Krylenko Calls Workers and Peasants to Arms

N. V. Krylenko, Workers and Peasants to Arms. January 11, 1918

 

Original Source: Sobranie uzakonenii i rasporiazhenii raboche-krestian’skogo pravitel’stva, 1918, No. 13, pp. 202-203.

Comrades: Before the Russian workers and peasants stands the question of defending the conquests of the Revolution and carrying on a holy war against … the bourgeoisie of Russia, Germany, England, and France … The bourgeoisie will never forgive the Russian people for making the revolution … The bourgeoisie is a most cruel beast … The problem is to form an army of defense.

The old army is not fit for this task. We must have a new army … of the workers. I call on all men to whom freedom is dear to help form such an army … Everyone who joins this Socialist, worker-peasant guard, should know that he is entering the ranks of those who are ready to fight and die for the cause. The strictest discipline will be enforced …

Source: James Bunyan and H.H. Fisher, ed., Bolshevik Revolution, 1917-1918; Documents and Materials (Stanford: Stanford University Press; H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1934), p. 568.

Comments are closed.