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TO L. B. KAMENEV AND G. V. CHICHERIN. JULY 10, 1920 401
633
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU
OF THE C.C., R.C.P.(B.)
To all the members of the Politbureau:
I propose that Krasin and the entire delegation be given
the directive:
"Be firmer, don't be afraid of a temporary break of the
negotiations."419
Lenin
9/VII.
Written on July 9, 1920
First published in 1955 Printed from the original
in Collected. Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51 |
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634
TO L. B. KAMENEV AND G. V. CHICHERIN
Karnenev and Chicherin
Comrade Kamenev's plan is utterly incorrect.420 Our
business with Britain is purely commercial. Chicherin is not right. We should send to Britain only a "tradesman"; if they ask 2x/4 kopeks, beat them down to !3/4 kopeks.
Exposures here are harmful. This is not 1918. We have
the Comintern for that. All Kamenev's arguments—argu- ments against his going.
Lenin
10/VII.
P.S. For the time being we shall appoint Krasin, Vorovsky
and another 2-3 assistants.421 |
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TO THEODORE ROTHSTEIN. JULY 15, 1920 403
637
TO E. M. SKLYANSKY
Comrade Sklyansky,
The international situation, particularly Curzon's pro-
posal (annexation of the Crimea in exchange for a truce with Poland, the Grodno-Byelostok line),423 demands a furious acceleration of the offensive against Poland,
Is it being done? Everything? Energetically?
Lenin
Written on July 12 or 13, 1020
First published in 1805 Printed from the original
in Collected Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51
638
TO THEODORE ROTHSTEIN
15/VII. 1920
Dear Comrade,
Many thanks for the letters, which always contain ex-
tremely valuable information. I enclose a letter from my wife and ask you to give my regards to your wife and fam- ily, whom I met at your home in London,
About your journey to Russia, I am in two minds. You
are so very important for the work in London. Let them deport you: we shall see if they dare to do so. They would have to catch you on something, otherwise there will be a row. I am not against your coming "to take a look" at Russia, but I am afraid that to quit Britain is harmful for the work.
As to the delegation, we shall discuss this in all aspects
in a day or so. The same with the reply to Curzon,424 who, in my opinion, wants to grossly deceive us. He won't suc- ceed.
About sending you literature, I have taken special meas-
ures. You should know that a Russian has to be sworn at 20 times and verified 30 times to have the simplest thing done properly. Keep an eye on it and write more often (even sometimes to me)—then I shall push things on so that you get the missing publications more regularly. |
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TELEPHONE MESSAGE TO L. B. KAMKNEV. JULY 17, 1920 4Q5
viet Republics arc more advantageous to the British bour-
geoisie than unprofitable and even ruinous attempts to crush them. It is necessary to collect such writings for us, and besides this, to discuss with knowledgeable people whether in addition it would not be expedient to employ some kind of literary bureau or agency for the publication of such pamphlets, for giving lectures, and for their dis- tribution, etc. You, of course, know whom one should con- sult in the first place about this.
2. It is necessary to organise through special people
the regular collection, purchase, without stinting money, and dispatch to us in 5 copies, of books, articles, pamphlets, newspaper cuttings, particularly in English, but also in other languages, on questions of modern economics. As an example, Keynes's Economic Consequences of the Peace. This is the sort of publication that should be collected syste- matically.
3. Do the same, but only through special people, for
the collection and dispatch to us in 20 copies of periodical publications of all kinds, and especially pamphlets and minutes of the following four trends: 1—communist, 2— Centrist (for example, the Independent Labour Party in Britain), 3—anarchist or near to it, 4—syndicalist, etc.
4. All this should be properly organised by a legal
agreement, through someone who must be a British subject and not a Communist
5. Please send me personally: 1—good recent reference
books and summary statistical publications, geographical, political and economic, particularly in English and French, which are more easily obtainable in London, and 2—two good thermos flasks.
Lenin
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Dictated by telephone on
July 17, 1920
First published in 19G5 Printed from
in Collected Works. the typewritten copy
Fifth Ed., Vol. 01
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TO THE MEMBERS OF THE C.L.D. JULY 1920 407
with goods, Russian and foreign, by agreement with
the local peasants;
(c) the compilation (and checking) of a list of "respons-
ible" peasants (5-20%, etc., of the householders of each village, depending on its size, to be selected from the local rich peasants starting from the top, i.e., according to wealth).
The "responsible" peasants are to be personally
answerable for the fulfilment of food and other assign- ments of the authorities.
After the departure of the troops, the special task
of the local authorities will be to ensure the proper and safe keeping of this list (for non-fulfilment of this task—death sentence);
(d) the disarming of the rich peasants.
Complete collection of arms. Responsibility for
undiscovered arms rests on the commander of the army unit; for non-declaration of arms it rests on the person with whom they are found (death sentence), and on the whole group of "responsible" peasants (a fine, not in money, but in grain and articles; con- fiscation of property, arrest; work in the mines);
(e) assistance in sowing the fields, in repairs to agricul-
tural implements, and other necessary work (guard- ing stores or checking the guard over them, work on the railways, etc.) (guarding stores of salt, etc.).
2. For the purposes indicated above, a commissar or
instructor to be added to each army unit (to its Communist cell) (muster 1,000 people if necessary from the Petrograd, Moscow, Ivanovo-Voznesensk workers) to control fulfilment of the tasks mentioned.
3. In "stubborn" volosts or villages, the army units
either to organise a "third visit" (by troops) or to remain longer billeted (up to 2 weeks) for punishment and correc- tion.
4. Part of these decisions to be put through the Defence
Council, part through the Council of the Labour Army and the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukraine.
5. A highly popular leaflet to be published for the peas-
ants to explain matters in general, and the idea of the stocks of food for exchange for foreign goods, in particular. |
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TO L. B. KAMENEV. AUGUST 1920 409
about a candidate. Please inform me also what promises
the Commander-in-Chief is late with. Our diplomacy is subordinated to the C.C. and will never disrupt our successes, if the Wrangel danger does not cause vacil- lations within the Central Committee. From the Kuban area and the Don Region we are getting alarming, even desperate, telegrams about the menacing growth of the insurgent movement. They are insisting on more speed in defeating Wrangel.
Lenin
Written on August 3, 1920
Sent to Lozovaya
Tlrst published in 1959 Printed from the original
in Lenin Miscellany XXXVl
645
TO I. T. SMILGA AND M. N. TUKHACHEVSKY
In code
by direct line 3. VIII. 1920
Comrade Smilga
and Comrade Tukhachevsky
All measures should be taken to promulgate in Poland
on the widest possible scale the Manifesto of the Polish Revolutionary Committee. Use our aircraft for this. Report what you have done.
Lenin
First published in 1942 Printed from the text in
in l.fnin Miscellany XXXIV Sklyansky'8 handwriting
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TO L. B. KAMENEV
We should say (in regard to the frontier) that we shall
give more (the line will be farther to the east),*" but not say: "much" more, much farther to the east.
Written In August.
not later than b, 1920
First published in (905 Printed from the original
in Collected Works.
Firth Ed., Vol. 51 |
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TELEGRAM TO A. G. BELOBORODOV, AUGUST 10, 1920 411
649
TO THE PETROGRAD SOVIET
10. VIII. 1920
Please publish an atlas,
similar to the book
Railways of Russia (publication of the A. Ilyin Carto-
graphical Institute. Petrograd, September 1, 1918),
1) i.e., in a single small-sized book;
2) maps each on 2 pages of the book, if possible without
folding the sheets;
3) on each map the new boundaries of the gubernias
(with the same colour as in Ilyin's for each gubernia). All uyezd towns;
4) railways, indicating every station;
5) new state frontiers;
6) separately: regions and territories which have fallen
away from the former Russian Empire (on a separate map);
7) append some historical maps indicating the line of
the fronts (of the Civil War) at various periods from 1917 to 1920.
Lenin
First published in 1942 Printed from the original
in Lenin Miscellany XXXIV
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050
TELEGRAM TO A. G. BELOBORODOV
In code
10. VIII. 1920
Beloborodov
Council of the Caucasian Labour Army
Rostov-on-Don or present whereabouts Armavir, etc.
Please wire how matters stand in regard to the revolts
in the Caucasus and on the Kuban, whether they are in- creasing or weakening, whether all measures have been |
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TO THE NARROW C.P.C. AUGUST 1920 413
No\v he is ill. lie is badly in need of extra nourishment.
Cannot it be arranged for him to use the Kremlin dining-
room? 1 earnestly request this and a ration (increased) for him, and help of every kind.
Lenin
first published in 1965 Printed from the original
in Collected Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51 |
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653
TO N. N. KRESTINSKY42'
11. VIII. 1920
Comrade Krestinsky,
Comrade Lao, Chairman of the Union of Chinese Workers
in Russia, needs to confer with you on a number of ques- tions. Will you please give him this possibility.
With communist greetings,
Lenin
First published in 1965 Printed from the original
in Collected Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51
654
TO THE NARROW COUNCIL
OF PEOPLE'S COMMISSARS"0
Narrow Council:
Please consider the request (§ b in the Orgbureau partly],
It should be complied with to a certain extent, for the strug- gle against illiteracy is a task more important than any
other.
Lenin
Written in August,
not earlier than 11, 1920
First published in 19'i5 Printed from the Original
in Lenin Mixellany XXXV
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LETTER TO CHICHERIN AND TELEGRAM TO KAMENEV 415
658
TELEGRAM TO G. Y. ZINOVIEV
Zinoviev
Smolny
Petrograd
Krzhizhanovsky reports that the Chairman of the Hous-
ing Committee for the Poor, at No. 15, Alexandrovsky Pros- pekt, PetrogradskayaStorona, is threatening Professor Hein- rich Graftio, who occupies ilat No. 3, with house-searches and confiscation of his property.
Graftio is a respected professor, who is on our side. He
must be protected against the arbitrary action of the Chair- man of the Housing Committee for the Poor. Please report fulfilment.
Lenin
Chairman, Council of People's Commissars
Written on August 13, 1920
First published in 1965 Printed from the text
in Collected Works, in JFotieva's handwriting
Fifth Ed., Vol 51 signed by Lenin
659
LETTER TO G. V. CHICHERIN
AND A TELEGRAM TO L. B. KAMENEV
14. VIII. 1920
Comrade Chicherin,
I hope you will fully inform Kamenev of all the facts
showing that France and Daszynski are torpedoing the meet- ing in Minsk?433
This is essential. Very, very much so.
Danishevsky must be told that he should begin with a
solemn declaration of
(a) independence and sovereignly
(b) a frontier giving more than Curzon's434
(c) no indemnities. Isn't that so?
