V. I.

Lenin

59

TELEGRAM TO THE C.E.C. OF THE SOVIETS OF SIBERIA

I fully approve the resolution of
Centrosibir. [1] I advise you to prepare stores of foodstuffs and other products even
if by requisitioning, in order to build up a serious defence.
Our talks with the ambassadors should begin today. [2] It is
clear now that no trust can be put in assurances and the
only serious guarantee lies in solid military preparations
on our part.

Lenin

---
Notes:
[1]
This refers to a resolution passed by the Central Executive
Committee of Siberian Soviets in connection with the landing of
Japanese troops in Vladivostok on the morning of April 5, 1918. It
protested against the illegitimate actions of the Japanese
Government; a state of war was declared in Siberia and all local
Soviets were instructed to immediately step up the organisation
of the Red Army.

Centrosibir —the Central Executive Committee of Siberian
Soviets; was elected by the First Congress of Siberian Soviets,
held in Irkutsk from October 16 (29) to October 24 (November 6),
1917. After the temporary downfall of Soviet power in Siberia
(in the summer of 1918) Centrosibir ceased its activity.

[2]
This refers to the Soviet Government’s talks with representatives
of the U.S.A., Britain and France in connection with the landing
of Japanese troops in Vladivostok; the talks took place on the
evening of April 5, 1918.

The Soviet Government’s communique on the landing of
Japanese troops in Vladivostok, written on April 5 and published in
Pravda and Izvestia on April 6, 1918, pointed out that resistance
to the Japanese invasion and a relentless struggle against their
agents and accomplices within the country was a matter of life
and death for the Soviet Republic, for the working people of the
whole of Russia. On April 7, 1918, Lenin sent a telegram with
directives to the Vladivostok Soviet, warning that the interventionists were sure to advance and demanding that the
Communists of the Far East without delay should start preparing
to fight the foreign intervention (see present edition, Vol. 27,
p. 226).