Читать книгу The Liquidation of Russia. Who Helped the Reds to Win the Civil War? - Николай Стариков - Страница 3

The victims of the Civil War amount to millions. The warring parties have committed numerous crimes against the civilians, against the soldiers of the enemy, and against those who were suspected of sympathizing the enemy. Yet, the most famous link in the long chain of crimes of the Revolution times is the execution of the family of Nicholas II. Kolchak, the supreme ruler of Russia, appointed Nikolay Sokolov, the investigator of special cases, to investigate this atrocity. And the admiral did not make a mistake about choosing him: despite his somewhat strange appearance, Sokolov gave his all in order to find the truth. After the end of the Civil War, Nikolay Sokolov moved to Europe and settled down in Paris. Even after Kolchak's death and after the Whites had been defeated he continued to collect the information and to examine witnesses. Finally, based on the evidence he had collected, he wrote a book called "The Assassination of the Tsar's Family." However, the mystery, which the 42-year old investigator was trying to unravel, was utterly dangerous. In 1924, he was found dead near his home. The diagnosis would be a standard one for mysterious deaths like this one, a heart attack.

There are a lot of interesting facts in Sokolov's book. Reading it, one strongly realizes that the assassination of Nicholas and his family was prepared long before the physical liquidation of the crown-bearing family. And it was being prepared not by Bolsheviks but by those who on the eve of their coming to power were "holding the steering wheel of the state." Who were these people? More specifically, who was this person? It was Alexander Kerensky.

In order to understand the background and reasons of the odd and mysterious death of the Tsar's family let's go back in time a little, to March 1917, to the moment when the monarchy collapsed. On March 9 (22), 1917, six days after Nicholas II had abdicated from the throne, there was issued an order to arrest the Tsar's family. And the Petrograd District Commander General Kornilov was assigned to do this. A grimace in the history – the future icon of the White movement arrests the Romanovs. Yes, it's true. The historians do not know about any monarchic complot during the infamous rule of the Provisional Government. No one was going to enthrone a new Russian tsar. Why then did the Februarists arrest the Imperial family?

Because the preparation for its future elimination had already started. Yet, it was imperceptible at the time. When abdicating from the throne, Nicholas Romanov tried to get certain conditions for himself and his nearest.[5] He could not imagine that the Provisional Government would in the most dishonourable way break all their agreements. The demands of the former monarch were quite modest:

• to allow a free way for his family to Tsarskoye Selo;

• to guarantee them a safe stay there before the children recover (who had measles);

• to let the family and its entourage travel to the northern Russian seaports in order to leave for Britain before the end of the war;

• to let them return to Russia after the war ends in order to permanently settle down in Livadia (the Crimea).[6]

The shortest way from Murmansk to London is by sea. This is exactly the way that the British convoys used to get here during the Great Patriotic War. That's how Nicholas wants to leave for the "allied" Great Britain. The special committee created by the Provisional Government for the "investigation of the atrocities of the tsarist regime" will not find any crimes. Nicholas Romanov is waiting patiently, while the committee is finding out that he has not done anything bad to Russia. After that he hopes to go abroad with all his family. The Februarists have promised this to the former Tsar. But instead of Livadia in the Crimea Kerensky sent the Tsar's family to Siberia, where no one of the crown-bearing family of the Romanovs returned alive from.

However, publicly he said something quite different, "At the earliest possible time Nicholas II under my personal supervision will be driven to the harbour, where he will depart to Britain on a steamer."[7] He will say this, but this will not be done. Why did the government do this to the Monarch, who had humbly surrendered his power? The answer is simple.

The first paragraph in the unwritten plan of the liquidation of Russia was the destruction of the legitimate power.

Soon it would get so hot in Russia that the time of the tsar reign would look like paradise. It would be then that the tired Russian people would consider calling the very young Grand Prince Alexei to the throne. He has a right to the throne – by the laws of the Russian Empire, Nicholas II did not have the right to abdicate from the throne on behalf of his son. In other words, from a legal perspective, the country has a legal ruler – Alexei II. It was clear for the orchestrators of the Russian catastrophe that they could not allow Alexei to leave the country alive. As it was difficult to eliminate the boy alone, the only right decision was not to let any of the Romanovs out of the country. For these purposes, they had to be arrested under any pretext and later destroyed. All of them. Then the issue of the monarchy reinstatement will be over with the last spade of soil thrown onto their grave…

Of course, the noble men – the heads of Milyukov's KD Party and of Guchkov's Octobrist Party are not good for this. The Latvian Riflemen and drunk sailors would be more suitable for such task. But their time hasn't come yet, so let the Romanovs stay under house arrest or in prison. It's safer like this.

