V. I.

Lenin

June 14, 1918

Comrade Zinoviev, Every effort must be made to send hundreds of agitators
to the countryside from Petrograd immediately. This is particularly important now, on the eve of the Congress
of
Soviets, [1] and the whole military and food situation demands it even more insistently. We shall find the money,
don’t spare the cost. We have talked about this in detail
with Svidersky (and Tsyurupa). Concentrate on this.

Greetings, Lenin

---
Notes:
[1]
A reference to the forthcoming Fifth All-Russia Congress of Soviets ,
which opened in Moscow on July 4, 1918. Y. M. Sverdlov reported
on the activity of the All-Russia Central Executive Committee,
and Lenin, on the work of the Council of People’s Commissars.
On these reports the Congress adopted a resolution motioned by
the Communist group, expressing “complete approval of the
foreign and domestic policy of the Soviet Government”. It rejected
a resolution motioned by the Left S.R.s voicing no confidence
in the Soviet Government and proposing to scrap the Brest Peace
Treaty and to change the Soviet Government’s foreign and
domestic policies. The Congress adjourned in view of the
counter-revolutionary revolt started by the Left S.R.s in Moscow on July
6 and re-assembled on July 9. Having heard the government’s
report on the events of July 6 and 7, the Congress fully approved
its resolute action in stamping out the criminal venture of the
Left S.R.s.

The Congress discussed the reports on the food question and
the organisation of the Red Army, and concluded its work by adopting the first Constitution of the R.S.F.S.R. which gave
legislative form to the gains of the Soviet working people.