IV
_The Bolsheviki and the Constituent Assembly_
At the time of the accomplishment of their _coup d'etat_, the Bolsheviki
cried aloud that the ministry of Kerensky put off a long time the
convocation of the Constituante (which was a patent lie), that they would
never call the Assembly, and that they alone, the Bolsheviki, would do it.
But according as the results of the elections became known their opinions
changed.
In the beginning they boasted of their electoral victories at Petrograd and
Moscow. Then they kept silent, as if the elections had no existence
whatever. But the _Pravda_ and the _Izvestya_ of the Soviet of Workmen's
and Soldiers' Delegates continued to treat as caluminators those who
exposed the danger that was threatening the Constituent Assembly at the
hands of the Bolsheviki. They did not yet dare to assert themselves openly.
They had to gain time to strengthen their power. They hastily followed up
peace pourparlers, to place Russia and the Constituent Assembly, if this
met, before an accomplished fact.
They hastened to attract the peasants to themselves. That was the reason
which motived the "decree" of Lenine on the socialization of the soil,
which decree appeared immediately after the _coup d'etat_.
Pages:
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499