The Provisional Government, indeed, makes an inquiry if the family of Nicholas II could depart to Britain. And if the British government accedes to such a request, there will be no problems any more. The British king is the cousin of Nicholas II. Moreover, they resemble each other so closely. If the revolution had happened in Great Britain, the noble and naive Nicholas would not have given a second thought to whether he could or could not play host to his brother's family. He is a true companion-in-arms of Great Britain, he has been carrying on a war for three years, sometimes to the disadvantage of his own country, and the "allies" have nothing to blame him for. Nicholas does not understand that he interests his "allies" only in the form of a corpse. The same fate awaits his family.

At first, "Georgie," George, the King of Great Britain, granted the Tsar's family a permission to come to Great Britain. But the investigation led by Kerensky was underway at the same time, and the family could not leave yet. The British didn't risk anything: they were, allegedly, ready to host the Tsar but he just wouldn't come. Tough luck! However, the investigation came to its end, and the verdict of the Provisional Government's commission was that the Monarch was not guilty. There were no more obstacles for Nicholas to leave. And then, the "allies" helped Kerensky to ease his conscience. Surely, he promised to send the Romanovs abroad but didn't do this. Now he can easily say he hasn't kept his promise because it was not possible any more.

The British have declined Kerensky's request to host the Tsar's family. This negative answer is a dark secret of our "allies." Even today, they do not want to take responsibility for the blood of the innocent children of Nicholas II! But it was not difficult at all to save the Romanovs. "Twice the Russians addressed the British with the plea to help them set free the Emperor and his Imperial family, languishing in captivity. For the first time, in April 1917, they asked Buchanan for help. The only thing that was required of Buchanan was to contact his government in order for the latter to send a British ship to meet the Russian cruiser and take the Tsar and his crown-bearing family aboard. But Sir George Buchanan adamantly refused to do it having said, "There's no time to think about that now! Now everyone is occupied by much more important things. Furthermore, I don't want to burden my King and my government with extra concerns…"[8]

Kerensky did not want to assume the responsibility for the death of the Romanovs, either, that's why in his memoirs he told the truth. And this truth caused a storm of indignation. The former British Prime Minister Lloyd George and the former British Ambassador Buchanan objected to him.[9] Kerensky had eased his conscience, and the British got thrown into panic insisting that they had never revoked their consent to give asylum to the Tsar. The things have come to a serious pass. In 1927, as an answer to a parliamentary inquiry, the foreign secretary of Great Britain accused Kerensky of lying, having presented the old telegrams as "a self-explanatory accusation." But it was a lie. In July 1917, which is to say well after, the British Military Attache General Knox gave not an equally specific answer to the request to host the Romanov family, "Britain is not in the slightest interested in the fate of the Russian Imperial family…"[10]

Trying to conceal their role in the death of the Tsar's family, the "allies" hid the traces of their treason, having hidden away the telegrams with their refusal. When the former secretary of the British Embassy in Petrograd said that he remembered receiving a telegram from London with a refusal, the British diplomats answered that his memory must have failed him. But in 1932, Buchanan's daughter told about the strain which was put on her father.[11] Under the threat of losing his retirement pension, he had to forge the story in his memoirs and hide the truth from the public. And yet, the truth has got out. Some of these documents have even been published.

The telegram of Lord Stamfordham, the King's personal secretary, to Lord Balfour, the foreign secretary of Great Britain (24 March, 1917) reads, "…I beg you to tell the Prime Minister that everything the King hears and reads in the press shows that the public will not like the presence of the Emperor and the Empress in this country, and this will jeopardize the position of the King and the Queen… Buchanan must tell Milyukov that in Britain the discontent with regard to the arrival of the Emperor and the Empress is so strong that we have to withdraw our former consent to the proposal of the Russian government…"[12]

The telegram of Lord Buchanan, the British ambassador to Russia, to Lord Balfour, the foreign secretary of Great Britain (24 March, 1917) reads, "…I completely agree with you… It will be much better if the former Emperor doesn't come to Britain."[13]

