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Bolshevik leadership Correspondence. 1912-1927
Collection of documents 1996.
Compiled by: A.V.Kvashonkin, L.P.Kosheleva, L.A.Rogovaya, O.V.Khlevnyuk.
Stalin CorrespondencesI. V. Stalin - L. B. Kamenev
[December 1912]
Hello friend!
Kiss you on the nose, Eskimo style. Damn me. I miss you like hell. I miss you - I swear by the dog! There is no one for me, no one to talk heart to heart with, damn you crush. Can't you just move to Krakow? one
There are five of us here: three deputies (Petrovsky, Malinovsky, Badaev, of which Petrovsky represents the six in the faction) 2 . I [was] alone. Will be the sixth. Despite the stupidity made by four out of six about Luch 3(I found out about this later), the six remain a close-knit group. It is only necessary to give it time to get used to the state of affairs, to get acquainted with Party affairs, to seriously work on it. A good worker will come out of Stavsky. There is nothing to say about Malinovsky. Yes, you can’t say everything in a letter, but there is something to talk about. Ilyich recommends the "firm policy" of the Six within the faction, the policy of threatening the majority of the faction, the policy of appealing to the rank and file, against the majority of the faction, but Ilyich [will yield], for it goes without saying that the Six are not yet ripe for such a firm policy, are not prepared, what is needed first strengthen the six, and then beat the majority of the faction with it, as Ilya [Muromets] beat the Tatars with the Tatar. In addition, it is very possible that in two or three months there will already be a majority in the faction (there is hope to drag one or two), and then we will have the opportunity to beat the liquidators with a faction, this is much more profitable. Therefore, we need to work and wait a little with a firm policy. The last mistake with participation in Luch once again shows that it is necessary, first of all, to strengthen the very six, who want to be Bolshevik, but are not yet completely Bolshevik. The Six at every step [need] what [...] in the leader: I accidentally did not attend one of the meetings of the faction and that was enough for the Six to throw out nonsense with Luch. In a word - you need to wait a little ...
Well, bye, I firmly shake my hand. Koba.
RTSKHIDNI. F. 558. On. 1. D. 5391. L. 3. Autograph.
Notes:
1 . After escaping from exile in September 1912, Stalin, being a member of the Central Committee of the RSDLP and the Russian Bureau of the Central Committee, in November-December 1912 took part in a meeting of the Central Committee with party workers in Krakow. Kamenev had been abroad since 1908 and lived mostly in Geneva. Following Lenin, he moved to Krakow in 1913. Kamenev's acquaintance with Stalin took place in Tiflis in 1904. The letter was sent from Krakow to Geneva.
2 . The Bolshevik part of the Social Democratic faction of the Fourth State Duma took part in the work of the party meeting.
3 . Luch is the daily legal newspaper of a group of members of the RSDLP, supporters of legal methods of political struggle, the creation of an open party, called liquidators by Lenin. The newspaper was published in St. Petersburg from September 16 (29), 1912 to July 5 (18), 1913. The organizers of the newspaper are Axelrod, Dan, Martov, Martynov.
We are talking about the events of November-December 1912. On November 15, 1912, the IV State Duma began to work. At the initiative of the Bolsheviks, a one-day political strike and a demonstration at the Tauride Palace (the seat of the Duma) in St. Petersburg were timed to coincide with this day. At a meeting of representatives of the Social Democratic Party, convened on the initiative of the Social Democratic faction of the Duma on November 13, opinions were divided. The St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP spoke in favor of the demonstration, while the Organizing Committee (the leading body of the liquidators) and the editors of Luch opposed it. The strike took place, but after the meeting, the Social Democratic faction, fearing a provocation, came out together with the editors of Luch and condemned it. Upon learning of this, Lenin criticized the faction and raised the question of the need to break its "workers'" wing with the liquidators. In the second half of November, he wrote the work “On the Question of the November 15th Event. (Unspeakable speech)”, where he called the incident a shame (Lenin V.I. PSS. T. 22. S. 208). However, in December 1912, the "workers' deputies" of the Social Democratic faction of the Duma again agreed to have their names included in the list of Luch employees, while continuing to collaborate with Pravda. In Krakow, at a conference, this question was discussed in the context of the need for a complete organizational break with the liquidators. On December 26, 1913, Stalin published in No. 47 of Pravda a special article on the Luch incident under the title "The Situation in the Social Democratic Fraction." The article was signed - K. Stalin (Stalin I.V. Works. T. 2. S. 368-372). where he called the incident a shame (Lenin V.I. PSS. T. 22. S. 208). However, in December 1912, the "workers' deputies" of the Social Democratic faction of the Duma again agreed to have their names included in the list of Luch employees, while continuing to collaborate with Pravda. In Krakow, at a conference, this question was discussed in the context of the need for a complete organizational break with the liquidators. On December 26, 1913, Stalin published in No. 47 of Pravda a special article on the Luch incident under the title "The Situation in the Social Democratic Fraction.
