Russia & The Struggle for Peace
Fac-simile of the "Izvestia" of the 15th of March, with the Manifesto "To the Peoples
of the World."
RUSSIA
& THE STRUGGLE
FOR PEACE
BY
MICHAEL S. FARBMAN
LONDON:
GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN, LTD.
RUSKIN HOUSE
40 MUSEUM STREET
W.C.
To Maxim Gorky
THE CONTENTS
PART I. INTRODUCTORY:
PART II. THE DISORGANISATION OF INDUSTRY:
CHAPTER III. THE ECONOMIC ISOLATION OF RUSSIA. P. 23.
CHAPTER IV. THE EXHAUSTION OF RUSSIA. P. 30.
CHAPTER V. THE MOBILISATION OF INDUSTRY. P. 36.
CHAPTER VI. THE REVOLUTION AND THE EXHAUSTION OF INDUSTRY. P. 43.
PART III. DISINTEGRATION OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY:
CHAPTER IX. THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER. P. 69.
CHAPTER X. THE ARMY AND THE WAR. P. 81.
PART IV. THE REVOLUTION:
CHAPTER XIII. THE PEOPLE. P. 111.
CHAPTER XIV. THE GOVERNMENT. P. 118.
CHAPTER XV. THE CLASH. P. 125.
CHAPTER XVI. THE GREAT TRIUMPH. P. 135.
PART V. THE STRUGGLE FOR PEACE:
CHAPTER XVII. THE REVOLUTIONARY DEMOCRACY. P. 141.
CHAPTER XVIII. THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT. P. 151.
CHAPTER XIX. THE ALLIES. P. 163.
CHAPTER XX. THE COALITION GOVERNMENT. P. 173.
PREFACE
THIS book is not an apologia for Russia or the Revolution. I do not intend to plead for Russia or to beg that she should be judged with mercy or that her conduct should be forgiven. Nor do I intend to blame anyone for Russia's misfortunes or to engage in controversy with the many severe and contemptuous critics of the Russian Revolution. But at this terrible hour when enemies and friends alike are blaming Russia for their misfortunes, when old and friendly ties are being displaced by new distrust and active hatred, I feel I must do my best to dispel the fundamental misunderstandings and calumnies. My sole intention is therefore to give a truthful and objective account of the Russian Revolution and what it stands for—so far at least as objective truth is accessible to one who is filled with enthusiasm for the Revolution, and is deeply convinced that the Revolution is not only a magnificent opportunity for the free development of the true genius of Russia, but also the greatest victory of the human spirit.
I do not pretend that everything in Russia is good and that the Revolution has to answer for no sins, nor do I intend to hide its failures or to be silent about them.
The time has come to speak about Russia, it may be with regret, but certainly without bitterness or passion.
*****
It will be for the future historian of the Great Russian Revolution to trace its beginnings. Such an historian will no doubt go back many decades into the past. He will begin its story at least from the date of the liberation of the Serfs in 1861 and will record the causal chain of events from that point.
We, as contemporaries of the Revolution, have another task, and are face to face with other and more actual problems. We are too near to the scene; we see the actors too clearly and ascribe to them a far greater rôle than will history. We are active to praise and to condemn. In short, we are at this stage unable to judge the Revolution historically.
The main questions of interest, to friends and enemies of the Revolution alike, are these: First, how far was the Revolution the result of the War and how far was the struggle for peace which followed the Revolution inherent in it? In other words, did the peace policy of the revolutionary democracy express the true purpose of Russia at the time; or were the Soviets, with all that they stand for, really alien to the people and to the Revolution? Secondly, was the disintegration of Russia and the dissolution of the Russian Army inevitable, or was Russia torn to pieces and made helpless by the very acts of the leaders of the Revolution?
I do not think I am far wrong in thus reducing all the bitter controversy which has raged around the Revolution to these two single questions.
St. John's Wood, March 21, 1918.
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in 1918, before the cutoff of January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1933, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 90 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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