THE BOLSHEVIKI AND THEIR LEADERS

But before the final defeat of the Kerensky forces the Bolsheviki had consolidated their hold on the political situation and had organized a government. Most of the ministers of the former Kerensky Cabinet had been arrested and were imprisoned in the St. Peter and St. Paul Fortress; they were with the forces which had defended the Winter Palace. On the occasion of their arrest Trotzky made the statement that they would be tried for complicity in the Kornilov revolution, or attempt at revolution, indicating that the Bolsheviki took the attitude that the affair had been the result of an intrigue of Kerensky's.

Nikolai Lenine, whose return to Russia at the beginning of the Revolution had been effected with the aid of Germany, headed the new cabinet as Premier. Leon Trotzky, who posed as an internationalist, was assigned the Department of Foreign Affairs. It may be well to discuss briefly the origin and aims of the political party which had suddenly achieved control.

The Bolsheviki are simply a faction of the Socialist party which may be found in every country where the Socialists are organized. In the United States they are known as the "Impossibilists," signifying that they will accept no compromise in their struggle against capitalism, as compared to their more moderate opponents, the "Opportunists," who are not averse to playing politics with the more conservative parties. In Russia the Bolsheviki are the "Impossibilists," the word Bolshevik being derived from "Bolsho," meaning large, or great. Literally the name indicates "all or nothing." The word was first coined in the summer of 1903, when the split in the Russian Social Democratic party occurred at a general convention, Lenine heading the secessionist movement. It is claimed that the Maximalists of the Social Revolutionists who, during the turbulent period that began in 1904, advocated violent expropriation and committed robberies against the Government to obtain funds, were a different faction.

Fundamentally the Bolsheviki are Marxian Socialists, believing that all history is simply a record of the varying phases of the eternal class struggle between the ruling classes and the oppressed proletariat. Compared to this struggle, between the rulers and the ruled, all other struggles, even the present war, are to them of no significance; they consider them simply quarrels between the capitalist groups of the various countries, while the soldiers forming the armies of the various belligerents are simply—so the Bolsheviki believe—dupes. From the same point of view, if these dupes, the working classes of all nations, were really "class-conscious," realizing their true interests, they would understand that nationalism and patriotism are only tricks of the ruling classes to keep them separated, so that they may be all the more easily controlled.

Theoretically all Socialists of the Marxian school believe this. But when the present war broke out, such Socialists as Kerensky and Tchernov and a great many more in this country, England and France were convinced that the situation was exceptional and that, though the Allied countries were, not, from their point of view, thoroughly democratic, in that the industries are controlled by private persons for private profit, they did, nevertheless, relatively speaking, represent democracy as against such rank autocracy as the German and Austrian Governments.

The Bolsheviki, true to their name, would grant no such concessions. All governments, in their eyes, were against the people, the difference between them being only a question of degree so slight as not to matter materially. The real fight, according to their opinion, is between the great masses of the workers on the one hand and the exploiting traders and other capitalists on the other. Therefore they called on the masses of all countries to unite in a great world-wide brotherhood and overthrow all the governments.

The intellect, the chief exponent, of the Russian Bolsheviki was and is Vladimir Illitch Ulyanov or, as he is more generally known, Nikolai Lenine. He was born in Simbirsk, central Russia, forty-eight years ago, being a scion of the minor landed nobility. His father was an official in the Department of Public Instruction and Lenine received his early education in his native city. After graduating from the local gymnasium he went to Petrograd where he continued his studies in the university, specializing in economics. The early and the picturesque phase of the Nihilist movement was past then, but its seed was sprouting and very many students were radicals and revolutionists, Lenine among them. But what made Lenine more determined in his revolutionary activities was a tragedy which happened in the family when he was only seventeen years of age. It was then, in 1887, that his elder brother, also a student in the Petrograd University, was arrested for suspected complicity in a revolutionary plot and, after a secret trial, was condemned to death and hung.

Like all men of his type, Lenine was intensely emotional and this tragedy in his life made a deep impression on him and was probably one of the chief factors in determining him to devote his whole career to the revolutionary movement. By this time he had become a convert to the Socialist theories of Karl Marx, and thenceforth he spent all his spare time spreading the propaganda among the working people. At the same time he also continued his studies of economics and various kindred subjects. At the age of twenty-five he published his first essay, "The Economic Significance of the People's Movement." Four years later appeared a historical treatise, "The Development of Capitalism in Russia," just at the moment when two important factions in the general revolutionary movement were carrying on a controversy as to whether the economic development of Russia would be the same as in western Europe. Even as the result of mere research the work was a scholarly masterpiece and was regarded as one of the landmarks in the literature of Russian industrial development.

