Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE,. WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 1918. HOW RUSSIA WAS RUINED.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14593, 1 May 1918, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE,. WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 1918. HOW RUSSIA WAS RUINED.

JPhe present state of Russia gives new proof that thei'e has been no change m the^method'g and purposes of German imperialism, and that there will be no change until that Imperialism is crushed. ■ When the Russian revolution came about m March, 1917, states an American journal m giving a succinct account of the- disaster that has befallen Russia, the German autocracy set out at once to strangle the new democracy that has come into the world. Through German agents hundreds- of anarchists and' so-called Internationalists were sent back to Russia from, the United States. These people, had remained Russian subjects under the law, and whatever ,the misgivings of Washington may have been, no power existed m the Government to stop the emigration. Among those who returned from New York, was Trotsky, and to. make sure that Lenin would arrive safely m Petrograd the German Government gave him a safe conduct from Switzerland. The moment these agitators reached the Russian capital, the Bolsheviki movement began to gather m force. The first, task of Germany m /revolutionary /Russia was to alienate the Russiaii people from the Allies, and to this'wbrlc the Bolsheviki bent all their energies. The democracies of the United States, Great Britain anA France were denounced as the most ruthless capitalistic; enemies of the proletariat, and the propaganda made immediate headway among an ignorant and credulous population that was weary of war and eager to reap the material fruits of the revolution. The next task was to overthrow the Kerensky Government, which had kept faith with the." Allies. " This .was finally accomplished, and the Bolsheviki came into' power and proaeeded! to carry out their pledge of a peace without annexations or indemnities. The Germans accepted the formula and the negotiation^ began* The Russian armies were disbanded. The manufacture of munitions was stopped. The Germans were permitted to transfer their best troops^ from the Eastern front to the Western front. Russia -sank deeper .and deeper, into anarchy. The Bolsheviki were all for peace as against Germany, and all for w,ir against Rumanians, Fifths, Poles and fellow-Russians who owned property of any kind. While Trotsky and Lenin were declaring to their deluded followers that a revolution among the workers of Germany and Austria-Hungary was inevitable, German autocracy was pre« paring: to reap the.'reward of its cunning and corruption. The doctrine 'of peace ■jvithout annexations and inderhnties was abruptly repudiated. The " German Government announced its intention of" ''rectifying the frontiers"- and ' holding four Russian' provinces. The Bolsheviki leaders proclaimed the end^ of the war and finished the demobilisation of the Russian armies on the . Eastern front. Then Germany resumed its -iniHta'ry operations, and' its commanding Officer now proclaims a new mission—, that of destroying anarchy m Russia, tihe anarchy ; that Germany bought and pjiidi for. Thanks to the Bolsheviki, Russia is row helpless before the German military forces, and there are no Obstacles to any* campaign of. conquest ilia't. Germany 'may undertake'!-/ Berlin is restrained only by .the military necessity of not weakening the Western front for troops to hold Russian tenitory. Trusting to negotiations with Prussianism, the R-usisan peple have lost everything, including honor. The fact that they were betrayed b j their own leaders is only incidental. Even had 1 the Lenin?,- and . Trotsky s been sincere, Russia was ruined the moment it trusted Germany's faith and Germany's pledge?,, and 1 so will jlny other country be ruined that proceeds likewise. There is no peace for anybody while Germany is dominated by'rjtsj military., autocracy, and no peace can be"i negotiated. "Self determination," m the language ',: of Potsdam ... means 1 the right of the conquered! , to surrender unconditionally to the conqueror. The Kaiser understands this principle thoroughly, exultantly defines it m his message to' Chancellor yon 1 Hertling, m which he^ declares that "the 'German . sword, wielded by our great German army, has brought peace m Russia." And thus ''German blood, and German kultur have been saved." Other blood and other lpiltur ; do , not count m the process of self-determination.. Prussia'nism has not /changed its point of view' since the August morning m 1914 when ;, the first German troops crossed the Belgian frontier, nor will it 'change its point of yiew until it is crushed from without! and! from within. The Russians m the hour of their humiliation and shame find iha't they have heen. dealing with .the lame Germany tUat the' Belgians dealt with m the hour of their crucifixion. Nor is the Kaiser's message to the Chancellor, remarks the American \rriter, it casual outburst of swashbuckling Rhetoric. He means what he says, and he intends that the German, people shall be made to see that there "is Only one road to peace. They are warweary and complaining, They find no compensation for their enormous sacri- ; ices of blood and ' treasure. They want ] ?eace. He .again points the way, and hat way is> the way of the sword." They are not concerned about the intermediate processes, by \ which the Bolsheviki C^byenimerit DetrayedJ the revolution into ih'6 hand's of the German ' autocracy. $hey are not concerned with .- the. jireachery and! broken pledges of. the Brest « L'itoVsk. conference, or with , ( the jfheans that , were .employed to bring i^bout the signing of a formal treaty pf peace. ; What "they know, is that peace has been signed, while the 'German troop's' Occupied great provinces of jtussia and were advancing upon Petrograd, and thgt every detail of this peace was dictated from Berlin. When the Kaiser tells them that th© sword won it and the sword' wrote it, he •is speaking the only language that Prussianism has ever spoken. They understand it, and his message is a , new exhortation to. win their peace on the Western front m the same manner tjhat they have won it on the Eastern front. We. do not yet know the full price that js Co be exacted from the helpless and demoralised Russians for their folly m believing "that their liberties qoiila* be safeguarded by bargain and barter yHth the enemy, but it is no greater than .the price that all the other democracies >vill have to pay if the German sword/ triumphs. What has happened to Russia will happen to all Europe — it will happen to us— unless that sword .' is' broken.