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Review of the political state of the USSR

 

Review of the political and economic state of the USSR for November ‐ December 1923

January 1924

GENERAL

The internal situation of the USSR in the reporting period (November and December 1923) is depicted as follows.

In the mood of the workers, a certain improvement was created by the struggle against delayed wages, which affected the decrease by the end of the period both in the number of discontent and unrest at enterprises (Moscow), and in the strike movement in the Union of Republics. However, the beginning of the decline in workers in industry and the associated increase in unemployment create a general depressed mood among workers and weaken interest in political events.

The mood of the peasantry in most provinces is characterized by dissatisfaction caused by the abnormalities of the unified tax campaign and the state of the ʺscissorsʺ. On this basis, even outbreaks of kulak‐peasant uprisings were noted in individual volosts of Tersk, Priamurskaya and Zabaikalskaya provinces. and in general, the revival of the declining banditry is possible. In this respect, the position of the Central and industrial regions is more satisfactory in view of the favorable level of grain prices here, which made it possible for the peasantry to pay the tax in money.

In November, the Red Army is going through a difficult financial situation mainly due to the catastrophic state of its clothing supply. On this basis, there is an increase in discontent and demobilization tendencies, and in some places anti‐Soviet agitation.

The activities of anti‐Soviet parties are still weak. The period under review was marked by the further destruction of the Menshevik apparatus, which manifested itself in the disclosure of a number of underground printing houses (Petrograd, Moscow, Tula) and the arrest of a number of active Socialist‐Revolutionary workers. Some increase in activity is observed among anarchists. Attention is drawn to the emergence of a new type of Black‐Hundred counterrevolutionary organization (Ural, Tula Gubernia) and the intensified mailing of appeals to Russia, mainly to the southeastern provinces.

In the national movement in the East of the Republic, attention is drawn to the Transcaucasus and the North Caucasus, where there are a number of economic and political factors that make it possible to              involve local       peoples in            the          counter‐revolutionary movement. This is especially serious given the interest in local movements and their inspiration from abroad (Turkey, England). In Turkestan, similar aspirations of the British and Persians towards the Turkmens are symptomatic. With regard to the eastern outskirts, further implementation of the measures on the national question outlined by the 12th Party Congress is necessary. Mistakes here can have dire consequences.

WORKERS

The main factor determining the mood and economic situation of the workers is the layoffs made in almost all industries. The previously observed discontent on the basis of non‐normality with the payment of wages in Moscow is definitely and sharply declining. However, on the ground, this phenomenon still plays a significant role in determining the political mood of workers. In the movement of the number of strikes, November is the month with the highest number of strikes, but this should be attributed in large part to October, taking into account the delay in information from the provinces. In December, the number of strikes decreases significantly, while in Moscow it is both in November and in December less than in previous months (see the appendix table on strikes).

Shrinking industry

The crisis experienced by industry in the reporting period caused a massive layoff of workers, which was one of the most important moments that negatively influenced the mood of the workers. The reduction affected the most important industries in the following way.

Metalworking industry.  In Moscow, workers are being laid off at factories: the former Mikhelson im. Ilyich, Dynamo (it is planned to fire 600 workers, that is, 50%), Mashinostroitel, Krasnaya Presnya, the Ustinsky nail‐making plant, and the private plant Pirvits; the iron foundry mechanical workshops of Glavzemkhoz were closed and the 3rd aircraft repair plant, which was under the jurisdiction of the Moscow‐Kursk railway, was closed. In Petrograd, reductions were made at the Proletarsky plant, the Mint, the plant named after. Egorov (35%) and it is planned to dismiss 700 workers of the Putilov plant. At the Krasnoye Sormovo plant, Nizhny Novgorod province. 1,500 workers are being cut; in Vyksa u. ‐ 2000 workers, at the Shipyard ‐ 300 workers and it is planned to lay off at the wellequipped Telephone Plant named after Lenin, former Siemens and Halske ⁴²... In the Ural region, metal plants were closed: ʺNytvaʺ of the Perm Mining Trust, Botkinsky in the Sarapulsky District, Kyshtmsky Dynamite in the Yekaterinburgsky District; the Yuzhno‐

Kamsky metallurgical plant has been mothballed and the VerkhneSerginsky plant will be mothballed and the Pashkovsky plant in the Perm region will be closed. At the Bryansk state plant, 2,500 workers are to be laid off and the General Labor mechanical foundry is expected to be closed. In Ryazan, the Selmash plant No. 1 was closed. At the Tsaritsyn gun plant ʺBarricadesʺ 400 workers are dismissed; at the Marksstadt machine‐building plant of Nemkommuna ‐ 75% of the workers; in Odessa, the staff of Selmashtrest and electrical plants are being reduced. Rumors of upcoming layoffs due to the difficult financial situation created a depressed mood of workers at a number of factories: Kharkov steam locomotive, Kiev nail,

Mining.  2,000 workers are dismissed at the Chelyabinsk mines (40% of the total); due to the lack of coal sales, the administration of the mines stopped the operation of open‐pit No. 1 with a coal reserve of 8 million poods. In spite of the plight of the workersʹ mines, they refrain from demonstrations for fear of being cut. The Tomsk mining industry is also undergoing a massive reduction due to the accumulation of a large stock of coal that has no market.

A large staff reduction was carried out at the Skopinsky goscopes in Ryazan province. A significant reduction in staff is being made in the Kochkar gold‐ore district of the Tomsk province.

Textile industry.  All textile factories are undergoing large redundancies, especially in Moscow. At the Orekhovo‐Zuevsky factories (26,000 workers), 5% are reduced, at the SobolevoShchelkovo mill of the Bogorodsko‐Shchelkovsky trust, the Yaroslavl mill at the Dmitrovsky district. (12%), at the ʺProletarian Victoryʺ (20%), the factory ʺLiberated Laborʺ them. Alekseev (25%), Prokhorovskoy convent (18%) and a number of others. In Moscow, a number of textile factories have been closed (Sviblovskaya fine cloth factory, a wool spinning mill with 300 workers and one private wool weaving factory) and it is planned to close factories: Danilova (Weaving), Livere former Givartovsky (more than 600 workers) and Rudzutak Flax‐Jute factory »Bogorodsky u. In addition, reductions were made at a number of textile factories in other provinces.

Railway transport.  In many areas there is a massive reduction of railway workers. In some places, up to 60% of workers are reduced (the main workshops of the Belarusian‐Baltic railway in Moscow, Tatrespublika). In the Nizhny Novgorod province. reduced by more than 30%. In the Tambov province. 1615 railway workers were dismissed, in Kaluga ‐ 5000. The reduction of transport workers was noted, in addition, in Oryol, Nizhny Novgorod, Kaluga, Petrograd, Severo‐Dvinskaya, Cherepovets provinces, on the RyazanUralskaya railway. d., in Siberia and the Ural region.

Chemical industry.  Partial closure and staff reductions are underway at the 2nd state‐owned plant ʺRed Bogatyrʺ in Moscow (700 workers out of 3000). It is planned to liquidate the ʺProvodnikʺ plant (25% of the total number of 600 workers has already been reduced). In the glass industry, a number of factories were closed (3 faience and porcelain factories in Novgorod province, a factory in Samara province, and a factory in Penza was partially closed). Other industries. The dismissal of workers was carried out, in addition, in the leather industry (the provinces of Orel, Poltava, Belarus, Ural region), in the forest (Gomel, Bryansk, Belarus and Siberia), in the food industry (in Petrograd, Poltava, Gomel, Tomsk provinces), in the printing (Moscow, Voronezh, Simbirsk, Saratov, Novonikolaevskaya) and 10 other provinces in various industries.

At the same time, working hours are being reduced at a number of enterprises. At the textile factory ʺRenewed fiberʺ OrekhovoZuevsky u. (1250 workers) work is done 3 days a week. At the

Moscow factories (the tannery ʺKrasny Kozhevnikʺ formerly of Bakhrushin and the factories ʺDukatʺ and ʺKrasnaya Zvezdaʺ are tobacco factories) and the private Petrovsky conservatory, work is done part‐time. The working day at the ʺManometrʺ plant, the former Gagental Valve Trust (400 workers), was reduced by 3 hours. Textile factories in the Poltava province. work 4 days a week, garment factories in Belarus ‐ 2‐3 days.

The consequence of the complete and partial closure of enterprises and the reduction, as well as the end of seasonal work (in peat extraction, construction, etc.)

and the influx of peasants from the semi‐starving provinces of the North and Northwest, is a strong increase in unemployment in recent years. The following table illustrates this growth.  

GOVERNMENT	Number of unemployed
	in September	in October	In November	in December
Ivanovo‐ Voznesenskaya	27186	30236	there is no data
Tula	9704	13000	13919	‐
Tverskaya	10,278	21000	26760	27185
Voronezh	7500	‐	9000	9446
Arkhangelsk	2965	3486	‐	7987
Kuban	‐	20,000	24000	‐
Tatrespublika	‐	9000	13200	15833

In addition, the growth of unemployment is noted by other provinces: Oryol, Pskov, Orenburg, Armenia, Saratov, Novo Nikolaev, Penza, Amur, Crimea, Belarus, Ryazan, Poltava, Volyn, etc.

Some places report unrest and unrest among the unemployed. In Belarus, cases of murmur among the unemployed have become more frequent, often turning into excesses. There are rumors among them that all that remains is to go to the gangs, otherwise they will have to die of hunger. Fermentation intensified with the massive reduction of railway workers on the Western Railway. e. In Kharkov, a group of unemployed, having gathered at the labor exchange, went to the VUTSIK with the slogan ʺDown with hunger and cold.ʺ

Salary issues

A characteristic feature of Moscow and its province is a sharp drop in the number of discontent over delayed wages. At the same time, the number of discontent on the basis of low rates in Moscow and in the provinces, especially in heavy industry, does not decrease. Delayed wages are still widespread almost everywhere in the province.

In Moscow, the number of grievances due to salary delays in December is 4 times less than in October: October ‐ 95, November ‐ 43, December ‐ 24. Among the largest enterprises, where there was a delay in the payment of wages, it should be noted: in Moscow there are railroad car factories ʺ Revolutionary base ʺthem. Trotsky and Sokolnichesky mechanical engineering, in Nizhegorodskaya ‐ ʺKrasnoe Sormovoʺ (12,500 workers), ʺEngine of the revolutionʺ, ʺNizhegorodsky machine builderʺ, ʺKrasnaya Etnaʺ; the largest enterprises of the Ural region, Bryansk, Yekaterinoslav, Kharkov ‐ the factories ʺHammer and Sickleʺ, Parokhomovsky, Chupakovsky; factories of Petrograd, Karelia, Crimea, Akmola province. and others. Of the mining enterprises where salaries were delayed, it should be noted: Uraloblast, Donbass, Don province., Bashrespublika, Azerbaijan, Altai. On railway transport, salary delays occurred in the provinces: Petrograd, Cherepovets, SeveroDvinsk, Donbass, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, etc.; in the timber industry ‐ Petrograd, Karelia, Bryansk, Belarus, Volyn, Penza, Krasnoyarsk and Gomel provinces. and in a number of other provinces in almost all industries.