In reply to Kamenev's request I am sending you for cod-
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TELEGRAM TO I. T. SMILGA, AUGUST 18, 1920 417
661
TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF HEALTH RESORTS
AND SANATORIA OF THE CAUCASUS
17. VIII. 1920
Please do everything to help provide the hest accom-
modation and treatment for the bearer,
Comrade Inessa Fyodorovna Armand, with her sick son.
Plear-e afford these Party comrades, who are personally
known to me, complete trust and every assistance.
V. Ulyanov (Lenin)
Chairman, C.P.C.
First published in 1945 Printed from the original
in Lenin Miscellany XXXV
662
TELEGRAM TO K. KH. DANISHEVSKY
In coda
Danishevsky
It is ridiculous to complain of the enemy's perfidy while
there is still no armistice. Keep cool and absolutely firm, not yielding one iota, until the Poles show they seriously want peace.
Lenin
Written on August 17, 1920
Sent to Minsk
First published In 1905 Printed from the original
in Collected Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51
663
TELEGRAM TO I. T. SMILGA
In code
Smilga
The offensive of the Poles makes it very important for
us to increase our pressure, if only for a few days. Do every- thing possible. If you consider it useful, issue an order to
14-2075
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TO M. N. POKROVSKY. AUGUST 1920 419
by giving them land and forests of the Polish gentry.
Report in more detail, check locally.
Lenin
Written on August 19, 1920
First published in 1965 Printed from the original
in Collected Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51
666
TELEGRAM TO V. P. ZATONSKY
Please dispatch
to Zatonsky
in code
(Sklyansky knows the address and code)
Let us know in greater detail what you are doing to raise
the Galician peasants. Armaments have been sent to you. Are they sufficient? Crush the Polish landowners and the kulaks ruthlessly so that the farm hands, and the mass of the peas- ants, feel there has been a sharp turn in their favour. Are you using aeroplanes for agitation?436
Lenin
Written on August 19, 1920
First published in 1965 Printed from the original
in Collected Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51
667
TO M. N. POKROVSKY
Comrade Pokrovsky
1) What is the legal status of Proletcult?437
2) What is the nature of its leading centre and 3) by
whom was it appointed?
4) How is it financed by the People's Commissariat for
Education?
5) Anything else of importance about the position, role
and results of the work of Proletcult.
Lenin
Written in August,
not later than 20, 1920
First published in 1945 Printed from the original
in Lenin Miscellany XXXV
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NOTE TO POLITBUREAU OF C.C., R.C.P.fB.). AUGUST 20, 1920421
670
TELEGRAM TO L. B. KAMENEV
AND A NOTE TO G. V. CHICHERIN
Kamenev in code
It is hardly likely that we shall capture Warsaw soon.*
The enemy there has built up strength and is attacking. Obviously, Lloyd George is deliberately dividing up the roles with Churchill, using pacifist phrases to conceal the real policy of the French and Churchill and duping the Hen- derson-and-Co. fools. Do your utmost to bring this home to the British workers; write articles and theses for them yourself, teach Marxism concretely, teach them to make use of the leftward swings of the Hendersons, teach them agi- tation among the masses—that is your main task. Lloyd George has been duping us with pacifism and has helped Churchill to land assistance for the Poles in Danzig. That is the essence of the matter. Maintain contact with the Ru- manian Ambassador.
Lenin**
Comrade Chicherin,
Send it if you have no objection. If you have, we'll talk
it over on the telephone.
Lenin
Written on August 20, 1920
Sent to London
First published in 19G5 Printed from the original,
in Collected Works.
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51
671
NOTE TO THE POLITICAL BUREAU OF THE C.C.,
R.C.P.(B.) WITH DRAFT OF A TELEGRAM
TO V. S. MICKIEWICZ-KAPSUKAS439
I propose replying:
The present moment is definitely unsuitable, while we
are retreating from Warsaw. Send the most detailed and |
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* The -word "soon" is in Chicherin's handwriting.—Ed.
** The telegram is signed also by Chicherin.— Ed. |
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TO G. K. ORJONIKIDZE. AUGUST 1920 423
673
NOTE TO THE SECRETARY
Tell Chicherin,
1) In my opinion, Kamenev is right: we must send our
reply through him (and in the negative).
2) Negotiations with Vanderlip to be begun through
Krasin, exact terms to be ascertained without summoning Vanderlip here.440
Written in August,
prior to 21, 1920
First published in 1965 Printed from the original
in Collected Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51
674
TO THE ORGANISING BUREAU
OF THE C.C., R.C.P.(B.)
Krestinsky
for the Orgbureau
I agree with Krestinsky that Preobrazhensky "didn't make
a success of it".
It should be more detailed, more agitational, with more
feeling—and clearer and more business-like.
Let Zinoviev write it (he will be here tomorrow, 25/8),
and the Orgbureau will correct it.441
Lenin
Written on August 24, 1920
First published in 1965 Printed from the original
in Collected Works,
Fifth Ed,, Vol. 51
675
TO G. K. ORJONIKIDZE
Comrade Sergo,
I am sending you reports delivered to me. Return them,
please, with your remarks about the facts: what is true, what is untrue.442
I daresay you get into a bad temper, on occasion, don't
YOU?
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TO THE NARROW C.P.C. AUGUST 31, 1920 425
678
TO F. E. DZERZHINSKY
Comrade Dzerzhinsky,
I enclose a coded message from Comrade Beloborodov.444
In my opinion the danger is immense. I propose:
the adoption of a directive from the Political Bureau
asking the Orgbureau, by arrangement with the Com-- missariat for Military Affairs and the Vecheka, to draw up emergency measures to combat the danger of a re- volt and to mobilise sufficient army, Cheka and Party forces. Please hand all this at once to Comrade Krestinsky (he
will be away for only a few hours today) and for your part
adopt all measures at once.
If we are faced with a revolt on the Kuban, our whole
policy (which was spoken about in the C.C.) will crash. It
is necessary, at all costs, to prevent a revolt, and not to
grudge people or efforts for this. Should we not send Mantsev
there?
Yours,
Lenin
Written in August,
not earlier than 28, 1920
First published in 1965 Printed from the original
in Collected Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51
679
TO THE NARROW COUNCIL
OF PEOPLE'S COMMISSARS"5
Narrow Council:
It is essential to centralise and combine aid, distributing
it correctly.
Lenin
31/8.
Written on August 31, 1920
First published m 1945 Printed from the original
in Lenin Miscellany XXXV
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TO PODOLSK UYEZD FOOD COMMITTEE. SEPTEMBER 6, 1920 427
682
INSTRUCTION ON NADEZHDA NIKULINA'S
LETTER
Dear Vladimir Ilyich,
Only my desperate situation compels me to trouble you with a most
humble request. I am 74 years old, for 51 of them I have served my dear Moscow to the best of my strength and ability.... Knowing how crowded are the conditions in which the population is living, I met the authorities halfway and voluntarily gave up several rooms in my little house. All that remains are rooms that I need for myself or cold communicating rooms unsuitable for living in. Now they threaten to take these rooms away as well. I implore you to help me.... A few words, written by your order, will be sufficient guarantee for me.
With sincere respect,
Honoured Artist of the State Maly Theatre,
N. Nikullna
Check and phone that she is to be left in peace.
Written in September,
not earlier than 3, 1920
First published in 1945 Printed from the original
in Lenin Miscellany XXXV
683
TELEGRAM TO THE PODOLSK UYEZD FOOD
COMMITTEE
Podolsk Uyezd Food Committee
Copy to Podolsk Uyezd Executive Committee
The following petition448 has reached me directly.
I can testify that Bogdanovo village (popularly known
as Bogdanikha) is very bad off for food. Will you therefore please examine their petition without delay, and alleviate their position as much as you can, i.e., by reducing their requisition quota as far as possible.
Please notify me of your decision both in writing and
by telephone message.
V. Ulyanov (Lenin)
Chairman, C.P.C.
6/IX. 1920
First published in 1942 Printed from the original
in Lenin Miscellany XXXIV
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TO A. I. RYKOV AND A. M. LEZHAVA. SEPTEMBER 10, 1920 429
686
TO L. D. TROTSKY
In code
9. IX. 1920 Trotsky
I consider of the utmost importance Yakovlev's proposal
concerning the Crimean army which was passed on to you from Gusev. I advise that the proposal be adopted and a special check instituted, and, independently of this, an ap- peal-manifesto be prepared at once over the signatures of yourself, Kalinin, myself, the Commander-in-Chief, Brusi- lov and a number of other former generals, with precise proposals and guarantees, and also mentioning the fate of Eastern Galicia and the increasing insolence of the Poles. I request your earliest opinion, or better still your draft of the manifesto.452
Lenin
First published in 1965 Printed from the original
in Collected Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51 |
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687
TELEPHONE MESSAGE TO A. I. RYKOV
AND A. M. LEZHAVA
Rykov
Supreme Economic Council
Lezhava
People's Commissariat for Foreign Trade
The various big timber export deals concluded by our
London Trade Delegation are of great political and econom- ic importance. They virtually break the blockade. The most serious attention, therefore, should be given to the precise and careful execution of these contracts, in accord- ance with the terms agreed on. Please give immediately all the relevant instructions along these lines and establish effective control over their implementation. |
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TO R.M.C. OF CAUCASIAN FRONT. SEPTEMBER 13 OR 14, 1920 431
689
TELEGRAM TO V. Y. CHUBAR AND V. N. KSANDROV
By direct line
Chubar
Ukrainian Industrial Bureau
and Ksandrov Central Administration of the Donets Coalfields
On 10/IX, the Council of Defence resolved to pass a
strict reprimand on the Ukrainian Industrial Bureau and the Central Administration of the Donets Coalfields for fail- ing to supply information: 1) in reply to the inquiry of the Chief Coal Committee dated 20/VIII, 2) —of the Council of Labour and Defence dated 4/IX, and to warn them that if a satisfactory reply is not given at once, more serious penalties will be meted out to the entire personnel of these institutions.
Lenin
Chairman, Council of Labour and Defence
Written on September
13 or 14, 1920
First published in 1942 Printed from the text
In l.enin Miscellany XXXIV in Fotieva's handwriting
signed by Lenin
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690
TELEGRAM
TO THE REVOLUTIONARY MILITARY COUNCIL
OF THE CAUCASIAN FRONT
R.M.C., Caucasian Front
The Council of Labour and Defence has resolved to pass
a strict reprimand on the Revolutionary Military Council of the Caucasian Front for non-fulfilment of the decision of the Council of Labour and Defence dated 25/VI and of the order of the Field Headquarters of the Republic dated 5/VII,45* and to warn the members of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Caucasian Front that if they do not |
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TO A. M. LEZHAVA. SEPTEMBER 20, 1920 433
693
TO A. M. LEZHAVA486
Comrade Lezhava
(After conferring with Sklyansky, a decision must be
arrived at as quickly as possible and measures taken.)
