Leon Trotsky: Telegram to Lenin

[Telegram. (From the file: “Secret outgoing papers from 1. I to 17. IX. 1919, from No. 1 to No. 400, part I”, pages 19-20) The Trotsky Papers 1917-1922, edited and annotated by Jan M. Meijer, The Hague. 1964, Vol. 2., p. 261, 263]

No. 9. Secret. 25/1.1919

From: Balashov

To: Kremlin, Moscow – Chairman of the Council of Defence, Lenin.

We will, of course, strive to take Rostov and the Don. Of no less importance are Revel, Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. I am leaving for Arzamas to ascertain the main needs of the Eastern Front. The spirit of the Eighth and Ninth Armies is high, that of the Tenth low, but this is not of great importance. Kozhevnikov’s group¹ inspires a certain amount of apprehension: will it hold out against a serious assault?

It is very important to transport arms from the West² as quickly as possible, and this the new governments are hindering. The Belorussian People’s Commissar for Military Affairs, Myasnikov,³ has now made his appearance; it would be a good thing to summon him to Moscow.

As regards Wilson there is, as it seems, no cause for haste on our part. You do not state in what form he proposed negotiations; whether any time limit was set us or a meeting-place fixed. It would be better to send Chicherin and Rakovsky. They are better equipped for this; there will be no call for “polemics” on this occasion, since everything has been made clear already.

Signed: Trotsky