Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 26 - From Marx to Mao

525DRAFT WIRELESS MESSAGETO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE GERMAN REICH 184The Council of People’s Commissars lodges a protest overthe German Government’s movement of troops againstthe Russian Soviet Republic, which had declared the stateof war ended and had started to demobilise its army on allfronts. The Workers’ and Peasants’ Government of Russiacould not have expected such a step, especially since neitherof the parties to the armistice had, directly or indirectly,made any announcement either on February 10, or at anyother time, that the armistice was at an end, as both partiesto the treaty of December 2 (15), 1917 had undertakento do.The Council of People’s Commissars finds itself forced,in the situation that has arisen, to declare its readinessformally to conclude peace on the terms the German Governmentdemanded at Brest-Litovsk.At the same time, the Council of People’s Commissarsexpresses its readiness, if the German Government shouldformulate its precise peace terms, to reply within 12 hourswhether or not these terms are acceptable.Written on the nightof February 18, 1918Message publishedon February 19 (6),1918 in Pravda No. 30(evening edition)Published accordingto the manuscript