In the provinces, wages are often delayed by 2‐3 months (Chupakovsky and Parakhomovsky plants in Kharkov province, metallurgical plants in the Ural region, individual enterprises in Yekaterinoslav, Bryansk and other provinces). In the fisheries of Dagestan, the delay in wages reaches 3‐4 months.

A number of phenomena characteristic of the reporting period characterize the desire of economic bodies to actually reduce real wages. This is evidenced by the growth of discontent on the basis of an increase in the production rate (8 in October 19 in November), non‐issuance of special and overalls (12 in October 22 and 20 in November and December ‐ in Moscow) and the cancellation of the issuance of additional food for the harmfulness of work (a phenomenon noted almost for the first time at 16 enterprises in November, mainly among printers). The same phenomenon is noted in a number of provinces of the Republic.

The number of enterprises with dissatisfaction with low rates in Moscow is also slightly increasing (17 in October 22 and 21 in January and December). Particularly acute discontent is caused by the lowering of the categories, as well as the rates for certain jobs, which cause the most acute unrest noted in Moscow: at the textile factories ʺVigon‐yarnaʺ, the former Danilovskaya named after. Kalinin, ʺWool‐Suknoʺ, at the ʺHammer and Sickleʺ metal plant, formerly Gujon, where this was the reason for the strike of workers of two workshops, car workshops of the Kursk railway, which lasted more than a month. and some others.

Dissatisfaction on the basis of low rates is most widespread in transport (here 10 strikes were held on this basis in November), in the textile industry (a number of factories in Moscow and IvanovoVoznesensk province), in metallurgical (Gostormoznaya plants in Moscow, Kazan powder, Dal‐ plant in Primorye, Bryansk and Nizhny Novgorod factories) and other industries in a number of provinces (Petrograd, Kiev, Tambov, Yekaterinoslav, Oryol, Ryazan, Donskoy, Yaroslavl, Vitebsk, Tatrespublika, KabardinoBalkarian, Karelia, Volynsk, Novgorodskaya, Tsarskolaevskaya , Tomsk).

The actual decrease in wages is also in line with the increase in the working day, sometimes up to 12:00. Workers of the Yegoryevsk mines in Novonikolaevskaya province. work for 12‐14 hours, at the Aktobe power plant ‐ 10 hours, at the fuel storage st. Eagle Southeast Railway etc. ‐ 12 hours. The same is observed among the railway workers of the Novocherkassk district of the Don province. (12 hour working day) and at some factories in the Altai and Ural provinces. Administration

The administration occupies a significant place among the causes of worker discontent. In Moscow in the reporting period, there was a significant increase in the number of discontent for this reason (in October ‐ 12, in November ‐ 46 and in December ‐ 19). The workers are most worried about the mismanagement, negligence and abuse of the administration, noted in many enterprises in Moscow and the provinces.

The mismanagement of the administration took place in the Ural region in the Kochkar gold mine, due to which several mines were flooded with water. The Pavlovsk factory was also destroyed there. Due to the mismanagement of the administration of the Tomsk mines, the furnaces produce completely burnt coke, crumbling into fines, turning into slag and unsuitable for use. Administration and specialists of Grozneft in the Chechen region. mismanaged, criminally and negligently treat the case for personal gain; the power plant manager visits work no more than 5 times a month, does not supervise the work, and gets drunk. Due to the mismanagement of the Azneft (Azerbaijan) commodity management administration, a loss of 6,000 chervonets was caused. A lot of cases of mismanagement were noted at the Zlatoust plant in the Ural region. The workers of the ʺMagnezitʺ plant (Ural region) intend to take out the head of the mine shop in a wheelbarrow for mismanagement. Mismanagement was noted at the Kuteysky agricultural plant (Karelia), at the Kavtsink plant in the Tatrespublika, at the Sverdlovsk glass plant in the Cherepovets province, at the Soyvolov paper and cardboard factory in Petrograd, at the Ai‐Badul state ministry plant (Akmola forestry). Kuban‐Black Sea region, at the Tersk steam mill in Omsk province, at the leatherette factories of the Tatrespublika, etc.

Negligence of the administration was noted: at textile factories in Moscow (silk‐weaving factory ʺKrasnaya Rozaʺ, formerly Zhiro), Bryansk, Ivanovo‐Voznesenskaya, Petrogradskaya (Nevskaya paper‐spinning mill); on railway transport ‐ in Novonikolaevskaya province, Uraloblast, in Kemrudnik, Tomsk province. and oil fields of Chechnya.

Abuses of the administration were noted: at the Vladimir machinegun plant, at the Anjensko‐cloth factory of the Tambov province, on railway transport ‐ in the Don province. (the administration of the UCHTPO of the Novocherkassk district sells inventory without any control), in the Akmola province, where the head of the PetroKokchetav line appropriated the workersʹ money. The same was noted at the leather factories of the Tambov lips. and Altai and at the cement plant of the Tomsk province.

One of the reasons for the sharp discontent of the workers is the excessive provision of the administration, its drunkenness and rudeness. The excessive provision of the administration worries the workers of the Zamoskvoretsky tram fleet (1,300 workers), where bonuses were to be issued to the administration; if extradited, workers threatened to strike. At the Moscow textile factory of the Monino‐Timonovskaya Worsted Trust, the administration issued ³⁰⁰ bonuses to two specialists 75 ducats each. Dissatisfaction with the high rates of the administration was noted at the mines of Donbass, a glass plant in Penza province, at the Dux aircraft plant in Moscow (1,100 workers), at the Vitebsk tannery and at the Petrograd plant “Solomit” (where the administration receives a 2550% increase in salary, while the workers, while the plant was parked, refused to receive salaries, just to start up the plant).

In the reporting period, there was an increase in cases of rough treatment of workers by the administration: at the Moscow textile factories of fine cloth. Taratuta, Mossukno and f‐ke them. Chicherin, at the metal factories ‐ in Moscow ʺKotlo‐Apparatʺ formerly Dangauer and Kaiser (workers demand the removal of the director ‐ a member of the RCP for his rudeness), at the ʺKrasnaya Etnaʺ plant in the Nizhny Novgorod province. and an agricultural plant of the Krasnoyarsk province, at the Guryevsky plant of the Tomsk province, at the factories of the Nizhne‐Tagil district of the Ural region, at the Kolyvan grinding factory of the Altai province, at the sugar factory of the Chernigov province. (Nezhinsky district), at the ʺStrelnieksʺ printing house in Moscow, at the leather factories of the Tatrespublika and Vyatka gubernia, at the Sewing Factory No. 4 named after Smirnova, at the state‐owned plants ʺKley‐Utilʺ No. 7, ʺZhirkostyʺ in Moscow, at the Lytkarinsky quarries (Moscow), at the Petrogradsky Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant,

In addition, in a number of industries in many provinces there were dissatisfaction with the administration for various reasons (Vologda, Podolsk, Smolensk, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, etc.).

Strike movement

	Discontent in Moscow		Strikes across the USSR
			if‐ honor under‐ powers
August
September				thirteen
October	165400	166	217	8	39	47
November
December	98400	116	169	five	fifteen	20

 

The above table shows the general movement of grievances and strikes across the Republic. The growth of discontent in Moscow in November (in October ‐ 116, in November ‐ 178) and their decrease in December (in November 178, in December 166) correspond to the growth and decrease of strikes in the same months in the USSR (in October 47, in November 59, on December 20). (Some discrepancy between the figures for August and September is caused by the increased intensity of information from the factories due to the aggravation of discontent).

Of the total number of November strikes, only 3 in private enterprises, the rest are distributed as follows: 21 in transport, 11 in the metallurgical industry, 4 in mining, 4 in construction, 19 in other industries. The main reasons for strikes are still the delayed payment of wages (31 strikes) and low rates (20 strikes).

Transport strikes took place in the Petrograd area (10 strikes), Murmansk (4), Siberia and the Far East Military District (5). The strikes at the Petrogradsky junction covered some of the NKPS security teams, various services, traction service sections, one conductor brigade; one of the strikes took place among the water workers and was caused by the issuance of gold loan bonds (crew of 5 steamers) on account of the salary. The strikes in the Murmansk region mainly covered auxiliary services ‐ construction artels and fuel development. All transport strikes lasted for several hours and were quickly eliminated. However, the mood was still unstable. In December, railroad strikes fall from 21 to 3.

The most serious were the strikes among the miners. In the Donbass, in early November, a strike took place at the Paramonovsky mine of the Shakhtinsky district, which resulted in a march of 5,000 workers in the town of Shakhty with the aim of freeing the instigators of the October strikes (more details were reported in the SeptemberOctober review). In the Don region. 3,000 workers went on strike at the Mirovaya Kommuna mine. The strike caused ferment in neighboring mines, where there was campaigning to join the strike before full salaries were paid. Particularly embittered by the workers was the threat of prejudice [the] coma to put machine guns against the strikers.

Of the most significant strikes during this period: at the Vigoneyarna factory (250 people) and the Hammer and Sickle factory (workers in two workshops) on the basis of a reduction in wages; at the Druzhnogorsk plant of the Petrograd province. (350 people), at the plant. Artem, Ekaterinoslavskaya province. (foundry), at the Alapaevsky plant of the Ural region (100 people), at the 1 May metal plant in Tver (80 people), at the Pobedinskiye mines of Ryazan province. (5 mines went on strike for three days, demanding the payment of wages in gold terms, improving living conditions, lowering the production rate, fixing tracks and trolleys ‐ some of the workersʹ demands were satisfied); at the factories of Lyudinovsky, Pesochinsky and Vaitoshevsky (the latter has more than 1000 workers), Bryansk province. and in the Vacho‐industrial region of the Vladimir province. (mass strike on the basis of low rates, lasting several days). The most significant railway strike was the strike of the Kazan railway workshops in Moscow with the participation of 1,400 workers.

Of the largest December strikes, it should be noted: at two factories in Moscow ‐ ʺRed Proletarianʺ former Bromley (730 people), where workers ʺItalianʺ due to low wages, high production rates and reduced overtime, and a partial strike at the Serp plant and hammer” the former Gujon (2,500 workers), where the November strike of workers in two workshops continued due to low prices. The strike was held at the Tyumen metal plant ʺHammer and Sickleʺ in the Ural region and at the Dalzavod in Primorye (40 employees). The reason for both strikes is wage arrears.

Most of the strikes lasted several hours, but not more than a month. Only at the Hammer and Sickle factory, the former Goujon, did it last more than a month with interruptions. There are almost no significant strikes in December.

