the situation which gave rise to
Kornilov’s attempt is now pretty clearly established. Many apologists for Kerensky
say that he knew of Kornilov’s plans, and by a trick drew him out prematurely, and
then crushed him. Even Mr. A. J. Sack, in his book, “The Birth of the Russian
Democracy,” says:</p>
<p>“Several things… are almost certain. The first is that Kerensky knew about the
movement of several detachments from the Front toward Petrograd, and it is possible
that as Prime Minister and Minister of War, realising the growing Bolshevist danger,
he called for them….”</p>
<p>The only flaw in that argument is that there was no “Bolshevist danger” at that time,
the Bolsheviki still being a powerless minority in the Soviets, and their leaders in
jail or hiding.</p>
</div>
<div type="numeric" n="2">
<head>Democratic Conference</head>
<p>When the Democratic Conference was first proposed to Kerensky, he suggested an
assembly of all the elements in the nation—“the live forces,” as he called
them—including bankers, manufacturers, land-owners, and representatives of the Cadet
party. The Soviet refused, and drew up the following table of representation, which
Kerensky agreed to:</p>
<table cols="2" rows="13">
<row n="1">
<cell n="1">100 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">All-Russian Soviets Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies</cell>
</row>
<row n="2">
<cell n="1">100 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">All-Russian Soviets Peasants’ Deputies</cell>
</row>
<row n="3">
<cell n="1">50 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Provincial Soviets Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies</cell>
</row>
<row n="4">
<cell n="1">50 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Peasants’ District Land Committees</cell>
</row>
<row n="5">
<cell n="1">100 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Trade Unions</cell>
</row>
<row n="6">
<cell n="1">84 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Army Committees at the Front</cell>
</row>
<row n="7">
<cell n="1">150 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Workers’ and Peasants’ Cooperative Societies</cell>
</row>
<row n="8">
<cell n="1">20 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Railway Workers’ Union</cell>
</row>
<row n="9">
<cell n="1">10 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Post and Telegraph Workers’ Union</cell>
</row>
<row n="10">
<cell n="1">20 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Commercial Clerks</cell>
</row>
<row n="11">
<cell n="1">15 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Liberal Professions—Doctors, Lawyers, Journalists, etc.</cell>
</row>
<row n="12">
<cell n="1">50 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Provincial Zemstvos</cell>
</row>
<row n="13">
<cell n="1">59 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Nationalist Organisations—Poles, Ukraineans, etc.</cell>
</row>
</table>
<p>This proportion was altered twice or three times. The final disposition of delegates
was:</p>
<table cols="2" rows="8">
<row n="1">
<cell n="1">300 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">All-Russian Soviets Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Deputies</cell>
</row>
<row n="2">
<cell n="1">300 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Cooperative Societies</cell>
</row>
<row n="3">
<cell n="1">300 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Municipalities</cell>
</row>
<row n="4">
<cell n="1">150 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Army Committees at the Front</cell>
</row>
<row n="5">
<cell n="1">150 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Provincial Zemstvos</cell>
</row>
<row n="6">
<cell n="1">200 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Trade Unions</cell>
</row>
<row n="7">
<cell n="1">100 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Nationalist Organisations</cell>
</row>
<row n="8">
<cell n="1">200 delegates</cell>
<cell n="2">Several small groups</cell>
</row>
</table>
</div>
<div type="numeric" n="3">
<head>The function of the Soviets is ended</head>
<p>On September 28th, 1917, Izviestia, organ of the Tsay-ee-kah, published an article
which said, speaking of the last Provisional Ministry:</p>
<p>“At last a truly democratic government, born of the will of all classes of the
Russian people, the first rough form of the future liberal parliamentary régime, has
been formed. Ahead of us is the Constituent Assembly, which will solve all questions
of fundamental law, and whose composition will be essentially democratic. The
function of the Soviets is at an end, and the time is approaching when they must
retire, with the rest of the revolutionary machinery, from the stage of a free and
victorious people, whose weapons shall hereafter be the peaceful ones of political
action.”</p>
<p>The leading article of Izviestia for October 23d was called, “The Crisis in the