It was not long before Lenine's activities caused him to become involved with the police, and not only was he compelled to change his name often, as did all revolutionists, but he was finally forced to leave Russia and could only return on short visits on false passports. Most of his time abroad was spent in Switzerland, France, and Austria.

Naturally, he took an active part in the disturbances of 1905, but did not specially distinguish himself, as it was the Social Revolutionists with their program of terrorism who were the most energetic during that period. Then followed the reaction and little was heard of Lenine or his Bolsheviki for a while. But in 1911, when Russian revolutionary activities showed signs of reawakening, Lenine and his associates founded the prominent Socialist daily paper, "Pravda," and took up their propaganda work with renewed activity. In 1913 the Leninites had developed such strength that they were able to elect six representatives to the Duma.

When the war broke out Lenine was in Cracow. He was immediately arrested by the Austrians as a Russian subject, but it was a moment when his past career stood him in good turn, and he was easily able to prove himself an enemy of the Russian Government. Being released, he went to Switzerland, where he remained until March, 1917. On the outbreak of the revolution which resulted in the overthrow of the Czar he at once set out for Russia. The Germans were only too glad to offer him facilities for crossing over to Russian territory, for they were well acquainted with his antiwar theories and had every reason to hope that he would play their game in the Russian capital.

But if Lenine was the scholar, the theorist, of the Bolsheviki, the dynamic power was undoubtedly Leon Trotzky. His real name is Leber Braunstein, and as the name indicates, he is of Jewish origin. He was born in Kherson, a province bordering on the Black Sea, about forty-five years ago. Of well-to-do parents, he obtained an excellent university education and, like Lenine, became active among the university revolutionary societies.

During the disturbances in 1905 he was at the head of the Workmen's Council which directed the general strike, but after the attempted revolution had been suppressed he was arrested and exiled to Siberia. After a few years he escaped by way of Japan, thence to Europe, where he became a familiar figure in the Russian exile colonies in Switzerland and other European countries.

When the war broke out he was in Berlin. Not liking his brand of Socialism for home consumption, the German Government sent him across the frontier into Switzerland. But Switzerland proved too quiet for a man of his turbulent temperament, so he managed to find his way to Paris, where he began publishing a Socialist paper. Here he was allowed to remain until the Russian troops were sent to France. His paper fell into the hands of the Russian soldiers. Trotzky's doctrines were quite as uncompromising as were those of Lenine, so, at the suggestion of the Russian Government, he was requested to move on. He thereupon went to Spain. But the Spanish Government would not tolerate a man of his radical opinions, so he was put aboard a steamer bound for Cuba. From Havana he at once took passage to New York, where he received a cordial welcome from the radical Jewish elements, landing in January, 1917.

During the three months that Trotzky remained in New York he lived in the Bronx section of the city, his friends supplying him with the furniture for a small flat. As a means of livelihood he wrote editorials for the Socialist Jewish papers and was one of the editors of "Novy Mir," a Russian paper published in New York. He also wrote articles for the German Socialist paper, the "Volkszeitung."

Shortly after the news of the March revolution in Petrograd Trotzky, together with a number of other exiles, took passage for home. At Halifax he was taken off the ship by the British authorities, who knew his record. Here he was detained until, at the request of the Kerensky Government, he was released and allowed to proceed to his destination. In Petrograd he joined Lenine and was the executive head of the Bolsheviki.

Of the domestic, the internal, program of the Bolsheviki little need be said, for it could not be brought into effective application until the international problems should be solved. Like other Socialists, they stand for the collective ownership of all public industries and natural resources, including the land. It is part of their doctrine that the big estates of the church and the bigger landlords who live off their rents should be expropriated at once. They hold that all army officers should be elected; that once elected, they should be respected and obeyed so far as military organization is concerned, but they should be made subject to sudden recall, or ejection. Unlike many Socialists, the Bolsheviki do not believe in centralization, even in a democratic government. In other words, they are keen partisans of "states' rights," and believe in local autonomy, superimposed by loose federation. For this reason, they recognize the right of secession on the part of any distinct section of the people who may have special sectional interests, such as radical, religious or national interests.

These are the general principles underlying the Bolshevik movement, apart from the sinister leadership of Trotzky and Lenine, whose treacherous connection with Germany and German gold finally betrayed their party as well as their country and her Allies.