Lenin
16/IX.
P.S. Such documents should be sent direct to the Com-
missariat for Foreign Trade, to avoid loss of time.
Written on September 16, i920
First published in part Printed from the original
on November 24, 1963,
in Fravda. No. 328
Published in full in 1955
in Collected Works, Fifth Ed., Vol. 51
694
TO A. M. LEZHAVA
Comrade Lezhava 20. IX. 1920
Comrade Lezhava,
You should urgently see Zimmerman and raise the fol-
lowing in the Politbureau:
Flatten through his courier (Zimmerman, a Communist
from Switzerland, who is now here and leaves tomorrow, 21/IX) asks
for his mandate as trade representative of the R.S.F.S.R.
in Switzerland to be continued and confirmed, as this
1) will help him, Flatten, to be released from prison (he has
already begun to serve bis 6-month sentence) ahead of time;
2) will strengthen his position in the communist move-
ment.
Flatten must be helped with money: he is in dire straits.
Lenin
First published in 1965 Printed from the original
in Collected Works.
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51 |
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TO S. I. GILLERSON. SEPTEMBER 25, 1920 435
697
TO G. V. CHICHERIN468
Comrade Chicherin,
It is necessary:
1) To put before the C.C. another draft of a precise deci-
sion: the C.C. prohibits acting in such-and-such a way, and demands so-and-so.
2) To lodge a protest against each violation concretely.
3) To put through the C.C. the appointment of a respon-
sible person (not a very "high" one).
Otherwise the result is nothing but grousing.
Lenin
Written in September,
not earlier than 24, 1920
First published In 1959 Printed from the original
In Lenin Miscellany XXXVI
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698
TO S. I. GILLERSON
Very urgent
Gi Her son Prague
Publish at once in the press and inform the Congress
of the Czechoslovak Social-Democratic Party459 that Franz Benes's mention of a talk alleged to have taken place with me on the possibility or impossibility of a proletarian dic- tatorship in Czechoslovakia is a lie from beginning to end and that not only did I never talk with him but I have never even seen him. It goes without saying that my opinion of Bela Kun and of the Hungarian Revolution, as quoted by Benes, is just as foul a lie.
Lenin
Written on September 25, 1920
First published in 1965 Printed from
in Collected Works, the typewritten copy
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51
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NOTE TO G. M. KRZHIZHANOVSKY. SEPTEMBER 20, 1920 437
3. The peasants obtain a pood of wheat and mill it into
the finest flour, getting 18-20 pounds. It would be better to mill into simple flour, the peasants will agree to this.
4. Special attention to be paid to the village black-
smiths' shops for repairs to agricultural machinery. Charcoal to be supplied to them.
Is it true that there have been instances in Siberia of
butter being used to grease carts (instead of tar)?
Lenin
26. IX. 20
First published in 1945 Printed from
in Lenin Miscellany XXXV the typewritten copy
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701
NOTE TO G. M. KRZHIZHANOVSKY AND MARKINGS
ON BULLETIN No. 5 OF THE STATE
COMMISSION FOR THE ELECTRIFICATION OF
RUSSIA461
Comrade G. M. Krzhizhanovsky
Gleb Maximilianovich,
Please return this to me, after reading pp. 20-21, with
a couple of words.
Yours,
Lenin
... Undoubtedly, in the early stages we, as is done nowadays in
ail Europe and America, have to pay particular attention to the ra- tional utilisation of the already existing electro-technical equipment. At the present time, the accelerated setting in full motion of our main |
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existing power stations, the combined work of a group of stations,
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and the rational use of the electrical networks, may have an import-
ance which it is difficult to overestimate.
Recently, throughout the provinces, we observe a widespread tend-
ency towards the construction of new small stations, particularly in those cases where it is possible to use some kind of water power. However vital this trend may be, we should not forget that from the point of view of expediency in the matter of electrification only big district power stations are a decisive factor.... N.B. |
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TO N. I. BUKHARIN. SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 1920
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439
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Pay attention. Is the requisition quota of 11 million poods
correct? Should it not be cut down?
With communist greetings,
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First published in 1945
in Lenin Miscellany XXXV |
Lenin
Printed from the original
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703
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NOTE TO THE SECRETARY
Ask for information about the circumstances of the loss
of Pinsk, including that of staffs and materiel.463 Was the danger known beforehand? |
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Written in September,
not earlier than 28, 1920
First published in 1945
In Lenin Miscellany XXXV |
Printed from the original
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704
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TO N. N. KRESTINSKY
Comrade Krestinsky,
I think we should get a decision passed through the Org-
bureau, and instruct the Revolutionary Military Council to regularise it, that special agents of the Food Commis- sariat are included as members of the Revolutionary Milita- ry Councils of the fronts with the right to vote on questions concerning the Food Commissariat.
Lenin
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Written in September,
not later than 29, 1920
First published in 1965
in Collected Works, Fifth Ed., Vol. 51 |
Printed from the original
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705
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TO N. I. RUKHARIN*64
Bogdanov has fooled you by disguising (verkleidet) an
old dispute and trying to shift it onto a different plane. And you are taken in by it! |
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Written between September and
December 1920
First published in 1930
in Lsnin Miscellany XII |
Printed from the original
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____________ TO THE NARROW C.P.C. OCTOBER 3, 1920_______ 441
a lengthy rest and treatment. Please give him 3 months'
leave with pay and rations. His address: Samara railway station.
V. Ulyanov (Lenin)
Chairman, Council of People's Commissars
Written on October 1, 1920
First published in 1965 Printed from the typewritten
in Collected Works, text signed by Lenin
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51
708
TO L. D. TROTSKY
Comrade Trotsky,
I think that hoth Kamenev and Zinoviev should be sent
immediately to the Southern Front (and particularly to the 1st Mounted Army), The aim—to inspect political work, step it up and revitalise it, to accelerate the whole tempo. Otherwise we shall not overcome the present mood.
Lenin
2/X.
Written on October 2, 1920
First published in 1965 Printed from the original
In Collected Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51
709
TO THE NARROW COUNCIL
OF PEOPLE'S COMMISSARS466
Narrow Council:
It should not be given at all, in my opinion, for
Headquarters of the R.M.C. of the Western Front can (and should) be accommodated in other buildings, even if a bit crowded.
Lenin
3/X.
Written on October 3, 1920
First published in 1945 Printed from the original
In Lenin Miscellany XXXV
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TO THE ORGBUREAU OF THE C.C., R.C.P.(B.). OCTOBER 8, 1920 443
712
TO N. N. KRESTINSKY
6. X. 1920
Comrade Krestinsky,
Please raise the question in the Orgbureau. I think more
should be issued for the sick by way of special diet and a decision adopted to improve it,
by setting up a medical commission.
For scorbutics and other patients, I think, we should
at once allow purchases to be made on the free market, subject to certain rules (perhaps also a commission and with the co-operation of the state farms).
Regarding the protest of the Petrograd Central Committee,
I propose that votes be collected. I vote for:
1) mobilising Zinoviev;
2) cancelling general mobilisation of men.
Lenin
First published in part
In 1959
in Lrnin Miscellany XXXVI
Published in full in 1965 Printed from the original
In Collected Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51 |
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713
TO THE ORGANISING BUREAU OF THE C.C.,
R.C.P.(B.)
8. X. 1920
Orgbureau of the Central Committee
In the resolution of the Orgbureau of 7.X (No. 59,
point 3),
sub-point b reprimands Comrade Bonch-Bruyevich for im-
permissibly approaching me on this and "similar petty questions".
I request that this sub-point be cancelled
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TO A. M. HELLER. OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 1920 445
715
TO N. I. BUKHARIN469
Why now dwell on the differences between us (per-
haps possible ones)1, if it suffices to state (and prove) on behalf of Hie Central Committee as a whole:
(1) proletarian culture=communisin
(2) is carried out by the R.C.P.
(3) the proletar.-class=R.C.P.=/S'o^iei power.
We are all agreed on this, aren't we?
Written oa October 11, 1920
First published in i95S Printed from the original
in Voproey /efcHi KPSS No- 1
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716
TO A. M. HELLER
Comrade Heller,
Obtain for me without fail Traves's speech, quoted here
(pagina 3).470
Collect all the material and translate the gist in order
to prove every proposition of the Turin programme. To prove it.
Greetings,
Lenin
Written between October 11
and November 4, 1920
First published in 1965 Printed from the original
in Collected Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51 |
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TO G. M. KRZHIZHANOVSKY. OCTOBER 14, 1920 447
720
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE POLITICAL BUREAU
OF THE C.C., R.C.P.(B.)173
Members of the Politbureau
I think we should agree with the Commander-in-Chief,
adding: until the armistice becomes an actual fact. »
Lenin
13/X.
Written on October 13, 1920
First published in 1961 Printed from the original
in the book: Iz istorii
grazhdanshai voiny v SSSR, |
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721
TO G. M. KRZHIZHANOVSKY
14/X.
Gleb Maximilianovich,
I am sending Nikolayev's reply.
Tomorrow Botin should arrive and I will send him to
you.
In view of Nikolayev's doubts and suspicions, things
with Botin should be put on a precise and formal basis: i.e., either you say, "it is not worth trying". Then we shall put an end to it all. Or you say, "it is worth while trying again". Then Botin is delegated to you and you give him an exact assignment, place him in exact working conditions, under exact control. (Cannot he be made to write in detail, in great detail, about the Tifiis experiment?)
Yours,
Lenin
Written on October 14, 1920
First published in 1965 Printed from the original
in Collected Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51 |
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TO PRINTING AND PUBLISHING DEPARTMENT OF THE S.E.C. 449
724
TO THE STAFF OF THE CEMENT WORKS
AT SHCHUROVO STATION
16. X. 1920
Cement Works Shchurovo Station
I congratulate the workers and other employees of the
works that has been put into operation. I hope that by energetic work you will succeed in restoring and surpassing the former output. I ask the Works Committee and the Com- munist cell to send me, after a month or two, a report on the progress of the work.
Lenin
Chairman, Council of Defence
First published in 1942 Printed from the original
in Lenin Miscellany XXXIV
725
TO THE PRINTING AND PUBLISHING DEPARTMENT
OF THE SUPREME ECONOMIC COUNCIL
Copy to the Pravda Printing-Press.*
Please inform me how you account for such bad printing
of Pravda as No. 231 for 16/X, enclosed herewith. Since I shall be raising this question in the Council of People's Commissars, I ask you to supply me urgently with informa- tion as to what measures you are taking and what guaran- tees there are for an improvement of the present position.
