1917 (DECEMBER) — 1918

1 The appeal was written on G. V. Chicherin's letter to V. D. Bonch-Bruevich of April 13, 1918, with a request to send 9 reliable Latvian riflemen to guard the premises allocated to the German embassy.

NOTE TO G. V. CHICHERIN

[April 27, 1918]
And what did you answer Mirbach to his written request?
1 The note was apparently written at the meeting of the Council of People's Commissars on April 27, 1918, which was attended by G. V. Chicherin. He wrote to V. I. Lenin about his conversation with Ritzler, advisor to the German mission ("the inspirer of Mirbach"), on the issues of requisition and contribution of property of Baltic Germans. To Lenin's question, Chicherin puts forward a number of his proposals for a response to the German ambassador in Moscow, Mirbach, and consults with Lenin on them.

EXCHANGE OF NOTES with I. E. GUKOVSKY

[April 1918]
To Gukovsky
1) Did you have a meeting of the
Financial Commission of the Central Executive Committee today?

2) What are the voting results?
(a) in general (b) Rose's theses?

(c)
»
Zemit's?
3) Zemit is being called to the Commissariat of
National Education for service. Shouldn't he be taken more firmly
into the
Commissariat of
Finance?

In my opinion, he should.
(The Commissariat of Finance is weak in labor force, really weak, it needs to be reinforced; otherwise
you will not have the right to complain later about the lack of strength.)
was comprised of:
Comrade Rose, Comrade Zemit and Comrade Trutovsky.
the majority adopted mine did not vote the same
He works for us.
I was just talking about this now with Comrade Sverdlov and
would like to talk to you.

1 I. E. Gukovsky - Deputy People's Commissar of Finance.
2 The Financial Commission for discussing banking policy met several times in April 1918, and V. I. Lenin attended its meetings.
3 Ya. Ya. Rose - member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
4 F. A. Zemit was sent as a member of the collegium of the People's Commissariat of Finance.

DIRECT LINE CONVERSATION with I. V. STALIN

[May 2, 1918]
I am Stalin
Serious events are taking place in Ukraine. On 4/28, during the meeting of the Rada, a German lieutenant with German units, on the order of Eichhorn, occupied the premises of the Rada, interrupted the meeting, arrested part of the ministers, and placed Hrushevsky under house arrest. The reason: heated debates during the meeting about Eichhorn's order prohibiting meetings and rallies and taking control of the Council of People's Ministers. In addition, the disarmament of several Ukrainian regiments, which served as the subject of debates and protests, expressed in the demand of the German government to recall the German generals. The next day, the Rada did not meet, although some of the arrested ministers were released. But the congress of landlords, calling themselves agrarians, who declared war on socialists and the Rada, expelling the democratic part of the delegates from their midst, who were arrested by the Germans on the same day, met quite freely. Such information is completely accurate and verified, it is taken from "Kievskaya Mysl"
 2. There is information, not yet verified, that a new bourgeois-landlord government has been formed under the name of Hetmanate. From this it follows, among other things, that the peace conference will not yet have the opportunity, if it ever will have the opportunity, to be constructed. Another, no less important, event: the Germans occupied Feodosia, and the Ukrainian units were recalled by them from Simferopol further north, beyond Perekop. This means that the Germans want to keep Crimea for themselves, in order to throw a bridge across the Kerch Strait, get to Persia and Mesopotamia through the Black Sea railway line and the Transcaucasian one, through Kars and so on, that is, the very thing that the imperialist Rohrbach once timidly dreamed of
 3. This is already the second reason, which, like the first, indicates that the proposed peace conference will be postponed. Our parliamentarian is making his way or has already made his way to Vorozhba
 4. I am waiting for information from him every minute. Depending on this information, it is possible that I will go to Moscow tomorrow.
Have you received a telegram from the Ukrainian peace delegation from Vorozhba stating that the delegation is designating Nezhin as the venue for negotiations, and have you given any response from your side?
Lenin
Stalin: It was transmitted to us via direct line by Chicherin, who gave the Ukrainians a response in the sense of their invitation to Kursk in the words: "Our

1917 (DECEMBER) — 1918 delegation is waiting for you in Kursk." We ourselves did not receive the radio message directly, perhaps because the Kursk station is limping on both legs. We sent our response with the parliamentarian in the sense of inviting the Ukrainians to Kursk, where, according to the statement of the Ukrainian courier, the wires have been laid and everything is prepared for the meeting. In our appeal, we bypass the issue of Nezhin, and, between us be said, it goes without saying that we will not make a *casus* out of Nezhin. It has just been reported that General Skoropadsky has been appointed hetman of Ukraine, but this report has not yet been verified. By the way: don't you think that the new Ukrainian government will not fail to [declare] war on us on occasion to restore order and tranquility under the strict, completely strict, neutrality of Germany?
Lenin: I also had no doubt that you would not make a *casus* out of Nezhin, but in my opinion, this thought should have been expressed in your response to the Ukrainians as well. Draw up a new telegram
with a request both to the German government and to the new hetman government. Transmit this telegram to us here
via direct line, and we will send it via direct line to Berlin. In addition, it would be useful to confirm the order
to all units standing on the borders to formally propose
a suspension of hostilities, and then talk with Rostov about strengthening the protection of both Rostov and the Kerch Strait. I think, in general, that in the absence of means of communication with the Ukrainian government, you should talk to Berlin twice a day through Moscow, hinting in a very polite form that Eichhorn
 5 is a more stable quantity than the Ukrainian government. Lenin
We, both present here
 6, believe that it is not the telegrams of the peace delegation, but of the Foreign Commissariat that should be sent.
We believe, moreover, that the orders to the fronts should be given not by us, but by the Supreme Military Council. We, for our part, have done everything in our power and have actually created an atmosphere of truce on the Kursk and Bryansk fronts. There is no communication with Rostov. We intend to send a man to Rostov with appropriate directives. Did you receive our tape from yesterday, taken by Karakhan
 
7, about our conversation with Antonov?
No, I did not receive it. I will try to find Chicherin and Trotsky right now to talk to them and I hope to send you a note today, in about three hours. That's all for now. Lenin
Stalin: One more minute. Catch Karakhan and demand the tape that he undertook to transmit to you. The content of the tape: Antonov asks in a categorical form to order the Soviets of Deputies, in particular
the Voronezh Soviet of Deputies, to post a border guard
with white flags, which would disarm all units crossing its border. If this is done, Antonov undertakes to officially remove the powers of the Commander-in-Chief and recognize the war with Ukraine as liquidated.
I believe that this would significantly speed up the peace process. Rakovsky and
I asked Karakhan to transmit this demand of Antonov to the appropriate place
and satisfy it. This is the content of the tape. Stalin