Workersʹ political mood

The downsizing of staff almost everywhere created a depressed mood among workers, which manifested itself in a passive attitude towards the elections to the Soviets, which was noted at many enterprises in Moscow. At the Orekhovo‐Zuevsky factories (20,000 workers) 10‐15% of the workers came to the elections, at the Danilovskaya conurb ‐ 120 out of 1,300 workers, only 50% of the workers voted in the Trekhgornaya convent, and 40% ‐ in 16 printing houses. Not all meetings passed the lists proposed by the superior communist and professional organizations. At the former Kozhzavod Baranov, at the 4th cardolent factory ʺTechnotkanʺ, the lists of communist cells were not passed. The discontent of the workers of many Ivanovo‐Voznesensk factories is caused by the fact that the factions are drawing up lists for the Soviet; there are rumors among them that they have to vote for those they are nominating, and that there is nothing to come to the elections, as they will be held without them.

Demonstrations of anti‐Soviet workers, which took place at a number of factories, had some success: in the 39th printing house, the factory of the former Schroeder im. The All‐Russian Union of Textile Workers (1400 workers) failed the lists of the faction. The

Mensheviks distributed leaflets and appeals. In the Khamovnichesky district, in the house of teenagers and in other places in Moscow, leaflets of the RSDLP were found under the heading: “Elections to the Soviets. To all workers and workers of Russia”. The Mensheviks and Socialist‐Revolutionaries distributed leaflets among the Petrograd workers, calling for a boycott of the elections. They were especially common among railway workers.

Anti‐Soviet agitation was also carried out at a number of enterprises: in Moscow ‐ at the factory ʺHammer and Sickleʺ formerly Gujon and at ʺRuskabelʺ No. 2, in the Kiev province, in Georgia, the Tatrespublika (rumors circulated here that the money intended for payment salaries, sent by the Soviet government to Baku to liquidate the strike movement and for communist agitation in foreign countries), Ural region, Volyn and other provinces. Among the railway workers of the Ural region, anti‐Soviet elements, using the reduction of staff, say that the Soviet government is throwing workers out of factories and transport in the middle of winter, dooming them to a starving existence, that the Soviet government and the RCP have outlived their time, that German workers do not accept        communist          slogans and        join         other parties. At the Arkhangelsk sawmills, the administrative exiles try to penetrate and strengthen their influence among the workers. At Sawmill No. 3, SR literature is being distributed.

Among the transport workers in the Gomel province. and Omsk there was also anti‐Soviet agitation. In the Omsk province. pogrom agitation was carried out with a call to arms to overthrow the communists, otherwise the workers will starve to death. Among the unemployed of the Amur province. the influence of maximalists is noted.

Workersʹ dissatisfaction during the reporting period was also caused by the celebration of Christmas in the new style. On this basis, there were even breaks in work. Dissatisfaction on this basis was noted at many large enterprises in Moscow: Goznak No. 1 (5450 workers), former Givartovsky factory Livere (1600), Glukhovsky mra them. Lenin Bogorodsky u. (1400), former Tsindel (2325), Novotkatskaya factory of Serpukhovsky district. (3600), brewery

ʺThree mountainsʺ (970) and many others. conclusions

1.                   By the end of the reporting period, a sharp drop in general discontent among workers and a decrease in the number of strikes in the USSR were noted. This is especially evident in Moscow. At the same time, the scale of the strikes is much smaller, and there are no major strikes at all in December.

2.                   A significant reduction in workers in enterprises, mainly in the metalworking, textile and transport industries, and the associated increase in unemployment is becoming one of the main factors of discontent.

3.                   The dismissal of workers in the period under review creates the ground for anti‐Soviet agitation at enterprises and determines the noticeable passivity of workers to political life, which was clearly expressed in the past elections to the Soviets, especially in Moscow.

4.                   Abnormalities with delayed wages are quickly eliminated at the Center. In the provinces, the salary situation has improved, but not significantly.

5.                   There has been a slight increase in dissatisfaction on the basis of low rates, a decrease in the ranks and an increase in production rates, indicating the desire of economic agencies to actually reduce the level of workersʹ wages.

6.                   Among the reasons for the discontent of the workers, there are reasons of a purely everyday nature, arising mainly from the unsatisfactory composition of the economic administration, its excessive provision in comparison with the workers, rudeness in the treatment of workers, negligent attitude towards duties and mismanagement.

PEASANTRY

The defining moment in the mood of the peasantry in the reporting period was the collection of the single tax and the state of the ʺscissorsʺ. The course of the unified tax campaign has entered a phase when a number of provinces that are unfavorable in terms of tax delivery are being singled out due to economic and political reasons. The beneficial effect of the partial tax reduction for small farms is revealed. In the state of ʺscissorsʺ there is some improvement in the line of increasing prices for bread, however, only in certain regions.

Tax campaign progress

In the course of the tax campaign in the reporting period, the following points should be noted: a drop in tax receipts in November due to autumn impassability, its rise in December with the establishment of a sled route, limited by the depletion of grain resources among a significant part of the poor peasantry and in lean provinces; and, finally, the unequal rate of tax receipts in different regions, depending on the prices of bread in the local market, a level favorable for the peasantry which makes it possible to pay the tax in cash and bonds of a grain loan.

All provinces are divided into three groups in terms of tax compliance. The first includes 19 provinces (of which 8 are central), where the tax has been passed at a rate of 70% or more; in the second ‐ 10 provinces that have passed the tax in the amount of 50 to 70%; in the third, 10 provinces (3 in the North‐West, 2 in Siberia, 2 in the Far East and one each in Kirkrai, the Urals and Turkestan) that have fulfilled less than 50% of the tax.

The excessiveness of a single tax, noted in the last survey for 36 provinces, was noted in only 22 provinces in the reporting period. The decline in the number of these provinces is due in part to partial tax cuts in a number of provinces. In most of the provinces that note the excessive taxation, the economic situation of the peasantry is extremely difficult. Out of 22 provinces, only 6 provinces have a satisfactory situation, in 5 noted provinces on the basis of excessive tax excesses took place, which resulted in peasantsʹ refusal to accept salary sheets (provinces of Primorskaya, Amur, Transbaikal, Buryat Republic and the City Republic), in 4 ‐ x ‐ partial famine (Karelia, the City Republic, Vyatka province and Vitebsk).

Excessive taxation resulted in massive peasant petitions for tax cuts. In one Lebedyansky district. Tambov lips. 11,000 applications for tax cuts were filed. In Nerchinsk u. Transbaikal lips. out of 14,000 taxpayers, 12,000 have applied to reduce it. In Aktobe province. there is a massive dispatch of walkers to the center and petitions of tax commissions for tax cuts. Characteristic in this respect are the results of the tax cut. So, in the Oryol province. more than 100,000 households received benefits, and 23,000 were completely exempt from tax. In the Smolensk province. 100,000 households received benefits for a total of 500,000 poods. In the

Vologda province. the tax was reduced by 60,000 poods.

The course of the tax campaign was marked by a number of abnormalities, primarily in the apparatus itself, and then in the way the tax was collected. The apparatus was extremely compressed and far from the payers. This situation forced the peasants to stand in queues for a long time at the procurement office. In Akmola Gubernia, Azerbaijan and Crimea, peasants stood idle at tax offices and a procurement office for 6‐7 days, in Stavropol Gubernia. sometimes for several weeks. The same was noted in Petrograd Gubernia, Samara, Pskov, Bryansk, Volynsk and a number of others. In Akmola province. In some places, the tax had to be transported for 300‐400 versts, and with the liquidation of a number of offices by December 15, it will be necessary to carry it for 500 versts, which, of course, embitters the population. In some places, abuses of the tax apparatus were also noted (Terskaya, Novo Nikolaevskaya, Semipalatinskaya, Buryat oblasts). Semipalatinsk GO OGPU found

The demand for high conditionality of the grain delivered under the tax was most strongly reflected in the delivery of the tax and on the mood of the peasantry. The grain brought by the peasants was often rejected entirely and the peasants, so as not to carry it back, sold the grain right there for a pittance. In the Novonikolaevskaya province. (Kamensky u.) 45% of the grain was not accepted in this way; in the province, on this basis, tax refusals were observed. In Akmola province. weak tax revenue is due to the inadmissibility of grain due to substandard conditions. In the Omsk province. facts were noted when peasants, whose grain was rejected, brought it later and handed it over to the same office. Discontent on this basis is noted in the provinces of the Kuban‐Black Sea, Tatrespublika, Altai and Krasnoyarsk.

The impossibility of paying the tax in kind for this reason, in view of the low prices for bread, was aggravated in a number of provinces by the discrepancy between the equivalents of monetary substitution of the natural tax. In some places, the peasants had to sell 2 poods of grain to pay one pood of tax. In most cases, this situation forced the peasants to sell their livestock and often even equipment for tax payments. In the Vitebsk province. about 10,000 head of cattle passed through the Nevelsk slaughterhouse in November. In the Astrakhan province. peasants, in order to pay a tax of 100 rye units, must sell 3‐5 cows, i.e., almost all living equipment. Phenomena of the mass sale of livestock were noted in the provinces: Kursk, Petrograd, Mari, Votskaya, Georgia, Armenia, Tyumen, Akmola, Karachay‐Cherkess and Bashrespublika. The Kyrgyz population is being ruined selling their cattle for a pittance to speculative predators to pay tax. Dissatisfaction on the basis of high monetary equivalents, in addition, was observed in the Ural region, Tomsk province., The City Republic and Irkutsk.

The delivery of the tax in cash and grain loan bonds due to objective conditions (insufficient funds from the peasantry of the outlying regions, extremely low prices for grain, the rise in prices for grain loan bonds due to their speculation, etc.) did not favor all the provinces. Thus, most of the provinces that passed the tax mainly in money belong to the Center, Western Region and industrial regions of Ukraine and the Urals. On the contrary, in other regions, the need to pay taxes in cash caused a negative phenomenon for the economic situation of the peasantry, such as the massive sale of livestock and implements.

ʺScissorsʺ and the economic situation of the peasantry

The negative influence of the ʺscissorsʺ on the political and economic position of the peasantry is noted by all the provinces and many cited facts. During the period of the tax campaign, the influence of the ʺscissorsʺ was especially pronounced.

In Karachaevsky u. Bryansk province. peasants have to pay twice as much for factory products as they did last year.

Peasants of the Yaroslavl province. when selling flax fiber, manufactories cannot buy: instead of 20‐30 yards of chintz, which was given by the sale of flax before the war, they now receive only 10 yards. In the Altai lips. peasants for one cow receive calico only for 2‐3 shirts. In the Tsaritsyn province. the peasants are unable to acquire such essential items as salt, kerosene, matches, and saddlery. In the Voronezh province. a peasant, in order to buy a pood of salt, sells 6‐7 poods. rye. A pair of boots for a number of provinces costs 60 poods. rye or 50 poods. wheat. Similar facts are cited in almost all provinces.