The Tsar's family can't go to Britain. But this does not imply that they will die. In order for the Romanovs to perish, Kerensky still had to try really hard. Because there is one more opportunity, Nicholas Romanov asked to be sent together with his family to Livadia in the Crimea. But it's exactly there, where the Romanov family will not go to. Why? Because this peninsula will be controlled by the Whites during all the period of the Civil War. Of course, Kerensky does not know this upfront, but, strangely enough, he does not want to send the former Tsar's family there. The Investigator Sokolov in his book "The Assassination of the Tsar's Family" brings forward the explanation of Kerensky himself. The head of the Provisional Government explains his odd behaviour in the following way, "It was decided (during a secret meeting) to find some other place for relocating the Tsar's family, and it was me who was appointed to find a solution to this issue. I started to explore the possibilities to do this. I planned to take them somewhere to Central Russia and was contemplating to use the estates of Michael Alexandrovich and Nicholas Mikhailovich for this purpose. But it has turned out to be absolutely impossible. Even the fact of transferring the Tsar to these places across the Russia of workers and peasants. It was also unthinkable to transfer them to the south. Some of the grand princes were already living there, as well as Maria Feodorovna, and there were already enough of disagreement there regarding it. Finally, I chose Tobolsk."[14]

Thus, the Head of the Provisional Government Kerensky decides to take the Romanov family to Tobolsk. Let us draw our attention to one very important detail: when Prince Lvov was the head of the state, no one thought of transferring Nicholas and his family anywhere. As soon as Kerensky became the head of the Provisional Government, an immediate decision about relocating the Tsar's family to some middle of nowhere was taken. But why Tobolsk? Is it really that much safer there? Sokolov has also pointed out the odd logic of the father of Russian democracy, "I do not understand why transferring the Tsar from Tsarskoye Selo anywhere except Tobolsk meant to transfer him all the way through the Russia of workers and peasants, and why transferring him to Tobolsk did not mean this."[15]

I don't know, what grade Sasha Kerensky had in his geography, it's better to ask his schoolmate Vova Ulyanov about it. Why didn't Kerensky realize that the way to Tobolsk lay across not some different, special Russia, but exactly across "the Russia of workers and peasants"?! It just turned out that way, the historians will say later, it just happened.

Let us consider the statesmen to be capable adults. If their actions seem odd to us, it must be because we fail to understand their true goal. Naivety and unawareness of Alexander Kerensky has to do with one thing, the mass grave of the crown-bearing family. Kerensky didn't shoot the children of the Romanovs himself, but he did everything in order for them not to stay alive. Thus, his actions become quite conscious and reasonable for us. The British intelligence purposefully destroys its competitor, the Russian Empire. The monarchical system is one of its characteristics, and it means that the ruling dynasty must be exterminated. The masters make their recommendations, and the marionette Kerensky should put it into effect. This being said, he wants to somehow justify his actions for the casual observers. As long as there is no rational explanation to his actions, Alexander Kerensky has to make it up. Sometimes it turns out well, sometimes the result is pure nonsense. Kerensky can't write the truth and confirm Sokolov's guess, probably, the most terrible one in his whole book, "There was only one reason for transferring the Tsar's family to Tobolsk. It was exactly the only one that remained of all the others indicated by Prince Lvov and Kerensky: a faraway cold Siberia, the land where other people were once exiled to"[16], can he?

We wish to add for ourselves: Siberia is a land of no return!

The facts push us as well as Kerensky to draw an evident conclusion: it's dangerous to keep the Tsar's family near the capital – Finland is near, and Sweden is not so far, either. In the Crimea there is sea, seaports, and the foreign lands are also close by. One never knows when the Romanovs might flee, break free. That's why it was "unthinkable" to transfer the Tsar, who had abdicated, there. "The life at the time was full of "confusions" everywhere, but all the Imperial personages, who lived in the south, managed to escape, as they all were near the borders of the country,"[17] writes investigator Sokolov.

Odd, isn't it? But everything happens the other way around.

The Tsar and his family will be murdered in the "safest," according to Kerensky, place, while the other Romanovs will manage to escape from the most "unsafe" one.

The transfer of the Tsar to his new place of residence is a closely guarded secret. It's such a big secret that even Nicholas himself doesn't know where he is going. Another scorching day in July, the insects hovering in the air… One wants to bathe and not to think about anything bad.

"July 28. Friday. The day was beautiful: we took a wonderful walk. After breakfast, Mr. Benckendorff told us that we would be sent not to the Crimea but to one of the remote principal provincial towns, a journey to which takes three or even four days! But no one knows, where exactly, even the commandant doesn't. And we were so looking forward to staying in Livadia for a longer period of time!"[18] the former Monarch would write in his diary.

