Episode 22: The Russian Civil War - Blood Calls for Blood
It was just another ordinary day.
"Maria, put this stamp on and send it to the railway post office. Once you're done, come back here. I have a statement to draft for the Baku Soviet, so don't stop by anywhere else."
"Yes, understood, Comrade Siyoung."
Until Trotsky burst into my office.
"Comrade Siyoung! Come downstairs quickly! Comrade Lenin has been shot! He's in critical condition. The car's waiting, so stop what you're doing and get in!"
"What?!"
August 30, 1918.
Vladimir Lenin was shot three times and lay critically ill.
***
"The culprit is a woman named Fanny Kaplan. She was arrested at the scene and was a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party—in other words, a fucking reactionary."
Trotsky explained this in the car on the way to the hospital where Lenin was admitted.
"The Cheka has already launched an immediate investigation, so we'll soon uncover who's behind this assassination attempt."
"What if it was an individual act?"
"We still have to investigate, Comrade Siyoung. If we don't investigate the attempt on the life of Vladimir Lenin, the supreme leader of Soviet Russia, who would we investigate?"
The car sped down Moscow Central Avenue, heading south.
"Comrade Uritsky, the head of the Petrograd Cheka, was assassinated just recently. The circumstances strongly suggest that the same forces are behind it. Even if there's no direct sponsor, this incident underscores the need to launch a campaign against the reactionaries."
Trotsky spoke with gritted teeth.
During the early days of the Russian Revolution, the Russian Empire's secret police, the Okhrana, had proven remarkably adept at apprehending revolutionaries. Alexander Ulyanov, Lenin's older brother, was one of their victims.
After seizing power, the Bolsheviks established a similar organization to combat counter-revolutionaries.
The State Special Commission to Combat Counter-Revolutionary Activities, or Cheka for short.
This was the organization that would later become the notorious NKVD and KGB.
"Comrade Lenin, and I, initially believed we should launch a revolution with broad public support through a People's Front composed of all leftist factions. But after seeing them turn against the revolution, we realized they were just petty bourgeois opposing the revolution. They must be eliminated."
Trotsky spoke with a resolute expression, vowing to crush all who opposed us.
This man... he seems to be growing increasingly radicalized.
Fortunately, when we arrived at the hospital, Lenin had regained consciousness.
Lenin greeted us with a smile.
"I'm sorry for showing you such a sorry sight. The surgery seems to have gone well. The doctors said that if we had been even a little later, things could have been disastrous."
"Sorry sight? We're just grateful you're alive, Comrade Lenin. Please recover quickly."
"Thank you, Comrade Lee. A wound like this should be shaken off quickly..."
Suddenly, Lenin began coughing violently, and the medical staff rushed to support him.
"Both of you should go now. You're both busy, and I feel bad for wasting your time. Don't worry about me and get back to work."
Trotsky immediately saluted and turned to leave, but I found it difficult to move.
When would I ever get another chance to speak with Lenin alone?
And if I ever got the opportunity, there was something I'd been meaning to ask him for a while.
"Comrade Lee, what's wrong? The People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs shouldn't have time to be so relaxed."
Lenin beat me to the punch while I was stammering. After a moment of hesitation, I sighed and decided to speak.
"Um... Comrade Lenin. There's something I wanted to ask you."
"Go on."
"Comrade Lenin... shouldn't you be starting to think about a successor?"
"...."
Lenin fell silent, making my initial encouragement to speak seem rather awkward. Trying to ease the suddenly tense atmosphere, I began to explain circuitously.
"But... there's no guarantee that assassinations like today's won't happen again. To prevent the country from falling into chaos afterward..."
"I know exactly what you're saying, Comrade Lee. In fact, I understand this even better than you do. I had the same thought when I first regained consciousness."
Lenin averted his gaze, staring into the distance.
"I wonder... if the revolution can succeed even if I die like this. Where will the future of our Soviet Russia lead...? That's what worries me most right now."