Attention is drawn to the tendency observed among the peasants to reduce the area under crops due to low prices for grain. In the Karachay‐Cherkess region. peasants in some places sow only for themselves.

As a result of the payment of a single tax, low prices for agricultural products, the material situation of the peasantry in most provinces is noted as extremely difficult. This is noted in 35 provinces, of which 7 are central, all northwestern, 4 southeastern, 5 Volga provinces, 4 Far East provinces and others. In some of these provinces, peasants sell livestock to buy grain. In Nemkommun, Baikal province, Chuvash region, Novgorod province. a significant part of the peasantry on the eve of the famine. In the Buryat region. the population will go hungry after tax. The same is expected in Vitebsk, Tambov, Samara and a number of other provinces. In the rest of the provinces, the peasantry will have no surplus for further economic recovery.

In a number of provinces, the difficult economic situation of the peasantry results in partial famine, mainly of the poorest strata of the peasantry. Part of the population of Karelia is already starving; in the Murmansk province. the poor buy bread at fabulous prices; in the Pskov province. 12‐15 million poods will not be enough to feed the province. of bread; in the Arkhangelsk province. the population mixes various substitutes with bread: moss, fish bones, straw. Surrogates are used in

Rubtsovskiy. Astrakhan province. 15% of the population, the poor of the City Republic, Tambov province. and many other provinces. In the Fergana region. 487,000 were registered hungry, of whom 40% were children; children are dying of hunger and disease. Hunger begins to take on broad proportions in the provinces of Siberia and the Far East (Irkutsk, Omsk, Transbaikal,

Primorsk provinces).

One of the results of the plight of the peasantry is the observed desire to relocate to other, more favorable areas. Peasants of the Zyryansk region move to the Urals and Siberia due to poor harvest. A massive desire for resettlement is also noted in the provinces of Severo‐Dvinskaya, Vologda and Vitebsk. In the Irkutsk province. even           well‐to‐do peasants               migrate                 (Balagansky

district). Peasants of Vyatka province. move in masses to Siberia. In Semipalatinsk province. there is a massive resettlement of peasants to other provinces due to the difficult economic situation. Due to the famine, the peasants of Karelia are migrating to Finland.

Mood

The mood of the peasantry in most provinces in connection with the collection of the single tax and its excessiveness, extremely low prices for bread and the abnormalities of the campaign during this period is             unsatisfactory. This is             especially             true        in            lean provinces. The repressions used in the course of the campaign against those who did not pay taxes caused a number of excesses in a number of provinces where the kulaks were strong, resulting in mass refusals to accept salary sheets and outbreaks of uprisings in the Tver Region and the Trans‐Baikal province. and Priamurskaya lips.

Particularly acute discontent with taxes was observed in the provinces of Pskov, Tambov, Kuban‐Black Sea, Tersk, Stavropol, Astrakhan, Volyn, Azerbaijan and Georgia, Simbirsk, Armenia, the City Republic, the Bash Republic, the Ural, Omsk and all Far Eastern provinces. In relation to a number of these provinces, in order to increase the revenue of taxes, it was necessary to create sessions of national courts and confiscate the property of non‐payers. In one Stavropol province. about 6,000 people were brought to justice by arbitration. The peasantry is especially outraged by the confiscation of property, often from the poor.

The next series of facts illuminates the nature of the excesses that took place on the basis of the single tax.

Kuban‐Black Sea region In Novo‐Titarovskaya stc. In the Krasnodar department, 34 middle peasants arrested for tax failure, sitting in a punishment cell, sang religious songs and ʺGod Save the Tsar.ʺ In stts. A crowd of defaulters, armed with stakes, drove out the militia, which                 confiscated          property               from      the          defaulters,           in the Nevinnomyssk Armavir department. In the same way, the representative of the Volost Executive Committee was driven out. The one who came to arrest the ringleaders of the executive committee was told that a crowd of 100 people, which had dispersed the police, had gone to the gang.

Tersk region in stts. Ekaterinogradskaya Mozdoksky u. a crowd of peasants, incited by their fists, recaptured the cattle taken by court verdicts and released those arrested for tax evasion. In this area, members of the RCP often refuse to pay taxes, citing natural disasters and a poor harvest. In stts. There are 11 such communists in the Soviet Union. In the area of the stts. Zolskoy, on the basis of dissatisfaction with taxes, a kulak uprising broke out, in which up to 700 Cossacks took part (for more details, see the ʺBanditryʺ section).

Primorskaya lips.  At the conferences of peasants, the speakers were interrupted by shouts that the government wanted to destroy the peasantry and that the peasants would not surrender the tax. In Nikolsko‐Ussuriysky district the delivery of the slip sheets proceeds with great difficulty. The deputy chairman of the Pokrovsky VIK burned bread for being active in the tax campaign. In a number of volosts, peasants are expecting a coup, which is why they do not pay tax.

Amur lips.  Under the influence of kulak agitation, peasants in a number of volosts categorically refused to accept salary slips. There are rumors among them that it remains to saddle the horse and go into the taiga. Anti‐tax agitators are driving around the villages of Zavitinsky district, calling to organize against the delivery of the tax. In one of the villages a brightly counter‐revolutionary resolution was passed.

Transbaikal lips. In a number of volosts, refusals to accept salary sheets were noted due to the excessive taxation (Sretensky, Aleksandrovsky and Ner‐chinsky). In the Aleksandro‐Zavodskoy parish. An uprising led by the kulaks broke out, spreading to other volosts. The same movement exists in the Amur province, where an uprising broke out in the area of st. Ippolitovka and der. Lyalichi, 40 versts northeast of Nizhne‐Ussuriysk.

Buryat region Under the influence of kulak agitation, mass refusals to accept salary slips were noted, and in one village a communist, explaining the meaning of the tax, was beaten. Similar cases were noted in the Syrdarya region, Tatrespublika, Samara province, Yekaterinburg and Penza provinces. The leading role of the kulaks in all these movements indicates their strong economic and political influence in the countryside. It is characteristic that, after appropriate pressure, the kulaks, who were the instigator of the refusal, are the first to surrender the tax. However, in the Kuban and Primorye Territories, it is definitely refraining from surrendering the tax due to hopes of an uprising and a coup. The plight of the village is used by the kulaks for their strengthening. Taking advantage of the hopeless situation of the poor and middle peasants, it buys bread and implements for a pittance (Kursk, Tambov, UralKustanai and other provinces). In the elections to the Soviets that were taking place, the kulaks strove to get into the Soviets and in some places had some success.

The partial tax cut made significantly alleviated the position of the poorest strata of the peasantry and contributed to the improvement of the political situation in the countryside. In Tomsk and Novonikolaevsk provinces. the poor, exempted from taxes, changed their attitude towards Soviet power for the better and began to actively oppose the kulaks. In the Ural and Saratov provinces. the tax cut raised the authority of the Soviet government in the eyes of the peasantry. Along with this, there is anger in the kulaks, who believe that this increases the burden of taxes on them. In addition to the above provinces, tax cuts for the poor were also noted in the provinces of Orel, Smolensk, Vologda, Akmola, Vyatka.

It should be noted, as one of the reasons for the acute discontent of the peasants, the collection of various taxes and taxation in addition to the main single tax. In Belarus, peasants especially complain about the inadequacy of paying stamp duty ³⁰¹, registry office operations and        passes   for          border   volosts. In            the          Tomsk province. kulaks are developing agitation against the communists, who promised a single tax and instead gave a lot of taxes, such as insurance,      school, volost    budgets,               etc.         In            Novgorod province. dissatisfaction caused by the patent fee from artisans, which increases the value of orders from them. In Bukeevskaya province. and Novonikolaevskaya peasants are not happy with the school tax and refuse to support schools. In the Tomsk province. there      was        a              case        of            arson     of            a              school   by peasants. Discontent on the basis of various additional taxes is noted by the provinces of Ryazan (equalizing, budgetary), Krasnoyarsk (volost budget), Astrakhan and Petrograd (insurance and local tax) and Vologda. conclusions

1.                   In determining the political and economic position of the peasantry, the most important factors were the methods of the tax campaign and the state of the ʺscissorsʺ.

2.                   The methods of the current tax campaign (the requirement of high conditionality of the delivered grain, the establishment of high cash equivalents for replacing grain with money, the insufficient proximity of the receiving apparatus to taxpayers) had an extremely negative effect on the position of the peasantry in the provinces far from the center, causing a further drop in prices for agricultural products and the massive sale of livestock ...

3.                   The weakness of tax receipts in a number of provinces is due, along with the general difficult economic situation (especially in the northwestern, Siberian and Far Eastern provinces), precisely by these conditions of the tax campaign.

4.                   The possibility of paying the tax in cash was used by the peasantry in industrial areas, where there was a corresponding market for agricultural products.

5.                   Replacing the single agricultural tax with a monetary one, since it will be carried out at the end of the current tax campaign, will undoubtedly meet with hostile attitude among the peasantry in purely agricultural areas, where money circulation has not yet penetrated enough and the prices of agricultural products are unfavorable for the peasantry.

6.                   Sharp dissatisfaction with taxes in the South‐East, the Far East, Siberia and some other regions and, finally, the outbreak of kulakpeasant uprisings in Tersk, Transbaikal and Amur provinces. are symptoms of this discontent.

7.                   The partial tax cut, which made it easier for the poor to pass the tax, was of great political importance in the countryside, strengthening the confidence of the poorest strata of the peasantry in Soviet power and helping to free them from the influence of the kulaks.

RED ARMY

In November, there is a significant deterioration compared to previous months in the mood of the Red Army, mainly due to an acute shortage of uniforms and delayed demobilization.

The food position of the parts could be called satisfactory. The Ukrainian Okrug and Turkfront, where it was not entirely satisfactory before, also noted an improvement. The only reason for the dissatisfaction of the Red Army men is the failure to dispense tobacco for 2‐3 months, noted by all districts, and in some places there are interruptions in the supply of such products as sugar, fats, matches and soap. The lack of delivery of tobacco forces the Red Army soldiers to sell sugar and, in addition, contributes to the development of petty thefts. In the Separate Caucasian Army, the Red Army are sure that they want to wean them from smoking. The unsatisfactory baking of bread should be noted as a widespread phenomenon, on the basis of which a number of excesses took place in parts. In the Separate Cavalry Brigade of the Moscow Military District, this is due to the transition of the bakery to self‐supporting, i.e., existence of such due to heat. The issuance of low‐quality bread caused a strong unrest in units of the 2nd Cavalry Division of the North Caucasian Military District, where a special commission had to be created to investigate the causes of the unrest. The Red Army men of the 1st squadron of the 84th cavalry regiment, having received raw unbaked bread, put it in the ʺred cornerʺ, refusing to eat it. The called doctor found that the bread was unsuitable for food. In the Separate Caucasian Army, stomach diseases were noted due to the issuance of bad bread. A wagon of flour was rejected in the 4th regiment of the 2nd division of the Turkfront, but in the absence of other products (meat, cereals, etc.) [... discontent] is observed, but does not have a massive character.

