The Russian Soviet Regime *

The extraordinary impetus given to the radical movement in the past two years, both in Europe and in the United States, is due in large measure to the success of the Russian Communist Party in overturning the Kerensky regime in Russia and in setting up a Soviet government founded upon the principles of that party.

The vital concern of the people of the United States in the Soviet regime results from the international character of its principles. Its leaders consider themselves to be the highest exponents of the doctrines of Marxian Socialism. Their ambition is the establishment of a world Soviet regime. is to instigate the social revolution in all countries.

Their hope

It is this attitude towards foreign countries which makes it necessary for all students of the revolutionary movement to acquaint themselves as fully as possible with the history of the conditions in Russia which gave rise to this movement, and to study the character of the government established by Lenin and Trotzky. If it were not for this international aspect, the experiments in government being made in Russia would have little more than an academic interest for the American people. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE SOCIALIST MOVEMENT IN RUSSIA

The fact that the so-called proletarian dictatorship was achieved in Russia with such apparent ease has been considered by radical workingmen in other European countries, as well as in the United States, as an indication that the time is ripe everywhere for the adoption of an active revolutionary program seeking a speedy and violent overthrow of the existing political and social order, the seizure of the machinery of government by the working class, and the introduction of a Communist regime.

In many countries the basic principles of modern society, namely, the rights of private property, individual freedom, the equality of every citizen before the law, and the equality of economic opportunity, have been put in jeopardy through the activities of revolutionary agents seeking to emulate the Russian Communist Party.

The moral and religious standards that have safe-guarded society have been sedulously and successfully undermined; class

See Addendum, Part L

hatred and disregard for public safety and comfort continuously preached and applied. This has been done on the basis of the Marxian system of the materialistic interpretation of history which aims to destroy the religious and ethical side of human

nature.

Acting upon the Marxian doctrine that the workers of the world should unite in order to seize control of governmental machin ery as well as the instruments of production and distribution, the Russian Communist Party or Bolsheviki soon after the November revolution of 1917, by means of the Central Soviet of People's Commissaries, issued a decree appropriating 2,000,000 rubles for international revolutionary propaganda. This decree, which is signed by Lenin and Trotzky, is as follows:

"FINANCING THE INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT

"Inasmuch as the Soviet power firmly adheres to the principles of international solidarity of the proletariat and of fraternity of the toilers of all lands; and

"Inasmuch as the struggle against war and imperialism can be brought to victory only on an international scale: "Therefore, the Soviet of People's Commissaries deems it necessary to bring all possible means, including money, to the aid of the Left International Wing of the workers' movement of all lands, quite regardless of whether these countries are at war or in alliance with Russia; or whether they are neutral.

"To that end the Soviet of People's Commissaries, orders to appropriate for the needs of the revolutionary international movement 2,000,000 rubles, to be taken charge of by the foreign representative of the Commissariat of Foreign Affairs.

President, Soviet People's Commissaries,
VL. ULIANOFF (LENIN),

People's Commissary of Foreign Affairs,
L. TROTZKY."

(Published in "Izvestia," No. 250, Dec. 13, 1917, p. 9.) Apparently as a result of this decree revolutionary emissaries were dispatched by the Soviet regime of Russia to various European countries and to the United States, sufficiently supplied

with funds, well organized and acting under definite instructions from Soviet Russia. These emissaries succeeded in promoting a strong revolutionary propaganda among the working classes throughout the world. By taking advantage of the general social unrest which came as a result of the World War, these agents were instrumental in fomenting and spreading dissatisfaction among the various classes of modern society.

The strike epidemic prevailing at present on both sides of the Atlantic has received powerful support from the followers of the Soviet regime who recognize in industrial action the only weapon which gives promise of success to the revolutionary movement, as will be pointed in the following sections of this report. In fact, the various interlocking international strikes are apparently due to a distinct program worked out by the Soviet government.

All the international revolutionary Socialist elements recog nize the necessity of stimulating and encouraging a wide strike movement in different countries, because it accentuates the class difference, stimulates class hatred, increases the sodidarity of the workers in different industries and offers the greatest opportunity for spreading the doctrine of open revolt of the laboring class against the existing order, thus bringing about "liberation " of the toiling masses who, according to Marx, "have nothing to lose but their chains, and the world to gain."