"Then... shouldn't you establish a succession plan... starting now...?"
As far as I remember, Lenin died around 1923 or 1924.
The time bomb was already ticking, and there were at most seven years left until it exploded.
After that, the Soviet Union lost its previous freedom and transformed into a complete dictatorship.
"Comrade Lee, what are your thoughts on this matter?"
"Huh? Me?"
"Yes, you. You've served as an advisor to Comrade Trotsky in Petrograd and worked alongside Comrade Stalin on the Minority Affairs Committee. Having built close relationships with both men, I'd like to hear your opinion."
I was a bit surprised. Did Lenin still think I was a neutral figure?
Thinking about it, it made sense. I had joined the Bolshevik Party through Trotsky, but I had also worked closely with Stalin for quite some time.
"In my... limited understanding, Comrade Trotsky seems somewhat more suitable to be the successor."
"Why do you say that?"
"Comrade Stalin is weak in Marxist theory and has a high likelihood of becoming a personal dictator later on. On the other hand, Comrade Trotsky is faithful to the theory and has relatively little authoritarian tendencies."
"What about the others? What do you think of Kamenev, Zinoviev, and Bukharin?"
I answered with growing confidence:
"I don't know Kamenev and Zinoviev well, but I believe they are unsuitable successors because they opposed armed revolution and clashed with Comrade Lenin. As for Comrade Bukharin, he's an excessive idealist who opposed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk."
Just as I thought I had spoken well, Lenin chuckled and began to speak.
"Is that so? But Comrade Lee, your argument has quite a few flaws."
"R-really?"
Wasn't he supposed to agree with me?
(T/N digga for what?)
Despite his frail health, Lenin spoke freely to the flustered me.
"If we're being strict, Comrade Trotsky also initially opposed the treaty and was at odds with me during the 1905 Revolution. Comrade Stalin, too, supported peace with Germany and the armed revolution. Comrade Lee, I'm not completely opposed to your opinion, but it's far from objective."
"Then... Comrade Lenin, who do you believe should be the successor?"
Lenin answered with a mischievous grin.
"It's simple," he said. "I believe a collective leadership system is the answer."
Collective... leadership... system?
I stared at him with a mixture of suspicion and confusion.
"If a collective leadership system were implemented, the Politburo members could check each other's power, allowing for the development of better policies. With mutual checks and balances, the risk of it evolving into a dictatorship would also be reduced. Wouldn't that be a sufficient solution to the successor problem?"
Sounds good. Sounds very good.
But I knew it wouldn't work.
I knew that after Lenin's death, the Soviet Union had attempted a collective leadership system.
Yet Trotsky had been ostracized by his fellow Politburo members, exiled, and ultimately murdered with an ice axe to the skull.
"I agree that Comrade Stalin has the seeds of a dictator within him. He merely conceals his true nature in front of others. In the long term, he is undoubtedly someone we must eliminate."
"Then shouldn't Comrade Lenin eliminate him now, while he's still mentally sound?"
"That's true, but... Comrade Stalin is still a necessary talent for Soviet Russia. His military and administrative talents are indispensable in these times when every individual counts. We can't risk throwing Russia into danger over an uncertain future."
In the end, Lenin was simply overthinking things.
By repeatedly postponing Stalin's removal, did he ultimately pave the way for the Soviet Union to be conquered by Stalin?
It wasn't that I couldn't understand Lenin's feelings, but as someone who knew the certain future, I had to stop him.
"Comrade Lenin, what do you think about not appointing Comrade Stalin to a key position? Comrade Stalin..."
"Comrade Lenin! Are you alright?!"
At that moment, the hospital door creaked open, and the last person I wanted to see walked in.
"Ah, Comrade Siyeong. You were here?"
Leather-soled boots. Mustache. It was Joseph Stalin.
In the end, the conversation between Lenin and Stalin that day ended awkwardly.
