THE RUSSIAN REPUBLIC By COLONEL CECIL L'ESTRANGE MALONE What has really happened ill Soviet Russia ? That is the question which Colonel Ma lone. after a dist in­ guished career ill B rit ish naval aviation. followed by i-lcction to Parliament, asked himself, and which he journeyed to R ussia to answer. This book is his un­ censored account of his trip. It tells of his adven­ tures in getting into and out of the country, his ex­ pceiences in Russia. his interviews with Soviet offi­ r- ials, his visits to institutions and exhibits, his i1O­ PI'CSSiOl IS of th e cond it ions of da ily life, and his Pl'O­ posals for peace and the policy of th e Alli es. BOOKS ON WAR AND PEACE A Short Hi..story of the Great War By .\. F . POlLARD Fighting Without a War Au Account of :Military I nter­ vention ill North Russia. B;\" HAI.PI! Aun:RTSON Economic Consequence. of the Peace By .J OII N M AYN ARD K~: Y N~:S The Ruwan Republic By CO(.()NEI. ~IA LO :-; F. :M.P The New Gennany B)' OV.oRHr.: YOUN"G Aero.. the Blockade By I b :SRY NoY.L BRAII~... t·nRIl Bolshevism at Work Stuuies of the Actual Work­ ing of the Government III Soviet RUSSia . H y W U.LIA)f T. 0001>10: Darkwater U,)' W. Eo B. Du UO IS, author of .. The ~um of Black Folk . " • • • • • • • THE RUSSIAN REPUBLIC • THE RUSSIAN REPUBLIC BY COLONEL MALONE, M.P. NEW YORK HARCOURT. BRACE AND HOWE 19 2 0 COPVaIGHT. 19 10. aT HA.. c o u a T . II. ...CE ...xu HOW. , IN C. .... 0 111.......0 0 co ..,..... " ..... .... .." - " pueB ON EARTH, GOODWILL TOWARD MEN" PREFACE THE Great war has reached and passed its dramatic climax. But instead of the curtain being rung down on a world still vibrating from its titanic blows, we are spectators of a series of scenes which weary us with a sense of hopeless anti-climax, yet refuse to be dismissed from the stage. International politics pre­ sent a series of hopelessly mixed situations, and it is impossible to judge when the threads will be gathered and the harmony of nations restored on earth. T he object with which this book is written does not require much explanation. The writer took the opportunity of visiting Soviet Russia with a view to ascertaining if it were practicable to advance the cause of peace in Eastern Europe, and to explore the ground for the negotiation of such a peace. As basis for an opinion as to the possibility of these negotiations an examina­ tion at first hand of the political, social, and military conditions in Soviet Russia was considered to be the obvious thing to do. Before writing these notes I was faced with the alternative of carefully and assiduously analyzing the voluminous literature which I had obtained, the results of interviews and experiences-a work which would take many months-or on the other hand at once committing to paper a brief chronology of the trip and the impressions gained therefrom. Til viii PREFACE I decided that it would be best to concentra te on the latt er, perhaps proceeding with the former as time permits. For those who expect a detailed exposition of the Soviet system, complete schedules of work done by the different departments, comprehensive expositions of the machinery of Government, this short book is obvi­ ously inadequate. It will, however, convey to readers a vivid and true picture of the surface of the state of affa irs in the world's newest Republic as shown to the outside world by its rulers. If when this book is published the blockade still continues, I hope it will turn public opinion to the removal of that greatest cause of the destitution of the Russian people. If. however, the blockade has by then been actually lifted, the personal task undertaken and carried through as described in this book, and the representations in the House of Commons and in the Press, will not have been without practical result. CECIL L'ESTRANGE MALONE. N oVt mbcr 1919- CONTENTS eHA-PTE. PACE PREFACE VU I. INTRODUCTORY .. II. To PETROGRAD '1 III. Moscow .. 