When Guchkov, president of the War Industries Committee,
attempted to get the appeal printed in the newspapers he was prevented by
action emanating from the office of Protopopov.
IV
Through all the early days of March there was labor unrest in Petrograd, as
well as in some other cities. Petrograd was, naturally, the storm center.
There were small strikes, but, fortunately, not much rioting. The extreme
radicals were agitating for the release of the imprisoned leaders of the
Labor Group and urging drastic action by the workers. Much of this
agitation was sincere and honest, but no little of it was due to the
provocative agents. These, disguised as workmen, seized every opportunity
to urge revolt. Any pretext sufficed them; they stimulated the honest
agitation to revolt as a protest against the imprisonment of the Labor
Group, and the desperate threat that unless food was forthcoming revolution
would be resorted to for sinister purposes. And all the time the police and
the troops were massed to crush the first rising.
The next few days were destined to reveal the fact that the cunning and
guile of Protopopov had overreached itself; that the soldiers could not be
relied upon to crush any uprising of the people.
Pages:
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190