Why did Stalin have to walk in at that exact moment? Had heaven forsaken me? Well, I'm a Red, so I suppose I deserved it.
Stalin swore before Lenin that he would track down and crush whoever was behind this assassination attempt.
And his oath was gradually becoming reality.
"The State Special Commission's investigation has revealed that British diplomat Robert Lockhart is behind both the assassination attempts on Comrade Uritsky and Comrade Lenin."
"Preposterous! This is a frame-up! Are you trying to drag me into your propaganda scheme? What motive could I possibly have to plot Lenin's assassination?"
At the time, Britain was employing what we would now call a "carrot and stick" approach.
Britain had dispatched troops to aid the White Army while simultaneously seeking to improve relations with the Soviet Union.
The revelation that a British diplomat involved in these diplomatic efforts was implicated in a plot to assassinate Lenin sent shockwaves through the political establishments in both Moscow and London.
"I can't endure this any longer! We must formally declare war on the Allied Powers! Those hypocrites who preach friendship while plotting to assassinate our supreme leader are reactionary scum unworthy of negotiation!"
"The charges Bolshevik Russia has leveled against our diplomat are nothing but a baseless smear! Can the Liberal Party endure this humiliation? I demand we immediately declare war on those Russian Reds!"
Naturally, such radical proposals were not adopted.
"Are you out of your mind? Russia has just concluded a devastating war with Germany and is now fighting to suppress rebellions in Siberia! Yet you propose war with the Allied Powers? Aren't you the one trying to undermine the Soviet Government?"
"Member Winston Churchill! Must we remind you of Gallipoli?"
But of course, the blame inevitably shifted.
"Comrade Siyeong Lee! As the Foreign Affairs Commissioner, you've advocated for closer ties with the Western powers more than anyone. Shouldn't you bear some responsibility for the assassination attempt by a British diplomat?"
The blame naturally landed on me.
"Come to think of it, weren't you the one who argued for leniency toward the Romanovs and other reactionary positions? You can't seem to break that habit!"
"Appointing him as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs is like entrusting a chicken coop to a fox! I demand his immediate dismissal!"
"What responsibility does Comrade Siyeong Lee bear in this matter? And why are you remaining silent about the other Members of Parliament who advocated for lenient treatment of the Romanovs? Demanding his dismissal on such absurd grounds is preposterous!"
Trotsky, and even Stalin, came to my defense, but the Bolshevik Members of Parliament, now focused on the suspected assassination of a British diplomat, demanded my resignation.
Honestly, I wanted to quit, but I knew that resigning under these disgraceful circumstances would have a detrimental effect on my future career.
"I advocated for improved relations with the Allied Powers out of genuine concern for Soviet Russia! If I had known they were plotting to assassinate Comrade Lenin, I would have been the first to expel them from this land!"
I had no choice but to endure.
"My call for lenient treatment of the Romanovs stemmed solely from the fact that they were also citizens of Soviet Russia, and a necessary step to demonstrate our new, free, and democratic government both domestically and internationally! Of course, Nicholas and his wife deserved the severe judgment of history and the people, but it was equally imperative that they receive a legal verdict!"
In the end, the Members of Parliament who had always glared at me and my supposed sponsor, Trotsky, reluctantly halted their attacks on me. Instead, their hostility was redirected elsewhere.
"Death to the reactionaries who tried to assassinate Comrade Lenin! Drive out the Ufa trash!"
The Cheka's "Red Terror" had officially begun.
The Bolshevik government had already lost much of the public's support, especially among farmers, due to their "War Communism" policies implemented during the Red-White Civil War.
However, the Cheka, convinced that the assassination attempt on Lenin was orchestrated by Western powers and internal enemies, soon declared anyone opposing the Bolshevik regime an "enemy of the people" and launched a campaign to "eliminate" them using every possible method.
The White Army wasn't idle either. Having suffered significant losses, they began brutally suppressing rebellions within their own territories.
The era of terror, where violence begot more violence, had truly begun.