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OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN SOVIET RUSSIA AND POLAND

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THE RUSIAN SOLDIERS IN FRANCE,

AN

SOUTHAMPTON

N account of the disturbances at Southampton on Friday evening, which culminated in a number of troops being surrounded by a battalion of soldiers with fixed bayonets and machine guns and driven off to the docks to service abroad, has been supplied to the Daily Herald by the Southampton and district branch of the N.F.D.S.S.

"The ground of complaint put forward by the men (says the statement) was as follows:-That the despatch of troops who enlisted prior to July 1, 1916, or who attested under the Derby Scheme, or are under specified age, to any part other than the Army of the Rhine is contrary to War Office orders and to the promises given by the Secretary of State

for War in the House of Commons."

After describing how the men assembled outside the offices of the Association and selected a committee, consisting of three men from each unit, to formulate their case in writing, the statement proceeds:

"The G.O.C. of the Garrison, with his staff, and accompanied by the Mayor, arrived on the spot whilst this was being done. The men's representatives were again appealed to by the officers and the Mayor to obey the orders and go on board the

ship in the docks, which they resolutely and unanimously refused to do. After this they were told that the General wished to see the deputation at the Rest Camp.

"He gave his word that there should be no victimization of the men concerned, and on this assurance the deputation marched to the Rest Camp after having obtained the authority of their comrades.

THE G.O.C.'S TERMS

"At midnight their spokesmen returned to the Clock Tower, where the men were assembled, and announced the result of the interview with G.O.C. It was to the effect that, 1, their case as formulated would be sent to the War Office; 2, they were to obey orders and go back to the ship; and 3, no accommodation would be found for them at the Rest Camp for the night. The question as to whether they were prepared to go back on the ship was put to the men and unanimously rejected. This finished our part in the affair, and the men then proceeded to settle down for the night on doorsteps and in the parks.

"In the morning there was the great show of naked bayonets and the deliberate training of Lewis guns on men who considered they had fulfilled their contract to the full.

"In order to obviate the recurrence of these regrettable incidents, we respectfully suggest that

the men should be allowed to remain in this coun

try while the points raised are dealt with finally, and in a manner worthy of the civilization which they and we are reputed to have saved."

IN

N 1812, a great crime was committed against humanity. The author of this crime, Napoleon, was punished, and England was his executioner.

In 1914 a new criminal arose over Europethe Kaiser. This criminal escaped Napoleon's fate; England did not dare to punish him, because she planned a similar crime upon Russia.

The crime of 1919 will be registered by history as a most dreadful crime against humanity and civilization, being committed not by a single tyrant, but by a nation which called itself: "humane" England....

What we foreshadowed in our article "The War In Russia," which appeared in SOVIET RUSSIA of October 11th, has happened: England approached Germany in her fight with Soviet Russia, thus showing her real impotence to overpower the heroic Red Army even with the help of her numerous Allies.

In despair, neglecting all the principles of honor of a great nation, neglecting also the protests of her Allies, England, "alone" has determined to enlist Germany in the enterprise to extirpate the "Soviet form" of government in Russia (N. Y. American, October 16th, a telegram from Washington.)

This fact alone will be sufficient to make clear how hopeless must be the strategical situation of the invaders of Russia in spite of all the "victories" of Kolchak, Denikin and the other monsters, "victories" which were continuously created by the London Press Bureau, especially for American consumption.

England looks for co-operation with Germany! It is England who encourages the Germans to go into Russia; the same England who spoke so much about the importance of protecting Russia from German penetration!

It is too much! Such a wanton movement, is beneath criticism: beyond any criticism!

In order to understand the reason for this strange policy of English diplomacy we have to study the recent military events in Russia.*

Fortunately we are in possession of a military map of Russia which we have recently received. This map is very interesting because the front lines of the invaders were marked on it by the aviators of the Soviet Flying Corps at the end of August. This afforded us a possibility to compare the maps which were published in SOVIET RUSSIA with the one recently received. To our very great satisfaction we have noted that the maps previously published by us show very precisely the real disposition of the enemy's forces.