"July 31. Monday. The last day of our stay in Tsarskoye Selo… Our departure has been kept such a secret that even the motorcars and the train were booked after the scheduled hour of departure. We were so exhausted! Alexei was sleepy: he went to sleep and then woke up again several times. A false alarm went off several times: we had to put our coats on, go out to the balcony, and then return inside. Then the dawn broke. We had our morning tea, and then finally at 5:00 Ker[ensky] came and said that everyone was ready to go."[19]

Why can't the itinerary be disclosed to Nicholas Romanov himself? Because he is being deceived, and the deception should be exposed already upon their arrival or on the way, when nothing can be done anymore. There was deception everywhere: Siberia instead of the Crimea, a 12 (!) days' journey to Tobolsk instead of a "three to four" days' one to the east. Tobolsk is a backcountry. Taiga. There's nowhere to run, nowhere to escape. In his diary Nicholas Romanov described the day of the departure in great detail. And this despite the fact that the former Tsar had never been a person of many words.

Now, let us recall why it has become absolutely necessary to transfer the Tsar's family from Tsarskoye Selo. The excuse found by Kerensky was quite reasonable: the protection of the crown-bearing family. At the beginning of July, there was a failed Bolshevik riot in Petrograd, that's why the Tsar's family had to be protected and transferred to a safe place far from this "boiling pot." Allegedly, the Petrograd Soviet was continuously attempting to put Nicholas Romanov into prison and to execute him…

For the orchestrators of Russia's downfall a legitimate pretender to the throne remaining alive is a catastrophe. This is a real threat for the whole carefully planned operation. The strong forces of the country can line up behind him, and the country will be saved. That's why none of the real indisputable pretenders to the Russian throne should survive during the revolution.

This is why the liquidation of the Romanovs did not start with the family of the former Emperor. Those who were planning the murder of the members of the Russian ruling dynasty knew the rules of succession to the throne well. Besides the fact that all the main pretenders to the throne were eliminated at the same time, we have to point out another peculiarity of this grim operation.

The Romanovs were being killed in the order in which they could be enthroned.

The chronology was followed rigidly. We must admit that to kill the third or the fourth pretender to the throne does not make any sense if the first and the second ones are still alive. Only from this perspective we can truly understand the massive slaughter of the Romanovs that started in the second half of 1918. Thus, let's remember two main rules of this liquidation: SIMULTANEOUSLY AND IN THE ORDER OF SUCCESSION TO THE THRONE.

Let's ask ourselves, who was №1 pretender to the Russian throne? In order to disorientate and confuse us and not let us see the cast-iron logic that was at the base of the liquidation of the crown-bearing family members, one simple but effective method was used. First, everything was being hushed up and kept secret. When the facts and documents had been published, the tactics were slightly changed in order to cover the truth. Everyone everywhere was being persuaded that there was only one version of what had actually happened. This one version obscured the real depth of the tragedy. A wonderful veil was woven in order to stop people from seeing and understanding what was going on. What do I mean?

Everywhere you can read that in the night of July 17 the whole family of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II was shot dead in Yekaterinburg. You can also read that the bloodthirsty Bolsheviks have shot dead all the other Romanovs in order to wipe off the Romanov dynasty and the very memory of it. But this is not the case. After Nicholas II had abdicated from the throne on March 2, 1917, himself and on behalf of his son, his brother Michael Alexandrovich Romanov became the emperor. It was him who on March 3, 1917, under the dictation of the Duma delegation transferred the succession of the Russian throne to the discretion of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly. Exactly after he had done this and before the convocation of the latter, the Provisional Government was established in Russia. The Provisional Government has spent a lot of energy and efforts to prepare the elections but it has spent even more to disrupt the country and eliminate the Romanovs.

It was exactly Michael II who was the last Russian emperor.

Only one day has passed between Nicholas II abdicating from the throne and Michael agreeing to postpone his ascending to the throne till the decision of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly will be taken. All this time it was Michael II, who was the Russian tsar.[20] Then, why is all this confusion necessary? Why call Nicholas II the last Russian Emperor and deprive his brother of this title of honour? There are several reasons for entangling the truth. One evident fact comes to the front: Michael Romanov was the main pretender to the throne and he was the first of the Romanovs to be murdered. It was the matter of how the one who was killed should be called: was it just the younger brother of the last Russian Tsar or the main pretender to the throne? The following events only confirm our guess. Who was the second in this tragic list? The one who was the next candidate to becoming a Russian tsar. So, who is this person? It is Crown Prince Alexei, the 14-year old son of Nicholas II, suffering from hemophilia. But hasn't his father abdicated from the throne himself and on behalf of his son? Yes, he has. Yet, this fact could be disputed. Whether Nicholas II could or could not abdicate from the throne on behalf of his son is a subject of a separate legal research. Does the abdication of the Tsar from the throne have any legal force at all? Since Nicholas had abdicated from the throne, so many God's and human laws were broken that the former Tsar could have appealed against his own abdication. He could have cited being under pressure and his life being under threat. In such conditions, he could do nothing but abdicate from the throne. Theoretically, we cannot reject such a possibility. That's why Crown Prince Alexei and Nicholas Romanov himself could be №2 and №3 on the list of the pretenders for the throne, respectively.

