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THE BOLSHEVIKI

_4 LENIN AND HIS IDEALS WAR ON "CROWNED ROBBERS" .Mr. Roger Lewis, an Associated Press conespoiidbnt, just returned from .I'etrograd, in the \ ork "Tribune" sketches the composition of tlio Bulshovik 'l'arty, which lie divides into three groups: "First,_ there are innumerable German paid agitators and propagandists, whose solo purpose is to reduce the country to complete anarchy. "The second class is composed of fanatics, cscaped criminals, released political prisoners, and expatriated Russians whom political amnesty brought back to the country. These, the sense of accumulated wrongs, real and imaginary, of halt' a century has driven rinto a frenzy of anarchistic revolt, and without sharing the motives of their German leaders, they find their doctrines quite congenial. "The third and largest class ,is a tremendous body of ignorant notions of democracy, who have been taught by their leaders that freedom is a debauch of idleness, and that properly interpreted liberty means a complete reversal of power which will give them a gratifying tyranny over their old masters.

"This, briefly, is the Bolshevik, Maximalist, or extreme Socialist faction in Russia. It is made up of the disgruntled, unfit, defective elements in the population, which, without conscious disloyalty to their country, havo formed the easiest possible prey for German propaganda. Support From the Military. "The v Maximalist, or Bolshevik, element comprises the most extreme class of the Russian Revolutionary Socialists. It first sprang into proitiinenco in the early days of the revolution under tho leadership of Nikolai Lenin, the Radical agitator, who later was put under the , ban of the .Provisional Government because of his ultra-radi-cal preachments and his suspected proGerniau leanings. He is known to have been in Petrograd for some time : past, however, but a Government order for his arrest failed to result in his 1 apprehension. Meanwhile the Maxi- I malists were under the leadership of his chief lieutenant, Leon Trotsky, whose homo was iu the United States when tho revolution broke out, but who sailed for Russia shortly afterward. He was one of the leaders in the 1905 revolution. "The strength of the Maximalists has lain in the support, which they obtained from the military, chiefly in tho- Petrograd garrison, among, which they have been able to work with little interference from their Government. They had failed, however, to impress their policies upon Russia as a whole,, as has been shown by the manner in which tliov were out-voted in the All-Russian Congress and the minority part they played in the organisation of the preliminary Parliament, in which .they refused to participate after they wore shown to bo outnumbered. Nevertheless, their influence upon Russia's policy, both internal and external, has been marked, because of their predominance ill Petrograd, 'the seat of government. Il was this sinister influence that in part prompted the recent proposal by tlKerensky Government to- remove tho capital to, Moscow, where it was believed the Government would be freer tp represent adequately tho will of the whole Russian people." German "Influence, Mrs. Rlieta Cliilde Dorr, recently returned from Russia, writes in the -New York "Evening Mail" that Kerensky's deposition "was certain to be accomplished sooner or later when; Leon Trotsky became chairman of the executive committee of' the Petrograd Soviet, or Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' Delegates. Trotsky, the Jewish agent of the Gorman Government, expelled from France and Spain for his pro-German activities, given an. American passport to return to Russia last March, is the lieutenant of Lenin, proved to be Potsdam's direct agent in Russia. Lenin fled from Petrograd last July after the bloody revolt of tho Bolshoviks and the mutinous regiments of Kronstadt, in which an unknown number of peaceful citizens were slaughtered. Lenin, who is now back in Petrograd, fled, but Trotsky remained, and was soon elected chairman of the central and governing committee of the "Workmen's and Soldiers'' Delegates.; Always the crafty- and powerful Lenin, with his insistence on a separate peace with Germany, was in the background directing Trotsky's policies. He was probably not'farther away at any time than Sweden, and part of the time at least he was iu Finland within telephone call of Petrograd. Directing him constantly was tho Potsdam office. . . America played directly into the hands of Germany when she gave Trotsky a passport, and when she sent back f o unhappy Russia the horde of plotting Russians and other 'reds' from the darkcorners of New York, Chicago, and other cities.'!

/ The Revolutionary Creed. Here is Nikolai Lenin's own definition of the aims of tho Bolsheviks as published in the New York "Evening Post." It was written before the Bolshevik revolution. Uc now seems to bo in favour of immediate He wrote then, however :*r"l cannot protest too energetically against the slanderous statements spread by capitalists against the Bolshevik Party, to the effect that we are in favour of a separate peace with Gei'> many. 1 To us the capitalists of Germany are plain pirates, like tho capitalists of Russia, England, and Franco. Emperor Wilhehn is a crowned robber, like tho rulers of England, Italy, Rumania, and other nations. If we are opposed to the prolongation of the present war, it is becauso it is being waged by two groups of Powers for purely imperialistic purposes. It is waged b.V capitalists anxious to increase _ their profits by extending their domination over the world, conquering new maikets, and subjugating small nations. Every day of the war adds to the profits of' tho financier and. merchant, but spells ruin and exhaustion for the industrial and agricultural workers cr all the nations, belligerent or lieiltial. As far as Russia is concerned, a prolongation of the war may jeopardise the success of tho revolution and prevent it from attaining its ultimate goal. . .■• The workers' "party cannot agree /to continue the present war, nor support the present Administration, nor help it in floating war loans, without departing from the spirit of internationalism "which demands brotherly solidarity among the workers of all countries m their strugglo against capitalism. »# cannot accept with any measure ot faith the statements of the present Administration that there will be no aunexa tions, that is, that no part oi any foreign country will be sewed, and that no foreign nation will be comnelled fon-iblv to remain, a ijart Russia. : In the first place, capitalists, hound together as t,h«\v are l>v I no thousand lies of business, could )i'>t renounce tho idea of annexations, lor thev could not give up the prohts »c« cruine: to them from war loans', concessions, war industries, etc. In the second place, the present Administration, while committing itself, ill order to deceive the people, to a- non-annexa. tion policy, had betrayed mam* a ,ime .its annexationist aims. must

warn the nation against the empty promises of the capitalists, and draw a clear distinction between words and facts in the question of annexations. AVe must recognise at once the right of nil nationalities to vote freely upon the question as to whether they wish _to be independent or to cast their lot with this or that nation." , Elected Officers. Of the military programme of the Bolsheviks he goes on to say:— "The war must be fought on by a different military organisation, not by ail army organised as the present army is, but by a. militia whose members shall receive for their services wages equal to those of a first-class workingman. The officers of the militia should be elected by the Soldiers, and subject to recall, and every order of the officers or generals should be reproved by a vote of the men. For it is only elected officers whom the men can be expected to obey and respect. In order that the soldiers be better fed, a repartition of the lands should be arranged for as soon as possible by the Council'of Workmen's and Soldiers' Deputies, and the supply of bread nfi'i meat thereby increased. Finally, we must encourage at cnce every attempt made liy the soldiers on both sides of the line to fraternise, in order that these instinctive manifestations of solidarity may ripen into a conscious, organised movement to place the <<overnniental owners of every belligerent nation in the hands of the revolutionary proletariat, which alone ean_ icstrain the whip-hand of capitalism. This will be the only democratic way to put an end to this war; that is why our party shall continue patiently i.-nt stubbornly to make it clear to the people that wars are always waged in the interest of one special class."

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19180108.2.43

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 89, 8 January 1918, Page 8

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,415

THE BOLSHEVIKI Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 89, 8 January 1918, Page 8

THE BOLSHEVIKI Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 89, 8 January 1918, Page 8

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