After the confession of Mr. Harold Williams, published in the New York Times of October 6th,

* Our earlier military accounts, written by the military expert of SOVIET RUSSIA, were published in No. 16, 18 and 19 of SOVIET RUSSIA.

in which this British agent described the unsatisfactory position of Denikin's army, which "inspires a possibility of danger," London and Helsingfors started to bombard the American press with communications of such nature that even an experienced military expert is unable to understand what is happening in Russia.

"Lenin has fallen" was said (The Sun, Oct. 6th) from Helsingfors; Dzerzhinsky is the new head of the Russian Government, while London sent a despatch to the effect that Lenin was alive and had been thrown into prison because he had ordered the arrest of Trotzky. It was said that terror had been inaugurated in Moscow by a counter-revolutionary party, and on the same day the Globe published a cable from Stockholm, saying that the representatives of the Baltic States, in session at Dorpat, have decided to notify Chicherin, Bolshevik Foreign Minister, that the Baltic provinces were willing to open peace negotiations at Dorpat, the terms including the recognition of the independence of these States by Soviet Russia. An answer was requested before October 25, as was reported from Reval. All this was later confirmed.

The situation became alarming for the Allies, because, in case the Baltic provinces had signed a peace treaty with Moscow, the Russian-Allied forces of the Generals Yudenich and Rodzianko (the nephew of the former President of the Russian Duma) which are occupying positions to the east of Lakes Peipus and Pskoff, will be unable to undertake an offensive on Petrograd, which England and France so ardently desired. Therefore a question of great importance has arisen before the Allies: how to stop the coming peace negotiations between the Baltic States and the Soviets?

It certainly was of extreme urgency for the Peace Conference in France to prevent a peace which several nations, exhausted with bloodshed, had decided to establish independently.

The Allies knew very well that Kolchak had for a long time been in negotiation with Germany in regard to military support against the Bolsheviki. They knew well also that the Russian prisoners in Germany were enlisted by force in a new Russian Anti-Bolshevik army which is to reach Esthonia in order to join the army of General Yudenich. So, in order to camouflage the real intention of the Allies towards the Baltic Provinces, long and fruitless pourparlers were started with General Von der Goltz, respecting the withdrawal of his army from the Baltic States.

As far as can be ascertained, the real destination of the Russo-German army under Von der Goltz and the Russian General Ávaloff-Bermondt (there is a rumor that his real name is Prince Ourussoff) was to support Yudenich and Rodzianko in their dash on Petrograd. In order to get from Mitau

to Narva, Von der Goltz and Avaloff's forces inevitably have to go through Riga. This puts the Allies in a very difficult position: Supposing the Germans under Avaloff to have been stopped by the Allies, and Yudenich, instead of having received a timely support, had been attacked from the rear, then his movement on Petrograd might have been a failure. The movement of the Von der Goltz army through Lettland would have been a real disaster for this little state, which, like the other Baltic states, will lose its independence in case Soviet Russia should be crushed.

France certainly hesitated to permit the German army to join the Russian reactionaries. It was too clear to such a strategist as General Foch that once the German army should be permitted to operate together with reactionary Russia, it would mean the restoration of Prussian militarism throughout all Germany, and this would crush the barely re-established independence of Poland. It was clear enough to France that even in case the Russian counter-revolutionists had been able to restore the monarchy in Russia, even without German aid, such events would have been followed by a Russo-German Alliance and probably a restoration of Kaiserism in Germany. Therefore France is so anxious to create a strong independent Poland as a buffer state between Russia and Germany and has energetically protested to the Von der Goltz plot.

While the notes were issued by General Foch to the German Government, and Berlin was, as usual, doing everything possible to gain time, the RussoGerman army started its advance from Mitau to Riga. The consequences of this movement are well known.

The Allies became alarmed, and, as far as we are informed, the Allied Navy was ordered to defend Riga against the advancing Germans. It was said that 50,000 Letts were landed from the British battleships, but, as transpired later, they were British troops. The fall of Riga was reported October 11th.

The German-Russian troops operated under the command of a Russian officer, Colonel AvaloffBermont, whose superiority was humbly accepted by the German General. After having accomplished his task, in spite of the alleged intervention of the Allies, Colonel Avaloff-Bermondt, with cynical frankness, addressed a note to the German Government expressing Russia's thanks for the "unforgettable service of the German troops in saving the Russian border provinces from Bolshevism."