V, Ulyanov (Lenin)
Chairman, Council of People's Commissars
Written on October 10, 1920
First published in 1942 Printed from the typewritten
in Lenin Miscellany XXXIV text, added to and signed
by Lenin
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* This line is in Lenin's handwriting.—Ed.
15-2075
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TO A. M. LEZHAVA AND M. N. POKROVSKY. OCTOBER 21, 1920 451
728
TO F. E. DZERZHINSKY
Urgent
Comrade Dzerzhinsky
Bandits have seized the Boldyrev (Rasskazovo) factories
(Tambov Gubernia).
It is an absolute scandal.
I propose that the Chekists (and the Gubernia Executive
Committee people) of Tambov Gubernia who were caught off their guard
1) be court-martialled,
2) that Kornev be severely reprimanded,
3) that extremely energetic people be sent there at once,
4) that a severe trimming and instructions be given by
telegraph.
Lenin
Written in October,
after 19, 1920
First published in lf-65 Printed from the original
in Collected Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 51
729
TO A. M. LEZHAVA AND M. N. POKROVSKY
Comrades Lezhava and M. N. Pokrovsky
I insist that this matter be speeded up to the utmost and
a draft decision be submitted to the C.P.C. on Tuesday (26.X):
1) to decide on the sale of these articles abroad as quickly
as possible;
2) to require from the People's Commissariat for Educa-
tion an official reply before Tuesday, 26/X, as to whether they have any objection (it is said they have already picked out articles for our museums: I agree to let them have only the strictly necessary minimum);
3) to send abroad at once a special commission of experts+
traders, promising them a good bonus for a speedy and profitable sale; |
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TO THE STATE PUBLISHERS. OCTOBER 21, 1920 453
Address: Kazan (railway station), goods station, truck
No. 506955 on the Krivoi track, Petrov from the Gu- bernia Party Committee.
First published in 1945 Printed from the original
in Lenin Miscellany XXXV
731
TO THE NARROW COUNCIL
OF PEOPLE'S COMMISSARS478
Please go into this matter as quickly as possible. It is
evident from the enclosed that the instruction of the Food Commissariat (of the centre) puts these products at the disposal of the Commission for Improving Scientists' Liv+ ing Conditions. Hence, without the consent of the centre, Petrograd has no right to requisition them or take them into account!
Lenin
21/X.
Written on October 21, 1920
First published in 1945 Printed from the original
in Lenin Miscellany XXXV
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732
TO THE STATE PUBLISHERS*79
21/X.1920
1) The first is amateurish. Klein is a good book, more
are needed.
2) The second (Brodsky). An unnecessary and untimely
undertaking.
A. I. Rykov has been informed of a number of the worst
mistakes, etc.
First published in part In 1945 Printed from the oricinal
in Lenin Miscellany XXXV
Published in full in 1965
In Collected Works, Fifth Ed,, YOl, 51 |
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TO CONTROL COMMISSION OP THE R.C.P.(B.). OCTOBER 27, 1920 455
735
TO THE VLADIMIR GUBERNIA
PARTY COMMITTEE482
27. X. 1920
Gubernia Party Committee
Vladimir (gubernia centre)
I certify that Comrades Ratriikov, Rybakov, Romanov
and Glazunov visited me on 27. X. 1920 on behalf of the uyezd Party conference (Alexandrov Uyezd, Vladimir Gubernia) in regard to a case of flagrant Party and Soviet abuses.
I consider their approach to "me quite in order and called
for by the circumstances of the case and ask to be informed what general procedure you have established for members of uyezd Party organisations to approach Moscow in general and the C.C., R.C.P. in particular.
With communist greetings,
V. Ulyanov (Lenin)
First published in 1942 Printed from the original
In Lenin Miscellany XXXIV
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736
TO THE CONTROL COMMISSION
OF THE R.C.P.(B.)
Comrades Dzerzhinsky, Muranov, Preobrazhensky, and
others
I earnestly request you to receive personally Comrades
Ratnikov, Rybakov, Romanov and Glazunov from the uyezd Party conference (Alexandrov Uyezd, Vladimir Gubernia) about a case of flagrant, exceedingly glaring abuses (So- viet and Party) at the Troitsk Equipment Works, and partic- ularly about the difficulties experienced by Party members in taking the case to the centre and getting it speedily examined if even through Party channels. Apparently—this |
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TO A. I, RYKOV AND I, I, RADCHENKO. OCTOBER 28, 1920 457
extraction makes it possible to go ahead immeasurably more
rapidly and firmly and on a broader front. It is therefore essential immediately to take a number of measures on a national scale to develop this work.
Please discuss this question immediately and give me
without delay your comments (corrections, additions, coun- ter-plans, and so on) on the following proposals arising from yesterday's preliminary exchange of opinions.
1. To regard work on applying the hydraulic method of
peat extraction as of prime state importance and therefore especially urgent. To pass a decision to this effect through the Council of People's Commissars on Saturday, 30/X.
2. To instruct all chief committees (and other bodies),
on whose support the successful work of the Commission (or committee?) for Hydraulic Peat Extraction (under the Chief Peat Committee) mainly depends, to delegate their represen- tatives (preferably Communists or, in any case, people known to be conscientious and particularly energetic) to take a permanent part in this commission. To make them respon- sible, in particular, for the speediest fulfilment, without any procrastination, of the orders and requests of this commis- sion. To give the Council of People's Commissars the names and addresses of these representatives.
3. The same in regard to some of the most important fac-
tories involved. List of these factories to be drawn up.
4. To instruct the Naval Department to have its own
representative on the commission, one fully acquainted with the stocks of materials and technical facilities of this depart- ment.
5. To issue Red Army rations to the group of people on
whose work the rapid and complete success of the matter directly depends, increasing at the same time their remune- ration so as to enable them to devote themselves wholly and completely to their work. To instruct the Commis- sion for Hydraulic Peat Extraction to send immediately to the People's Commissariat for Food and the All-Russia Central Council of Trade Unions a list (exact) of these peo- ple, indicating standards of remuneration, bonuses, etc.
6. To discuss immediately with the People's Commis-
sariat for Foreign Trade what orders should be placed at once with Swedish and German factories (perhaps engaging |
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TO P. I. POPOV. OCTOBER 30, 1920 459
738
TELEGRAM TO M. V. FRUNZE181
In code
28. X. 1920
Frunze, Commander of the Southern Front
Copy to Trotsky
In reply to your No. 001/iim. I am indignant at your
optimistic tone, when you yourself report that there is only one chance in a hundred that the main task, set long ago, will be successful. If things are so outrageously bad, I ask you to discuss measures of the utmost urgency for bringing up heavy artillery, for constructing lines for its transport, for getting sappers, and so on.
Lenin
First published in 1941 Printed from the original
in the book: M. V. Frunze
no. frontakh grazhdanskoi voiny. Sbornik dohumeniov '
739
TO P. I. POPOV485
1) The number of Soviet office workers.
2) By separate People's Commissariats.
3) If possible—by departments.
4) If possible—according to the main categories (experts,
service personnel, clerical staff, etc.).
5) Other information (sex, etc.) depending on the kind
of information, in the questionnaire.
Please divide the work into two parts:
1) The briefest information (number, etc.).
Not more than 4 weeks.
2) Detailed information—how many weeks?
3) The most detailed—how many weeks?
V. Lenin
30/X. 1920
First published in 194,1 Printed from
in Lenin Miscellany XXXV the typewritten copy
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TO A. Z, GOLTSMAN. NOVEMBER 3, 1920
|
461
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Comrade Sktyansky
Carry out without delay. Report on fulfilment and I
will take up the question of non-compliance and punish- ment in the Narrow Council.
V. Ulyanov (Lenin)
Chairman, C.P.C.
2/XI.
Written on November 2, 1920
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First published in 1965
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Printed from the original
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in Collected Works,
Fifth Ed., Vol. 61 |
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742
TO A. Z. GOLTSMAN
Urgent. Personal
3/XI.1920. 21. 25 hours Comrade Goltsman Copy to Etsmont Copy to the Chief Clothing Board
The Chief Clothing Board should submit for consideration
by the Bonus Awards Commission the question of bonuses for the production of 20,000 pairs of hunting boots.
The question is of tremendous importance for our victory
in the south, and it is most important that the boots be made quickly. I request you to look into this urgently, and to take steps to ensure that the boots are actually ma.de in the time demanded by the Commander-iri-Chief, Comrade Ka- menev.
V. Ulyanov (Lenin)
Chairman, Council of Labour and Defence
P.S. I direct Comrade Sklyansky to control the fulfil-
ment.*
Lenin
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First published in part in 1961
in the book: Leninshiye idei zhivut
i pobezhdayut. Sbornik statei
(Lenin's Ideas Live and Triumph.
|
Printed from the typewrit-
ten text,
added to arid signed
by Lenin |
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A Collection of Articles)
Published in full in 1965
in Collected Works, Fifth Ed., Vol. 51 |
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* The postscript is in Lenin's handwriting.—Ed.
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NOTES
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465
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Lenin's instruction was written on an order to the Red Guard
Staff issued by the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet. The order gave instructions for petrol, four artillery batteries, three motorcars, field telephones and cyclists or motorcyclists to be dispatched to the Pulkovo headquarters at positions near Tsarskoye Selo.
The order called for the dispatch of petrol, a motorcar, two
artillery batteries, sappers for trench-digging, motorcycle or bicycle messengers and maps of the locality, to the Staff of the Izmailovo Regiment on the main road to Moscow. The Military Revolutionary Committee proposed also that "a joint staff for the operation as a whole" should be set up and food supplies organised for the Red Guard. p. 43
This refers to a resolution of the Petrograd Committee of the
R.S.D.L.P.(B.) on the question of setting up a "homogeneous socialist government" of representatives from various parties and organisations "from the Bolsheviks to the Popular Socialists". The demand for such a government came from the Meiisheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, who counted on playing the lead- ing role in it. Their proposal had the support of some of the members of the C.C. of the R.S.D.L.P.(B-)—L. B. Kamenev, G. Y. Zinoviev, A. I. Rykov and their few adherents. The C.C. of the Bolshevik Party at a sitting held on November 2(15), 1917, strongly condemned the Right-opportunist, conciliatory attitude of the capitulators (see present edition, Vol. 26, pp. 277-79). Apparently, this note of Lenin's was written daring the sitting of the Central Committee.
The note was read out at a sitting of the Petrograd Committee
of the Party. In a resolution on the current situation, the Petro- grad Committee stated that the government in the proletarian republic had to be a government of the Soviets of 'Workers', Sol- diers' and Peasants' Deputies, that the task of Soviet power was to put into effect the revolutionary programme advanced by the Bolsheviks, and that any departure from it was impermissible. This resolution was sent to the Party Central Committee.