Soviet Organisations.” It began by saying that travellers reported a lessening
activity of local Soviets everywhere. “This is natural,” said the writer. “For the
people are becoming interested in the more permanent legislative organs—the Municipal
Dumas and the Zemstvs….</p>
<p>“In the important centres of Petrograd and Moscow, where the Soviets were best
organised, they did not take in all the democratic elements…. The majority of the
intellectuals did not participate, and many workers also; some of the workers because
they were politically backward, others because the centre of gravity for them was in
their Unns…. We cannot deny that these organisations are firmly united with the
masses, whose everyday needs are better served by them….</p>
<p>“That the local democratic administrations are being energetically organised is
highly important. The City Dumas are elected by universal suffrage, and in purely
local matters have more authority than the Soviets. Not a single democrat will see
anything wrong in this….</p>
<p>“… Elections to the Municipalities are being conduct in a better and more democratic
way than the elections to the Soviets… All classes are represented in the
Municipalities…. And as soon as the local Self-Governments begin to organise life in
the Municipalities, the rôle of the local Soviets naturally ends….</p>
<p>“… There are two factors in the falling off of interest in the Soviets. The first we
may attribute to the lowering of political interest in the masses; the second, to the
growing effort of provincial and local governing bodies to organise the building of
new Russia…. The more the tendency lies in this latter direction, the sooner
disappears the significance of the Soviets….</p>
<p>“We ourselves are being called the ‘undertakers’ of our own organisation. In reality,
we ourselves are the hardest workers in constructing the new Russia….</p>
<p>“When autocracy and the whole bureaucratic règimeell, we set up the Soviets as a
barracks in which all the democracy cod find temporary shelter. Now, instead of
barracks, we are building the permanent edifice of a new system, and naturally the
people will gradually leave the barracks for more comfortable quarters.”</p>
</div>
<div type="numeric" n="4">
<head>Trotzky's speech at the Council of the Russian Republic</head>
<p>“The purpose of the Democratic Conference, which was called by the Tsay-ee-kah, was
to do away with the irresponsible personal government which produced Kornilov, and to
establish a responsible government which would be capable of finishing the war, and
ensure the calling of the Constituent Assembly at the given time. In the meanwhile
behind the back of the Democratic Conference, by trickery, by deals between Citizen
Kerensky, the Cadets, and the leaders of the Menshevik and Socialist Revolutionary
parties, we received the opposite result from the officially announced purpose. A
power was created around which and in which we have open and secret Kornilovs playing
leading parts. The irresponsibility of the Government is offically proclaimed, when
it is announced that the Council of the Russian Republic is to be a consultative and
not legislative body. In the eighth month of the Revolution, the irresponsible
Government creates a cover for itself in this new edition of Bieligen’s Duma.</p>
<p>“The propertied classes have entered this Provision Council in a proportion which
clearly shows, from elections all over the country, that many of them have no right
here whatever. In spite of that the Cadet party, which until yesterday wanted the
Provisional Government to be responsible to the State Duma—this same Cadet party
secured the independence Assembly the propertied classes will no doubt have as
favourable position than they have in this Council, and they will not be able to be
irresponsible to the Constituent Assembly.</p>
<p>“If the propertied classes were really getting ready for the Constituent Assembly six
weeks from now, there could be no reason for establishing the irresponsibility of the
Government at this time. The whole truth is that the bourgeoisie, which directs the
policies of the Provisional Government, has for its aim to break the Constituent
Assembly. At present this is the main purpose of the propertied classes, which
control our entire national policy—external and internal. In the industrial, agrarian
and supply departments the politics of the propertied classes, acting with the
Government, increases the natural disorganisation caused by the war. The propertied
classes, which are provoking a peasants’ revolt! The propertied classes, which are
provoking civil war, and openly hold their course on the bony hand of hunger, with
which they intend to overthrow the Revolution and finish with the Constituent
Assembly!</p>
<p>“No less criminal also is the international policy of the bourgeoisie and its
Government. After forty months of war, the capital is threatened with mortal danger.
