Language: Russian
Published by Petrograd [= St. Petersburg, Russia], 1917
Seller: Meir Turner, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Magazine / Periodical
No Binding. Condition: Poor. In Russian. 4 pages. 55 x 37 cm. Pages are yellow, brittle and badly damaged. ???? ?????? (Delo Naroda), No. 8, dated March 17 (30), 1918, published in Petrograd. This was the official newspaper of the Socialist - Revolutionary Party (????i? ???????????-???????i???????), appearing just after the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty between Soviet Russia and Germany. By this date, the Bolsheviks had already dissolved the Constituent Assembly and established one-party rule, and Delo Naroda had become the principal legal voice of opposition - articulating the SRs' fury at Lenin's regime and their despair over Russia's dismemberment. The March 17 (30) 1918 issue of Delo Naroda opens with a fierce denunciation of the Brest-Litovsk peace and of Bolshevik rule. The lead editorial declares that Lenin's government has "sold the revolution" and plunged Russia into "bankruptcy - moral, political, and national." The paper calls on all citizens, especially workers and peasants, to defend the revolution's original ideals against tyranny and foreign occupation. Front Page Headlined "???????????" ("Bankruptcy"), the main essay argues that the Soviet government has betrayed socialism by submitting to German imperialism. It compares Brest-Litovsk to the collapse of 1905 and accuses the Bolsheviks of destroying democracy, disarming the nation, and turning the workers' state into "a German protectorate." A companion article, "??????? ?????? ? ??????" ("Workers' Power and the Soviets"), laments that the Soviets - once organs of popular self-rule - have become instruments of dictatorship. Another column, ????? ???????" ("With Both Eyes"), warns readers to see through Bolshevik propaganda: the promised peace is an illusion bringing only famine and occupation. The daily bulletin "?? ????" ("Of the Day") summarizes current events: German advances in Ukraine and the Baltic, arrests of Socialist-Revolutionaries in Petrograd, and the desperate flight of refugees from the front. A brief report notes food riots and executions for hoarding. Page 2 Reports from the Western Front describe chaos among retreating Russian troops and German troops occupying Pskov and Dvinsk. Telegrams include dispatches from Finland, where civil war rages between the Red Guards and White Finnish forces supported by Germany. An article "?????? ??? ???????i?" ("Letters from Finland") provides eyewitness commentary on atrocities committed by both sides but condemns German intervention as a betrayal of Finnish independence. The "????? ??????" ("Press Review") summarizes anti-Bolshevik pieces from other newspapers and appeals for unity among democratic forces. Page 3 Under the heading "??????", correspondents describe the atmosphere in Moscow - fear, requisitions, and suppression of meetings. The "???????i? ??????i?" ("Latest News") column lists new decrees on nationalization, troop desertions, and reports of hunger. Smaller notices mention Lithuania and Germany, the Petrograd Soviet, and strikes by railway workers. Page 4 The back page features "??????? ?????" ("Workers' Life"), a section of letters from factory committees complaining of shortages, forced labor, and Bolshevik censorship of trade-union bulletins. The article "???? '??????' - ?????????" ("The Tone of' Pravda"' - Lenin's Style") ridicules Bolshevik journalism for arrogance and hypocrisy. A somber column titled "???????" ("Chronicle") lists arrests, transport failures, and rumors of mutinies. The final note, "???? ????i???? ??????i?" ("The Fifth Act of the World Tragedy"), likens Russia's fate to the closing act of a Shakespearean drama, ending in ruin and silence. Throughout, the tone is indignant, mournful, and prophetic. No antisemitic language appears; the rhetoric is purely political and moral. The issue calls for democratic unity, not ethnic blame.