The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1921-10-28
Trotzky Tells How Great Soviet
Military Force of 100000
Men Was Organized.
VEIL OF SECRECY IS RAISED
First Created as Several Armies, Each
Supported by Small War Council
Which Welded the Power Of
Life and Death.

lZtu Tic great SONlet uIlly VI hNo
million men which enabled the mill
tary directors Of communism to beat
Off or defeat all exterior and inte-
rior enemies during the past three
years, except drought and famine, is
lifted by Trotzky, according to the
Paris organ Of Communism, "L'Hu-
mantle" which newspaper prints an
interview with the military director
for Russia.
Trotzky gives credit for organiza-
ton to the old officers of the czarist
regime who turned reds. The soviet
army was created as several armies,
and each supported small war cOun.
ell. which welded the power of life
or death. The defeat of the white
army in the VOlga region In 1918 af.
the greater armies. Trotzky says:
1.-THE army was instituted In prin-
ciple by decree signed January Is,
1918, by Lenin and his war and naval
commissaries, DybenkO and POdovis.
ky. l was then negotiating the Brest-
Litovsk peace treaty with Germany as
minister Of foreign affairs, and it was
in March that I began my duties.
''There was nothing left of the old
army then; men had gone home. the
materials lay scattered everywhere,
abandoned where the trains happened
to stop. The local soviets. barely or.
ganized, telegraphed me we have ten
cannon. We have an avi-
alton park. Ten soldiers. +.
Five sailors. :. ; Everything was In
a muddle.
''My bureau was at Smolny. People
came from all corners of the country:
Give us shoes Don't you need a
colonelT they asked 1t was exact.
ly like the description made by Lis
sagaray Of the war ministry under
the French commune. 1t was not easy
to establish order. had no compe-
tence and thought first of accepting
the aid Of foreign missions who hoped
to bring us back into the European
war. Eventually, however, a comrade
Of the party, Bontch-Brouevitch
brought his brother, czarist general,
to me. / asked him to construct a
general staff after putting him. under
the watch Of two communists. He
filed his Office perfectly.
Raises cries Of Treason.
"With his help we began to clear
up the situation. But do you see the
effect7 A czarist general? People be-
gan to cry treason and refuse to obey
me. The central committee, fortu.
nately, understood me and aided me.
In order to establish discipline we In.
fllcted rigorous punishments.
"All sorts Of men offered themselves
to me: Brigands and part brigands.
One man, who came with little troop,
had his pocket full Of gold and watch
es. He was shot. There were also
spies and secret agents Army by.
giene had to be revolutiOnized.
Everywhere interesting problems
came to light. When a colony had
been established, local federal in
stinct mixed with It, with the result
that we would have an army of the
town of Tver or Of Vladimir. The
general disgust of militarism every
where hindered all cooperation.
FINALLY In May the essential part
Of the apparatus was put on Its feet
seven regions had been constructed
with their governmental subdivisions,
their cantons and vOlosts.
~ did not dare to begin with COM
pulsory military service; voluntary
service sufficed. We then had about
100000 men, mostly former soldiers,
and members Of the Jeunesses COM
munists. The Czecho-Slovakian af-
fair, however, came to our aid.
"You remember that adventure7
The Czecho-S lovakian divisions Of
the Austrian army during the war had
passed over into our ranks. We had
stationed them on the Volga. Stirred
up by Savinov and the revolutionary
socialists they rebelled and occupied
Kazan, Slmbrisk and Samara.
Directed Attack on simIrsk.
'Toukhatchevsky, a former czarist
officer, converted to Bolshevism when
he was a prisoner In Germany, direct
ed our first army against SImirsk;
Vatsetis, a Lett, who was our first
lead the fifth against
Kazan. They were poor armies, hav-
Ing from 5000 to 5000 bayonets each.
1--WE modified the communists first,
then six classes in the Volga govern
ment. The order was: Victory or
DEATH The peasants came in crowds
TO fight against the whites, but they
lacked confidence In their own forces.
81 was installed I'm train pro-
tected with sand bags and defended
by cannon and machine guns. An
other train followed carrying 300 cav
airy, an airplane, a garage car for
Ave automobiles. wireless, printing ma
chimes; in fact, little military city.
AT the beginning Savinkov, Kap-
pei and Fortunatov were so sure Of
success that they had already an
1t. They surrounded us with
] 900 men. We dug trenches and I'M