In reply to this arises a plan to move the Government to Moscow. The idea of
abandoning the capital does not stir the indignation of the bourgeoisie. Just the
opposite. It is accepted as a natural part of the general policy designed to promote
counter-revolutionary conspiracy. … Instead of recognising that the salvation of the
country lies in concluding peace, instead of throwing openly the idea of immediate
peace to all the worn-out peoples, over the heads of diplomats and imperialists, and
making the continuation of the war impossible,—the Provisional Government, by order
of the Cadets, the Counter-Revolutionists and the Allied Imperialists, without sense,
without purpose and without a plan, continues to drag on the murderous war,
sentencing to useless death new hundreds of thousands of soldiers and sailors, and
preparing to give up Petrograd, and to wreck the Revolution. At a time when Bolshevik
soldiers and sailors are dying with other soldiers and sailors as a result of the
mistakes and crimes of others, the so-called Supreme Commander (Kerensky) continues
to suppress the Bolshevik press. The leading parties of the Council are acting as a
voluntary cover for these policies.</p>
<p>“We, the faction of Social Democrats Bolsheviki, announce that with this Government
of Treason to the People we have nothing in common. We have nothing in common with
the work of these Murderers of the People which goes on behind official curtains. We
refuse either directly or indirectly to cover up one day of this work. While
Wilhelm’s troops are threatening Petrograd, the Government of Kerensky and Kornilov
is preparing to run away from Petrograd and turn Moscow into a base of
counter-revolution!</p>
<p>“We warn the Moscow workers and soldiers to be on their guard. Leaving this Council,
we appeal to the manhood and wisdom of the workers, peasants and soldiers of all
Russia. Petrograd is in danger! The Revolution is in danger! The Government has
increased the danger—the ruling classes intensify it. Only the people themselves can
save themselves and the country.</p>
<p>“We appeal to the people. Long live immediate, honest, democratic peace! All power to
the Soviets! All land to the people! Long live the Constituent Assembly!”</p>
</div>
<div type="numeric" n="5">
<head>The "Nakaz" to Skobeliev</head>
<div>
<head>Résumé</head>
<p>(Passed by the Tsay-ee-kah and given to Skobeliev as an instruction for the
representative of the Russian Revolutionary democracy at the Paris
Conference.)</p>
<p>The peace treaty must be based on the principle, “No annexations, no indemnities,
the right of self-determination of peoples.”</p>
</div>
<div>
<head>Territorial problems</head>
<p><num>1</num> Evacuation of German troops from invaded Russia. Full right of
self-determination to Poland, Lithuania and Livonia.</p>
<p><num>2</num>For Turkish Armenia autonomy, and later complete self-determination,
as soon as local Governments are established.</p>
<p><num>3</num>The question of Alsace-Lorraine to be solved by a plebiscite, after
the withdrawal of all foreign troops.</p>
<p><num>4</num>Belgium to be restored. Compensation for damages from an international
fund.</p>
<p><num>5</num>Serbia and Montenegro to be restored, and aided by an international
relief fund. Serbia to have an outlet on the Adriatic. Bosnia and Herzegovina to
be autonomous.</p>
<p><num>6</num>The disputed provinces in the Balkans to have provisional autonomy,
followed by a plebiscite.</p>
<p><num>7</num>Rumania to be restored, but forced to give complete self-determination
to the Dobrudja…. Rumania must be forced to execute the clauses of the Berlin
Treaty concerning the Jews, and recognise them as Rumanian citizens.</p>
<p><num>8</num>In Italia Irridenta a provisional autonomy, followed by a plebiscite
to determine state dependence.</p>
<p><num>9</num>The German colonies to be returned.</p>
<p><num>10</num>Greece and Persia to be restored.</p>
</div>
<div>
<head>Freedom of the Seas</head>
<p>All straits opening into inland seas, as well as the Suez and Panama Canals, are
to be neutralised. Commercial shipping to be free. The right of privateering to be
abolished. The torpedoing of commercial ships to be forbidden.</p>
</div>
<div>
<head>Indemnities</head>
<p>All combatants to renounce demands for any indemnities, either direct or
indirect—as, for instance, charges for the maintenance of prisoners. Indemnities
and contributions collected during the war must be refunded.</p>
</div>
<div>
<head>Economic Terms</head>
<p>Commercial treaties are not to be a part of the peace terms. Every country must be
independent in its commercial relations, and must not be obliged to, or prevented
from, concluding an economic treaty, by the Treaty of Peace. Nevertheless, all
nations should bind themselves, by the Peace Treaty, not to practise an economic