Now, a few words about the very first pretender to the Russian throne. Michael was the favourite son of Alexander III, who, being rather strict with other children, was always forgiving to his favourite son for all his antics. In July 1899, after the death of his brother George, he was declared the heir of the throne and had been the heir until the birth of Nicholas II's son -Crown Prince Alexei, in July 1904. It looked as if the throne had forever become inaccessible for Michael. And he behaves in the respective way: in October 1912, in Vienna he gets secretly married with Natalia Wulfert without having got a permission from his brother – the Emperor. This union is a fruit of the frenzied passion of the grand prince. The result was a secret wedding abroad. Because of this marriage, Michael was banned from entering Russia by the order of Nicholas II. Besides that, he was dismissed and was striped of his title of aide-de-camp. But Michael was not worried about all that, he was enjoying his serene family happiness living in London. He was allowed to return to Russia and received his title back only when the World War started, and his wife was conferred the surname of Brasova. During the war, Michael was the commander of the so-called Caucasian Savage Division formed of Chechens and Dagestani, which was famous for its uncontrollable temper. However, the brother of the Tsar was not allowed to go to the frontline.

And absolutely unexpected, at a twist of history, Michael becomes the Russian tsar. However, Michael didn't follow his brother's advice. On the contrary, being under pressure from Kerensky and other Duma members,[21] he left the question of succession to the throne to be decided by the All-Russian Constituent Assembly. Being who he was, could he proceed in a different way, take the power and save the country from the future turmoil? The fact is that he was not able to do it. That's why Nicholas II allegedly had to write the instrument of abdication twice. It was necessary that Nicholas abdicated not in favour of his son Alexei, but in favour of his brother Michael. The psychological portrait of Michael Romanov was well-known, because he had lived with his beloved in London for two years. He steers clear of the crown, preferring a calm private life to it. His reaction to the extreme situation can be easily predicted. In the moment of choice, Michael can be easily pressed and will use any pretext to absolve himself of any responsibility for power. And it really turns out that way. The decision regarding the takeover of the tsar's power by Michael, dictated by the Duma members and approved by the Constituent Assembly, had no precedent in the history. It has never been so that the transition of power from one monarch to another was decided by the results of the plebiscite and, in addition to this, during the war!

Having performed his task and having given up power, Michael settled down in the Gatchina Palace in the suburbs of Petrograd. In August 1917, the first bell rang for him, as well – he was also arrested by the Provisional Government.

However, the release was not long in coming. And after that the real Theatre of the Absurd started. After the October overthrow, the pretender to the throne Michael Romanov asked Bolsheviks for the permission for a "free residency" in Russia in the capacity of a rank and file citizen, and received it. Not being able to understand the secret motives of the current events, not feeling the peril, which was created by his very existence, the naive Michael Alexandrovich believed that everything would be just so.

And later on the dates started to coincide oddly. Michael Romanov was again arrested by the Bolshevik government in March 1918. "Without any reasons," as the historians used to put it, describing these events. We fully understand the reason of the arrest: the second stage of the future elimination of the main pretenders to the throne begins. The Provisional Government didn't let anybody go abroad, now Lenin's government must kill the Romanovs. In this case, it absolutely doesn't matter at all whether Michael Romanov is involved in the anti-Bolshevik plots or not. He is arrested not because of something, he is arrested in order to have something done. He is arrested to be killed.

It was not only Michael who was in trouble late in March 1918, it was the whole family. And this family of the Romanovs is big – the executioners will have a lot of work. The genealogic tree of the Romanovs has grown exuberantly on the blessed Russian soil. Emperor Nicholas I had four sons and three daughters. Emperor Alexander II had six sons and two daughters. Emperor Alexander III fell behind his father a little: he had four sons and two daughters. Nicholas II himself had four daughters and one son. These are the children of the Romanovs, who have ruled in Russia. The productivity of the sisters and brothers of the Russian monarchs was also high. It was the tradition of the ruling house to have many children. In other words, the number of the Romanovs was just a bit smaller than the number of the Ivanovs[22] in Russia.

