The military crisis in the summer of 1919 saw the Bolsheviks mobilize a large percentage of their own members to fight on the front lines in defense of the Revolution, with an enormous number not returning.

‘The Mobilization of the Communists’ from Soviet Russia (New York). Vol. 2 No. 8. February 21, 1920.

ON April 10, 1919, the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party issued some publications regarding the situation in the East. The Central Committee pointed out that one of the quickest ways of getting rid of the counter-revolutionary menace, was to have the Communist Party take an active part in the struggle on the front. The Communists should join the forces of the Red Guards in order to spread the spirit through the ranks of the army, and arouse their consciousness. The Communists must be found in the front ranks. At the same time the Central Committee sent to the front some of the most well-known party workers in Moscow and Petrograd. And shortly after. wards, the mobilization of Communist forces was begun. This mobilization showed admirably the extent to which the local organizations are connected with the central body. The district committees responded to the central call more rapidly than could have been expected.

As soon as the publications of the Central Committee appeared, we began to receive information which showed us that all Russia was preparing a great Communist mobilization. By the beginning of May, when the mobilization was at its height, the Communists were clamoring to go to the front. We are printing here a brief summary of this mobilization:

May 3-5: At Orcha and at Orel the mobilization of Communists was brought to a most successful close. Fifty per cent of the members of the party were mobilized. The same is true of Maloyaroslaertz and Pougatchevsk. At Bobruisk, Shenkoursk, and Volsk, complete units were ready to leave.

May 5-7: In Samara, Syzran, Saratov, Zaraisk, and Pokrovsk, 30 to 50 per cent of the Communist comrades were ready to join in the struggle against Kolchak. The younger members of the party were concentrating their forces. Saratov, Polipsk, and the district of Samara had organized units of students.

May 8-10: In the district of Tula, 10 per cent of the Bolsheviks were mobilized for the front; 25 per cent of the members of the Communist Party in the city of Tula were sent to the munitions plant to increase the output. At Kursk 1,500 Communists responded. At Yegorievsk, the best workers of the executive committee of the Soviet and of the party were included in the 50 per cent of the party members that left for the front. Military instruction was carried on actively everywhere.

In fact, the outburst of enthusiasm was spreading to the women. At Oboyan several women joined the Communist unit; 17 women left Kursk with a company of infantry; many women enlisted in the Communist unit which was being organized at Penza; at the recruiting station in Lgov, 15 women enlisted and set off for the Eastern front with the first section.

May 10-15: Two Communists’ units left Penza in high spirits. The mobilized Communists showed tremendous enthusiasm as they went out from Shchigry, Ustiug, Kaluga, Yegorievsk, Riazansky, Pskov, Mohilev, Minsk, Voronezh, Borissoglebsk, Vitebsk, Saratov, Tver, Belevsk, Simbirsk, etc. A large number of party organizations had already organized more than 50 per cent of their members. In many cases it was 70 and 80 per cent.

Such a great number of Communists responded to the call that further appeals would have been superfluous. Communist volunteers left in throngs for the front. The following communication was received on May 14, from Totma, in the district of Vologda: “The 80 per cent of the Communists which left here, went as volunteers. Besides this, there were some peasant volunteers that did not get registered.”

May 15-17: Fifty-four volunteers from the village of Vitovka (district of Samara) enlisted in the Communist unit, and 44 at Lgov. Among the comrades that left Choisk, was a peasant 72 years old, whose example called forth a great crowd of Orechovo-Zouievo volunteers. At Kharkov, Chernigov, Vladimir, long lines of volunteers stood before the party offices.

If anything could have been said before about any lack of enthusiasm among the Communists or in the Red Army, there could be no uncertainty about their spirit now. The eagerness to go to the front was so strong, that measures had to be taken to keep a certain part of the party organizations in their places.

Some idea of the spirit among the masses, after the Communist mobilization, can be gained from the letter which the city of Kaluga caused to be written, by Comrade Yaroslavsky, and which was published in the Pravda, the organ of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party:

“In Kaluga,” writes Comrade Yaroslavsky, “the mobilization was accompanied by a band. Generations to come should know about the way in which these men went to the front. I have seen soldiers leave many times, and the difference was striking. Most of those who went were in good spirits, or calm. There were no tears shed at parting, nor was there any of that excessive liveliness, that always hides the most burning heartache.

“I organized a short meeting at the station. The volunteers spoke, and they expressed themselves with ardor and sincerity. When I got up to say a few words, and when I saw before me more than two thousand men with their knapsacks, men of New Russia–I was filled with a strong and deep feeling that was shared by these comrades. spoke of the great sacrifice the people must make to defend their right to a free and happy life. And when I asked that the blessing of the workers and the peasants should go with these men, who were giving their lives and the best that they had so that the supremacy of labor should be established upon the earth, the peasants bared their heads and made the sign of the cross. The pope, who was there, also uncovered his head. This was so unexpected for many of us, and such a great and significant moment, that people said afterwards, “I was nearly taken off my feet.” For me, it was a proof that my words had penetrated into the inmost depths of their hearts. These men had shown in their own way that they understood the meaning of the events that were taking place around them.”

Soviet Russia began in the summer of 1919, published by the Bureau of Information of Soviet Russia and replaced The Weekly Bulletin of the Bureau of Information of Soviet Russia. In lieu of an Embassy the Russian Soviet Government Bureau was the official voice of the Soviets in the US. Soviet Russia was published as the official organ of the RSGB until February 1922 when Soviet Russia became to the official organ of The Friends of Soviet Russia, becoming Soviet Russia Pictorial in 1923. There is no better US-published source for information on the Soviet state at this time, and includes official statements, articles by prominent Bolsheviks, data on the Soviet economy, weekly reports on the wars for survival the Soviets were engaged in, as well as efforts to in the US to lift the blockade and begin trade with the emerging Soviet Union.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/srp/v1v2-soviet-russia-Jan-June-1920.pdf