It is therefore considered necessary to give in this report a brief historical sketch of the development of the radical Socialist movement in Russia, because of the leadership which this movement has taken as a world movement. Such historical data may help to disclose the nature of the destructive movement referred to, as well as its correlation with the revolutionary aims proclaimed by the various Socialist-Communist factions throughout the world.

The first evidence of a revolutionary movement in Russia in recent times took place in 1825. It was not a popular movement, and was never supported by the mass of the Russian people. It was the work of three secret societies, the first aiming at a constitutional monarchy, the second at a republic and the third at a federation. The December revolt of 1825 was instigated largely by a group of Russian noblemen belonging to the Imperial Court circles. Many were officers of the Imperial

Russian Guard who sought to force the Czar, Nicholas I, to grant a series of liberal reforms, including the liberation of the Russian peasants. These were mostly officers who had returned from France after the downfall of Napoleon and who sought to implant in Russia western liberal ideas. The revolt proved a failure, being easily suppressed by the loyal regiments, and its leaders were either executed or imprisoned.

The second phase of the Russian revolutionary movement which took form in the '60s divided the two camps. The first was begun and guided by liberal idealists of aristocratic origin. Prince Peter Kuropatkin and Michael Bakunin were the founders of theoretical anarchism, while Alexander Hertzen and N. G. Chernyshevsky became the recognized leaders of the radical movement generally.

The latter soon headed a new movement among the Intelligentsia, who formed a Central Revolutionary Committee in 1862, which fomented disorders in the schools.

An imperial manifesto of February 19, 1861, granted freedom to more than 20,000,000 Russian peasants. Under the provisions of this manifesto the peasants were made owners of a considerable area of land.

In 1863 Czar Alexander II granted to the Russian people an elaborate system of local (provincial and municipal) self-gov ernment which is known under the title of the "Zemstvo" institution.

On the 20th of November, 1864, Jury Courts were established throughout Russia, and a more liberal judiciary system was instituted.

The liberal tendencies of the imperial government at that time undoubtedly encouraged the radical movement among the so-called Intelligentsia or educated classes of the Russian people.

The concessions of the imperial government, instead of tending to quiet revolutionary activities, increased the opportunity for more extended agitation against the reactionary regime of the Czar. Abstract theories of anarchism were spread among students in the universities and colleges throughout the Empire, especially through the efforts of Bakunin, Techaykowsky and Hertzen; and for the first time in Russian history the demand was made by the Russian radical groups to confiscate all lands owned by the nobility and the Crown, and to distribute the same among the peasant population. In fact, at about this time the

leaders gave up the hope of winning the ruling classes of Russia and devoted themselves to stirring up the masses.

In 1874 a secret society was established by the revolutionaries in St. Petersburg under the name of "Land and Freedom." The aims of the society were as follows:

(a) Organization of riots and uprising throughout the country. (b) Propagation of revolutionary ideas among the toilers and peasants.

(c) Organization of fighting detachments and supplying them with arms.

(d) Establishment of systematic communications with dissenters from the Greek Orthodox Church.

Agitation carried on by this society among the peasants of Russia resulted in an attempt on the part of many peasants to seize the estates of the land owners, particularly in the district of Kiev. Disorders, however, were readily suppressed by the government.

In 1876 the members of the "Land and Freedom" group held their first demonstration in front of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. This public protest, however, proved to be a complete failure. In general the revolutionary propaganda was unsuccessful among the peasants. The doctrines of abstract Socialism were too involved to appeal to the minds of the rural population. Very often agitators received rough treatment at the hands of the peasants themselves.

The leaders of the "Land and Freedom " group soon recognized the necessity of changing their tactics, and in 1879 a special executive committee was formed to carry out systematic terrorist tactics against government officials. This committee formed the nucleus of a revolutionary party subsequently known as "Will of the People." The extreme Wing of this revolutionary organization decided upon the assassination of Czar Alexander II in the hope that such an act would kindle flames of revolution throughout Russia.

The first attempt on the life of Alexander II, who had been the most liberal of Russia's czars, was made on February 4, 1880. The attempt was a failure, but on March 1, 1881, a group of terrorists headed by A. I. Zheliabov succeeded. A second bomb was thrown at the Emperor when on his way to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, severely wounded the Czar who died a few hours later.