March 1918 is the beginning of the Romanovs' road to the Calvary. On March 17, 1918, Michael Romanov is exiled to Perm. The farther away from Petrograd the better, to a place where there is solitude and stillness. Have a look at the map, and you will get the idea. The private secretary of Michael Romanov, Johnson, who was British, was arrested and exiled by Bolsheviks at the same time. Accompanied by the secretary, escorted by two servants, the last Russian emperor comes to Perm. Other exiled Romanovs are gathered not far from Perm, in a little county town of Alapayevsk in the Perm province, which is known only for its monastery. They were accommodated in the local school building: the sister of the Russian Empress, Grand Princess Elizaveta Feodorovna, who had ardently welcomed Rasputin's assassination; Grand Prince Sergei Mikhailovich Romanov, and Grand Princes Ioann, Igor, and Konstantin. The last prisoner to come to Alapayevsk was Vladimir Paley (Alexander II's grandson). He was born in the second marriage of his father Grand Prince Pavel Alexandrovich and was the stepbrother to Grand Prince Dmitry Pavlovich, the murderer of Rasputin. Being Romanov by birth, he had a different family name – Paley. The scenario with the prisoners in Alapayevsk is the same: they live freely after both revolutions, and then they get arrested without any reason. Their arrest took place in March 1918.

The family of Nicholas II also experiences troubles in March. They lived a calm life in Tobolsk, when Commissar Ducmane from Omsk arrived there. He was appointed the commissar of the town, but his main task was to watch the Romanovs. And so he did. He watched the Romanovs, not interfering in their life, studying them. Exactly two days after his arrival, on March 26, the detachment of the Red Guard (the first (!) after the Bolshevik overthrow) arrived in Tobolsk. The safeguarding of the Tsar's family is getting tougher, but this process is undisclosed so far. Until now, the Romanovs have been safeguarded by the same soldiers who used to safeguard them in Tsarskoye Selo. Let's remember this date, March 1918. This is a period of preparations. The danger is not visible, but dark clouds are thickening above the house of the Romanovs.

March 1918. This is a fatal month for the Romanovs.[23] It's exactly from this month that the events that resulted in the death of the Tsar's dynasty representatives speeded up.

It's exactly here at this point that we'll make a stop.

But why exactly March 1918?

March 1918 is the month, when the Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed. The death of the Romanovs and the manoeuvres of Lenin and Trotsky between the Germans and the "allies" are directly interconnected. Yet, if today Lenin's eventual connections with Germany are "hyped," his connections with the Entente countries are wrongly forgotten. And these connections are very important in order to understand all the following events, which include the death of the Romanovs, as well…

Right after the October overthrow, Lev Trotsky became the narkom[24] of foreign affairs. His many-volume memoirs are a priceless treasury of information, "On the 18th of November, General Jadson, the head of the American mission, unexpectedly visited me in the Smolny. He told me that he was not able to speak on behalf of the American government yet, but he hoped that everything would be all right'.'[25]Before leaving, the peace-loving general declared, "The time of protests and threats towards the Soviet Power is gone if it ever existed."[26] Kindly pay attention to this: only few weeks have passed since the Bolshevik overthrow, but the official head of the American mission doesn't have any claims towards them. And this is after the new Russian government had addressed Germany with a peace appeal. How could it be different if we remember that the fighter for the people's happiness Lev Trotsky arrived in Russia on the ship from the USA almost simultaneously with Lenin, who had arrived in Russia via Germany…

The unofficial representatives of the western behind-the-scenes forces visited the new Bolshevik leaders. They had "the honour" to continue the huge project on Russia's destruction. Three emissaries from three empires arrived: the representative of the French military mission Jacques Sadoul, the Deputy of the British Ambassador Bruce Lockhart, and the Head of the American Red Cross mission Raymond Robbins represents the USA.[27]

All three of them are not ambassadors and, consequently they are not authorized to conduct the negotiations, and they may not expound the positions of their governments. They are not officially authorized, but they don't need this to carry out their special task. They have aplenty of unofficial authorities, and they are the true Entente representatives.[28] You can easy assure yourself of this if you pay attention to the fact that the official ambassadors of the superpowers left the Soviet capital for… Vologda at the same time. The unofficial representatives stayed. All three official ambassadors: Buchanan (Great Britain), Noulens (France), and Francis (USA) hold a rampant anti-Soviet position.[29] And they go farther away from the main political centre of Russia. The unofficial representatives Sadoul, Lockhart, and Robbins wanted "to make their respective governments recognize the Soviet power,"[30] as the book "The Civil War 1918–1921," which was published before Stalin's purges, informs us.

