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Special pages :
Letter to Leon Trotsky, October 22, 1919
Source: Lenin Collected Works, Progress Publishers, 1975, Moscow, Volume 44, pages 299b-300b.
22/X. 1919
Comrade Trotsky,
I was somewhat taken aback by Zinovievâs demand yesterday for more regiments. Is it true about the Estonians?
Nevertheless, I passed it on to Sklyansky, and an order has been given to have them sent from Tula (again from Tula!).
It is not safe, however, to take any more from the reserves of the Southern Front. Would it not be better to search elsewhere?
It is devilishly important for us to finish with Yudenich (precisely to finishâto deal a final blow). If the offensive has begun, is it not possible to mobilise another 20,000 Petrograd workers and exert really mass pressure on Yudenich?
If there are 5â10 thousand good attacking troops (and you do have them), then surely a city like Petrograd can give about 30thousand to follow up, as an aid to them. Rykov says that a great deal of property has been âfoundâ in Petrograd; there is bread, and meat is on the way.
It is necessary to finish with Yudenich soon; then we shall turn everything against Denikin.
In my opinion it is dangerous to take units from the Southern Front now: they have started an offensive there, and it must be extended.
Greetings,
Lenin
P.S. I have just learned from Sklyansky that 2 regiments intended for Petrograd have reached Kotlas. We shall expedite their movement.[1]
New information: this is not true.
Comrade Trotsky,
In my opinion, Chicherin is right.[2] Has it been verified that the Estonians are fighting? Is there not deception here? Or is it not only White Estonians (officers) who have joined Yudenich, people who constitute a minority, and an insignificant one, among the Estonians?
We must think it over ten times, measure the cloth ten times, for there is a mass of information pointing to a desire for peace on the part of the Estonian peasantry.
Greetings,
Lenin
22/X.
- â This paragraph is crossed out in the manuscript.âEd.
- â In a letter to Lenin dated October 22, 1919, Chicherin objected to Trotskyâs proposal for starting a war against Estonia. He wrote that Yudenich would have to be pursued on Estonian territory only if he retreated there. Chicherin pointed out the need to do everything to avoid invading Estonia.