It seems to us that all these events, which certainly were planned by a certain Entente Power, developed so unexpectedly that neither Yudenich nor General Foch could realize in time what was happening. General Yudenich even called Colonel Avaloff-Bermondt a traitor, while General Foch appointed a special international Commission to supervise the "evacuation" of the Baltic provinces by the Germans. More radical measures against

Germany, which is breaking the Peace Treaty, the Allies were unable to apply.

Meanwhile news of a most alarming character reached New York from Siberia and Southern Russia.

According to a cablegram from Stockholm, of October 10th, (The Evening Sun, Oct. 11th), the Soviet forces in Ukraine have inflicted a heavy defeat on General Denikin.

Kieff, the capital city of Ukraine was recaptured by the Reds in their advance; this news, which was lately recognized officially, confirmed the despatches received some time ago, as to the uprising in Ukraine and the existence of a state of war between the Ukrainians and Anti-Bolshevik Russians. Taking into consideration the fact that the hostile feeling to Denikin amongst the Caucasian population, and in reality, a serious revolutionary movement in the Caucasus and Trans-Caucasia, whose population is more than 7,000,000, as well as the separation from Denikin of 30,000,000 Ukrainians, put the Denikin army in a very serious position. It was several times reported that Denikin succeeded in covering a part of Russia populated with 40,000,000 people, including Ukraine. He later lost thirty millions of Ukrainians and about six millions of Caucasians from that number, and, even considering that he has lately increased the sphere of his influence, all his strength is now based upon his existing forces, which are not more than 300,000 men, of which number the casualties from the beginning of the present operations must have cost him about thirty per cent. From the population now under his control he will be unable to recruit sufficient reserves to replace even his losses. This is according to Colonel Roustam Bek's statement in the New York Call of October 17th, 1919. But we consider this figure to be slightly exag gerated. According to the newspaper Izvestia, of Petrograd, of July 31st, 1919, which we have just received, the total strength of the Denikin army was estimated by the Soviet General Staff as 140,000 men, half of which are Kuban Cossacks, Terek and Don voiskos and very few Caucasians (10,000 officers, 70,000 men and 10,000 Caucasians). The copy of Izvestia states, that Denikin's losses were very heavy and his army completed mostly by the element whose political ideas were far from adapted to the needs of a counter-revolutionary army. Since this statement, only three months have passed, and in view of the most unfavorable circumstances, it is doubtful that Denikin would have been able to enlist 150,000 fresh men. We are prepared to consider the total forces of the Denikin army as 250,000 men, together with the Allied troops which are at his disposal. Estimating the Southern Anti-Bolshevik army so high as 300,000 men, Col. Roustam Bek said to the New York Call: "It was on May 28, 1919, that the Call published the information which I very willingly put before your representative. I said that Kolchak's defeat, from a purely military point of view, was inevitable and I was right. I can say with confidence today that

the Denikin adventure in the South of Russia, will not escape the same fate, and consequently, the Allied plot against Russia will be a failure."

In August, Denikin's right flank, operating between the rivers Don and Volga, had gotten as far as Saratov, and, in spite of the fact that his army was superior in technical equipment to the Reds, they succeeded in pushing him back to Tzaritzin, more than 200 miles southward, only for the reason that the Reds were numerically preponderant over their enemy, and that the fighting spirit of the Reds was higher than that of the reactionaries. Being hard pressed on both extreme flanks, and heavily engaged in the center by the Ukrainians from its rear, having lost so important a strategical and political center as Kieff, and thanks to the hostile Caucasus far in his rear, being unable to retire to the South, Denikin is forced to make every possible effort to advance his center towards the North, hoping that the success of the Northwestern Anti-Bolshevik army may save his position. He knows well that after the first serious check his whole army will collapse immediately, and he is going forward directly into a trap which has been carefully prepared by the Soviet General Staff for the invaders.

The Soviet strategists realized well the situation of their enemy, and, in order to avoid unnecessary losses they are offering him but slight resistance, automatically forming a semicircle and awaiting the more favorable moment to force his army to capitulate. The appearance of the enemy in Orel and even north of Orel did not frighten the Red General Staff because the farther he may penetrate into Russia, the sooner his army will be annihilated.