That's why they stay with the Bolshevik chieftains. Lenin and Trotsky perfectly understand WHO has come to them. And the respect for the unofficial representatives of the "allies," showed by the Bolshevik leaders, corresponded with the significance of this visit. Trotsky met Lockhart almost every day, he gave him a pass to the Smolny he let him use his private train to travel from Petrograd to Moscow and back, and even provided him with a document saying "All the organizations, Soviets, and Commissars are asked to provide all kinds of assistance to the members of the British mission."[31] The French representative Captain Jacques Sadoul also has an "ironclad" document. This character is even more interesting. He was sent on a mission to Russia in September 1917, "striving to get closer to the leaders of the Soviet power; during February and March he managed to considerably neutralize the influence of the French Ambassador Noulens."[32] Later Sadoul "abandoned" the French mission and worked actively as a Communist. You can read about it in the books. He has allegedly turned his heart to the revolutionary ideas, has forgotten about his duties and the sunny valleys of Provence. He has immersed himself in Communism and Marxism.

This is a lie. To understand this, one has to read Vladimir Ilyich's works more attentively. "The French Captain Sadoul, who verbally felt for Bolsheviks, indeed was faithfully and loyally serving the French imperialism,"[33] Lenin writes in the letter to the American workers. The head of the Bolshevik Party can't be deceived by artificial oaths and faked Marxism. His comments regarding Jacques Sadoul tell us directly where this nice young Frenchman has come from to get directly into the offices of the "newly crowned" Soviet power…

Jacques Sadoul was such a prominent figure that he was also mentioned in the memoirs of Lev Trotsky. "Captain Sadoul came to me immediately after the October overthrow to get information. As far as I remember, with the consent of the French diplomatic and military missions in Russia,"[34] the future founder of the Red Army would write in his memoirs. Only the person who knew where and who to go to could come to the chieftains immediately after the overthrow. It means that Jacques Sadoul had contacts with Bolsheviks before the October. That's true – he arrived in Russia in September 1917, i.e., right before Lenin and Trotsky got some real political power in Russia. Jacques Sadoul arrived to meet them. The facts of his biography incontrovertibly prove this version. In March 1919, the former captain of the French Army comes to Russia to participate in the 1st Congress of the Comintern[35] – the organization established to blow the revolutionary fire all over the world. The French Themis reacted quickly and adequately: the same year Jacques Sadoul was sentenced in absentia to death for the treachery of the state, for the communist propaganda among the French sailors, for desertion and for the contacts with the enemy.[36] This is quite understandable. The further development of the events might surprise you. In the end of 1924, Sadoul unexpectedly returns to France. He is arrested and handed over to the Military authorities, his death sentence had been waiting for him in his motherland since 1919. It should seem that the story was coming to its end and that the French Communist Party would have a "ready made" martyr and a hero for its pantheon. But in March 1925, the military court in Orleans unexpectedly releases Jacques Sadoul from charge of desertion. The charges on all the other points against the brave captain are considered to be groundless.[37] The case is dismissed, and Sadoul goes at large. What is this? Yet another "miracle"? No, just a normal situation, which concerns the performance of the most important task at the state level. Only few people are aware of Jacques Sadoul's mission, for everyone else, including the French justice, he is a traitor, who is ripe for the gallows. No contacts with Bolsheviks are needed in 1924 – the USSR has got stronger and can exist without any active support from the "allies." Let's remember that Lenin, the main "contactee" of the French spy, dies in January 1924, and we fully understand, why Captain Sadoul returns to France exactly that year. He goes home, not being apprehensive for his life. At the right moment, the intelligence services will appear from behind-the-scenes. They will stand up for their agent, who has honourably performed his task. And French Themis, looking blank, sets aside the death sentence for the hero of the behind-the-scenes front… In addition to the unofficial diplomatic channels, used to make the contacts with the new revolutionary power and to support it, some other means, functioning under "cover" of the intelligence services, are also used: the press and public activities. For example – the Red Cross mission.