On November 3 (16), the Central Committee presented an
ultimatum to the opposition minority demanding complete subor- |
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NOTES 467
formed at the Second Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. (in 1903) out
of the opponents of the Leninist Iskra. At this Congress the elec- tion of the Party's central bodies resulted in Lenin's support- ers winning a majority (the Russian word for majority is bolshtn- stvo) and they were therefore called Bolsheviks, -while the opportu- nists were left in the minority (in Russian menshinstvo) and were given the name Mensheviks.
The Mensheviks came out against the Party's revolutionary
programme. They were opposed to the hegemony of the proletariat in tne revolution, and the alliance of the working class and the peasantry, and were in favour of an agreement with the liberal bourgeoisie.
After the defeat of the 1905-07 revolution the Mensheviks
wanted to liquidate the illegal proletarian revolutionary party. In January 1912, the Sixth All-Russia Party Conference expelled the Menshevik liquidators from the R.S.D.L.P.
In 1917 representatives of the Mensheviks entered the bourgeois
Provisional Government, and after the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution the Mensheviks together with the other counter-revolutionary parties waged a struggle against Soviet power. p. 47
' Lenin's name was put on the list of candidates to the Constituent
Assembly from the Central Committee of the R.S.D.L.P.(B.) by five electoral areas: Petrograd—the capital, Petrograd Gubernia, Ufa, the Baltic Fleet and the Northern Front. In addition, Lenin was nominated as the candidate to the Constituent Assembly from Moscow. The elections to the Constituent Assembly were held on November 12 (25), 1917. On November 27 (December 10) the All-Russia Committee for Elections to the Constituent Assem- bly requested members of the Constituent Assembly who had been returned by several areas to present a written statement indicat- ing the area for which they accepted election. Having been elect- ed by several areas, Lenin, too, presented such a statement. (See also Collected Works, Fifth Ed., Vol. 50, Document 23.) p. 48
8 In November and December 1917, counter-revolutionary elements
in Petrograd organised the looting of liquor stores and shops.
A state of siege was declared in Petrograd. A committee to
combat looting was set up under the Petrograd Soviet. G. I. Bla- gonravov was appointed Military Commissar Extraordinary of Petrograd to combat drunkenness and looting.
On December 5-6 (18-19), a counter-revolutionary organisa-
tion led by Constitutional-Democrats and Black-Hundred ele- ments, which aimed at overthrowing Soviet rule and restoring the monarchy, was discovered. It allocated large sums of money for looting and provocations as one of the means of struggle, organ- ised gangs and issued special leaflets. p. 48
9 In December 1917, V. A. Antonov-Ovseyenko left for the Ukraine
to assume command of the Soviet troops fighting against Kale- din's forces. p. 49 |
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NOTES 469
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lie. The Congress declared the power of the Central Rada over-
thrown. The Council of People's Commissars of the R.S.F.S.R. recognised the Ukrainian Soviet Government as the sole legiti- mate government of the Ukraine. In January 1918, Soviet troops in the Ukraine launched an offensive and on January 26 (Febru- ary 8) seized Kiev and deposed the bourgeois Rada.
The Central Rada, routed and driven from the territory of
the Soviet Ukraine, and having no support among the -working masses, allied itself with the German imperialists in order to overthrow Soviet power and restore the bourgeois regime in the Ukraine. During the peace negotiations between the Soviet Re- public and Germany, the Rada sent its delegation to Brest-Li- tovsk and behind the back of the Soviet delegation concluded a separate peace with Germany, by which it undertook to supply Germany with Ukrainian grain, coal and raw materials in return for military assistance in the struggle against Soviet power. In March 1918 the Rada returned to Kiev with the Austrian and German invaders_ and became their puppet. At the end of April the interventionists dismissed the Rada, realising that it was incapable of suppressing the revolutionary movement in the Uk- raine and ensuring delivery of the required food supplies, p, 53
16 On January 5 (18), 1918, the Constituent Assembly convened by
the Soviet Government opened in the Taurida Palace in Petro- grad. After the counter-revolutionary majority of the Constituent Assembly had refused to recognise the Soviet Government and its decrees, and had rejected the Declaration of Rights of the Working and Exploited People proposed by the All-Russia Central Executive Committee, the Bolshevik group led by Lenin walked out. Late the same -night the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries also walked out. There remained in the hall only the Constitutional- Democrats, Right Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks.
By the decree of the All-Russia Central Executive Committee
of January 6 (19) the bourgeois Constituent Assembly was dis- solved, p. 54
18 A. I. Shingaryoy and F. F. Kokoshkin, former ministers in the
bourgeois Provisional Government, were arrested after the October Revolution and confined in the Peter and Paul Fortress, whence, owing to the state of their health, they were transferred to the Mariinskaya hospital. On the night of January 6 (19), 1918, they were killed by sailors, among whom were anarchists and criminal elements, who broke into the hospital.
On Lenin's instructions, an investigating commission Was
immediately appointed. Those guilty of the murder were arrest- ed and tried. p. 54
17 This refers to some sailors of the Second Guards Naval Depot,
who illegally arrested three officers. Under the influence of coun- ter-revolutionary agitation, these sailors defied the laws of the Soviet Government, went on drinking bouts, and carried out illegal searches and arrests. They were disarmed and arrested. |
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NOTES 471
that delegates should be sent from the Bolshevik Party to a con-
ference in London of socialists of the Entente countries to be convened on February 20, 1918, with the aim of achieving a com- mon agreement on the problems of the war. p, 60
« On January 28 (February 10), 1918, at the Brest-Litovsk peace
conference—contrary to Lenin's directive that a peace treaty should be signed if the Germans presented an ultimatum demand- ing it—Trotsky declared that the Soviet Government refused to sign a peace treaty on the terms put forward by Germany, but that it considered the war at an end and was demobilising the army. The same day, without informing the Central Committee of the R.C.P.(B.) and the Council of People's Commissars, Trot- sky sent to the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief •what was tantamount to a provocative telegram instructing him to issue an order on the night of the same day ending the state of war with Germany and her allies and demobilising the Russian army. The telegram did not mention that the peace negotiations in Brest had been broken off, the inference from its text being that the conference had culminated in the conclusion of peace. In the early morning on January 29 (February 11), Su- preme Commander-in-Chief N. V. Krylenko, on the basis of Trot- sky's telegram, issued an order which announced that peace had been concluded and called for the cessation of military operations on all fronts and demobilisation of the army. It was in conse- quence of Krylenko's order that Lenin sent this telegram and the one following it. p. 60
86 The First Russian Society of Communist Agricultural Workers
was organised early in 1918 on the initiative of workers at the Obukhov Factory in Petrograd. Lenin greatly assisted in its organ- isation. In March 1918, members of the society with their fami- lies went to Kazakhstan, where they settled and were given land to cultivate. Civil war prevented the development of the Petro- grad workers' initiative. The communards failed to reap even their first harvest. Kulaks and White Cossacks attacked the com- mune and broke it up. p. 61
«7 The instruction was written by Lenin beneath the text of a tele-
gram received from the Command of the Baltic Fleet. The telegram stated: "A Swedish steamer, a cruiser and a des- troyer flying the Swedish naval flag, arrived off the Oland Island, landed 15 Swedish marines, and by threatening to use their arms forced our communications personnel to retreat."
Lenin simultaneously sent a telegram to the Finnish People's
Government (see the document that follows). p. 63
28 The revolutionary People's Government of Finland sent a protest
to the Swedish Government in connection with the landing of their troops on the Aland Islands. Sweden shortly withdrew her troops from the islands. In mid-March 1918, German troops were landed there and were used by the German Government to fight against the Finnish revolution. p. 64 |
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NOTES 473
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33 On February 25, the Soviet delegation, which had left for Brest-
Litovsk to sign the peace treaty, was delayed at Novoselye rail- way station, where a bridge had been blown up. Unable to get in touch directly with the German Government, the delegation wired the Council of People's Commissars requesting that the German Government be informed of the arrival of the delegation. Lenin's remark about possible waverings on the part of the dele- gation was apparently due to the fact that two of its members, G. Y. Sokolnikov and A. A. Joffe, had been refusing to join it, and had only set out after a decision of the Central Committee of the R.C.P.(B-). p. 68
34 The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries—the Left wing of the petty-
bourgeois Socialist-Revolutionary Party, which was organised as an independent party in November 1917.
In an effort to maintain their influence among the peasants,
the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries entered into an agreement with the Bolsheviks. They pledged themselves to carry out the general policy of the Soviet Government and were given posts in the Coun- cil of People's Commissars and on the boards of several People's Commissariats.
But differences with the Bolsheviks on basic issues of the
theory and practice of socialist construction soon made themselves felt. In January and February 1918, the Central Committee of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary Party began a campaign against the conclusion of the Brest Peace Treaty with Germany. When the treaty had been signed and ratified by the Fourth Congress of Soviets in March 1918, the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries with- drew from the Council of People's Commissars. In July 1918 the Central Committee of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries organised the provocative assassination of Mirbach, the German Ambassador in Moscow, and launched an armed revolt against Soviet power. Having lost all support among the masses, the Left Socialist-Re- volutionary Party finally took the path of armed struggle against Soviet rule. p. 68
85 The Sovnarfcom (Council of People's Commissars) of the Petrograd
Labour Commune was set up by a decision of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies on March 11, 1918, owing to the Soviet Government being transferred from Petrograd to Moscow.
At the end of April 1918, the Congress of Soviets of the North-
ern Region established, for military and economic purposes, a Union of Communes of the Northern Region, which included also Petrograd Gubernia. On February 24, 1919, by a decision of the Third Congress of Soviets of the Northern Region, the Union of Communes of the Northern Region and the Sovnarkom which headed it, were abolished. p. 72
86 This refers to the evacuation of industrial enterprises from Petro-
grad. The question was raised in connection with the advance of the German troops on Petrograd. p. 72 |
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NOTES 475
Bonds and Other Interest-bearing Securities. The first two drafts
were prepared by the Supreme Economic Council. After exam- ining them, Lenin crossed out the first draft, edited the second, and sent it to Bogolepov and Gukovsky at the People's Commis- sariat for Finance. The draft, after being revised in the People's Commissariat for Finance, was re-edited by Lenin, given a head- ing and, on April 17, 1918, submitted for consideration to the Council of People's Commissars. The following decision on the draft was adopted: "To be referred to the People's Commissariats for Foreign Affairs and Justice for their consideration with the assistance of experts, and the conclusion to be presented to the next sitting of the Council of People's Commissars on April 18." On April 18, the decree was endorsed by the Council of People's Commissars, and on April 20 it was published in Izvestia No. 78.
p. 78
43 I. Y. Yakovlev established the first Chuvash school in the city of
Simbirsk (now Ulyanovsk), the birthplace of Lenin. He compiled the first Chuvash alphabet and primer, and did a great deal to- wards educating the Chuvash people.