Realizing the seriousness of Denikin's position, the Allies feverishly started their movement on Petrograd, and even the Germans were invited to support it. According to the wireless from Moscow (N. Y. Times, Oct. 12th), Denikin's best general, Maximoff, was killed and Generals Mamontoff and Shkuro were injured, while Generals Guselnikoff and Tetchkin were wounded during the recent fighting south of Orel. The same telegram informed us that the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish army, Dovbor-Musnitzky, was also killed. The loss of six generals suggests that Denikin's army suffered tremendously, and on the other hand we must not forget that Generals Mamontoff and Shkuro were the officers who accomplished the famous raid in the rear of the Soviet army as far as Kozloff and Tambov, and there was even a rumor that their Cossacks had been seen in the Moscow Government. As this wireless was received from Moscow and reached New York from London, we are sure that it underwent considerable alteration from the pen of the British censor, and we are very suspicious that these officers have escaped to fall in the hands of the Soviet army; how then otherwise could the Reds know the names of the wounded and killed Denikin generals? In view of the shortage of officers in the Anti-Bolshevik army, which has several times reported such. 1955, must be considered as a heavy blow to the invaders.

Even Harold Williams in the New York Times of October 12th, reported that about the end of September the position of the Denikin army was critical. The Reds had driven a wedge through Valuiki and Kapiansk, to the South of Kharkoff. They forced back the Don Army, they drove back the Caucasian army (10,000 Caucasians who are with Denikin), and, using the reinforcements which arrived from Siberia, heavily pressed Denikin's troops. Harold Williams admits that the plan of the Red General Staff "was cleverly conceived by experienced officers." "That plan failed,”—categorically says Harold Williams. But he does not explain at all how this plan failed. From later news we know that the Reds established themselves at several points in the rear of Denikin's forces, viz. in Zhitomir and Kiev.

We must not forget that a swift advance into enemy country is very dangerous. "The invading army melts like the snow in the spring," said Napoleon. During a civil war the army penetrating too far into the hostile country is more in danger than an advance into a foreign country, and most unexpected surprises might await the invaders. Both lack of severity and extreme severity, lead to the same negative result: uprisings in the rear if suffi cient forces are not left to maintain order. Where can Denikin get such forces, having only, say even 300,000 men at his disposal? We must remember also, that ideas cannot be crushed with bayonets.

Taking advantage of the general development of military operations in European Russia, Kolchak started his "victorious" movement from the TiumenIshim line to the southwest, advancing on Kurgan, a town situated on the river Tobol, and on the railway line between Cheliabinsk and Omsk. According to the latest despatches, he is advancing almost without resistance five miles per day. This movement has certainly been expedited by the Soviet General Staff, whose task in Siberia was-to defeat Kolchak and force his army to retreat so far back, that he would be unable at the moment when serious operations would develop in European Russia to support either Denikin or Yudenich. This task was fully accomplished by the Soviet army. At the moment of the final victory over Denikin, Kolchak will perish automatically. The approaching winter is the best protector against a Kolchak advance on the Ural industrial district which is in the hands of the Soviets and it is even foolish to suppose that Kolchak can be considered a menace to Soviet Russia.

Summing up all the news about the military situation in Russia which reached America up to October 14th, and taking into consideration that this news passed through the British censorship, the general impression is in favor of the Soviet army. We were therefore absolutely astonished by the cable from London, which appeared in the New York Times, of October 16th. According to this despatch, everything has been lost for the Soviets: "Orel is captured (Orel is 238 miles south of Moscow). The Poles have begun an offensive, the North-Western Russian army is closing in on

Petrograd; the Soviet Government is facing a crisis. Yudenich and Rodzianko expect soon to be in Petrograd. Luga (30 miles from Petrograd) has been captured by the Whites. Denikin is approaching Tula (105 miles from Moscow)—the center of the military industry of the Republic."

