retained non-socialists in the ministry, and, during the Summer, failed to take any decisive steps toward solving the problems of peace, and of control of land and industry. The Bolsheviks, with their more definite program and a program more akin to the wishes of the active masses, became increasingly stronger, and, finally, by a coup d'état, on November 7, 1917, obtained control of the government, dissolved the Constituent Assembly, transferred all power to the soviets, started peace negotiations, declared an end to private ownership in land, socialized important industries, and proclaimed a temporary dictatorship of the proletariat.

The anti-Bolshevik forces became active, particularly in Siberia, where Admiral Kolchak established a dictatorship and immediately sought the aid of the Allies. Such aid was extended during the Spring of 1919 in one form or another, against the protests of numerous labor groups in Allied countries, while a strict blockade was kept up against the Soviet Government. Later aid was given to Denikin and other opponents of Bolshevism. England withdrew further military aid from the anti-Bolshevik forces in the Fall of 1919, and the Soviet Government, after capturing Omsk, continued its efforts to obtain peace.

It is as yet too early to judge what results have been attained by the soviets. On the one hand the Bolshevik régime has been characterized by observers, non-socialists, and many socialists, as devoid of any redeeming feature. On the other hand, numerous non-socialist and socialist observers have declared that the Soviet Government, despite very great obstacles, has been responsible for a number of valuable social achievements.

CHAPTER XII

REVOLUTIONS IN THE CENTRAL EMPIRES: GERMANY AUSTRIA - HUNGARY

GERMANY

Beginning of Opposition to War. As has been pointed out, the Social Democrats in the Reichstag voted as a unit for the first war budget on August 4, 1914, although some fourteen members had so vigorously opposed this decision at the caucus that Liebknecht was led later to describe the session as accompanied by hitherto unknown in our deliberation."

66 a violence

With the passage of time, opposition to the decision of the majority grew. The Berlin Vorwaerts maintained a critical attitude toward the government and was several times suspended for its vigorous attacks. Richard Fischer, who finally replaced the radical, Stadhagen, agreed that the paper, during the war, would make no further mention of class hatred or the class struggle. The Vorwaerts and other papers, however, continued to attack the malady of jingoism with which the German people was stricken.

In the Prussian Landtag, the socialist group maintained its position of opposition to the government policy and continued its fight for democratic measures. Because of the failure of the government to make any concessions in respect to suffrage, the laws regarding association and the exceptional laws, the group of ten Social Democrats refused, in March, 1915, to vote for the Prussian budget.

régime, defenders of the Soviet Government maintain that all who are willing to work are given the right to vote; that the Russian citizen has the alternative of enjoying the special privilege of an unearned income, or the privilege of participating in the control of politics and industry; that there is some discrimination against voters in every country in the United States, in many states, against women, against the negro and against the migratory worker, who is generally unable to vote because of residential requirements while naturalization and other restrictions, not evidenced in Russia, disfranchise a considerable number of the population.

Representation by Occupations.- Defenders of the Bolshevik régime furthermore declare, as has been pointed out, that the soviets have many advantages over the old form of political organization, inasmuch as "all bureaucratic formalities and limitations of elections are done away with," while the city soviets emphasize a valuable variation in political government representation according to occupation, rather than according to territorial groupings.

30

In reply to the accusation of tyranny in the workshop, the Bolsheviks point to the actual examples of democratic control with workshop committees that have been developing all over Russia. Accused of suppressing anti-Bolshevik papers, they state that those papers which advised armed insurrection against the government were suppressed, but that criticism against the administration was in general permitted. It must be added, they declare, that the country was defending itself on all fronts, and that it was also being attacked from within.31

30 See supra, discussion under "The Nature of the State." 31 See New Republic, July 9, 1919, p. 306 et seq.; see also, in regard to the so-called Red Terror, The Nation, Oct. 4, 1919 (The

Allied Advances. In the early part of February, 1919, William C. Bullitt of the American Peace Delegation was sent on a special mission to Russia, accompanied by Captain W. W. Pettit and Lincoln Steffens, with an offer for Allied peace with Russia, proposing an armistice on all Russian fronts. Lenin accepted the offer, but the open invitation, which was supposed to be dispatched on April 10, 1919, never appeared, and the formal negotiations were nipped in the bud in a manner similar to the Prinicipo proposals.32

During the summer and fall of 1919, the Allies gave military and economic aid to Admiral Kolchak and Generals Denikin and Yudenitch. In the late fall it was reported that the Soviet Government had captured Omsk, the headquarters of Kolchak, and had repulsed Yudenitch in the northwest. It was repeatedly reported that the Bolsheviki had united with other Russian parties, in order that the Soviet Government might present a united front against their opponents, and that the government had adopted a more opportunistic position than formerly.

Summary. As we have seen, in March, 1917, as a result of a combination of political and economic forces, Russia passed painlessly from black autocracy to a political democracy-the Czar being actually deposed on March 15. The revolutionists, however, wanted a change more fundamental - they wanted industrial democracy. The government shifted from the control of the liberals to that of the Social Revolutionists. The latter, however, Bullitt Report), Ransome, Russia in 1919, and the reply of Maxim Litvinov to President Wilson. For accusations against Admiral Kolchak's anti-soviet forces, see The New Republic, July 9 and 16,

1919.

32 See The Nation, July 12, 1919, p. 31, and October 4, 1919, pp. 475-82; also Ransome, op. cit., pp. 44-63. See also Bullitt, The Bullitt Mission to Russia.

retained non-socialists in the ministry, and, during the Summer, failed to take any decisive steps toward solving the problems of peace, and of control of land and industry. The Bolsheviks, with their more definite program and a program more akin to the wishes of the active masses, became increasingly stronger, and, finally, by a coup d'état, on November 7, 1917, obtained control of the government, dissolved the Constituent Assembly, transferred all power to the soviets, started peace negotiations, declared an end to private ownership in land, socialized important industries, and proclaimed a temporary dictatorship of the proletariat.

The anti-Bolshevik forces became active, particularly in Siberia, where Admiral Kolchak established a dictatorship and immediately sought the aid of the Allies. Such aid was extended during the Spring of 1919 in one form or another, against the protests of numerous labor groups in Allied countries, while a strict blockade was kept up against the Soviet Government. Later aid was given to Denikin and other opponents of Bolshevism. England withdrew further military aid from the anti-Bolshevik forces in the Fall of 1919, and the Soviet Government, after capturing Omsk, continued its efforts to obtain

peace.

It is as yet too early to judge what results have been attained by the soviets. On the one hand the Bolshevik régime has been characterized by observers, non-socialists, and many socialists, as devoid of any redeeming feature. On the other hand, numerous non-socialist and socialist observers have declared that the Soviet Government, despite very great obstacles, has been responsible for a number of valuable social achievements.