LEAFLETS during Russian Revolution

LEAFLETS during Russian Revolution
A collection of Leaflets 1905 - 1917
partly from “The Voice of the Great Revolution” (in Russian) the book consists of leaflets published by the Bolshevik Party from
February 1917 to November 1920

Appeal to the soldiers of all belligerent countries

Brothers soldiers!

April 21, 1917

We are all exhausted by the terrible war that claimed MILLIONS of lives, crippled millions of people, brought with it unheard of calamities, ruin and famine.

And more and more people are asking themselves the question: why did this war start, why is this war being fought?

Every day it becomes clearer to us, workers and peasants, who bear the greatest burden of the war, that it began and is being waged by the capitalists of all countries because of the interests of the capitalists, because of domination over the world, because of markets for manufacturers, factory owners, bankers, because of the robbery of weak nations. They divide colonies, seize lands in the Balkans and in Turkey - and for this the European peoples should be ruined, for this we should perish and see ruin, famine, and the death of our families.

The capitalist class in all countries makes huge, unheard-of, scandalously high profits from contracts and military supplies, from concessions in the annexed countries, from the rise in prices for products. The capitalist class imposed tribute on all peoples for many decades in the form of high interest on billions of dollars in loans for the war. And we, the workers and peasants, must perish, go bankrupt, starve, patiently endure all this, strengthening our oppressors of the capitalists by the fact that the workers of different countries are exterminating each other, imbued with hatred for each other.

Are we still going to humbly endure our yoke, endure the war between the capitalist classes? Are we going to drag out this war, taking the side of our national governments, our national bourgeoisie, our national capitalists and thereby destroying the international unity of the workers of all countries, of the whole world?

No, brother soldiers, it's time for us to open our eyes, it's time to take our destiny into our own hands. In all countries, popular indignation against the capitalist class, which has drawn the people into this war, is growing, spreading and gaining strength. Not only in Germany, but also in England, which was reputed to be a particularly free country before the war, hundreds and hundreds of true friends and representatives of the working class languish in prisons for an honest and truthful word against the war and against the capitalists. The revolution in Russia is only the first step of the first revolution; others must and will follow.

The new government in Russia, which overthrew Nicholas II, a crowned robber just like William II, is the government of the capitalists. It is waging the same predatory, imperialist war as the capitalists of Germany, Britain and other countries. It confirmed the predatory, secret treaties concluded by Nicholas II with the capitalists of England, France, etc., it does not publish these treaties for general information, just as the German government does not publish its secret, equally predatory, treaties with Austria,

Bulgaria, etc. ...

On April 20, the Russian Provisional Government published a note in which it once again reaffirms the old, predatory treaties concluded by the tsar and expresses its readiness to wage war until complete victory, thus provoking indignation even from those who until now trusted and supported him.

But the Russian revolution created, in addition to the government of the capitalists, self-propelled revolutionary organizations, representing the vast majority of workers and peasants, namely: the Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies in Petrograd and in most cities in Russia. Until now, the majority of the soldiers and part of the workers in Russia - like very many workers and soldiers in Germany - are unconsciously gullible to the government of the capitalists, to their empty and false speeches about a world without annexations, about a defensive war and the like.

But the workers and the poorest peasants, unlike the capitalists, are not interested in annexations or in protecting the profits of the capitalists. Therefore, every day, every step of the capitalist government, both in Russia and in Germany, will expose the deception of the capitalists, it will expose that as long as the domination of the capitalists continues, there can be no truly democratic, non-violent peace based on a real rejection of all annexations. that is, on the liberation of all colonies without exception, of all oppressed, forcibly annexed or incomplete nationalities without exception - until then, the war will, in all likelihood, escalate and drag on.

Only if the state power in both currently hostile states, for example, in Russia and in Germany, will pass entirely and exclusively into the hands of the revolutionary Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies, capable not in words but in deeds of breaking the entire network of relations and interests capital - only in this case the workers of both belligerent countries will be imbued with confidence in each other and will be able to quickly put an end to the war on the basis of a truly democratic, truly liberating all peoples and nationalities of the world.

Brothers soldiers!

We will do our best to accelerate this, in order to achieve this goal. Let us not be afraid of sacrifices - any sacrifice for the good of the workers' revolution will be less heavy than the victims of war. Every victorious step of the revolution will save hundreds of thousands and millions of people from death, from ruin and hunger.

Peace to the huts, war to the palaces! Peace to the workers of all countries! Long live the fraternal unity of the revolutionary workers of all countries! Long live socialism!

Central Committee of the RSDLP

Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP "Pravda" edition

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