blockade after the war, nor to form separate tariff agreements. The right of most
favoured nation must be given to all countries without distinction.</p>
</div>
<div>
<head>Guarantees of Peace</head>
<p>Peace is to be concluded at the Peace Conference by delegates elected by the
national representative institutions of each country. The peace terms are to be
confirmed by these parliaments.</p>
<p>Secret diplomacy is to be abolished; all parties are to bind themselves not to
conclude any secret treaties. Such treaties are declared in contradiction to
international law, and void. All treaties, until confirmed by the parliaments of
the different nations, are to be considered void.</p>
<p>Gradual disarmament both on land and sea, and the establishment of a militia
system. The “League of Nations” advanced by President Wilson may become a valuable
aid to international law, provided that (a), all nations are to be obliged to
participate in it with equal rights, and (b), international politics are to be
democratised.</p>
</div>
<div>
<head>Ways to Peace</head>
<p>The Allies are to announce immediately that they are willing to open peace
negotiations as soon as the enemy powers declare their consent to the renunciation
of all forcible annexations.</p>
<p>The Allies must bind themselves not to begin any peace negotiations, nor to
conclude peace, except in a general Peace Conference with the participation of
delegates from all the neutral countries.</p>
<p>All obstacles to the Stockholm Socialist Conference are to be removed, and
passports are to be given immediately to all delegates of parties and
organisations who wish to participate.</p>
<p>(The Executive Committee of the Peasants’ Soviets also issued a nakaz, which
differs little from the above.)</p>
</div>
</div>
<div type="numeric" n="6">
<head>Peace at Russia's expense</head>
<p>The Ribot revelations of Austria’s peace-offer to France; the so-called “Peace
Conference” at Berne, Switzerland, during the summer of 1917, in which delegates
participated from all belligerent countries, representing large financial interests
in all these countries; and the attempted negotiations of an English agent with a
Bulgarian church dignitary; all pointed to the fact that there were strong currents,
on both sides, favourable to patching up a peace at the expense of Russia. In my next
book, “Kornilov to Brest-Litovsk,” I intend to treat this matter at some length,
publishing several secret documents discovered in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at
Petrograd.</p>
</div>
<div type="numeric" n="7">
<head>Russian soldiers in France</head>
<div>
<head>Official Report of the Provisional Government.</head>
<p>“From the time the news of the Russian Revolution reached Paris, Russian
newspapers of extreme tendencies immediately began to appear; and these
newspapers, as well as individuals, freely circulated among the soldier masses and
began a Bolshevik propaganda, often spreading false news which appeared in the
French journals. In the absence of all official news, and of precise details, this
campaign provoked discontent among the soldiers. The result was a desire to return
to Russia, and a hatred toward the officers.</p>
<p>“Finally it all turned into rebellion. In one of their meetings, the soldiers
issued an appeal to refuse to drill, since they had decided to fight no more. It
was decided to isolate the rebels, and General Zankievitch ordered all soldiers
loyal to the Provisional Government to leave the camp of Courtine, and to carry
with them all ammunition. On June 25th the order was executed; there remained at
the camp only the soldiers who said they would submit ‘conditionally’ to the
Provisional Government. The soldiers at the camp of Courtine received several
times the visit of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armies abroad, of Rapp,
the Commissar of the Ministry of War, and of several distinguished former exiles
who wished to influence them, but these attempts were unsuccessful, and finally
Commissar Rapp insisted that the rebels lay down their arms, and, in sign of
submission, march in good order to a place called Clairvaux. The order was only
partially obeyed; first 500 men went out, of whom 22 were arrested; 24 hours later
about 6,000 followed…. About 2,000 remained….</p>
<p>“It was decided to increase the pressure; their rations were diminished, their pay
was cut off, and the roads toward the village of Courtine were guarded by French
soldiers. General Zankievitch, having discovered that a Russian artillery brigade
was passing through France, decided to form a mixed detachment of infantry and
artillery to reduce the rebels. A deputation was sent to the rebels; the
deputation returned several hours later, convinced of the futility of the
negotiations. On September 1st General Zankievitch sent an ultimatum to the rebels
demanding that they lay down their arms, and menacing in case of refusal to open