In reply to his inquiry Lenin received a telegram on May 4,
1918, saying that Yakovlev continued as chairman of the courses and seminary for women. p. 79
4* Lenin's letter was due to the following circumstance. On Janu-
ary 4 (17), 1918, the Council of People's Commissars adopted a decree on the reorganisation of the Red Cross on the basis of the abolished Chief Board of the Red Cross that had existed under the tsarist government, making over its property and funds to the state. The work of reorganising the Red Cross was entrusted (§ 3 of Section 1 of the decree) to a committee of representatives of Soviet, military and public organisations. The committee was instructed to submit to the Council of People's Commissars through the Council of Medical Collegiums a plan for reorganising the Red Cross institutions. However, the committee failed to fulfil the tasks entrusted to it, and this was brought to the notice of Lenin by V. M. Bonch-Bruyevich, a member of the Red Cross committee. p. 79
48 This refers to preparations for a monetary reform in order to es-
tablish a stable Soviet currency and overcome the inflation caused by the war and the economic policy of the tsarist government and the bourgeois Provisional Government. Lenin raised the question of the need for a monetary reform in December 1917 in his "Draft Decree on the Nationalisation of the Banks and on Measures Necessary for Its Implementation" (see present edition, Vol. 26, p. 403). Preparations for the monetary reform wore made under the direct guidance of Lenin. He urged more speed in preparing and issuing new, Soviet currency notes, and went into all details of the proposed designs. (See this volume, documents 125 and 126, and also Lenin Miscellany XXI, p. 180.)
Owing to the foreign military intervention and the Civil War,
and the transition to the policy of War Communism, the mone- |
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NOTES 477
mislead the working masses. On the telegram from Ekaterinburg,
Lenin wrote the following note: "Received 2/V.1918 at 7 p.m. I demand investigation into the reason for two days' delay. Lenin." p. 83
49 This memorandum was adopted at a meeting of Lenin and Bol-
shevik members of the Board of the People's Commissariat for Agriculture in connection with the demand of Maria Spiridonova and V. A. Karelin, leaders of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, that the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries be given complete control of the People's Commissariat for Agriculture. This demand was put forward because of the appointment of more Bolsheviks (S. P. Sereda, V. N. Meshcheryakov, N. M. Petrovsky and others) to the Commissariat for Agriculture following the resignation of A. L. Kolegayev, as a result of which the position of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries in the Commissariat was considerably weakened.
Lenin wrote also the following draft decision of the meeting:
"The preliminary meeting (on the questions raised by Comrades Spiridonova and Karelin) between members of the Board of Agri- culture, Comrades Sereda and Meshcheryakov, and Lenin has reached the conclusion that the questions raised should be exam- ined 33 serious political questions and therefore should certainly be referred to the C.C., R.C.P.
"The meeting considers it essential to refer them to the C.G.
urgently and speedily" (Lenin Miscellany XXXVI, p. 42).
The situation in the People's Commissariat for Agriculture
was discussed at a sitting of the C.C., R.C.P.(B.) on May 3, 1918. The Central Committee noted that the claims of the Left Social- ist-Revolutionaries were groundless and approved the decision of the meeting. p. 83
50 This refers to the dismissal of the Central Rada by the German
occupationists and the establishment in the Ukraine of an open dictatorship of the bourgeoisie and landowners. On April 29, 1918, at a congress of kulaks and landowners in Kiev convened by the interventionists, General P. P. Skoropadsky, a big Ukrain- ian landowner and former aide-de-camp to the Tsar, was pro- claimed Hetinan of the Ukraine. p. 84
61 On May 6, 1918, German and whiteguard army units broke into
Rostov-on-Don and occupied the city. On May 7, it was liberated by Soviet troops, but on May 8 it was re-occupied by German and whiteguard troops. p. 84
62 Ino—a fort on the border with Finland which, with Kronstadt,
guarded the approaches to Petrograd. Under a treaty between the R.S.F.S.R. and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic, Fort Ino was seceded to the R.S.F.S.R. for the defence of the joint interests of the Socialist Republics. After the defeat of the revo- lution in Finland, the Finnish bourgeois government with the support of the German imperialists demanded that Fort Ino be handed over to Finland. Before it was abandoned, the main works |
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NOTES 479
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nogo Komissartata torgovli i promysklennosti (Herald of the Peo-
ple's Commissariat for Trade and Industry). In the U.S.A., the plan was published together with Lenin's letter to Raymond Robins in the book Russian-American Relations. March 1917- March 1920, New York, 1920. p. 87
« This note to G. V. Chicherin was written following the receipt
of a report that troops of the Transcaucasian bourgeois govern- ment, supported by a flotilla of armed merchant vessels, were advancing on Sukhum, creating a threat to the entire Black Sea coast. In the draft of a telegram submitted to Lenin, which was addressed to Sablin, Chief of the Naval Forces of the Black Sea Fleet, the latter was instructed to arm a number of Soviet merchant ships and send them for thf, defence of Sukhum.
On May 20, 1918, the Soviet Government sent a Note to the
German Government protesting against the German military authorities conniving at the actions of the armed merchant ships of "the so-called Transcaucasian government, which is recogni- sed by absolutely nobody in Transcaucasia". p. 88
M This refers to a draft decree for reorganising the Food Commis-
sariat, and the local food bodies. At a meeting of the C.P.C. on May 20, 1918, A. D. Tsyurupa, on Lenin's instructions, moved that the draft decree be submitted for discussion. The draft was discussed at meetings of the C.P.C. on May 22 and 23, and was adopted with amendments. It was decided to refer the decree to the All-Russia Central Executive Committee, where it was endorsed on May 27. It was published in Izvestia No, 109 on May 31, 1918.
Clause 3 of the decree envisaged the establishment under the
local food commissariats of special detachments of workers recom- mended by Party and trade union organisations, formed mainly in the consuming districts. These detachments were to be at the disposal of the local food bodies and comply with their directives, and were to be employed in propaganda, organising and instruct- ors' work. "The most important task of the workers' detach- ments," states the decree, "should be to organise the working peasantry against the kulaks" (Dekrety Sovetskoi vlasti [Decrees of the Soviet Government], Vol. II, 1959, p. 310). p. 89
60 In the spring of 1918 the German interventionists occupied the
Ukraine, invaded the Crimea and approached Sevastopol, where the Black Sea Fleet was concentrated. On April 29-30, to save the fleet from the invaders, the Soviet Government transferred it to Novorossiisk. Ten days after the fleet's arrival there, the Ger- man Command sent an ultimatum demanding its return io Seva- stopol, threatening otherwise to continue the offensive along the Black Sea coast. On May 11, the Soviet Government sent a "Pro- test to the German Government against the Occupation of the Crimea", stating the circumstances of the fleet's transfer and the possible conditions for its return to Sevastopol (see present edi- tion, Vol. 27, pp. 358-59). |
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NOTES 481
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sion on independent procurements adopted by the Council of
People's Commissars on June 1, 1918. The decision pointed out that independent grain procurements, for which the Council of People's Commissars was being asked by representatives of some organisations and trade unions, could disrupt the whole business of food supply, clear the way for the kulaks and landowners, and ruin the revolution. The decision set the task of organising food detachments, selecting for them the best and most devoted people from among the workers and office personnel "in order to form a general working-class fighting force for establishing order, for assisting with supervision, for collecting all grain surpluses, for complete victory over speculators" (Dekreiy Sovetskoi vlasti, Vol. II, pp. 379-81).
On this subject see also present edition, Vol. 27, pp. 416-17.
p. 100
70 After the capture of Omsk by Czech and Russian whiteguards
on June 7, 1918, a Siberian whiteeuard puppet government was set up there with the assistance of the interventionists. It consist- ed in the main of Socialist-Revolutionaries, with Mensheviks and Constitutional-Democrats participating. Behind a screen of democratic phrases it pursued a counter-revolutionary policy, paving the way for the transition to an open military dictatorship of the bourgeoisie and landowners.
G. Y. Zinoviev's inquiry concerned the purchase of grain
in Omsk for Petrograd. p. 103
71 This refers to the decree "On the Monuments of the Republic",
adopted at a sitting of the Council of People's Commissars on April 12, 1918 (see this -volume, Document 75 and Note 47).
p. 105
72 This refers to the capture of Syzran by units of the Czecho-
slovak Army Corps.
This Corps was formed in Russia before the October Revolu-
tion from among Czechs and Slovaks who were taken prisoner as soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army. By the agreement of March 26, 1918, the Soviet Government gave the Corps the oppor- tunity of leaving Russia via Vladivostok on condition that it surrender its weapons and remove its Russian commanders. But on the orders and with the support of the imperialists of the U.S.A., Britain and France, the counter-revolutionary com- manders of the Corps engineered an armed revolt by the Corps against the Soviet government at the end of May. Acting in close contact with the whiteguards and kulaks, the White Czechoslovak Corps occupied a considerable part of the Urals, the Volga area and Siberia.
In the districts occupied by the Czechoslovak mutineers,
whiteguard governments were formed with the participation of the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries.
Many soldiers in the Corps, seeing how they had been betrayed
by their counter-revolutionary command, refused to fight against |
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16-2075
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NOTES 483
Muravyov announced that he did not recognise the Brest peace
and declared war on Germany.
The Soviet Government took urgent measures to liquidate
Muravyov's adventure. A government statement of July 11 de- clared him a traitor and enemy of Soviet power. On the evening of July 11, Muravyov was invited to a sitting of the Simbirsk Executive Committee. When Muravyov's traitorous telegrams on the cessation of military operations against the interventionists and whiteguards were read out at the sitting, the Communists demanded his arrest. Muravyov offered resistance and was killed, and his accomplices were arrested. p. 114
73 The notes to I. E. Gukovsky refer to preparations for the issue
of new Soviet currency. See also this volume, Document 71 and Note 45. p. 115
8° This evidently refers to the fact that at a meeting convened by
the Saratov Committee of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary Party in connection with the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries' revolt in Moscow, a decision was adopted condemning the actions of the C.C. of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries tending to undermine Soviet power. The Saratov combat squad of Left Socialist-Revolutiona- ries at their meeting denounced the treachery of ihe Left Social- ist-Revolutionaries in Moscow and declared that they stood by the platform of defence of Soviet power.
