V. I. Lenin

Telegram to

UFA Gubernia Revolutionary Committee [1]

Ufa, Gubernia Revolutionary Committee Chairman

Propose not to alienate Khalikov and to grant amnesty on condition that a common front with Bashkir regiments is set up against Kolchak. The Soviet government pledges its full guarantee for Bashkir national freedom. But naturally, you must deal severely with counter-revolutionaries among Bashkir population and achieve de facto control to ensure proletarian reliability of Baslikir forces.

Lenin, Stalin

Endnotes

[1] The telegram was
sent in reply to the Ufa Gubernia Revolutionary Committee's
inquiry as to how it should act with regard to the spokesman of
the Bashkir bourgeois nationalist government. Khalikov, who had
come for negotiations. Khalikov wanted an amnesty for Bashkirs
who had fought Soviet power; he also in-formed the Committee
that Bashkir troops were now joining the Red Army. The telegram,
beginning with the words “But naturally”, was written by Lenin.