The situation with uniforms is portrayed in all districts as extremely difficult. In the Moscow military district, the Red Army men of a number of units are stripped and unclothed. The Red Army men of the 51st regiment of the 15th division walk in the same underwear, and the artillery of the 17th rifle division could not participate in the parade on November 7. The general lack of uniforms is 25%, but in some parts it reaches 75%. In the Petrograd military district, units are unevenly supplied. In the 11th rifle division, some of the Red Army men have no shoes at all (in the regiments 25‐30% of the barefoot Red Army men). In the 16th division, the shortage of all types of clothing allowance reaches 40‐60%. The supply of the 43rd Cavalry Division and the 56th Infantry Division is more satisfactory, except for the artillery units, which are not outfitted by 50%. In parts of the Western Front, 50% of the Red Army men cannot be used for outfits and attend classes. Warm uniforms were almost never received. In 37 divisions, the Red Army men are dressed in rags. The 9th and 5th communications regiments and the radiotelegraph battalion are extremely poorly equipped. The 4th cavalry brigade is satisfactorily outfitted. In parts of Ukraine, there is a large shortage of warm uniforms, which affects the preparation of units. In parts of the North Caucasian military circle and the Separate Caucasian Army, the situation is also unsatisfactory since the issued uniforms wear out quickly. So, in the parts of the 13th Dagestan division, the 28th rifle division, 50% of the Red Army men are barefoot, and in the 9th and 22nd divisions the Red Army men often go in the same underwear. Up to 50% of the issued uniforms have fallen into disrepair, since instead of the prescribed 6 months, it can withstand only 3. In the Volga Military District, the lack of uniforms is also significant, for example, 74% of the 1st Kazan Division, 32 45% of the 32 divisions, lack shoes. other uniforms 30‐40%. In the 95th regiment, 32 divisions, 20% are completely barefoot. In parts of Turkestan and Siberia, uniforms have recently been replenished by 100%. However, due to the rapid wear and tear, the shortage already reaches 35‐30% in some places.

The general lack of linen and bedding is extremely sensitive, which is why there is an increase in lice in all parts (up to 10%). Lack of blankets causes rapid wear of overcoats used instead of blankets.

In general, the difficult situation with uniforms for most districts is explained by the lack of repair shops and means for repairing and the substandardness of the uniforms issued. This situation had a huge negative impact on the mood of the Red Army in November, which was reflected in some places on discipline and military training, resulting in a number of units in refusal to execute orders (facts are given below).

Payments to units are made regularly everywhere. Only in Ukraine continue to be observed cases of issuing large banknotes, which delays the issuance of salaries. The situation with the medical staff continues to be difficult in this regard. Salary delays of 1–2 months at the Center, and often longer in other districts, have not yet been eliminated. The situation of medical and veterinary workers is aggravated by the fact that their families do not use the family ration. For these reasons, there is a large number of dissatisfied among them and a general desire to leave the Red Army. This is especially noticeable in parts of Siberia, where uniform decomposition is observed among them.

The preparation of the barracks for the winter period can be generally considered satisfactory, although a number of abnormalities are evident here. Unsatisfactory barracks conditions were noted in the artillery units of the 6th and the entire 19th rifle division in the Moscow Military District and in the 58‐59, 168 and 33 air defense regiments, where repairs were not completed due to lack of funds, and in the 8th division of the Zapfront; placed in villages due to the failure to complete the repair of the barracks and partly abuse in these works. In parts of Ukraine, the repairs were made unsatisfactory. Parts of the North Caucasian Military District are located satisfactorily, except for the Maikop division, which was deployed in philistine apartments due to the lack of funds for the repair of barracks. In the Separate Kazkaz Army, repairs were carried out satisfactorily, except for the 7th and 3 divisions. In the Volga Military District, for lack of funds, the barracks of the 1st Kazan Division were not repaired.

A sore point for all parts is the lack of fuel and the internal unequipment of the barracks (lack of beds and even bunks, tables, etc.). The lack of bedding, noted everywhere, complements the interior unequipped environment, which is extremely unsanitary in almost all parts.

As a result of poor uniforms, there is an increase in colds (in the 1st MVO division ‐ 10%, 17th MVO divisions ‐ 16%, and in one light artillery division there were 165 outpatients in a week; in air defense units up to 30%). In parts of the Western Military District, Ukraine and the Privy Military District, the percentage of colds has increased significantly. The lack of linen is aggravated by the weak work of the bath and laundry detachments that cannot cope with their work (Turkfront and individual units). In the Ukrainian units, there is an increase in venereal diseases among the Cossacks. There is an increase in malaria cases in the North Caucasus Military District (59%). In the Volga Military District and Siberia, there is a shortage of medicines, reaching 30% of the need.

In the relationship between the command staff, and often the political staff, with the Red Army men, rudeness, the manifestation of old officerʹs habits and even harassment are characteristic. The commissar of the cavalry squadron of the 1st division (MVO) makes the Red Army soldiers go to the front. In parts of the 1st Air Defense Cavalry Division, the rudeness of the commanders angered the Red Army. In the 24th regiment of this division, one Red Army soldier committed suicide as a result of the rough treatment of him by the military commissar. The same is noted in the artillery division and the cavalry squadron of the 56th division and the 59th regiment of the 30th division (air defense), the 39th legart division and the 10th rifle regiment (Zapfront), in units of the 1st cavalry corps (Ukrainian Military District), in the 8th cavalry regiment and division 33, where there is a massacre (North Caucasian Military District), in parts of the Separate Caucasian Army and the Volga Military District, and a number of others.

Extremely badly reflected on the mood of the Red Army, a strong overload of outfits caused by the shortage of units. This is observed in all districts. In the Separate Cavalry Brigade of the Moscow Military District, the Red Army men fall asleep from overwork at their posts, they often visit the okolotok, and they definitely declare that they are not sick, but very tired. The overload of the Red Army soldiers everywhere has a bad effect on political studies.

The lack of uniforms, the overload of outfits and the rudeness of the command staff create the depressed mood of the Red Army mass, which is characteristic of all parts of the Red Army. Added to this is the influence exerted on the Red Army soldiers by letters received from home with endless complaints about excessive taxes and the failure to provide them with benefits. All this causes an increase in demobilization sentiments (especially among senior citizens). In their letters home, the Red Army men complain about the complete lack of uniforms and ask for any documents to be sent in order to be able to leave the Red Army. This situation creates an unfavorable attitude towards the Soviet power and the RCP among the Red Army. A number of cases noted below characterize this phenomenon.

In many units, there were cases of refusal to execute orders on the grounds of lack of uniforms. A number of such cases have been noted in the MVO.

A Red Army soldier of the 144th Regiment of the 43rd Division, shod in bast shoes, demonstratively refused to go on guard and having gone out of order, loudly declared: ʺThis is not the 19th year to go on guard naked.ʺ In the 40th regiment of the 14th division, even the Red Army Communists were campaigning against the appointment of uniformed soldiers on guard duty. In the cavalry squadron of the 1st division, the Red Army men loudly expressed their indignation at the fact that the Soviet government did not pay attention to the Red Army, although it needed it. In the 6th Chongar division and the 33rd regiment of the Zapfront, there were cases of the Red Armyʹs refusal to comply with the orders of the command personnel and the loss of discipline. In the 1st Georgian regiment of the Separate Caucasian Army, two Red Army men, having gone out of action, called on their comrades not to go into the outfit due to the failure to issue uniforms; trying to calm them down, they called on to keep quiet, threatening to kill him otherwise. In the sapper battalion of the 12th corps (Siberia), there were several cases of refusal of the Red Army to carry out orders, among them one was massive because of not receiving uniforms. In the training battalion of the 1st division of the Turkfront, there was a case of refusal to enter classes due to the lack of uniforms.

The difficult financial situation also creates the basis for anti‐Soviet agitation in the units of the Red Army. At the Headquarters of the Separate Cavalry Brigade (MVO), one Red Army soldier loudly called the communists ʺtraitorsʺ, declaring that after demobilization he would form a detachment to fight them. Suspicious persons leading anti‐Soviet agitation enter the brigadeʹs barracks. In the sanroth of the 14th division, rumors were spread that the technical units of Moscow were refusing to go to classes, the commander of this company told the Red Army that it would not hurt all the technical units of Moscow to walk through the streets, demanding demobilization, while he expressed the opinion that combat units should not shoot will be, and the cadets can be dealt with. In the 12th regiment of the 14th division, unknown persons were campaigning against helping the Germans ‐ ʺour enemiesʺ. In the 142nd regiment of the 18th division, during one meeting, anonymously submitted notes were read out demanding an early demobilization and against the war. The Red Army men of the 1st machine‐gun team of the 17th division are campaigning against the communists, ʺwho, having seized power, broke away from the workers and rob the peasants.ʺ Anti‐Semitic agitation is being conducted in the 1st battalion of the 144th regiment. In the sapper squadron of the 4th Cavalry Division (Air Defense), the Red Army soldier read to the comrades the program of the Socialist‐Revolutionary Party, and there is also agitation against the ʺoppression of the peasantry by the communists.ʺ In all air defense units, a strong demobilization mood is noted. In parts of the Western Front, the demobilization mood is especially strong among the old servicemen of the cavalry and communications. In the 6th Cavalry Division, there is a sharp negative attitude towards the communists, in the 32nd regiment statements were heard: ʺIn case of war, we will beat the communists.ʺ In communications units, there were statements that in the event of war, the Red Army men would scatter or go over to the whites. In the 6th Cavalry Division, 37th Division, there is an increase in anti‐Semitism.

In parts of the Ukrainian Military District, anti‐Semitic agitation is developed in places. The mood of the Cossacks of the 1st Cavalry Corps worsened, anti‐Soviet appeals were spread in the 3rd cavalry regiment and in the 18th artillery division, in one of them the Red Army men were called upon to organize rebel cells in units and an uprising against Soviet power. In other parts of the district, the mood was depressed due to the course of events in Germany and heavy taxes on families, but there was no sharp discontent. In the 14th Maikop division (North Caucasian military district), quartered in philistine apartments, there is a kulak influence on the Red Army, which complicates the conduct of political work. In the 32nd and 34th divisions of the Volga Military District, the mood is demobilization, there are massive visits to the okolotk and the agitation of individual Red Army soldiers against the war. In parts of Turkestan, there is a depressed mood for the same reasons. In parts of Siberia, there are strong demobilization tendencies. The RCT receives many applications for demobilization. There is national enmity between Great Russians and Ukrainians. The unfavorable development of German events, which caused a rise in the mood of the Red Army and command personnel, created a general depressed mood.

