The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-05-07
By ANDRE MARTY (Paris).

Contrary to the widely-held view,
the "Black Sea Revolt" was not
merely an act of mutiny Of the
crew of the French war-ships, which
had been sent to the Black Sea in
1919. 1t was far more extensive IN
character, for it included the mutiny
of the French troops of occupation
in South Ukraine and in the Crimea
February to May 1919, the revolts
eff the crew of the French war-ships
in the Black Sea april to July
1870, the revolt of the French
sailors on the ships outside the Black
Sea and the ports (June to August
1919. AS the revolts in the Black
Sea however were the most import
ant ones, they gave the name to the
whole movement which was reused
by French intervention in Russia.
THE CAUSES.
The causes of the revolts are not
only to be looked for in the condi-
tions of living of the troops and the
crews OF. the ships. AS matter OF
fact, the soldiers and sailors in the
Black Sea and in Russia were very
badly fed, very badly housed anc
insufficiently clothed in cold CHM
ate, they rarely got furlough ano
rarely received letters; they were
therefore longing for demobiliza,
ton. Nevertheless their position was
more favorable than was that Of
their comrades in the trenches OF
the Vardar or in the submarines
The miserable material conditions
in which they found themselves
were only favorable preliminary con-
ditions for revolutionary action and
above all, they were of decisive sig.
nificance in respect of the spirit Of
their demands.
The two essential causes of the
revolts were the resumption of wal
and the moral influence of the DC
tober revolution.
Even in the eyes of the mos
naive soldiers, the armistice will
Bulgaria, with Turkey and soon aftel
that with the Central Powers haC
one quite simple and clear meaning
the termination of war, But behold
hardly had the transport of the 1861
division left Salonica and been dis
embarked in Odessa on Decembe,
I 18th, 1918, than the French troop
were already engaged in lively com
bats of the volunteers against Petl
jura's troops. The roar of guns am
the salvos We're heard quite dis
tinctly from the warships whicl
were riding at anchor in the road
and cleared for action.
New War Causes Discomfort.
War has then begun once more
The constant skirmishes which fol
lowed the landing of the troops sim
ply made on them the impression
that, although war had come to a
end in France, it was here ono
more resumed. These were the frs
seeds of discomfort which develope
more and more.
On the other hand, the soldier
and sailors wanted to know wit
whom they were actually at wal
They succeeded at last in gettin
into touch with Russian workers
They learnt from pamphlets an
newspapers published in Frenc
what kind of persons these Bolshe
Wiki are. At the same time they ar
more or less well informed abou
the action taken by the revolution
airy minority in France.
Soldiers returning from furloug
and above all the lately recruite
troops sent as reinforcements, too
with them "The Wave" issued b
Brison, a fighting newspaper" Q
the socialist minority which appear
ed weekly and every single numbe
of which often passed through hur
dreds of hands. The socialist inter
ventions in the chamber on Decem
Der goth and 30th, 1918 (Alexandr
Blanc, Caehin, Brison) and chief
that on March Oath, 1919 (Lafont
Cachin, Maveras) and in June, 1915
(Cachin, Lafont) reused powerful
response.
Almost all the soldiers Of tn
army in the Orient belonged to regi
ments which had been recalled fror
the French front because Of thei
"evil spirit" Thanks to the afflu
Of reserves. the sailors were ex