fire with artillery if the order was not obeyed by September 3d at 10 o’clock.</p>
<p>“The order not being executed, a light fire of artillery was opened on the place
at the hour agreed upon. Eighteen shells were fired, and the rebels were warned
that the bombardment would become more intense. In the night of September 3d 160
men surrendered. September 4th the artillery bombardment recommenced, and at 11
o’clock, after 36 shells had been fired, the rebels raised two white flags and
began to leave the camp without arms. By evening 8,300 men had surrendered. 150
soldiers who remained in the camp opened fire with machine-guns that night. The
5th of September, to make an end of the affair, a heavy barrage was laid on the
camp, and our soldiers occupied it little by little. The rebels kept up a heavy
fire with their machine-guns. September 6th, at 9 o’clock, the camp was entirely
occupied…. After the disarmament of the rebels, 81 arrests were made….”</p>
<p>Thus the report. From secret documents discovered in the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, however, we know that the account is not strictly accurate. The first
trouble arose when the soldiers tried to form Committees, as their comrades in
Russia were doing. They demanded to be sent back to Russia, which was refused; and
then, being considered a dangerous influence in France, they were ordered to
Salonika. They refused to go, and the battle followed…. It was discovered that
they had been left in camp without officers for about two months, and badly
treated, before they became rebellious. All attempts to find out the name of the
“Russian artillery brigade” which had fired on them were futile; the telegrams
discovered in the Ministry left it to be inferred that French artillery was
used….</p>
<p>After their surrender, more than two hundred of the mutineers were shot in cold
blood.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div type="numeric" n="8">
<head>Terestchenko's speech (Resumé)</head>
<p>“… The questions of foreign policy are closely related to those of national defence….
And so, if in questions of national defence you think it is necessary to hold session
in secret, also in our foreign policy we are sometimes forced to observe the same
secrecy….</p>
<p>“German diplomacy attempts to influence public opinion…. Therefore the declarations
of directors of great democratic organisations who talk loudly of a revolutionary
Congress, and the impossibility of another winter campaign, are dangerous…. All these
declarations cost human lives….</p>
<p>“I wish to speak merely of governmental logic, without touching the questions of the
honour and dignity of the State. From the point of view of logic, the foreign policy
of Russia ought to be based on a real comprehension of the interests of Russia….
These interests mean that it is impossible that our country remain alone, and that
the present alignment of forces with us, (the Allies), is satisfactory…. All humanity
longs for peace, but in Russia no one will permit a humiliating peace which would
violate the State interests of our fatherland!”</p>
<p>The orator pointed out that such a peace would for long years, if not for centuries,
retard the triumph of democratic principles in the world, and would inevitably cause
new wars.</p>
<p>“All remember the days of May, when the fraternisation on our Front threatened to end
the war by a simple cessation of military operations, and lead the country to a
shameful separate peace… and what efforts it was necessary to use to make the soldier
masses at the front understand that it was not by this method that the Russian State
must end the war and guarantee its interest….”</p>
<p>He spoke of the miraculous effect of the July offensive, what strength it gave to the
words of Russian ambassadors abroad, and the despair in Germany caused by the Russian
victories. And also, the disillusionment in Allied countries which followed the
Russian defeat….</p>
<p>“As to the Russian Government, it adhered strictly to the formula of May, ‘No
annexations and no punitive indemnities.’ We consider it essential not only to
proclaim the self-determination of peoples, but also to renounce imperialist
aims….”</p>
<p>Germany is continually trying to make peace. The only talk in Germany is of peace;
she knows she cannot win.</p>
<p>“I reject the reproaches aimed at the Government which allege that Russian foreign
policy does not speak clearly enough about the aims of the war….</p>
<p>“If the question arises as to what ends the Allies are pursuing, it is indispensable
first to demand what aims the Central Powers have agreed upon….</p>
<p>“The desire is often heard that we publish the details of the treaties which bind the
Allies; but people forget that, up to now, we do not know the treaties which bind the
Central Powers….”</p>
