Telegram to Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko, February 28, 1918

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Antonov, Rostov-on-Don, wherever he may be

Our warmest greetings to all the dedicated fighters for socialism, and greetings to the revolutionary Cossacks. In reply to your telegram from Novocherkassk[1] we inform you: let a plenipotentiary congress of urban and rural Soviets of the whole Don Region work out its own draft land law, and submit it to the Council of People’s Commissars for endorsement. That will be better. I have nothing against the autonomy of the Don Region. The geographical boundaries of this autonomous region must be fixed by agreement with the population of the neighbouring zone and the autonomous republic of the Donets Basin. We cannot send you a delegate, everyone here has his hands full. We ask you to represent the Council of People’s Commissars, or to appoint someone at your discretion.

Lenin, Stalin

  1. The telegram from V. A. Antonov-Ovseyenko of February 26, 1918, stating the content of his talks with a delegation of the Little Army Council of the Don forces, which raised the question of autonomy for the Don region with the right of independently solving the land question.