Evening star., 1918-02-22
ssDefense to the Death

"Defense to the Death"
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LONDON. February 22.-'Defense "a
the death against Germany" is ordered
in the proclamation Of the Russian
commissioners, Reuters Petrograd cor
respondent telegraphs. The commits
sioners appeal to the soldiers to destroy
railways and provisions and compel the
boureeoisie to dig trenches under pen
atty of death.
The commissioners appeal to the
country also intimates- that the Ger
mans plan the capture Of Petrograd.
"The German generals" it says de
sire to establish their own order In
Petrograd and Kiey. The republic Is
in the gravest danger. the duty OF
tense to the death of the republic
against the masses of bourgeoisie and
imperialists of Germany.
Text of the Appeal.
In the appeal for reorganization OF a
defense of the revolution against Ter
many, the council of commissioners
1.-THE socialist fatherland is in dan
ger. In order to save the country In Its
exhaustion from further trials OF war
we resigned ourselves to making I'M
so sf oas far
but up to the present no news from
them has been received"
After stating that 1t is the duty Of
workmen and peasants to defend the
republic to the death, the appeal con-
tinues:
German militarism wishes to smoth-
er the working classes and the Ukra1-
nian masses, to give back the land to
the land owners, factories and work.
70 hn h
monarchy"
Several Points Urged.
Following are the points urged in
"First-An the forces in the country
in their entirety must place themselves
at the service of the defense of the
revolution.
"Second-An the council of work
mems and soldiers revolutionary or
ganizations must enter into the COM
pulsory defense of each position to the
last drop of their blood"
An Exchange telegraph dispatch from
Petrograd says the evacuation OF Fin
land has been ordered by the commits
sioners.
Joined by Ukrainians.
Z Austrian and German troops are ad-
vancing in the south simultaneously
with the Germans in the north and
Ukrainian troops are reported to have
Joined them against the bolsheviki, ac-
cording to a Petrograd dispatch to the
Morning Post. The Polish legions of
the Russian army have offered an
armistice in the prevailing civil war on
condition of free passage in any direc-
ton, and are now trying to reach War
saw.
Russ Navy Disorganized.
n;,or.,n;,ation in fhe Russian navy
has reached an extreme point and there
is no likelihood of any order being
obeyed, according to an Exchange tele-
graph dispatch from Petrograd. The
naval authorities at Reval report that
in order to save the Russian navy from
the hands of the Germans 1t VIII be
necessary to remove the ships at Reval
and Helsingfors to Kronstadt. This,
however,>is believed to be impossible
owing to their disuse. Up to this time
only submarines have been removed
from these ports. The question has
Helsingfors. It is also suggested to
intern them in Finland as a free and
neutral state, acknowledgment of Fin
nish neutrality having been made by
the bolsheviki.
The bolsheviki are willing to withdraw
to stop the supply of munitions to the
The marine detachments4
at Abo, Finland. and the Aland Islands
demand their immediate discharge. the
crews at Helsingfors oppose any active
defense.
Germans Not Opposed.
Tho German advance into Russia is
not the march Of . conQueror, for nowhere
ssxtsus opposittnn. Ths compaFatiEaly
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