<p>Germany, he said, evidently wants to separate Russia from the West by a series of
weak buffer-states.</p>
<p>“This tendency to strike at the vital interests of Russia must be checked….</p>
<p>“And will the Russian democracy, which has inscribed on its banner the rights of
nations to dispose of themselves, allow calmly the continuation of oppression upon
the most civilised peoples (in Austria-Hungary)?</p>
<p>“Those who fear that the Allies will try to profit by our difficult situation, to
make us support more than our share of the burden of war, and to solve the questions
of peace at our expense, are entirely mistaken…. Our enemy looks upon Russia as a
market for its products. The end of the war will leave us in a feeble condition, and
with our frontier open the flood of German products can easily hold back for years
our industrial development. Measures must be taken to guard against this….</p>
<p>“I say openly and frankly: the combination of forces which unites us to the Allies is
favourable to the interests of Russia…. It is therefore important that our views on
the questions of war and peace shall be in accord with the views of the Allies as
clearly and precisely as possible…. To avoid all misunderstanding, I must say frankly
that Russia must present at the Paris Conference one point of view….”</p>
<p>He did not want to comment on the nakaz to Skobeliev, but he referred to the
Manifesto of the Dutch-Scandinavian Committee, just published in Stockholm. This
Manifesto declared for the autonomy of Lithuania and Livonia; “but that is clearly
impossible,” said Terestchenko, “for Russia must have free ports on the Baltic all
the year round….</p>
<p>“In this question the problems of foreign policy are also closely related to interior
politics, for if there existed a strong sentiment of unity of all great Russia, one
would not witness the repeated manifestations, everywhere, of a desire of peoples to
separate from the Central Government…. Such separations are contrary to the interests
of Russia, and the Russian delegates cannot raise the issue….”</p>
</div>
<div type="numeric" n="9">
<head>The British Fleet (etc.)</head>
<p>At the time of the naval battle of the Gulf of Riga, not only the Bolsheviki, but
also the Ministers of the Provisional Government, considered that the British Fleet
had deliberately abandoned the Baltic, as one indication of the attitude so often
expressed publicly by the British press, and semi-publicly by British representatives
in Russia, “Russia’s finished! No use bothering about Russia!”</p>
<note>See interview with Kerensky (Appendix 13).</note>
<p>GENERAL GURKO was a former Chief of Staff of the Russian armies under the Tsar. He
was a prominent figure in the corrupt Imperial Court. After the Revolution, he was
one of the very few persons exiled for his political and personal record. The Russian
naval defeat in the Gulf of Riga coincided with the public reception, by King George
in London, of General Gurko, a man whom the Russian Provisional Government considered
dangerously pro-German as well as reactionary!</p>
</div>
<div type="numeric" n="10">
<head>Appeals against insurrection</head>
<note>To Workers and Soldiers</note>
<p>“Comrades! The Dark Forces are increasingly trying to call forth in Petrograd and
other towns DISORDERS AND Pogroms. Disorder is necessary to the Dark Forces, for
disorder will give them an opportunity for crushing the revolutionary movement in
blood. Under the pretext of establishing order, and of protecting the inhabitants,
they hope to establish the domination of Kornilov, which the revolutionary people
succeeded in suppressing not long ago. Woe to the people if these hopes are realised!
The triumphant counter-revolution will destroy the Soviets and the Army Committees,
will disperse the Constituent Assembly, will stop the transfer of the land to the
Land Committees, will put an end to all the hopes of the people for a speedy peace,
and will fill all the prisons with revolutionary soldiers and workers.</p>
<p>“In their calculations, the counter-revolutionists and Black Hundred leaders are
counting on the serious discontent of the unenlightened part of the people with the
disorganisation of the food-supply, the continuation of the war, and the general
difficulties of life. They hope to transform every demonstration of soldiers and
workers into a pogrom, which will frighten the peaceful population and throw it into
the arms of the Restorers of Law and Order.</p>
<p>“Under such conditions every attempt to organise a demonstration in these days,
although for the most laudable object, would be a crime. All conscious workers and
soldiers who are displeased with the policy of the Government will only bring injury
to themselves and to the Revolution if they indulge in demonstrations.</p>
<p>“THEREFORE THE Tsay-ee-kah ASKS ALL WORKERS NOT TO OBEY ANY CALLS TO DEMONSTRATE.
