From Ordzhonikidze

Bolshevik leadership Correspondence. 1912-1927
Collection of documents 1996.
Compiled by: A.V.Kvashonkin, L.P.Kosheleva, L.A.Rogovaya, O.V.Khlevnyuk.
Stalin Correspondences

Telegram to G. K. Ordzhonikidze V. I. Lenin, I. V. Stalin

May 8, 1920

I consider Comrade to be the best candidate. Kirov, Mdivani's second candidacy. Pre-Control Commission - Kavtaradze. The members of the commission were Dumbadze and Tsintsadze 1 . Lenin's telegram made a tremendous impression 2. Today, the operational, administrative, organizational subordination of the Azerbaijani army to our command has been made. A big shortage of workers for the Economic Council. I have just received, by direct wire from Vladikavkaz, excerpts from a letter from the secretary of the regional committee, Nazaretyan. “On May 2, on the basis of the indignation of the soldiers who did not want to go to the front, there was an attempt to seize power in Tiflis, but unsuccessfully. On our side, one was killed, two were wounded and three were arrested. Governor-General Sulakvelidze shot them last night. Sandro Makharadze, who led the operation, escaped. The government introduces a state of siege today. The work is now very difficult, but the mood of the masses and parts of the troops is growing daily. A coup is expected. In Batum, the British command is making concessions. The overwhelming majority of the Batumi workers are behind us. On April 30, General Lyakhov was killed by three young men. Gubeli was arrested for this, but at the request of the workers, the British command released him, and on the first of May, in an English car, he was taken directly from prison to the meeting, and the next day he came to us.

Report it to the center. In Abkhazia, the performance is expected by May 10. It pushes through Northern Svaneti to the Gori district, this finally disperses the forces of the government. Mikha Tskhakaya was again arrested in Kutais. All Tiflis prisoners were transferred to Kutais. On May 1, our speakers attracted a large mass of listeners, 4 trucks, decorated with our slogans and posters, went to Golovinsky. They were attacked by units of a special detachment and the police. 55 people were beaten to a pulp, wounded and arrested. Official information about the execution of 12 communists. Throughout Armenia, with the announcement of Soviet power in Baku, there was a solemn and joyful mood among the masses. All Dashnak party premises were destroyed in Erivan and Alexandropol. The portraits of the leaders are torn and burned” 3 .

Ordzhonikidze.

RTSKHIDNI. F. 85 Op. 13. D. 17. L. 2-3. Uncertified typewritten copy.

Notes:

1 We are talking about the formation of the governing bodies of the Georgian Communist Party of Bolsheviks. Ordzhonikidze sent the first telegram on this issue to Lenin on May 7, 1920 (RTSKHIDNI. F. 85. Op. 13. D. 17. L. 1). The provisional Central Committee of the CP(b)G was formed on May 20, 1920.

2 See note 9 to document No. 71.

3 This information by Nazaretyan, reported by Ordzhonikidze to Lenin and Stalin, with the exception of the part concerning Abkhazia, is outdated. Perhaps the purpose of the message was a kind of pressure on Lenin to speed up the process of Sovietization of Georgia.