On receipt of a report from Saratov on the decisions adopted
by the meeting of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, Lenin sent it to Pravda with the following introductory words: "Commissar Ivanov, travelling to the Caucasus, reports from Saratov." It was published in Pravda with this introduction. p. 117
ei This was written in connection with a letter sent to the Naval
Board by the Bureau of Supply of the North Caucasian Military District, requesting urgently to dispatch to the Caspian Sea and river Kura 8-10 motor vessels, which were to be put at the dispos- al of the Baku Council of People's Commissars. The letter speci- fied the types of vessels, which were to be equipped with ordnance and machine-guns, and also with spare parts for the engines.
p. 117
«* In reply to Lenin's inquiry, Podvoisky, a member of the Sup-
reme Military Council, reported that the units which were to be sent from Kursk to the Eastern Front were still being raised and that a brigade of three regiments with three batteries would be entrained on July 23. p. 118
83 Podvoisky had proposed taking upon himself the leadership in
suppressing the Czechoslovak revolt and counter-revolutionary actions in the Volga area and the Urals. p. 119
84 Later, in reply to an inquiry from Lydia Fotieva about this letter
of Lenin's, Larin informed her: "The letter from Vladimir Ilyich which you sent (concerning the drafting of a pamphlet about the Supreme Economic Council) was never received by me. Perhaps |
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______________________________NOTES__________________485
88 Replying to the preceding note from Lenin, Tsyurupa wrote:
"Hostages can be taken when there is a real force. But is there? It is doubtful." p. 127
89 This telegram is the reply to a message by direct line from D. T. Pe-
truchuk, representative of the Moscow Regional Commissariat for Military Affairs, who had been sent to Orsha to expedite the dispatch of Red Army units to the Eastern Front. Petruchuk re- ported demoralisation in a number of army units and poor work on the part of local Soviet bodies, and he asked to be allowed to use the direct line. p. 130
90 The Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the Central Committee
of the C.P.S.U. does not have the letter from Vorovsky, or its enclosures, or any other material that would make it possible to establish the precise nature of the abuses referred to. Since Lenin's letter was addressed to Sklyansky, member of the Board of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs, it may be pre- sumed that the reference is to abuses in one of the military depart- ments, p. 131
9* Malyshev, in his capacity of authorised agent of the Union of
Communes of the Northern Region, headed the expedition along the Volga of mobile trading barges carrying goods for exchange against grain. Lenin's telegram was in reply to Malyshev's report on the successful purchase of grain. See also this volume, Docu- ment 384. p. 132
82 Lenin sent this telegram in reply to A. Y. Minkin, Chairman
of the Penza Gubc-rnia Executive Committee, who asked whether it was necessary to comply with the order of A. I. Potyaev, People's Commissar for Finance of the Northern Region, to the Chief of the Stationery Office in Penza that the unloading of the Stationery Office's train should be held up, contrary to Lenin's order dated August IB, 1918.
The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries' revolt in Chembar, an
uyezd town in Penza Gubernia, mentioned in the telegram, broke out on the night of August 18. On August 20, the revolt was put down by a detachment of Lettish riflemen and Red Army men, who had arrived from Penza. p. 134
08 This refers to a proposal to reward the first units to enter Kazan
and Simbirsk. p. 135
84 Lenin lived at the house of Latukka in Vyborg from September
17 (30) to October 7 (20), 1917, after the July events, when he went into hiding to avoid persecution by the bourgeois Provision- al Government. p. 136
95 The Poor Peasants' Committees were instituted by a decree of
the All-Russia Central Executive Committee on June 11, 1918. They played a tremendous part in the struggle against the kulaks and in consolidating Soviet power in the countryside. They car- |
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NOTES 487
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the local areas". Tsyurupa, -who was also opposed to the "one-
and-a-half poods system", added a postscript: "None of the Board members nor the Board as a whole can think of wordings that Ruzer, too, failed to find. Conclusion: the order of the Moscow Soviet should he rescinded on approximately the following lines: the C.P.C. is to adopt a decision at once and publish it; the decision is to indicate the date on which the order of the Moscow Soviet ceases to bo effective—approximately September 15. A. Tsyurupa:" (V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, Fifth Ed., Vol. 50, p. 447.)
At the top of Lenin's note, Tsyurupa wrote: "A reply to Ru-
zer's statement.with my postscript", and then the date: "29/VIII."
By a decision of the C.P.C. dated September 5, 1918, the de-
cision of the Moscow Soviet and a similar decision of the Petro- grad Soviet ceased to be effective on October 1, 1918. p. 145
68 Lenin wrote this letter when he was ill after being seriously wound-
ed on August 30, 1918, by the Socialist-Revolutionary terrorist, Fanny Kaplan.
In spite of the doctors' orders, only a few days after being
wounded, Lenin began to occupy himself with affairs of state. On September 16 the doctors allowed him to resume work. From September 23 to mid-October Lenin was recuperating at Gorki near Moscow.
The letter mentions the harvesting of grain in Yelets Uyezd,
Orel Gubernia. On this subject see also this volume, Document 182.
The original bears the date "7.IX.1918". But in the files of
the Council of People's Commissars there is a copy of this letter on which in an unknown hand is written the date "6/IX" and the time of dispatch "21.10 hours" (Ts. G.A.O.R., USSR). Moreover, on the night of September 6, Tsyurupa informed Zino- viev in Petrograd: "today Vladimir llyich...wrote a letter" (Pe- trogradskaya Pravda No. 194, September 7, 1918). This gives grounds for assuming that the letter was written on September 6, 1918. p. 146
100 Lenin's telegram was transmitted to Kazan at 6.54 a.m. on Sep-
tember 10, 1918, and by 2 p.m. units of the Red Army had liberat- ed Kazan from the whiteguard and White Czech troops.
For Lenin's greetings to the Red Army men on the capture
of Kazan see present edition, Vol. 28, pp. 93, 100. p. 147
i°i Simbirsk was liberated on September 12, 1918, by units of the
Iron Division led by G. D. Gai. p. 147
102 Telegrams from the Poor Peasants' Committees of Yelets Uyezd,
Orel Gubernia, were sent to Lenin in reply to his letter to Sereda, People's Commissar for Agriculture (see this volume, Document 178). p. 148
103 This letter to V. D. Bonch-Bruyevich was written in connection
with the death on September 30, 1918, of his wife, V. M. Velich- kina-Bonch-Bruyevich, a member of the Board of the People's Commissariat for Health. p. 150 |
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________________________________NOTES_____________________________489
1918, under the title Znamya Borby (Banner of Struggle) as the
organ of a group of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries. Later, from August 21, it was the organ of the Party of Narodnik Communists, a break-away from the Left Socialist-Revolutionary Party. The newspaper ceased publication in November 1918, when an extra- ordinary congress of the Party of Narodnik Communists passed a resolution dissolving the party and merging it with the R.C.P.(B-).
Volya Truda (The Will of Labour)—a newspaper, the organ
of the Party of Revolutionary Communism, which broke away from the Left Socialist-Revolutionary Party in September 1918. It appeared from September 14 to December 4, 1918. From Decem- ber 29, 1918, the daily newspaper was replaced by a periodical with the same title; it was published until October 1920, when the Par- ty of Revolutionary Communism merged with the R.C.P.(B.).
p. 154
112 This refers to the illegally published "Letters" of the Spartacus
group; twelve such letters were issued between September 1916 and October 1918. p. 154
113 Martov's article "Marx and the Problem of Proletarian Dictator-
ship" was published in Nos. 29 and 30 of the journal Sozialistische Auslandspolttik for July 18 and 25, 1918. p. 155
ni What this refers to has not been established. p. 155
»6 This refers to the "Letter to a Joint Session of the All-Russia Cen-
tral Executive Committee, the Moscow Soviet and Representa- tives of Factory Committees and Trade Unions, October 3, 1918" (see present edition, Vol. 28, pp. 101-04). The possibility of the Entente countries extending intervention against the Soviet Re- public was dealt with by Lenin in greater detail in his report at the joint session of the All-Russia Central Executive Committee, the Moscow Soviet, factory committees and trade unions on Octo- ber 22,1918, and in the speech on the international situation at the Sixth Congress of Soviets on November 8, 1918 (ibid., pp. 114-27, 151-64). p. 156
ii' This refers to the Nizhni-Novgorod Radio Laboratory, which was
founded in 1918 by M. A. Bonch-Bruyevich and V. M. Leshchin- sky, and was one of the first scientific research institutes estab- lished after the October Revolution. Lenin took a personal interest in the work of the Radio Laboratory and gave it repeated support.
p. 156
11' The French translation of Lenin's The State and Revolution was
first published in 1919 in Moscow. From 1921 onwards the book was repeatedly published in French in Paris. p. 158
11* This refers to the "Regulations Concerning the Board for the Or-
ganisation and Exploitation of an Experimental Factory for Ra- dium Extraction" adopted by the Supreme Economic Council and published in Izvestta on August 16, 1918. p. 159 |
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NOTES 491
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12' This telegram was in response to a complaint Lenin received from
N. P. Gorbunov, head of the Science and Technology Depart- ment of the Supreme Economic Council, that the Technical Com- mittee of the Economic Council of the Northern Area was hold- ing up fulfilment of orders from the Central Science and Technol- ogy Laboratory of the Military Department. At the top of the docu- ment received from Gorbunov, Lenin wrote an instruction to the secretary: "Phone Gorbunov and tell him to send today the exact documents concerning the half-month's delay and copies of papers from Amosov (head of the Technical Committee of the Economic Council of the Northern Area.^-£d.). Without the documents the complaint has no weight. Lenin." On the left-hand side there is an additional note: "Reprimand sent. Lenin." (Collected Works, Fifth Ed., Vol. 50, pp. 453-54.)
See also the document that follows. p. 164
1S' Lenin wrote this directive to Chichcrin in connection with a ra-
dio-telegram from the German Government, which was set up on November 10, 1918, and consisted mainly of Right-wing Social- Democrats and Centrists. In its radio-telegram of November 21, 1918, the German Government requested the Soviet Government to issue a statement about its recognition and the obligation "to refrain from exerting any influence on the German population for the purpose of forming a different government".
Lenin's instructions were reflected in the Note to the German
Ministry of Foreign Affairs dated November 25, 1918, which was signed by G. V. Chicherin (see Dokumenty vneshnel politikt SSSR, Vol. I, 1957, pp. 576-77). p. 165
127 Lenin wrote this instruction on a memo from the Department
of Museums and Protection of Monuments of Art and Antiquity of the People's Commissariat for Education, sent to the Managing Department of the Council of People's Commissars on November 26, 1918, asking that a number of premises of the Grand Palace in the Kremlin be allocated for the requirements of the state mu- seums.