“WORKERS AND SOLDIERS! DO NOT YIELD TO PROVOCATION! REMEMBER YOUR DUTY TO YOUR
COUNTRY AND TO THE REVOLUTION! DO NOT BREAK THE UNITY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY FRONT BY
DEMONSTRATIONS WHICH ARE BOUND TO BE UNSUCCESSFUL!”</p>
<p><hi rend="italic">The Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers’ and
Soldiers’ Deputies (Tsay-ee-kah)</hi></p>
<p><hi rend="italic">Russian Social Democratic Labour Party</hi>THE DANGER IS NEAR! To
All Workers and Soldiers <note><hi rend="italic">(Read and Hand to
Others)</hi></note></p>
<p><hi rend="italic">Comrades Workers and Soldiers!</hi></p>
<p>“Our country is in danger. On account of this danger our freedom and our Revolution
are passing through difficult days. The enemy is at the gates of Petrograd. The
disorganisation is growing with every hours. It becomes more and more difficult to
obtain bread for Petrograd. All, of from the smallest to the greatest, must redouble
their efforts, must endeavour to arrange things properly…. We must save our country,
say freedom…. More arms and provisions for the Army! Bread—for the great cities.
Order and organisation in the country….</p>
<p>“And in these terrible critical days rumours creep about that SOMEWHERE a
demonstration is being prepared, that SOME ONE is calling on the soldiers and workers
to destroy revolutionary peace and order…. <hi rend="italic">Rabotchi Put</hi>, the
newspaper of the Bolsheviki, is pouring oil on the flames: it flattering, trying to
please the unenlightened people, tempting the worker and soldiers, urging them on
against the Government, promising them mountains of good things…. The confiding,
ignorant men believe, they do not reason…. And from the other side come also
rumours—rumours that the Dark Forces, the friends of the Tsar, the German spies, are
rubbing their hands with glee. They are ready to join the Bolsheviki, and with them
fan the disorders into civil war.</p>
<p>“The Bolsheviki and the ignorant soldiers and workers seduced by them cry
senselessly: ‘Down with the Government! All power to the Soviets!’ And the Dark
servants of the Tsar and the spies of Wilhelm will egg the on; ‘Beat the Jews, beat
the shopkeepers, rob the markets, devastate the shops, pillage the wine stores! Slay,
burn, rob!’</p>
<p>“And then will begin a terrible confusion, a war between one part of the people and
the other. All will become still more disorganised, and perhaps once more blood will
be shed on the streets of the capital. And then what then?</p>
<p>“Then, the road to Petrograd will be open to Wilhelm. Then, no bread will come to
Petrograd, the children will die of hunger. Then, the Army as the front will remain
without support, our brothers in the trenches will be delivered to the fire of the
enemy. Then, Russia will lose all prestige in other countries, our money will lose
its value; everything will be so dear as to make life impossible. Then, the long
awaited Constituent Assembly will be postponed—it will be impossible to convene it in
time. And then—Death to the Revolution, Death to our Liberty….</p>
<p>“Is it this that you want, workers and soldiers? No! If you do not then go, go to the
ignorant people seduced by the betrayers, and tell them the whole truth, which we
have told you!</p>
<p>“Let all know that EVERY MAN WHO IN THESE TERRIBLE DAYS CALLS ON YOU TO COME OUT IN
THE STREETS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT, IS EITHER A SECRET SERVANT OF THE TSAR, A
PROVOCATOR, OR AN UNWISE ASSISTANT OF THE ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE, OR A PAID SPY OF
WILHELM!</p>
<p>“Every conscious worker revolutionist, every conscious peasant, every revolutionary
soldier, all who understand what harm a demonstration or a revolt against the
Government might cause to the people, must join together and not allow the enemies of
the people to destroy our freedom.”</p>
<p><hi rend="italic">The Petrograd Electoral Committee of the
Mensheviki-oborontzi.</hi></p>
</div>
<div type="numeric" n="11">
<head>Lenin's "Letter to the Comrades"</head>
<p>This series of articles appeared in Rabotchi Put several days running, at the end of
October and beginning of November, 1917. I give here only extracts from two
instalments:</p>
<p><num>1</num>Kameniev and Riazanov say that we have not a majority among the people,
and that without a majority insurrection is hopeless. “Answer: People capable of
speaking such things are falsifiers, pedants, or simply don’t want to look the real
situation in the face. In the last elections we received in all the country more than
fifty per cent of all thevotes….</p>
<p>“The most important thing in Russia to-day is the peasants’ revolution. In Tambov
Government there has been a real agrarian uprising with wonderful political results….