Desertion in all districts is generally negligible. The reasons for its few cases is material insecurity. Often, desertion is caused by the desire of the Red Army to settle domestic affairs (Ukrainian Military District).

ANTI‐SOVIET PARTIES AND GROUPS

Mensheviks

In the activity of the Mensheviks in the months of November and December, the previous revival is not observed. In Moscow, there was no open activity of the Mensheviks, but there was a noticeable increase in organizational work to establish contacts with local organizations and with abroad. In Petrograd, the activities of the Mensheviks and the Social Democratic Youth Union did not appear. In early November, there was a certain revival among a group of students ‐ members of the Social Democratic Union of Youth, which published its own magazine ʺCall of Youthʺ. The insignificant work of local organizations, consisting in the antiSoviet agitation of individual Mensheviks, was noted in the Yaroslavl province. (there are two groups at the factory of the former Karzinkin ʺKrasny Perekopʺ and the railway workshops of the Yaroslavl junction), in the Arkhangelsk province. (exiled Mensheviks), in Voronezh and Kostroma provinces. (identified social‐democratic groups conducting organizational work), Nizhny Novgorod province. (there is an active group that conducts internal party work, maintains contact with the center and distributes party literature), Tula (some enterprises have small social democratic groups) and Pokrovsk (there is an organizational group that

connects with other cities and distributes literature).

As a result of operations carried out in November, an illegal Menshevik printing house with a ready‐made set of leaflets and various Social Democratic literature for 1923 was seized in Petrograd. In Moscow, seized about 30 poods. typographic type and various social democratic literature for 1920‐1923, in the Tula province. discovered a print shop (press and type) in Kaluga province. withdrawn old party cards.

In a number of provinces there are groups of former Mensheviks for the self‐liquidation of Menshevik organizations. Such groups have already been created in the Tomsk province. (a corresponding declaration was issued), the Tatrespublika, Bryansk, Smolensk, Vladimir, Tula (a declaration issued), Petrograd and Orenburg (a declaration issued). It is also planned to organize one in Kursk province.

Anarchists

The reporting period saw a revival among anarchist groups. Illegal anarchist groups are being identified in a number of provinces. In parallel with this, new associations of anarchists with active tendencies and aspirations are emerging (Kiev, Poltava, Kharkov provinces), where the work of anarchist groups is actually concentrated. On the other hand, in groups that have existed for a longer time, there are signs of disorganization and decomposition (Tatrespublika, Perm, Semipalatinsk, Turkestan and Orenburg [provinces]).

In the central regions, there is a comparative lull in general anarchist work and the desire to organize educational work among the backward members of the anarchist federations. There are tendencies for the WFA to contact the Anarchist Federations of North America and Argentina. The Petrograd group of anarchists decided to create a legal Petrograd federation of anarchists, along with which they leave the illegal organization of the WFA. This project was rejected.

The observed striving of active anarchists of the Smolensk province is characteristic. join the RCP with the aim of promoting ʺhealthy leftismʺ and strengthening the opposition wing. In the Voronezh province. the organizer of the anarchist group seeks to recruit former members of the RCP into the group. In the Bryansk province. (Pochepsky u.) Anarchists tried to get their candidates to the Soviets, but they failed in the elections. In Moscow, at bakery No. 9 of Mosselp‐Roma, anarchists opposed the list of candidates for the Council, which had been put forward by a small cell.

Right SRs

Any outstanding activity of the Social Revolutionaries in the Republic was not observed. In Petrograd, a local group of Social Revolutionaries published the 6th and 7th issues of Revolutionary Thought. After the party congress in Prague, it is planned to intensify the work inside Russia, which the foreign delegation is doing poorly. The congress elected an overseas regional committee, which directs work among the emigration and is subordinate to the ZD. In 1933, ZD sent only 80 dollars and about 50 magazines ʺRevolutionary Russiaʺ, published on the basis of materials sent from Russia, to help the Russian Socialist‐Revolutionary Party.

During the reporting period, the remnants of the Kiev organization of Right Socialist Revolutionaries were liquidated and the remaining members of the Right‐Bank Regional Bureau of the AllUkrainian Committee of Right Socialist Revolutionaries were arrested. In addition, a number of arrests were made of prominent Social Revolutionaries, among them a member of the Petrograd Committee of the AKP, an active leader of the St. Petersburg student organization and publisher of ʺRevolutionary Thoughtʺ Boris Viktorovich Chernov (son of V.M. Chernov) and a number of active workers in Petrograd, Kharkov, Voronezh and Rostov ‐on‐don.

Left SRs

In Moscow, the release of the Left Socialist‐Revolutionary illegal newspaper Our Put was discovered. The operation carried out revealed and seized a printing house with all the accessories, a passport bureau, adapted for the processing of documents, and various literature, including an open letter to students. A number of members of the underground were arrested.

There are 2‐3 organizations in Ukraine whose influence does not extend to the masses. In other provinces, the activity of the Left SRs is not observed. Only in the Novgorod and Kaluga provinces. The Left SRs are making efforts to overcome the ongoing decay and to gather the staunchest members of the organization.

Monarchists in Russia

During the reporting period, the sending of Kirillʹs appeals to the Kuban was noted by foreign monarchists; also intercepted several letters from Bulgaria and clippings from monarchist newspapers sent to various addresses in the Kuban, Don and Tersk regions, as well as the provinces of Kursk and Bryansk. Monarchist literature was distributed in Krasnoyarsk.

In some parts of the Republic, a new type of counter‐revolutionary organization of the ʺBlack Hundredʺ is emerging. Their composition is kulaks in the countryside, merchants, traders and contractors in the cities. The same organization exists in the Ural region. Its activity is petty anti‐communist agitation, the desire to get its likeminded people into the Soviets, etc., in the Tula province. there is a monarchist grouping called the Black Russian Party, consisting of priests, former manufacturers and landowners, handicraftsmen, nuns, etc.; in some counties [she] managed to win the sympathy of the peasantry.

Monarchists abroad

The conflict between Wrangel and the military alliances of officers, which occurred as a result of Wrangelʹs ban on introducing politics into the army by creating alliances ʺFor Faith, Tsar and Patronymicʺ, has been settled. A direct connection has been established between Wrangel             and        monarchist          organizations     ‐              ideological and organizational.

During the reporting period, intensive work was carried out by the adherent of Nikolai Nikolaevich Markov, who traveled around the Balkan countries and campaigned for Nikolai Nikolaevich. In his speeches, he stated that the name of the Grand Duke was popular in the USSR among the peasantry and in the army. The Navy continues to work on convening a congress of Russian organizations abroad. Recently, the Navy has been in conflict with the Union of Russian National Youth, which refused to accept the requirements of the Navy, and with the Brotherhood of the White Cross, one of the most serious organizations in its work in Russia.

Wrangelʹs high command was transferred to Paris. Negotiations are underway between Russian and French military circles for the spring intervention of 1924.

Nationalist movements

Transcaucasia

Georgia.  The Georgian Mensheviks who remained in the party have recently changed their attitude towards the Mensheviks who left the party, letting them know that they do not consider them traitors, but those who have left the party by compulsion. They convened a number of conferences at which the Central Committee of the Georgian Mensheviks set the goal of calculating the forces and revealing the mood. Judging by the Tiflis and Kutaisi conferences, there was a turning point in the mood of the organizations towards refusal to intervene and, in part, to a policy of an immediate armed uprising.

The arrested chairman of the Central Committee of the Mensheviks, Noah Hommeriki, states in a number of documents seized from him that the collapse was the result of erroneous tactics of the party, which consisted in the involvement of the entire mass of the party in the struggle, which had suddenly turned from a state party into an illegal one. Before its disintegration, he characterizes the work of the Party as having no foundation, but rather artificially revitalized by the leading organs of the Party. The change in national policy and a number of economic measures presented a significant part of the party with the fact that it was unnecessary to fight against the Soviet regime and adapt its tactics to new conditions. Refusing to intervene, the Georgian Mensheviks still hope to use the support of the Entente and the Amsterdam International. Particular attention is paid to Poland, where there is one division, almost exclusively consisting of Georgians.

Despite the obvious results of the work on the disintegration of the party, the number of the remaining Mensheviks is still very significant and exceeds the figure (1,000 people) noted in previous reviews by several times. At the same time, a fairly substantial part of those who came out submitted to the underground Central Committee declarations of loyalty to the party. Obviously, under the ideological influence of the Mensheviks are also underground trade unions, uniting about 10,000 members, the governing body of which was recently disclosed by the Transcaucasian Cheka.

Armenia.  The process of decomposition of the Armenian Dashnaks was finally formed by the All‐Armenian Congress of Former Dashnaks in Erivan. This is evident from the state of the Dashnak emigration. The resolution of the Vienna conference of the ʺDashnaktsutyunʺ party reads: ʺArmenia needs peace and all‐round economic recovery, to which all the partyʹs forces should be directed.ʺ The activity of the Dashnaks is currently carried out mainly along the line of resistance to decay. A new Central Committee of the Dashnaks was organized in Georgia.

The left‐wing Dashnaks strive to unite around themselves the Armenian national movement and set the main task to arrest the further disintegration of the party. The right‐wing Dashnaks continue to adhere to an irreconcilable position of overthrowing Soviet power, at least with the help of Turkey. The Armenian masses will not follow the right, in view of such a position.

Azerbaijan.  The religious trend of Muridism that has appeared in Azerbaijan, striving for reconciliation of Shiites ³⁰² and Sunnis ³⁰³, Turks and Azerbaijani emigrants are trying to carry out in Persia as well. The agitation of the former leader of the Kurdamir (Azerbaijan) uprising, Sheikh Bohhul, among the Persian Shiite clergy had no success. Its specific goal was to attract Shiite clergy to participate in the All‐Muslim Congress in Angora to unite Islam.

Adjara.  The political situation in the region is extremely unfavorable. The preservation of the former economic importance by the beks, their influence on the Muslim masses and the existence of the Sharia court create a certain pressure on the nature of Soviet construction. The gravitation of this anti‐Soviet element towards Turkey is of great importance since the masses follow it entirely. Turkey pays considerable attention to work in Adjara, and the latter is overflowing with its emissaries.