32 IV. SocIAL R ECONSTRUCTION • 38 V. TROTSKY AND rue RED ARMY 49 VI. I NDUSTRY 60 VII. RELJGlON AND WOMEN 18 VIII. TUE PEACE T ERM S 85 IX. HOM EWARD BOUND 9' X. CONCLUSIONS '" APP ENDIX-PaINKIPO AND NANSEN '43 i, THE RUSSIAN REPUBLIC CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY THE short notes which follow are substantially a diary of the visit paid to the Russian Republic, and mostly deal with affairs as they were presented to me from day to day. I have written it in diary form so as to present as vivid a picture as possible of things seen, interweaving details of interviews, conversations, and my own reflections as they occurred. For the benefit of those readers, however, who have hitherto taken little interest in Russian politics, and are not therefore au fait with the chain of events leading up to the present situation, a brief recapitulation of the out­ standing facts must be forgiven by the more well-in­ formed reader. It is not necessary to labor the historical facts con­ cerning the Tsar's regime, its faults and its many short­ comings. These are well known, and are readily accessible to all students of Russian history. The struggle between autocracy and democracy in Russia, which culminated in the successful Revolution of March, 1917, was one of the longest and bitterest con­ tests of its kind in history. Among national move- n 12 THE RUSSIAN REPUBLIC ments toward freedom, not even the French Revolution passed through more sa nguinary phases. It will be remembered that the Revolution commenced in the first week of March, 1917, by a series of strikes on a small scale in Petrograd. It is widely supposed th at the Revolution was political, and that a great deal of it was stage-managed, and had, if not the active co­ operation, certa inly the connivance of the Allies. Small riots occurred ; eye-witnesses have informed me that they were merely good pieces of acting. However, the strike movement began to expand. The textile workers walked out on March 7th. On Friday, March cth, pa rt of the tramwaymen struck. Other workers joined the spontaneous movement. The movement was gaining a momentum which neither the authorities nor the people themselves realized. The spacious N evsky Prospekt, the chief thoroughfare of Petro­ grad, was ful1 of people, who came out to enjoy the sight of the demonstrations. The excitement was in­ tense. There was electricity in the air, yet there was a spirit of a hilarious celebration about it all. Follow­ ing the precedent of th e Revolution of 1905, th e work­ men of Petrograd organized a Council to direct the genera l strike and its development. It was at this period that irresponsible hooligan elements were tiber­ ated, and that cases of looting and other acts of vio­ lence began. The Duma was in session all the time. There was no display of ill-feeling between the Cos­ sacks , the police, and th e people. Efforts were made to isolate the center of Petrograd from the other islands making up the Russian capital by guarding the bridges I NTRODUCTORY 13 with police, but these efforts were not complete, and crowds managed to collect in the Nevsky Prospekt and in the square in front of the Nicholas Stati on. Police, secreted on the tops of buildings, opened fire with machine guns at the demonstrators. Other police, dis­ guised as soldiers of the Volymski Regiment, fired on the throngs from a side street. This enraged the crowd. The soldiers of the Volymski Regiment were also enraged at their commander for allowing the police to wear their regimental uniforms. They revolted at five o'clock in the afternoon of March r rth. Up to that time demonstrations had been in the nature of protests, but from that moment they assumed a revo­ lutionary character. By a chain of circumstances, too lengthy to narrate in detail, the control of government eventually rested with two parties, a Special Commit­ tee appointed by the Duma and the Council of Work­ men's and Soldiers' Deputi es. On March rath the French and British Ambassadors announced to the President of the Duma that their Governments had decided to enter into relations with the Duma 's Com­ mittee. T hrough all th is the Tsar was quiet. On March rgth, 1917, Nicholas II was deposed. The fol­ lowing day his broth er abdicated, thus ending the rule of the Romanoff Dynasty in Russia. Prince George Lvov was Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior. Pa ul Miliukov became Minister for Foreign Affairs. He had been banished from Russia for his liberalism toward the close of the nineteenth century. T he out­ standing figure in the Provisional Government was that of Kerensky, Minister of J ustice. The Council of 14 THE RUSSIAN REPUBLIC Workmen's and Soldiers' Deputies functioned as an independent executive side by side with the Provisional Government. But, as was inevitable in such a case, a fierce conflict grew up between the Govern ment and the Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' D eputies. The Council of Workmen's and Soldiers' D elegates exerted more and more pressure on the Provisional Govern­ ment. It was led by Nicolai Lenin (Prince Vladimir Ouliniov), and power was gradually assumed by his executive.