On December 12, 1918, the C.P.C. decreed "that, measures
be taken to use premises of the Grand Palace for a museum, in particular for presenting a historic picture of the life of the tsars". (Collected Works, Fifth Ed., Vol. 50, p. 454.) p. 166
ia8 Lenin's doubts about the correctness of the reports that most of
the Councils of German soldiers in the Ukraine had adopted a Bol- shevik stand were fully justified. The All-Ukraine Congress of Councils of German Soldiers, held in Kiev on December 13, 1918, was influenced by German opportunists and did not adopt any po- litical resolution. The Congress decided to come to an agreement with Petlyura's bands and to surrender Kiev to them without a fight in exchange for the free passage of westward-bound German troop trains. p. 167
«*» This refers to the decree "On the Organisation of Supplies" adopt-
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NOTES 493
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tory. The causes for the defeat were: poor supply of clothing, food
and ammunition to the army units, lack of the necessary reserves, contamination of some army units by counter-revolutionary elements owing to the violation of the class principle in the forma- tion of units, shortcomings in the army leadership on the part of the commander, M. M. Lashevich, and the Revolutionary Military Council of the army.
On this subject see also this volume, Document 242. p. 171
137 The instruction to G. I. Petrovsky, People's Commissar for In-
ternal Affairs, was written by Lenin on a telegram he received on December 16, 1918, from peasants of BuJilovo village (Yaroslavl Gubernia) complaining against the Chairman of the local Poor Peas- ants' Committee who had confiscated grain from them although they had no surpluses. They asked protection of Lenin, as "head of the peasant government". p. 173
las Lenin's note to Sverdlov was written on a telegram from N. N.
Kuzmin, Military Commissar of the 6th Army, who had reported that Left Socialist-Revolutionary agitation was being conducted among the troops of the Northern Front, as a result of which dis- cipline in some units was deteriorating.
As regards Spiridonova, a leader of the Left Socialist-Revolu-
tionary Party, Lenin's note probably refers to her speeches at out- door and indoor meetings, against Soviet power, against the Bol- sheviks. On February 24, 1919, the Moscow Revolutionary Tri- bunal examined the case of Maria Spiridonova, who was accused of counter-revolutionary agitation and slander against Soviet power. The charges against Spiridonova were proved at the trial, but in view of the "morbidly hysterical state of the accused", the tribunal decided "to isolate Maria Spiridonova from political and social activity for one year by confining her in a sanatorium and affording her an opportunity for healthy physical and mental labour" (Pravda No. 43, February 25, 1919). p. 173
139 This refers to the transfer to the People's Commissariat for Food
of warehouses of industrial and handicraft products, which were at the disposal of the All-Russia Extraordinary Com- mission (Vecheka). The transfer was to have been made in pursuance of the decree on the organisation of supplies for the population adopted by the Council of People's Commissars on November 21, 1918. On December 3, 1918, the Food Commis- sariat asked the Vecheka to turn over the warehouses to the Chief Board for Distribution of Products, but up to December 20 this request remained without reply. On December 20, the Food Com- missariat applied to the Council of Defence concerning this mat- ter. P. 173
i<° D. A. Bulatov wired Lenin on December 26, 1918: "Letter re-
ceived. Directive will be carried out." In a telegram on December 28, 1918, Bulatov reported that Teterin, a member of the Pervi- tino Poor Peasants' Committee, had been relieved of his post as being a former gendarme, but the other members of the commit- |
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NOTES 495
meeting decided to send A. N. Prokofiev, secretary of the local
Cheka, to see him.
Lenin received Prokofiev and after a talk with him wrote his
letter to the People's Commissariat for Education. p. 177
147 In reply to Lenin's letter, V. Y. Bryusov, head of the Library
Section of the People's Commissariat for Education, informed him on January 2, 1919, that A. N. Prokofiev had been received and heard out in the Library Section. Bryusov wrote that, accord- ing to existing rules, the requisitioning of libraries could be permitted only with the knowledge and consent of the People's Commissariat for Education, in order that, when requisitioning takes place, the interests of the state as a whole should be taken into account—primarily the requirements of the large state li- braries: the libraries of the Rumyantsev Museum (now the State Library of the U.S.S.R., named after Lenin), the Historical Mu- seum, the Socialist Academy, the universities, and others. In view of this Prokofiev was asked to submit an inventory of the re- quisitioned library.
On receipt of Bryusov's memo, Lenin wrote a letter to Pro-
kofiev (see this volume, Document 235). p. 177
i*8 This refers to the publication by the People's Commissariat for
Agriculture of Materials on the Land Reform of 1918. Issue VI — Alienation and Utilisation of Agricultural Inventory—appealed at the end of 1918. p. 178
i49 This evidently refers to the publication of leaflets and their
distribution among the Entente troops and in localities captured by the interventionists and whiteguards. p. 178
iso Written by Lenin on the back of a report sent him by V. I. Nevsky,
People's Commissar for Railways, on the number of freight-loads of food sent to Petrograd from Moscow and on delays in the dis- patch of food freights to Petrograd from Nizhni-Novgorod.
p. 179
151 See Note 147. p. 180
152 Surkov's library came under the control of the Rodniki Depart-
ment of Education on January 10, 1919, some of the books being returned to the original owner. Lists of the books requisitioned or returned to Surkov were sent to Lenin and to the Library Section of the People's Commissariat for Education on February 3.
p. 180
153 Written by Lenin following a conversation with F. F. Obraztsov
a peasant from Vasyutino village, Lopatinsk Volost, Vesyegonsk Uyezd, Tver Gubernia, who had been sent to Lenin by village Communists to solicit help in building a village People's House to replace one that was destroyed by fire at the end of 1917.
On January 18, 1919, after Obraztsov's return home, the lo-
cal newspaper, Izvestta of the Vesyegonsk Soviet of Workers', Peasants' and Red Army Deputies, published an article about his reception by Lenin under the heading "A Visit to Comrade |
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NOTES 497
On this subject, see also this volume, Documents 219, 251,
and present edition, Vol. 28, p. 390. p. 185
i67 In reply to Lenin's telegram, Kornev, Chairman of the Ryazan
Gubernia Executive Committee, reported that at a sitting of the Presidium of the Gubernia Executive Committee and the Presid- ium of the City Executive Committee on January 15, 1919, it had been decided to urgently organise a Department of Public Catering under the City Executive Committee -which was to take charge of all Ryazan's dining-rooms and tea-rooms. p. 186
158 This telegram was prompted by a telegram that Lenin received
on January 12, 1919, at about 7 p.m., from four workers who com- plained that the Gavrilov Posad Extraordinary Commission had confiscated 16 poods of oats from them, and asked for orders to be given for their return. p. 187
159 Lenin wrote this instruction to the secretary on a telegram to the
Council of Defence from Pashkov, Chief of the Railway iMilitia of a district in Tula Gubernia, who reported on the progress of snow clearing on the railway, and gave factual data on the number of workers and carts engaged in this work. p. 187
190 Lenin's directives to Tsyurupa were written on the memorandum
of the Education Commissariat's Inter-Departmental Commission for the Purchase of Food for the Children of Moscow and Petro- grad. The memorandum -outlined measures for the better food provision of the children, specifically, the organisation and hold- ing of a Starving Children's Week for obtaining produce in rural localities in exchange for commodities, and for delivery of this produce to the towns. p. 188
161 The document referred to has not been found. p. 188
162 Lenin's instruction to Trotsky was written on the text of a report
from Sfcalin and Dzerzhinsky giving the reasons for the fall of Perm. The report stated that the three regiments intended as reinforcements for the 3rd Army had been reassigned to Nar- va, p. 189
163 Lenin probably refers to a letter dated January 19, 1919, from
M. K. Vladimirov, Military Commissar Extraordinary of the Rail- ways of the Southern Front, reporting the state of affairs on the railways under his control. Appended to the letter was the draft of an addendum to the decision of the Council of Defence dated December 22, 1918, on the question of combating snowdrifts.
p. 189
i"4 On January 18, 1919, the Council of People's Commissars adopted
a decision on the fuel and food situation at state engineering works. This decision instructed the Commissariat for Food to fur- nish exact information on "how many trucks, and when and from what localities, had been ordered for state engineering works and textile mills" (Lenin Miscellany XXXIV, p. 94)". p. 190 |
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NOTES 499
Podvoisky's train had left Moscow for Kharkov. The telegram was
sent to seven different addresses. p. 193
170 Lonin gave this instruction to Sklyansky and Podbelsky, People's
Commissar for Posts and Telegraphs, after receiving a telegram from the Chief of Communications of Trotsky's train. The telegram stated that this train had left Petrograd for Yamburg and was sent simultaneously to a large number of addresses. p. 193
171 On February 6, 1919, Shlyapnikov reported to Lenin informa-
tion he had received from Baku to the effect that the workers of Baku enterprises and the sailors were hostile towards the Brit- ish occupationists, that the ships, on which there were still Rus- sian sailors, were ready to go over to the side of the Soviets, and that the Baku workers would start an uprising to coincide with the Red Army attack. p. 193
172 Lenin's instruction to Petrovsky was written on the text of a
report on the situation in Kursk Gubernia presented by an official of the Military Inspection. The latter reported dissatisfaction among the working people of Kursk Gubernia caused by abuses on the part of local Soviet and Party functionaries, the poor organisation of agitation and propaganda in the countryside and the weakness of the Party organisations in the gubernia. p. 194
173 Lenin was informed that the rumour about the eviction of Vera
Zasulich and other revolutionaries was without foundation, p. 195
i'* Lenin's telegram followed a letter from M. M. Fedoseyey from
the village of Azeyevo, Yelatma Uyezd, Tambov Gubernia. Fe- doseyev stated that in October 1918 his printing-press in the town of Yelatma was nationalised and now stood "in a shed, rusting away and idle", at a time when the uyezd town of Yelatma was without a printing-press and orders were being sent to towns in other uyezds. Fedoseyev wrote that he was "not a bourgeois", that for 27 years he had worked as a clerk, secretary, teacher, and book-keeper; that after buying on credit an old, broken-down printing-press, he had put it in order and had himself worked in the print-shop as proofreader and compositor.
On Fedoseyev's letter Lenin wrote the words: "Wired 18.11",
"file away for handy reference". p. 195
i's In reply to Lenin's telegram, P. Gorbunov, Chairman of the Yela-
tma Uyezd Executive Committee, reported the same day that the E.G. intended to merge Fedoseyev's printing-press with an- other nationalised local printing-press (of Meshcheryakov), where both Fedoseyev and Meshcheryakov, as specialists, would be allowed to work. p. 195
176 A telegram from Headquarters of the Eastern Front on Februa-
ry 19, 1919, reported on talks with representatives of the Bashkir bourgeois-nationalist government for the cessation of this govern- ment's anti-Soviet activity and for the Bashkir troops fighting |
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