" The article was signed - K. Stalin (Stalin I.V. Works. T. 2. S. 368-372).
No. 2
J. V. Stalin to G. E. Zinoviev
December 1913
In your letter dated 9/XI [you] write that you will send me my "debt" in small parts 1 . I would like you to send them as soon as possible, in whatever small parts. (If you have money, send it directly to me in Kostino). I say this because money is desperately needed 2 . Everything would be fine if it were not for the disease, but this damned disease that requires care (i.e. money) unbalances and patience. I'm waiting. As soon as I receive the German books, I will supplement the articles and send them in a revised form ...
Your Ios[if] 3
RTSKHIDNI. F. 558. On. 2. D. 89. L. 2. Autograph.
Notes:
1 . We are talking about royalties for Stalin's publications. In 1912-1913. Stalin worked on a series of articles on the national question. The largest of them, "Marxism and the National Question", was written in Vienna and first printed under the signature "K. Stalin" in No. 3-5 of the journal "Prosveshcheniye" under the title "The National Question and Social Democracy". This work, which included a number of smaller articles on the national question, was published in a separate pamphlet in 1914 by the Priboy publishing house (Petersburg). In a letter to Malinovsky (November 1913), Stalin noted: “Zinoviev writes to me that articles on the “national question” will be published as a separate pamphlet [...] I hope that you, in which case, will stand up for me and get a fee .. .” (Medvedev R.A. On Stalin and Stalinism. M., 1990. S. 25-26).
2. Stalin raised this problem in his letters from exile more than once. In the same (see note 1) letter to Malinovsky, he wrote: “Hello friend! It's embarrassing to write, but I have to. I don't think I've ever experienced such a terrible situation. All the money came out, some kind of suspicious cough began due to the intensified frosts (37 degrees of cold), the general condition is painful, there are no stocks of bread, sugar, meat, or kerosene (all the money was spent on regular expenses and clothes with shoes) . And without supplies, everything is expensive here: rye bread 4 1/2 k[op.] a pound, kerosene 15 kopecks, meat 18 kopecks, sugar 25 kop.] We need milk, we need firewood, but ... money, no money, friend. I don't know how I'll spend the winter in this state... I don't have rich relatives or acquaintances, I positively have no one to turn to, and I turn to you, Yes, not only to you - and to Petrovsky, and to Badaev. My request is that if the social-democratic faction still has a “fund of the repressive,” let it, the faction, or better, the faction’s bureau give me the only help of at least 60 rubles. Pass on my request to Chkhetsdze and tell him that I also ask him to take my request to heart, I ask him not only as a countryman, but mainly as the chairman of the faction. If there is no other such fund, then perhaps all of you together will come up with something suitable. I understand that all of you, and especially you - there is no time, there is no time, but, damn it, there is no one else to turn to, but I don’t want to die here without even writing one letter to you. This matter must be arranged today and the money sent by telegraph, because to wait further means to starve, and I’m already exhausted and sick, you know my address: Turukhansk region of the Yenisei province, the village of Kostino, Iosif Dzhugashvili [...] ) not that 20, not that 25 rubles. I inform you that I have not received them yet and probably will not receive them until spring. For all his stay in the Turukhansk exile, he received only 44 rubles. from abroad and 25 p. from Petrovsky. I didn’t get anything else” (ibid.). from abroad and 25 p. from Petrovsky. I didn’t get anything else” (ibid.). from abroad and 25 p. from Petrovsky. I didn’t get anything else” (ibid.).
3 . Postcard address: “Austria (Galicia) Krakau. Ulica Lubomirskiego No. 35. An Herm Radomilski. Osterreich. Mogils [ka] 10". A piece of a postcard with a date in the upper left corner has been torn out. On the copy in the upper left corner are two postscripts by Stalin: “1913 From the Turukhansk Territory” and “T. Orakhelashvili. Institute of Lenin. Return to IMEL this nonsense written in 1913 from Kostino (Turukh[an] Territory) by I[osif] St[alin].”
Number 3
I. V. Stalin - R. V. Malinovsky
April 10 [1914]
From Joseph from Turukhansk 1
10.IV.
Hello Friend!
