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

NOTES565133134135136in the Central Committee when the matter of the new Germanultimatum was discussed on February 23. It finally gave Lenina majority for an immediate peace treaty on Germany’s terms.That night, the All- Russia Central Executive Committee and theCouncil of People’s Commissars decided to accept the Germanpeace terms, and this was communicated to the German Government.The Left Communists continued their fight against the peacetreaty, but the position of Lenin and his supporters was gainingground among the Party masses. Most of the local governmentorganisations polled by the Council of People’s Commissars andthe All- Russia Central Executive Committee also favoured signingthe peace treaty. It was signed on March 3. The Seventh PartyCongress, which was urgently called, gave a majority for theLeninist policy on peace. The Extraordinary Fourth Congress ofSoviets, held from March 14 to March 16, ratified the Treaty ofBrest-Litovsk.The November revolution in Germany (1918) overthrew KaiserWilhelm II, and this allowed the Soviet Government to abrogatethe Treaty. p. 349The text which follows was written by J. V. Stalin. p. 349The decree was adopted by the Council of People’s Commissarson November 28 (December 11), 1917, following a counter- revolutionarydemonstration staged that day by the Cadets in Petrograd.They had intended to mount a counter- revolutionary revolt byopening the Constituent Assembly despite the decree of the Councilof People’s Commissars of November 26 (December 9), 1917,stating that it would be opened by a person specially authorisedto do so by the government and in the presence of at least halfits members. p. 351Delivered in the discussion of the question on the arrest of theCadets who were members of the All- Russia Commission for Electionsto the Constituent Assembly presented on behalf of the LeftSocialist- Revolutionary group at a meeting of the All- RussiaCentral Executive Committee on November 25 (December 8)They demanded an explanation of the grounds on which the personalimmunity of members of the Constituent Assembly, anorgan of supreme power, had been violated Following Lenin’sspeech and a discussion a majority of 150 to 98, with 3 abstentions,adopted Lenin’s resolution approving the government decreeordering the arrest of the leaders of the civil war against the revolution(see p. 351) p. 353The reference is to the decree “On the Opening of the ConstituentAssembly”, adopted by the Council of People’s Commissars onNovember 26 (December 9) 1917, and published in IzvestiaNo. 237 on November 27. The decree was issued in view of thefact that several Right- wing newspapers had carried the decision