The soft-hearted citizens of the USA help those in need with food, clothing and medication. But this is only a "smoke screen" used to solve much more important tasks conveniently. Exactly on the eve of the October Revolution, the Red Cross mission was giving money to Bolsheviks. Naturally, to be used for the "humanitarian" purposes. In December 1917, these noble Messers handed over to Lenin one million US dollars. Of course, to fight havoc and famine. While nobody has ever given to the White Guard a kopeck either to help the starving people or to restore something. That's why a miracle took place in the citadel of the new revolutionary power: the storm of the universal Bolshevik nationalization didn't touch the Americans. The Petrograd branch of the National City Bank, where the Red Cross mission had its accounts, was the only bank, which had not been subjected to the nationalization in accordance with the respective Decree…[38]

The unofficial emissaries of the British, French and American governments helped Bolsheviks to keep the power, at the same time trying to drag the situation, when the Russian soldiers would be dying for the interests of their Entente "allies" as much as possible. The Bolsheviks used to talk a lot about the working people's interests. It's allegedly for this reason that they have taken the power. And the first step in the working people's interests should be to conclude a Peace Treaty with Germany. But it was not in the interests of the working people and peasants in Russia that they were going to conclude it…

March 1918 is the month when the Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed. The bloody threads of the Russian strife are so tangled with each other that it's almost impossible to untwine them. If we understand who forced Lenin to conduct the negotiations with the German command in such a strange manner, it will become absolutely clear for us who wanted the representatives of the tsar dynasty to die.

Our way goes in the direction of Brest-Litovsk…

The most difficult thing was not to hurry. To do what he had conceived long ago and what he had decided. To do it in a dignified manner and without haste. To become a part of history in a solid and firm way. Because it was without any doubt a moment in history, which had never been documented before. Nobody has done this before, nobody before him has ever conceived and tried to solve so many questions that impressively and simultaneously without having suggested any decision at all!

Trotsky glanced at those who were present, sighed deeply and started to read up. He was eager to say all of it at once, not giving anybody time to come to their senses. He started quite successfully, having found the right mode and feeling instinctively that he had chosen the right form. He told about soldier-plowmen who had to return to their fields, about soldier-workers and their workshops waiting for them. Then, not having taken a breath, he went over to the main issue:

– In the name of the Sovnarkom, the government of the RSFSR hereby brings to the attention of the governments of the "allied" and neutral countries fighting with us that Russia by waiving the subscription of the annexationist agreement, for its own part, declares belligerency with Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria ended.

That was a bomb! The diplomats are taught to maintain composure from the very beginning of mastering this very arduous profession. Then they polish the required skills in the numerous wars of words, thus reaching a total control of their facial expression. Here in Brest the best of the best diplomats were present.

– The Russian troops on all the fronts at the same time are given an order about the total demobilization, – Trotsky gasped and looked at the leaders of the German and Austrian delegations. Richard von Kuhlmann stared at him blankly and one could almost read on his soigne face the request to repeat all that had been said. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Austria-Hungary Ottokar von Czernin lost self-control for a moment and started to pull his collar.

That's it – the bomb has exploded. Let them sort out the intricacies of the current situation and rack their brains over it.

Our task now is to drag it out to the utterance and not to sign any treaty. To arrange a real political demonstration and to put all the responsibility on the Germans.

We stop the war, demobilize the army, but don't sign any peace treaty – this is the key to success. Nobody has ever done it this way. On the other hand, nobody has ever needed to calm down the population of their own country, to arouse the workers in Germany and Austria, to drag out the signing of the treaty with the Germans and to show their manageability and agreeableness to the OTHER side.

This invention was really ingenious. The Germans would lose anyway. Lenin got it at once.

– That would be the best, – he said, looking thoughtfully sidewards, – if General Hofmann was unable to move his troops against us.

– Then we would win a giant victory with immense consequences, – Trotsky was developing his idea, – If Hohenzollern is able to inflict a blow against us, we will manage to capitulate early enough.

– This is interesting, devilishly interesting, – Ilyich said, narrowing his eyelids, which was always a sign of a powerful thinking process. – Well, we have refused to sign the treaty, and the Germans will undertake an offensive. What will you do then?

– We shall sign the Peace Treaty under the threat of bayonet-points. The whole world will see them "at their best."

– And you will not support the revolutionary war slogan, will you? – Ilyich has narrowed his eyelids again.

– By no means!

– Under these conditions, the experiment might be not that dangerous. But we risk losing Estonia or Latvia.

Lenin made a step aside, and after having thought something over for a moment, added with a sly little laugh:

– A good peace with Trotsky is worth losing Latvia and Estonia! Lenin was repeating this phrase for several days. And his mood was improving. We have found the way out of the deadlock – and that's him, Trotsky, who has found it…

…Somebody in the German delegation coughed loudly. Von Kuhlmann was muttering something unclear. Count von Czernin, who was the first to recollect himself after Trotsky's announcement, suggested calling a meeting in order to discuss the proposal of the Soviet delegation.

But Trotsky was not listening to him. The fat is in the fire. There is nothing to discuss. Nothing to wait for. He could go back to Moscow now…