No. 1 of Rabotnitsy 2 and one No. of Puti Pravdy 3 with your Duma speech received. Thank you, friend, especially for the speech. I salute you all, especially you and Badaev, for your successful speech in the Duma on the question of the press! 4I am glad from the bottom of my heart that your speeches will be discussed at meetings of workers. In my opinion, this is the only correct method of work, which has been so well mastered by the collective of St. Petersburg Marxists. This should be done on every question that concerns the workers. In general, the soul rejoices at the sight of how skillfully, how skillfully the faction and the St. Petersburg collective use all and every legal opportunity. Press organs, political and professional, growing like mushrooms; successful performances by members of the faction and their frequent trips (very necessary and useful); the regular intervention of the St. Petersburg collective in all matters of proletarian actions; growth of Pravda's prestige 5, except for St. Petersburg, still in the provinces; a colossal increase in donations to Pravda, and, along with this, the mournful howl in every sense of the decaying group of liquidators - a picture of magnificent eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!...
I also read your article in Pravda on the tasks of the opposition. Both your behavior (the speech in Pravda and not in Sovremennik 6 ) and the article itself are impeccable. So them, the Shchukin sons from Sovremennik, - beat, friend! ...
One of my St. Petersburg friends writes to me that there are terribly few literary workers in St. Petersburg. If this is true, write - I will tell I. Stalin to write more often. Still help. He has already sent to Prosveshchenie 7 a long article on "cultural-national] autonomy." If he receives the necessary books from Russia (and he will receive them, for he subscribed to them), he will write and send an equally long article (5 feuilletons) for Pravda under the title "On the Foundations of Marxism." There will also be (for Enlightenment) an article on the Organizational Side of the National Question. If necessary, he will write and send to Pravda a popular article on the national question, which is completely accessible to the workers. You just write, order.
Then a request: I have not received Pravda since January. Tell them to send. Maybe at the old address. Issues of Pravda accidentally fall into my hands, and without a newspaper it is very difficult here.
The other day I sent you a letter. You must have received it and scold me. Well scold me if you think I deserved...
Hi Stephanie.
Kisses guys.
Shake your hand.
Joseph.
Tur[Wuhan] region
PS We have "new trends": the new governor transferred me to the far north 8 and confiscated the money received in my name (60 rubles in total). Live brother...
Someone, it turns out, is spreading rumors that I will not stay in exile until the end of my term. Nonsense! I declare to you and I swear by the dog that I will remain in exile until the end of my term (until 1917) 9 . Once I thought about leaving, but now I have abandoned this idea, finally abandoned it. There are many reasons, and if you want, I will someday write in detail about them.
Joseph.
PS I read L. Martov's article on the opposition , 10 where he tries to whitewash the liquidators by casting a shadow on your Bolshevik physiognomy. I swear by the dog, friend, such a juggler and conjurer, such a buffoon and comedian as L. Martov, is difficult to find in all our socialist literature. It is bad, bad business for the liquidators if they have to play the famous hero Gleb Uspensky, a pitiful buffoon and "pyro-hydro-technician" who was engaged in "decapitation of the head and other parts of the body." Needless to say, the answer to L. Martov's article can only be a mockery.
Well, all the best. Joseph].
RTSKHIDNI. F. 558. On. 1. D. 5394. L. 6-8. Autograph.
Notes:
1 . This letter was found by Petrovsky in his personal archive and sent to Stalin with an accompanying note: “Comrade. Stalin, at the request of Comrade Poskrebyshev, to return the materials and extracts of the Central Committee to the Central Committee, digging through my archive, I found your letter, I consider it my duty to return it to you. I am sending you a similar, apparently coordinated letter from Comrade Sverdlov, Ya. M. G. Petrovsky. 17/VІІІ 39 Moscow” (RTSKHIDNI. F. 558. On. 1. D. 5394. L. 5).
The letter was sent from the Turukhansk region to St. Petersburg.
2 . "Rabotnitsa" - a legal women's magazine, an organ of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b), was published in St. Petersburg from February to June 1914.
3 . Put' Pravdy was one of the titles of the legal Bolshevik newspaper Pravda (since 1917 the Central Organ of the RSDLP(b)) in 1914.
4 . We are talking about the article "For freedom of the press", published in No. 29 of the newspaper "Put' Pravdy" on March 6, 1914. The article was devoted to the speeches of Badaev and Malinovsky about the workers' press at a meeting of the State Duma on March 5, 1914 ("The Way of Truth". No. 29. March 6, 1914).
5 . "True" - See note 3.
