File No. 861.00/1062
The Ambassador in Russia ( Francis) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 7, 4.20 a.m.]
2325. All-Russian Workmen-Soldiers-Peasants’ Soviet [Congress] adjourned 3 yesterday morning. Its roll showed 977 workmen-soldiers delegates, 610 peasant delegates, and 129 fraternal delegates [Page 365] without votes. Its leaders claimed Russian representation from Vladivostok to Murmansk and from Odessa to Dvinsk. It made declaration proclaiming Russia, “Republic of the Councils of Wprkers-Soldiers-Peasants’ Deputies,” in which entire power is vested. It pronounced its fundamental task to be abolishment of exploitation of one person by another, the entire annulment of classes and establishment of socialistic organization of society. It proclaimed the socialization of land and made all land the property of the whole people without redemption; all woods, mines, waters and entire movables and immovables, estates and rural economic concerns to be national property. It transferred factories, works, mines, railways, and other means of production and transportation to the Council of Workmen and Peasants of the Republic and confirmed action of Commissaires in placing same under control of workers. Concerning national debts, it says:
The first blow dealt to international banking financial capital the Third Congress of Councils sees in the Councils’ decree about the annulling of loans concluded by the Government of the Tsar, the landowners and bourgeoisie, being confident that the Councils’ power will steadily pursue this course until the final victory of the international workers’ revolution against the yoke of capitalism.
It approves the transfer of all banks to the state. It announces for general working conscription. In order to guarantee the consummation and preservation of such principles, it decrees “to arm the laboring masses, to organize a socialistic red army of workers and peasants and to entirely disarm the propertied class.” It approves of the publication of the secret treaties and advocates “widest fraternization with the workers and peasants of the armies waging war at present against each other and attaining at all costs and by all revolutionary methods of a democratic peace of the laboring masses without annexations and contributions on the basis of the free self-determination of peoples.” It “insists on the complete breaking off of the barbarous policy of the bourgeois civilization which founded the welfare of the exploiters in a few chosen nations on the enslavement of hundreds of millions of the populace in Asia, in the colonies generally and in the small countries.” It commends recognition of Finnish independence, advocates withdrawal of armies from Persia and champions the right of free self-determination to Armenia. It asserts “in the moment of a decisive fight with exploiters,” meaning bourgeoisie, they should have no place in any organs of authority and “power must belong entirely and exclusively to the working masses and their plenipotent representatives, the Councils of Workmen, Soldiers and Peasants.” It advocates a complete and sound union between laboring classes of all nations in Russia [Page 366] in federation founded on above principles and ends by “leaving it to the workers and peasants of every nation to independently determine themselves at their own plenipotent Councils’ congress whether they wish and on what terms take part in the federative government and in the remaining federative Councils’ institutions.” It creates Central Executive Committee consisting of 160 Bolsheviks, 125 left Social Revolutionists, 3 Maximalists,1 3 anarchists, 7 Social Revolutionary Maximalists, 7 right Social Revolutionists, 4 White Russians, in whom supreme power is vested.
- The Petrograd Pravdain its issue of Feb. 2. 1918, gives a similar composition of the committee except in place of 3 Maximalists it reports 2 Internationalists, and in place of 4 White Russians, 2 Mensheviks.↩