GERMAN MONEY

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 59, 3 December 1920, Page 11

GERMAN MONEY

HOW BOLSHEVISM WAS STARTED

PRINCE OBOLENSKY EMPHATIC

Prince Obolensky, a member of the old Russian nobility who when war broke out joined his regiment, the Russian , "Cavalier Guards, and fought with the troops until the revolution, when he took arms against tho Bolsheviks, is> now in Sydney, and gave the "Herald" an interesting review of ovents in Russia, portraying graphically tho chaos which has overtaken that country under Bolshevik rule. He made it clear, however, that he could not speak.'of what had occurred later than two years ago, for he had been away from the country for that period, "and the problems' there are so .complex," he explained, "that any man, however, honestly. he might try to sugiresfc any definite explanation of what ho saw.'would he likely to make serious errors." Prince Obolensky. added that he was a tremendous believer in Russia. It /was very sad to witness what was going on, of course, but he believed it was only a temporary illness, from which the country would recover in due course, and '»et out upon an, assured future. There would then bo a brighter history for Russia, and he thought that thero. would ' then be great opportuities for trade with Australia. \

. "Conditions are so terrible in Enssla— • or were when I left—that onei can hardly imagine anything worse," said, the Prince. "Thero _ were spies everywhere, and no ■man's liberty was: safe. If a man had a grudge against you, for instance, all that it was necessary to do to satisfy that grudge was to send a letter to the authorities! making (in allegation against you, and that was the end 'of your freedom. Shooting was always'going on'in the streets, and it ,was exceedingly unsafe to walk about at night. Tho • theatres'were open, but one took a rlsK in going there, for the reason that ho_had ,to return home after the performance. Thefts were of ordinary occurrence. The • Bed-.Guards were supposed to maintain ■ order, but. of ten they tooF part in the 6hoobng, and the sound of firing liorame «o common that people did not mind. it. "If you were, unwise' enough for instance, to show that you had a watch, Jou would probably be robbed of it. This reminds meof an incident which had its laughable side. A man returning home late at night was asked by a stranger, to 'tell him the time..'. He returned his watch ,to his pocket, asi he thought but a few minutes later, .found that it was missing. Pursuing the stranger, he Shouted, 'Give me that watch.' Tho istranger at once handed him a watch ; mid hurried off. On arriving' home tho man found ■ that he had two watches— ; his own, which he had not put into his •j'pooket, as ho had thought, and that of ,tho terrified stranger, who had promptly j given his up on demand lest worso should ( befall him?' > , ' A friend who escaped from 'three or four months ago; tho. Prince .1 said, had told him that tyie conditions 'Were appalling. ' 'He is an artist, and ! therefore 1 in Eussia a member of the •privileged class; but the food supply allowed him, ho said, was. totally inadeiquate, and the want of "fuel inthe bittor jcold was an'intoleraMe hardship. ."Petrograd," he told me, "is now a 'dead city," the Prince' continued.'-"lt's [population, from two millions, has dwindled/to about 500,000." I Undermlnino tho Army. "The Bolshevik movement,-.the Prince explained, was of gradual' 1 growth. There is no doubt whatever)" he said, "that it began on Gonnon money. It was in the interests of the Germans to create Bolshevism, and through it to annihilate our army. Lenin'and Trotsky were (lis-: , covered in Switerland by the- organisers of this movement, and brought through . Germany into Russia. Kerensky was unwise, enough to allow them to come into ' tho country. "Kerensky proved to bo a man of words, not deeus, and was not strong enough to cope with the situation. His main mis■take was that he adopted a system nf • committees for the army, and this system practically undermined/it, for you cannot g'ivo men the authority of gener- ■ nls unless they have had an opportunity .of knowing something about the duties and responsibilities.- v Well,, the thing grew in that way, and became worse and worso. We . officers '. were called . 'traitors,' because we advised,the men to standi bytho hag and,to go on fighting, and the Germans were described as'-'thn real democrats. .'.';• ""■" "Our regiment, the llussian" Cavalier Guards, stood very well ngninst this un-dei-mining movement. I had myself been - through the ranks, as, under the -Russian law, -which exempts the. eldest son from military service, -I was obliged;'to-join ■- as a volunteer, and had to groom my horse and do all-Hie other duties with the re6t of the soldiers'/before I was promoted upon the field. Therefore, I knew ■ them very well, and was able to advise. them. We in the cavalry .did not loso •so.many as from other regiments. ; "This displeased very much the leaders of the new movement, and special agents, ■in the forln of soldiers and officers, were ' eeni .among our men to carry on the propaganda work. Even then thev could not destroy the old discipline; -but tho final blow came when they brought in two'reserve squadrons, who were trained by Bolsheviks. These squadrons did their work eo effectively that in four days they had swung tho wliolo regiment round." " : Officers Tortured. The Bolsheviks, he pointed out, based • the' whole of their power upon the Red ■ Guards, instead of upon election- by popu'lar vote. The election of the commit' :• tees was carried "out in' tho factories tin- ■ der a system of terrorism. It was open voting, and the Red Guards stood by to ' make sure that • people voted the right way. Anyone who refused to bo dragoon- ' ed in this fashion became a' marked man. Of tho biitbaTous cruelty, of the Eed . Guards, the visitor could not speak freely. "Some of my fellow-officers who were captured were torUured," he efcclaimed— "It is better not to talk of such things, liy '' ifhree years of fighting against the Germans wero ns nothing compared with, the few months in which I.was engaged against the Red Guards. And you can realise how men who have seen thenrelatives tortured, as ono of the officers of my regiment .did, would see red. That is the worst fenVuro of this second Hussion revolution—it has brought the horrors of civil'war to the country." It was not, Prince Ooole'nsky explained, from the ranks of the Russian peasantry that the Bolsheviks were Tecru.itcd; but rather from those bodies of working-men who had become indoctrinated with So- - cinlism—intellectual men, who had read, but had not read enough. "And that, he said, "is prfcisely, the trouble, of tho Bolsheviks.; that the3e men, who have plcntv of common sense,.are turning away from them now—they have had enough of Bolshevism. "Yes," he agreed, "we niay have m Russia some day a man big enough to lead the people out of chaos and disaster. But Russia is so vast a country that such a man will-have to be very big indeed."