6 . Sovremennik is a literary and political journal around which the Menshevik Liquidators, Socialist-Revolutionaries, People's Socialists, and Left Liberals were grouped. Published in St. Petersburg in 1911-1914.
7 . Enlightenment is a theoretical legal journal of the Bolsheviks. Published in St. Petersburg.
8 . We are talking about the transfer of Stalin to the village of Kureika, Yenisei province, Turukhansk region.
9 . Stalin returned to Petersburg from exile in the spring of 1917.
10 . We are talking about Martov's article against the Bolsheviks in March 1914 in No. 3 of the Nasha Zarya magazine.
No. 4
I. V. Stalin - O. E. Alliluyeva
November 25 [1915]
25/XI
For Olga Evgenievna 1
I am very, very grateful to you, dear Olga Evgenievna, for your kind and pure feelings for me. I will never forget your caring attitude towards me! I am waiting for the moment when I will be released from exile and, having arrived in St. Petersburg, I personally thank you, as well as Sergey, for everything. After all, I only have two years left.
I've received the parcel. Thanks to. I ask only one thing - do not spend more on me: you yourself need the money. I will also be pleased if you send open letters from time to time with views of nature and so on. In this accursed land, nature is ugly to the point of ugliness - a river in summer, snow in winter, that's all that nature gives here - and I foolishly yearned for views of nature, even on paper.
My regards guys and girls. I wish them all the best.
I live like before. I feel good. Quite healthy - must be accustomed to the local nature. And our nature is harsh: three weeks ago, the frost reached 45 degrees.
Until the next letter.
Yours, Joseph
RTSKHIDNI. F. 558. On. 1. D. 55 L. 1-2. Autograph.
Notes:
1 . The letter was written in exile, in the village of Kureika, Yenisei province, Turukhansk region, and sent to St. Petersburg. O. E. Alliluyeva is the wife of a worker, a member of the Bolshevik Party S. Ya. Alliluyev. The youngest daughter of the Alliluyevs, Nadezhda, became Stalin's wife in the spring of 1918.
No. 5
S. Spandaryan, I. V. Stalin - V. I. Lenin
February 27 [1915]
27/II
Hello, dear Vladimir Ilyich! one
Now Joseph is visiting me and I wanted to send you our greetings. How do you live? What are you doing? What is the mood? Write what you can. We want a living word. We will be expecting a letter from you.
Suren
Greetings to Nadezhda Konstantinovna 2 and Grigory 3 , and in general to all friends.
My greetings to you, dear Ilyich, warm, warm greetings! Greetings to Zinoviev, greetings to Nadezhda Konstantinovna! How are you, how is your health? I live as before, I chew bread, I live half the term. It's boring, but there's nothing you can do about it. And how are your affairs? Yours must be more fun... I recently read Kropotkin's articles4 - an old fool, completely out of his mind. I also read Plekhanov's article in Rech 5 - an incorrigible old babbler! Ehma... And what about the liquidators with their deputies, agents of a free economic society? There is no one to beat them, damn me! Do they really go unpunished? Rejoice us and tell us that soon there will be an organ where they will be whipped in the face, yes, in order, but tirelessly 6 .
If you decide to write, write to the following address: Tur[ukhan] region (Yenisei province), Monastyrskoye village, Suren Spandaryan.
Your Koba
Timothy asks to convey his sour greetings to Ged, Samba and Vandervelde in their glorious, hehe, ministerial posts 7 .
RTSKHIDNI. F. 558. On. 1. D. 53. L. 1-3. Autographs. "Proletarian Revolution". 1936. No. 7. S. 167.
Notes:
1 . The letter was written from Turukhansk exile during the period of Stalin's visit to Spandaryan, who was exiled there, and sent to Switzerland. Stalin had known Spandarian since 1907 through his work in the illegal Bolshevik newspaper Baku Proletary.
2 . Krupskaya.
3 . Zinoviev.
4 . Probably, we are talking about Kropotkin's article "Letters on Contemporary Events", published in the newspaper "Russian Vedomosti" in Nos. 206 and 229 of September 7 (20) and October 5 (15), 1914.
5 . Apparently, this refers to Plekhanov's Open Letter to the Editorial Office of the Rech newspaper, published on October 2 (15), 1914. Rech is the printed organ of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Russia.
6 . On November 1, 1914, in Geneva, after a significant break, No. 33 of the Bolshevik newspaper Sotsial-Demokrat, edited by Lenin, came out. By the time the letter was written, Stalin had not yet received any issues of the newspaper.
7 . European socialists who entered the governments of their countries.