Date: 1921-10-04
Source: ru:ND; en:Pipes

Note by L.D. Trotsky

To the Politburo

To Comrade Lenin

To Comrade Molotov

The Commission of the Central Executive Committee (Trotsky, Stalin, Ordzhonikidze, Gusev) has concluded that it is necessary to allocate ten million rubles in gold and has drafted the text of the telegram enclosed herewith¹.

I request an immediate decision on this matter from the Politburo, so that the telegrams can be dispatched as intended today.

4/X 21

L. Trotsky

Note by V.I. Lenin

Confidential (to the archives) [[ military proposals] Oct. 1921 and 10 million]]

Fund 2, Inventory 2, File 914 — Note by L.D. Trotsky — original document; note by V.I. Lenin — autograph.

1The matter concerned the acquisition of a substantial quantity of Russian‑made rifles and machine guns of American manufacture. P.M. Kerzhen­tsev had informed L.D. Trotsky of this possibility on September 30, 1921. The following day, at Trotsky’s suggestion, the members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) were consulted on this issue. As a result, the following resolution was recorded in the minutes of the Politburo: “Establish a commission composed of Comrades Trotsky, Ordzhonikidze, Gusev, Frunze, and Stalin to thoroughly prepare the matter, assigning it the task of submitting a report to the Politburo within five days, while simultaneously requesting Comrade Krasin to assess the possibilities for procurement and transportation. The commission shall begin its work without delay, provided that all its members are present” (RGASPI, Fund 17, Inventory 3, File 209, p. 1). The commission proposed allocating ten million rubles in gold for this purpose and approved the texts of telegrams addressed to L.B. Krasin and Kerzhen­tsev, which were sent under Trotsky’s signature (see: The Trotsky Papers. 1917–1922. Vol. II, pp. 596–598). Trotsky’s note to the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) was published there as well, on p. 596.

The commission’s decision was endorsed at the meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) held on October 4, 1921.