J. V. Stalin
Measures Taken to Strengthen the Front
Written: January 31, 1919, Moscow
First Published: Pravda, No. 16, January 16, 1935
Source: J. V. Stalin, Works, Volume 4, pages 230-231. Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, 1953
Transcription: Hari Kumar for Alliance-ML
HTML: Mike B. for MIA, 2005
By January 15, 1,200 bayonets and sabres who could be relied on had
been sent to the front; two squadrons of cavalry were dispatched two
days later, and the 62nd Regiment of the 3rd Brigade (after thorough
sifting) on the 20th. These units made it possible to halt the
enemy's advance, wrought a complete change in the morale of the
Third Army, and opened our advance on Perm, which so far is
proceeding successfully. The 63rd Regiment of the same brigade
(after having undergone a month's purge) will be sent to the front
on January 30. The 61st Regiment cannot be sent before February 10
(it needs very thorough sifting). In view of the weakness of the
extreme left flank, open to the danger of being turned by the enemy,
the ski battalion in Vyatka was reinforced with volunteers (1,000 in
all), supplied with quick-firing guns and sent from Vyatka on
January 28 in the direction of Cherdyn to link up with the extreme
left flank of the Third Army. Another three reliable regiments must
be sent from Russia to support the Third Army if its position is to
be really strengthened and if it is to be able to exploit its successes.
In the rear of the army a thorough purging of Soviet and Party
institutions is under way. Revolutionary Committees have been formed
in Vyatka and the uyezd towns. A start has been made in forming
strong revolutionary organizations in the countryside, and this
work is continuing. All Party and Soviet work is being re-organized.
on new lines. The military control agencies have been purged and re-organized. The Gubernia Extraordinary
Commission has been purged and reinforced with new Party workers.
The congestion on the Vyatka railway line is being relieved.
Experienced Party workers need to be sent and prolonged socialist
work will be required before the rear of the Third Army is
thoroughly strengthened.
Concluding their report, the Commission considers it necessary to
stress once again the absolute necessity for the establishment of a
Control and Inspection Commission under the Council of Defence for
the investigation of so-called "defects in the machinery" of the
People's Commissariats and their local departments in the rear and
at the front.
In correcting shortcomings in the work of the centre and the
localities the Soviet power usually resorts to the method of
disciplining and punishing offending officials. While recognizing
that this method is absolutely necessary and fully expedient, the
commission, however, considers it insufficient. Shortcomings in work
are due not only to the laxity, negligence and irresponsibility of
some of the officials, but also to the inexperience of others. The
Commission has found in the localities quite a number of absolutely
honest, tireless and devoted officials who, nevertheless, committed
a number of blunders in their work owing to insufficient experience.
If the Soviet power had a special apparatus to accumulate the
experience gained in the work of building the socialist state and to
pass it on to the already existing young officials who are ardently
desirous of helping the proletariat, the building of a socialist Russia would proceed
much faster and less painfully. This body should be the
above-mentioned Control and Inspection Commission under the Council
of Defence. The activities of this Commission might supplement the
work of the centre in tightening discipline among officials.
The Commission:
J. Stalin
F. Dzerzhinsky