The Evening Sun of October 15th, published a despatch from Helsingfors, stating that Leon Trotsky, the Soviet Minister, when in Penza, admitted that the Bolsheviki could not withstand a winter campaign and that there is no hope for victory. Another British correspondent, John Pollock, in a cable from Reval (The Sun, October 15), reported that the Bolsheviki are everywhere panicstricken and that there is a wave of patriotic enthusiasm on a front of 100 miles along the way of Yudenich's march. . . and similar rubbish.

This news certainly produced a certain confusion in the minds of the American public. Unfortunately such important news as the resolution of the Finnish Workmen which appeared in the Christian Science Monitor of October 10th, passed unnoticed by the general public. The Finnish workmen demand the abandonment of the plans for carrying on the war against Soviet Russia and the immediate opening of peace negotiations. If we recall that earlier in the year the same workmen forced their Government to withdraw the Fin

nish volunteers from the Murmansk railway and practically stopped the military campaign of Finland against the Soviets,-the importance of such a telegram is obvious.

The news published in the New York press on October 17, with the exception of the canard on the "Fall of Petrograd," was very unfavorable for the invaders. The New York Times in its editorial on the prospects of the counter-revolutionists is rather pessimistic and the experienced reader could not fail to detect real anxiety for the approaching catastrophe.

Summing up the strategical and political situation of Soviet Russia and her enemies, we have no desire to belittle the gravity of the military situation of Soviet Russia, which is serious enough, as might be expected when we take into consideration that the invaders are making their last effort to crush the Soviet army by a general offensive on all sides. It certainly would prove disastrous for the newborn Republic if the strategical situation on all fronts would be worse than it really is.

In reality the position of the Red army is not such as some newspapers pretend to believe. On the contrary, it is probable that, regardless of their boastful claims, the armies of the anti-Soviet forces are in a desperate position.

We can only admire the determination and the titanic efforts of Soviet Russia, which for two years has been constantly struggling not only for her own freedom but for the freedom of the whole world. Such a nation cannot be beaten. Such a nation must have the most glorious, the most prosperous future.

Additional Reflections

(Up to October 21st)

ACCORDING to the cable from London of October 18, Petrograd is so closely invested by the anti-Bolshevik forces, that military experts believe that little short of a miracle could save the hard pressed Bolsheviki. (The Sun, Oct. 19.)

From Stockholm we have news that the enemy cavalry is already in Petrograd.

So the Russian capital can by no means be invested, but should rather be considered as already taken. Well, we shall see, and there is no doubt that in the near future the facts will speak for themselves. Now we shall try to draw the attention of our readers to the fact that strategy never recommends an attack on a fortified town or fortress unless the field army of the enemy is defeated and inactive.

The Germans, during their first dash on Paris, did not dare start the siege, not because they did not desire to besiege, but only because General Joffre, by means of very skilful manoeuvers, avoided a decisive battle and withdrew his army intact, while on the eastern German front, the Germans were fiercely engaged by the Russians.

We have also an example in the capture of Prshemysl by the Russians before the Austro-German army was defeated in the field; the result was very bittter for the Russians, who were attacked by the phalanxes of Mackensen and the fallen fortress was retaken.

The same might be the case if the Allies had succeeded in taking Petrograd at this moment.

The Red army in the field is far from being destroyed; on the contrary, it is menacing the main bulk of the Allied invaders, gradually defeating the Denikin group, which, according to the statement of Colonel K. Shumsky, of the Russian Information Bureau, published in the New York Tribune (Sunday, October 19), is the main force of the invaders, and Colonel Shumsky authoritatively prophesizes that "the decisive battle for Moscow is destined to take place in the province of Tula."

By the way, we can not pass by in silence some of the prophecies published by this famous military expert of the "Birzhevia Viedomosti" (Bourse Gazette) in Petrograd, and reprinted by many English and American newspapers. In March 1915, Colonel Shumsky firmly expressed his belief that the war would be ended in July 1915. he expounded fully his strategical reasons for the statement. He also foresaw that Warsaw would not fall. Several times he repeated that the war would be decided not on the Western front, but on the Eastern (Russian) front, which was more important, both for its length as well as for the more numerous armies engaged on that front.

How right Colonel Shumsky was in all these cases we leave to the judgment of our readers; and it would not be difficult to prove that Colonel Shumsky published them, by looking over the files of the