NORTH CAUCASUS

Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia.  Chechnya is at the head of the national movement. All of Chechnya and the mountainous part of Dagestan are an armed camp. In the rest of the regions, the process of internal organization is still going on, led by the leaders of the Chechen‐Dagestan counter‐revolution Ali‐Mitaev and Go‐tsinsky and their assistants, Turkish agents. Gotsinsky and Ali‐Mitaev, not limited to their subordination of the upper layers of mountain auls (foremen, small sheikhs), also appoint their own naibs ³⁰⁴who must directly direct the movement and organization of armed detachments. The efforts of Turkish agents overcame the resistance of some local sheikhs of the flat regions, which hindered the unification of the regions of mountainous Dagestan and the whole of Chechnya. This resulted in demonstrations at stts. Samashkinskaya one of the detachments of 140 people with 4 machine guns.

In other regions of Dagestan, the end of hostility between local

Muslims and the sheikhs and a tactical agreement between them in the fight against Soviet power is noted. This also involves this region in the counter‐revolutionary movement. In Ingushetia, similar work [carried out] by Ali‐Mitaevʹs murids, and its proximity to Chechnya, pose a threat to its joining the movement. The economic situation of the population of these areas: landlessness, ʺscissorsʺ, lack of hope for help from the Soviet government due to the weak representation of small tribes in Soviet bodies. All this creates the basis for the involvement of the tribes in the counter‐revolutionary movement.

Gotsinskyʹs tactics are to intensify political banditry, attack the oil fields, railroads, Red Army garrisons and terrorist party workers. Ali‐Mitaev, who is a member of the Chechen obrevkom, keeps the USSR from decisive action to the creation of an external front. However, some impatient elements are already showing themselves and over the past 2 months there have already been 40 cases of gang attacks on the fields, the railway and the Red Army units. The attacks are political in nature. The Chechen Revolutionary Committee is powerless to fight banditry without Ali‐Mitaev, which the latter uses to popularize himself. The repressions against the population of Chechnya and Ingushetia, which initially gave successful results, had to be suspended due to the immediate intensification of political banditry in the North Caucasus.

Other regions of the North Caucasus. The growth of the national movement here proceeds along the line of tribal enmity, mainly due to the dominance of the strongest tribes in the Soviet organs. In the City Republic, this situation creates a particularly strong national movement, similar to the Chechen movement in Diogoria, where the Christian Ossetians actually dominate the Soviet bodies, and the Diogor Muslims are almost not represented in them. In the Kabardino‐Balkarian region. the antagonism between Kabarda (flat part) and Balkaria (mountainous part) is caused by the dominance of the Kabardians in the Soviet organs. A connection has been established between the nationalists of Balkaria and Diogoria. Between Kabarda and the Karachay‐Cherkess Republic, the strongest enmity is caused by land disputes. At the Congress of Soviets convened to settle the conflict, the parties hinted at the possibility of an armed resolution of the conflict. In the KarachayCherkess region. the struggle is taking place on national‐political grounds.

CRIMEA

The national movement is generally weak. The group of the Sharket cooperative is showing some activity, which was manifested in the success of its efforts to abandon the Tatar landowners expelled from Crimea. However, this cooperative as a class organization is already decaying and its influence on the Tatar masses is weak. This process will undoubtedly intensify from the moment of the Tatarization of state agencies. The resolutions of the CP Congress of the Party on the national issue are being successfully implemented, especially in the direction of opening schools of the 1st stage. At the end of the reporting period, there were spiritual congresses dedicated to the acts of recognition of the new caliph and the sending of delegates to him.

TATAR REPUBLIC

The national movement is characterized by the rapid development of private capital. A number of projects, such as the opening of a Muslim trading corps in Nizhny Novgorod, the creation of a Muslim trade and industrial syndicate, the creation of a trade and industrial committee, etc., indicate this strengthening of the national capital.

Among the Muslims, there is a desire to strengthen its apparatus and intense agitation for permission to teach religion in schools. In order to strengthen the influence on the younger generation of Muslims, the Central Spiritual Directorate ordered mullahs to allow women to visit mosques. The clergy collect fees for the opening of theological schools, not doubting that under the pressure of public opinion, the Soviet government will permit the opening of such schools.

The organization of the Tatar intelligentsia ʺUchagʺ (founded in 1914 in Petrograd by nationalist students) began to take shape, the goal of which was to subordinate the Soviet apparatus to its influence. There is a desire to create a Union of Muslim Students, independent of public organizations. The influence of national elements on the Soviet apparatus is in the Peopleʹs Commissariat for Land, where land is provided exclusively to Tatars without distinction of social status, in universities, where the distribution of scholarships and admission is carried out more on a national basis, and, finally, in attracting to Soviet work a number of people who had previously actively opposed the Soviet authorities.

The national intelligentsia maintains contact with emigrant groups, sends young people to study abroad, where they are brought up in emigrant circles, and ideological ties are established with Central Asia. In this respect, the interest of the Tatar national circles in Turkey is also characteristic, expressed in fees for the Turks moving from Europe to their homeland and the recognition of the Turkish Caliph as the spiritual ruler.

The strengthening of the Tatar trade and industrial groups and the intelligentsia provokes the resistance of the village kulaks and reactionary mullahs, who are opposed to the former flirting with the Soviet regime.

BASHKIRIA

The reporting period is characterized by the end of anti‐Soviet protests. At the same time, the antagonism between the TsDU (Tatar) and DU (Bashkir spiritual administration) is becoming more acute. This struggle is a reflection of the struggle against the aspirations of the Tatar bourgeoisie to involve the neighboring republics (Bashkiria and Kyrgyzstan) under their economic influence. In this struggle, the Bashkir national movement is forced to put up with the Soviet regime, as evidenced by the successful struggle of the Bashkir Peopleʹs Commissariat for Internal Affairs with the Central Dispatch Office, which was expressed in the confiscation of his birth registers, and the decision of the Bashkir Central Executive Committee to remove the Central Administrative Directorate from the territory of Bashkiria (Ufa). The Ts DU mobilized all forces for agitation among the Tatars and the otatarized Bashkirs against the last event, in order to keep the influence of the Tatar nationalists in Bashkiria.

KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

The factor determining the current political position of Kyrgyzstan is the predominance of the Tatar part of the population in the cities, which concentrated in their hands all trade with the auls. The forms of this trade are highly predatory. There is no data on the nascent Kyrgyz commercial capital.

The influence of the Tatar clergy was greatly strengthened here. The mullahs are subordinate to the TsDU and in every possible way seek to subordinate the population to their ideological influence. Recently, this desire has met with resistance from the nascent local clergy, which was almost nonexistent before. This results in schisms between the Tatar and Kyrgyz clergy and the first common parish communities.

The influence of the Tatar bourgeois‐nationalist intelligentsia is very strong here. In Kyrgyzstan, there are a number of societies, which are, as it were, its apparatus. Such are, for example, the Ural (ʺTakpoʺ society), Akmola (Muslim society), Aktobe (ʺTulanʺ society) and others. These societies, consisting of intellectuals and merchants, extend their activities to the Kyrgyz population and thus seize the political and economic impact.

National party and Soviet bodies are cut off from the masses, and economic organizations and cooperatives not only do not fight against predatory private capital, but they themselves follow its path, knocking down prices for cattle‐raising raw materials and inflating the prices of their goods, thereby ruining the population. This causes a tendency towards the elimination of cattle breeding and the transition to a sedentary lifestyle. However, the possibilities of creation are limited due to the enormous resources required for irrigation.

Such a situation created, on the one hand, the desire to seize from the Russians a significant part of the best lands they had and a strong growth of banditry directed against the Russians. On the other hand, the dependence of the Kyrgyz poor on the bays is growing, and the process of disintegration of the clan system that had been going on before stopped. At the last elections to the Soviets, clan and tribal enmity for the seizure of power bodies (and at the same time pastures and water) was clearly manifested, which adopted the form of a ʺclassʺ struggle against the mutual accusation of belonging to the ʺbaiʺ in imitation of the Russians. The lower apparatus of Soviet power absorbed all the elements of the tsarist administrative and police apparatus.

The Alash Orda organization collapsed due to the lack of ground for an anti‐Soviet movement among the Kyrgyz bourgeoisie and intelligentsia, which is more hostile to the Tatar and Uzbek bourgeoisie. The striving of the few Alashorda residents to conquer the state apparatus is hindered by friction between their various groupings ‐ a reflection of clan and tribal enmity (which is also observed among the Kyrgyz communists).

The difficult economic situation and the presence of an unsatisfactory Soviet apparatus can, however, create the basis for a small part of the local intelligentsia, irreconcilable towards Soviet power, and the current movement against the Russians will be used. Without the creation of authoritative lower bodies of power, an improvement in the situation cannot be expected, since otherwise all economic measures will only benefit the strongest tribes and further aggravate the relations of the majority of the population towards Soviet power.

TURKESTAN

ʺIttikhat‐Islamʺ.  Moving from the tactics of openly opposing Soviet power, the organization launched an offensive on the ideological front by uniting the cultural forces of the Uzbek intelligentsia and pouring them into the Soviets and the Soviet apparatus. There were even attempts to bring a member of this organization to the post of head of the GPU. Members of the organization conduct espionage work, transmitting information about the Red Army and the mood of the population to London.

ʺNashri‐Maarifʺ.  This legal nationalist organization is pursuing the idea of ʺIttihat Islamʺ, seeking to replace European workers with Muslims. The organization is widely ramified, it plans to publish its own      newspaper ʺAsiaʺ and has organized            a Muslim book publishing.

ʺMakhkamey‐Shariaʺ.  The spiritual organization ʺMakhkameiShariaʺ ‐ a tool in the hands of the commercial bourgeoisie ‐ is also switching to ʺpeacefulʺ methods of work, taking an active part in the election campaign to the Soviets. The organization has its branches in many places and enjoys a certain influence among the peasantry, to whom it helps from its grain reserves collected from the vakuf estates.

ʺIshanismʺ.  According to the latest data, the Ishanist movement is assuming wide dimensions. This organization of the nascent feudalism in Turkestan, due to the weakness of the Soviet economic agencies, is strengthened thanks to the material assistance provided to the peasantry. In contrast to the organizations of the commercial bourgeoisie, it is deeply hostile to Soviet power.

Basmachism.  The real measures carried out by the Soviet government to restore the Turkestan economy are tearing the ground from under the feet of the bands, which are being crushed almost everywhere by the Red Army. The gangster movement is generally disadvantageous to the commercial bourgeoisie in the cities and to the kulaks in the countryside, and therefore is not supported by them. Along with this, the leaders of the Ittihat people keep the gangs from disintegrating, using them, since they can testify to the weakness of the Soviet regime.

Turkmens.  The Turkmen national movement in Bukhara and the Trans‐Caspian region, directed against the Uzbeks and Tajiks, received legal opportunities in the form of permission to allocate Turkmen regions to a separate region. There are attempts on the part of Persia to take the initiative of restoring the independence of the Turkmens under their leadership (pressure from England). On the other hand, Afghanistan is taking a number of measures to win over 40,000 emigrant Turkmen by allocating land to them, exemption from taxes, etc.

