INTERNATIONAL CONCILIATION Published monthly by the American Association for International Conciliation. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR INTERNATIONAL CONCILIATION SUB-STATION 84 (407 WEST 117TH STREET) NEW YORK CITY CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE BOLSHEVIST PART I [EDITOR'S NOTE: The first two sections of this document, with the appendices pertaining thereto, appear in this issue of International Conciliation. The third section, including appendices, will be published as Part II in the April issue.] Hon. HENRY CABOT LODGE, October 27, 1919 Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate SIR: I have the honor to send you herewith, for the information of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, a memorandum on certain aspects of the Bolshevist movement in Russia. The memorandum has been prepared from original sources by the Division of Russian Affairs of the Department of State. As you will see, the statements are based almost entirely on translations from Bolshevist newspapers. These include the official organs of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets, of local Soviet committees, and of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks). The Bolsheviks' own statements are supplemented by the reports of American representatives. The appendix contains the full text of representative Bolshevist documents. The text of other documents, such as the constitution of the so-called Soviet Republic, will be found in the published hearings on Bolshevist propaganda before the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, and for that reason are not reproduced here. Since the overthrow of the autocracy in March, 1917, the Department of State has studied developments in Russia with the sympathy which America has traditionally shown toward all movements for political and social betterment. The study which has been made of the Bolshevist movement, some of the results of which are furnished herewith, shows conclusively that the purpose of the Bolsheviks is to subvert the existing principles of government and society the world over, including those countries in which democratic institutions are already established. They have built up a political machine which, by the concentration of power in the hands of a few and the ruthlessness of its methods, suggests the Asiatic despotism of the early czars. The results of their exercise of power, as shown by the documents presented in the accompanying memorandum, have been demoralization, civil war, and economic collapse. I commend to your careful consideration the detailed information which the memorandum contains. I am addressing a similar letter to the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, ROBERT LANSING INTRODUCTION The Russian Division of the State Department has prepared from original sources this brief summary of what appear to be some of the fundamental Bolshevist principles, methods, and aims. As will be seen, the statements are based almost entirely on translations from Bolshevist newspapers in the files of the department. These newspapers are the official organs of the All-Russian Central Committee of Soviets, of local Soviet committees, or of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks). The Bolsheviks' own statements are supplemented by the reports of American representatives in or near Russia. The theoretical "dictatorship of the proletariat,” acknowledged to be the rule of a minority, with a definite policy of preliminary destruction, is found in fact to have degenerated into a close monopoly of power by a very small group, who use the most opportunistic and tyrannical methods, including "mass terror." While existing on the accumulated wealth of the country, the Bolshevist régime has brought about a complete economic collapse, with consequent famine and epidemic. The claim of the Bolsheviks that economic isolation is wholly responsible for the economic chaos in Soviet Russia, can not be sustained. The Bolshevist program has not worked and Bolshevism has to its credit no constructive accomplishment. One of the main aims of the Bolshevist leaders from the very beginning has been to make their movement a worldwide social revolution. They insistently declare that success in Russia depends on the development of corresponding social revolutions in all other countries. Bolshevist policies and tactics are subordinated to the idea of the international proletarian revolution. Apparent compromises with "bourgeois" governments or countries have proved temporary and tactical. I CHARACTER OF BOLSHEVIST RULE I "DICTATORSHIP OF PROLETARIAT" The theoretical purposes of the Bolsheviks are clearly set forth in the following statement of aims which was embodied in the call for the First Congress of the new Revolutionary International (later called the Third or Communist International), as having been worked out in accordance with the programs of the Spartacus Association of Germany and the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks). As wirelessed by |