Even Dielo Naroda has been scared into yelling that the land must be turned over to
the peasants, and not only the Socialist Revolutionaries in the Council of the
Republic, but also the Government itself, has been similarly affected. Another
valuable result was the bringing of bread which had been hoarded by the pomieshtchiki
to the railroad stations in that province. The Russkaya Volia had to admit that the
stations were filled with bread after the peasants’ rising….</p>
<p><num>2</num>We are not sufficiently strong to take over the Government, and the
bourgeoisie is not sufficiently strong to prevent the Constituent Assembly.</p>
<p>“Answer: This is nothing but timidity, expressed by pessimism as regards workers and
soldiers, and optimism as regards the failure of the bourgeoisie. If yunkers and
Cossacks say they will fight, you believe them; if workmen and soldiers say so, you
doubt it. What is the distinction between such doubts and siding politically with the
bourgeoisie?</p>
<p>“Kornilov proved that the Soviets were really a power. To believe Kerensky and the
Council of the Republic, if the bourgeoisie is not strong enough to break the
Soviets, it is not strong enough to break the Constituent. But that is wrong. The
bourgeoisie will break the Constituent by sabotage, by lock-outs, by giving up
Petrograd, by opening the front to the Germans. This has already been done in the
case of Riga….</p>
<p><num>3</num>The Soviets must remain a revolver at the head of the Government to force
the calling of the Constituent Assembly, and to suppress any further Kornilov
attempts.</p>
<p>“Answer: Refusal of insurrection is refusal of ‘All Power to the Soviets.’ Since
September the Bolshevik party has been discussing the question of insurrection.
Refusing to rise means to trust our hopes in the faith of the good bourgeoisie, who
have ‘promised’ to call the Constituent Assembly. When the Soviets have all the
power, the calling of the Constituent is guaranteed, and its success assured.</p>
<p>“Refusal of insurrection means surrender to the ‘Lieber-Dans.’ Either we must drop
‘All Power to the Soviets’ or make an insurrection; there is no middle course.”</p>
<p><num>4</num>The bourgeoisie cannot give up Petrograd, although the Rodziankos want
it, because it is not the bourgeoisie who are fighting, but our heroic soldiers and
sailors.</p>
<p>“Answer: This did not prevent two admirals from running away at the Moonsund battle.
The Staff has not changed; it is composed of Kornilovtsi. If the Staff, with Kerensky
at its head, wants to give up Petrograd, it can do it doubly or trebly. It can make
arrangements with the Germans or the British; open the fronts. It can sabotage the
Army’s food supply. At all these doors has it knocked.</p>
<p>“We have no right to wait until the bourgeoisie chokes the Revolution. Rodzianko is a
man of action, who has faithfully and truthfully served the bourgeoisie for years….
Half the Lieber-Dans are cowardly compromisers; half of them simple fatalists….”</p>
<p><num>5</num>We’re getting stronger every day. We shall be able to enter the
Constituent Assembly as a strong opposition. Then why should we play everything on
one card?”</p>
<p>“Answer: This is the argument of a sophomore with no practical experience, who reads
that the Constituent Assembly is being called and trustfully accepts the legal and
constitutional way. Even the voting of the Constituent Assembly will not do away with
hunger, or beat Wilhelm…. The issue of hunger and of surrendering Petrograd cannot be
decided by waiting for the Constituent Assembly. Hunger is not waiting. The peasants’
Revolution is not waiting. The Admirals who ran away did not wait.</p>
<p>“Blind people are surprised that hungry people, betrayed by admirals and generals, do
not take an interest in voting.</p>
<p><num>6</num>If the Kornilovtsi make an attempt, we would show them our strength. But
why should we risk everything by making an attempt ourselves?</p>
<p>“Answer: History doesn’t repeat. ‘Perhaps Kornilov will some day make an attempt!’
What a serious base for proletarian action! But suppose Kornilov waits for
starvation, for the opening of the fronts, what then? This attitude means to build
the tactics of a revolutionary party on one of the bourgeoisie’s former mistakes.</p>
<p>“Let us forget everything except that there is no way out but by the dictatorship of
the proletariat—either that or the dictatorship of Kornilov.</p>
<p>“Let us wait, comrades, for—a miracle!”</p>
</div>
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