The main element that rouses the Turkmens to full independence is, however, the British, who bring goods in exchange for livestock and raw materials and restore the population against the Soviet regime and the Persians. The British consulate in Mashhad organizes uprisings in the steppes, for which he bribed the Dujnur Khan, he formed and supplied the gangs with weapons, etc. There is information that Yomudshtan has up to 12,000 well‐armed horsemen.

All these facts definitely indicate that the Turkmen national movement is being used by the counter‐revolution. In particular, the Enver group, using the objective conditions of the Basmachism in Bukhara, wants to create a new base for itself in the areas bordering with our Turkmen.

Bukhara Republic.  Bukhara Basmachi show signs of growth in quantitative and growth in activity. It is centralized, grouping its forces around Abdukagar (he gathered up to 600 horsemen and recruited volunteers in the area of the Zeravshan River). Ibrahimbek was appointed commander‐in‐chief of all the armed forces of the Basmachi instead of the absent Selim Pasha. His call not to hand over food to the Russian authorities to prepare for the fight against Soviet power was a partial success among the Lokai peasantry.

A group of active members of ʺItgihat‐Islamʺ, adherents of the ousted group, are campaigning against the new government and for the return of the old Nazirs.

Newly intercepted data points to the involvement of local Ittikhat

Islam organizations in the Basmak movement.

RELIGIOUS CURRENTS

Orthodox clergy

The struggle among the groups of the Orthodox clergy continues to develop. The main issue in the reporting period was the implementation of a new style in church life. Tikhon, who sanctioned it, ran into a negative attitude of believers and was forced to refuse to implement it. However, in December Tikhon reaffirmed the need to switch to a new style. In general, it has recently been observed that Tikhon, under pressure from his bishops, is trying in every possible way to gain confidence in the Soviet government. So, they retire the North American Bishop Plato for counterrevolutionary activities. This act will undoubtedly increase the number of conservative churchmen dissatisfied with Tikhon and strengthen the opposition. This also helps to strengthen the position of the renovationists.

Cultists

In December, the All‐Russian Baptist Convention was held, which was attended by up to two hundred delegates from the field. The congress passed a satisfactory resolution on the question of Soviet power, but on military service it passed a half‐hearted resolution. This was a consequence of the negative position taken on this issue by the collegium of the All‐Russian Congress and the predominant composition of the congress of young people, and partly former white officers and generally dubious elements. The adopted resolution deepened the split with the evangelists, who adopted a resolution for military service at the October congress and makes it impossible for them to unite in any way. Baptists are intensifying their work in this regard, seeking to split evangelical organizations over the issue of conscription. They have success in some places, but insignificant.

In connection with this decision of the congress, the German Baptist communities split off from the Baptists, condemning this decision, considering military service permissible as a kind of rent to the state. There is reason to believe that all Baptist communities in the Caucasus will also break away from the All‐Russian Baptist Union and recognize military service.

Muslim clergy

All Muslim Congress in Calcutta.  In the month of December, it was planned to convene an all‐Muslim congress in Calcutta, apparently at the initiative of England. Britainʹs aspirations are aimed at inciting the Muslim outskirts of the USSR against Soviet power and diverting the attention of Muslims from the activities of England in Muslim countries. The correctness of this assessment is proved by an excerpt from the invitation letter to the congress: ʺRussia is a geographic absurdityʺ, ʺthe Muslim community is called to eliminate this absurdity.ʺ

Attitude towards the newly elected caliph.  The election of a new caliph in Turkey was recognized by the majority of the Muslims of the USSR. Everywhere Muslim meetings were held in his honor. In Turkestan, it is recognized only by the progressive part of the clergy, headed by Makhkamei‐Sharia. The conservative part of the clergy, the ʺIshanites,ʺ is oriented towards the Afghan emir, demanding his appointment as the caliph as the emir of the most important Muslim center.

BANDITRY

Small‐scale banditry is observed in the Central District. Gangs here are quickly dispersed, as they appear. Some revival is noticeable in the Voronezh lips. and in Voronezh itself, where there is a thievesʹ organization, i.e., ʺGrabtrestʺ. Part of the gang is caught.

In the Petrograd region. there are single crossings of White Karelian scouts from refugees.

In the West, the activity of foreign political gangs of 5‐10 people is noted mainly in the border zone of Belarus.

Banditry, which has assumed large proportions in Borisov and Orsha districts, has now been eliminated. 10 gangs were destroyed, and 210 bandits and concealers were seized. The very active gang of Monich has been defeated. The defeat of banditry improved the attitude of the population towards Soviet power. Actions of the Ivanov‐Prudnikov gang in the Smolensk province. weakened noticeably, its core passed to Poland.

The previously noted concentration under the guise of working detachments of Ba‐lakhovichʹs gangs in the border zone with Poland continues. The detachments already number up to 1000 people. A repeated crossing of Balakhovʹs detachments was established in the border zone of Slutsk and Borisov u. On the territory of Poland, Polish gangs (Mukhaʹs gang) continue to terrorize half a border guard, consisting of former Denikin and Balakhovites.

In Ukraine, criminal banditry does not stop. The play of criminal gangs on national sentiment is very characteristic, expressed in the robbery of the Jews and in the desire thus to win sympathy among the peasants (Kiev province). In the Volyn and Poltava provinces. banditry has a criminal and political connotation (local authorities are terrorized). During the reporting period, the political bands of Maslov (Kharkov and Poltava), Dovgy, Grishchenko and several others were liquidated. In total, 48 bands of 467 bayonets are registered. In general, political banditry has lost its serious importance and is definitely degenerating into criminality. Attempts by individual groups to organize and staff their gangs are unsuccessful. The tactics of undermining the authority of the Soviet government by economic means clearly failed.

There is a strong growth in criminal banditry in Crimea. All in all, there are 47 gangs in 460 bayonets in the Ukraine and Crimea.

In Ukraine, a new type of ʺSovietʺ banditry is emerging, arising from the difficult economic situation of the non‐cheaters who, before the NEP, actively participated in dispossession of the village and in the fight against banditry due to illegal actions of the local authorities.

In the South‐East, criminal banditry is developing at the expense of political. Cases of raids on trains and railway structures have become more frequent. The remaining political bands are few in number (the largest of them is Shumakovʹs of 50), and their activities are expressed in the spread of provocative rumors, anti‐tax agitation and terrorizing the population and Soviet workers. Agitation finds ground among the kulaks, dissatisfied with taxes. In the area of art. Zolskaya (100 versts from Pyatigorsk) kulak discontent took the form of an uprising, in which up to 700 Cossacks participated, including women. The gangs were divided into hundreds. When the movement was liquidated, 24 instigators were seized. Some of the participants fled to Kabarda, where they counted on reinforcements, which did not come due to the measures taken.

Criminal banditry flourishes in the Don, Kuban‐Chernomorskaya and Stavropol provinces, finding support among the population. In Tersk Gubernia, the Mountain and Chechen Republics, criminal and domestic and national‐political banditry is still developed. National banditry is especially strongly developed in Ossetia and Ingushetia, the population of which is strongly influenced by Chechen political sects. In the reporting period, an operation was carried out to disarm the population, and the gangs of Kulin, Burun, Nemykin, Marchenko and others were liquidated. 30 gangs of 400 bayonets remained on the register.

In Transcaucasia, small‐scale banditry is on the decline. Political banditry goes underground. The desire of the leader of the Chelokaev gang to organize Chechen detachments is paralyzed. The leader and the remnants of the gang hide in Telavsky u., Meeting support among the population. Chelokaev maintains contact with the North Caucasus and Gotsinsky, as well as with Turkey.

The Esiashvili and Losobridze gangs were liquidated. Many gangs give up voluntarily. 23 gangs (260 bayonets) remain on the register.

In the Volga region, criminal banditry is still active, and especially in the Kyrgyz Republic (increased cattle‐theft). Criminality in the Penza province. is on the decline. In the Tsaritsyn province. the gang, which came from the Voronezh province, was partially liquidated. In the Urals, after a long lull, criminal banditry appears again. The old criminal‐political gang of Dremin was discovered, behaving passively.

In Turkestan, further decay continues among the rank‐and‐file kurbash and horsemen. The population, which had previously supported them, has now recoiled, which is not a little helped by the tax policy of the Basmachi. The exception is Central Bukhara, where, according to information, an uprising was prepared by the agents of Mullah Abdukagar. In Eastern Bukhara, the unification of the small Basmak gangs is hampered by the enmity between individual Kurbash, reaching armed clashes. To unite these gangs, a representative of the Emir of Bukhara Shurshukh‐Ishen

arrived. According to the latest information, the Emir of Bukhara, having lost hope of restoring his power in Bukhara, began to arrange his personal life. The testimony of Danyar (the former Kulyab bek) about the change by the Afghan government of its attitude towards the Basmachi, which did not justify its appointment, is also very important. In general, the Basmach movement is not getting stronger. In some areas, the Basmachi detachments, although they make movements for the purpose of unification, are dispersed when our flying detachments approach. So, for example, in the Kirki area, a gang of 200 people, who plundered the villages, was utterly defeated by red infantry and cavalry units. At this time, in Turkestan, there are 78 bands of 6496 bayonets and sabers.

Small‐scale banditry is still observed in Western Siberia. Political banditry, which takes place in Eastern Siberia, degenerates into crime. The gangs commit robberies in order to obtain food for the winter. The gangs leave for the winter in the taiga, some of the gangs self‐destructed and surrendered voluntarily (Rodionov, Karelin); the Donskoy gang was defeated, the leader of which was killed. In Yakutia, large white bandit associations of Derevyanny, Kinin, Gerasimov, which remained after the liquidation of the Pepelyaev adventure, surrendered.

In the Far East, banditry has somewhat weakened, with the exception of Transbaikalia and the Amur region, where gangs, taking advantage of the proximity of the border and the weakness of its protection, freely cross it, plundering the outlying population. In some places, the gangs are distributing leaflets calling for the overthrow of Soviet power. Particularly active are two political gangs of the Gordeev brothers, acting on the instructions of the ʺHeadquarters of the Primorye partisan detachmentsʺ located abroad.

The situation here is very serious owing to the existing anti‐tax movements of the peasantry. Peasants of the AleksandroZavodskoy Vol. Transbaikal Gubernia, excited and led by kulaks, not wanting to accept salary slips for the delivery of the state tax, raised an uprising. The population of other volosts followed their example. The uprising also took place in the Amur lips. and in the area of art. Ippolitovka and der. Lyalichi, 10 versts northeast of Nizhne‐Ussuriysk. At the same time, 15 rifles, 3 revolvers and 44 grenades were stolen from the Nizhne‐Ussuriysk artillery warehouse by unknown persons.

Deputy Chairman of the OGPU Yagoda

Head of the Information Department of the OGPU Ashmarin