The Liquidation of Russia. Who Helped the Reds to Win the Civil War?. Николай Стариков

be stopped? You've guessed right – by announcing "peace initiatives" and by totally confusing the Germans! The calculation of the allied curators turned out to be correct. The Germans took the bait and agreed to stop the dislocation of their troops from the east to the west!

      Reflecting upon the conditions of Bolsheviks, we can figure up to what extent the Leninist government was under the influence of the British intelligence.

      You be the judge. The German troops are at one snap the distance from Red Petrograd. It was not without a reason that Ilyich himself wrote in September about the threat of abandoning Petrograd to the Germans by Kerensky. The Germans are really close by, and they can really strangle the new revolutionary power. There are practically no British, French, or American troops on the territory of Russia, and they are neither able to stop the Germans from strangling Bolsheviks, nor to help them do this.

      What is danger № 1 for the revolution? It's Germany.

      Who should Bolsheviks negotiate first and foremost with? With Germany.

      And Lenin's terms are admittedly unacceptable for the Germans, but very much needed by the "allies." It may seem illogical and foolish – if we consider that Bolsheviks had no relations with the British and French intelligence services. And vice-versa, if we are aware that Lenin "was making" his revolution in a close contact with them, while Germany was only playing a role of the paymaster, everything gets clear and fair enough.

      The "allied" emissaries urged Bolsheviks to start the negotiations and demand the Germans to stop the dislocation of their troops to other fronts.

      So, then why does Lenin agree to set forth these admittedly unacceptable requirements, while he should be interested in the success of the negotiations more than anyone else? This is exactly the difference between a good tactician and a bad one. A good tactician has a good grasp of the situation. The plan is as follows: firstly one has to set forth such a condition for Germany that would satisfy the British, secondly – one can never tell, the Germans might accept it. This is next to impossible, but there still is a chance. The possibility that the Germans may reject the negotiations suits Lenin, too. He is clear in front of the British (we have tried!) and has a perfect explanation of the internal problems and the failure of his own experimental steps – the external threat. Rally around the government to repel the external aggression! Revolution is in danger!

      Yet, this situation is very dangerous. Bravado is permissible only until the Germans start fighting their cunning "spy" for real. Lenin is aware that Bolsheviks lack the military power at the moment. He perfectly understands that in case Bolsheviks continue to irritate the Germans with their foolish demands, the Germans would swat the young Soviet Republic like a hornet. It is not possible to totally obey the "allies," because they are constantly trying to provoke a conflict between Russia and Germany, and what is more, by leading the Soviet delegation from behind.

      Might Lenin have had no commitments to Germany? I don't have an answer to this question. There are no records of secret negotiations, all the agreements made were never put in writing. The evidence of Lenin's cooperation with the Germans is ludicrous. From the period before the February Revolution there is only one (!) receipt signed by A. Parvus (not even by Lenin!) regarding a million rubles received for staging the strike. And several bank statements from the later period regarding the payments to the accounts of legal and private persons, though, other than Lenin. In other words, there is no direct evidence of Lenin's cooperation with Germany.

      The grave accusation of betraying his motherland is imputed to Lenin due to the logic of his behaviour and his travel to Russia in the "sealed railway car." That's what the heart of the matter is. Germany's cooperation with Vladimir Ulyanov resulted in its defeat in World War 1, not in the victory. This is a fact. It lost the war not in the battlefield. Having repeated the scenario of the Russian Empire's collapse, Germany lost the war, because it was totally demoralized by the revolution in the rear.

      The Entente, on the contrary, has won the war. It has smashed its main opponent – Germany, as well as Russia, which was its permanent geopolitical rival in the 19 century. If we sequentially analyze Lenin's actions, we shall come to the point that the Bolshevik leaders worked closely with the intelligence services of the "allies," not the Germans. This cooperation was much more serious than "espionage in favour of Germany" otherwise, the history of the revolution would again turn into a blend of surprising coincidences, inexplicable stupidity, and odd conducts. Vladimir Ilyich is walking on a very thin ice. As long as the revolution is really weak, he has to be friends with both the "allies" and the Germans. His guiding idea for the future is to bury both under the debris of capitalism destroyed on a worldwide scale. The world revolution isn't here yet, Ilyich has to manoeuvre.