Chapter 76: Not Socialism Yet

From Pskov to Moscow, there are more than 700 kilometers of railway. Before the world war, it took ten or twelve hours to get there by train. But in the spring of 1919, Hersman stayed on this railway, which was only 700 kilometers long, for so long that he and Natalie Lesinskaya became friends.

Unlike the last time we traveled from Pskov to Moscow, this time the train was not direct, but a stop-and-go train. There's always something going wrong ahead, either the railway or the train.

"There is a counter-revolutionary conspiracy!" Natalie Lesinskaya would say to Hessmann indignantly when encountering such a situation. "Most of the engineers working on the railway were dissatisfied with the Soviet government and would cause sabotage whenever they had the opportunity."

That's because your trains are always overloaded! Hersman certainly knew why Russian railways were always in trouble. Before actively promoting the company's engineers to evacuate Russia, he had received reports that the Bolshevik People's Commissariat of Railways had issued orders requiring railway vehicles to exceed the prescribed limit, carry as much cargo as possible, and also carry out minimal maintenance and repairs.

This was due to war and mismanagement, which resulted in extensive loss and damage to locomotives, wagons and rails. Moreover, Russia's heavy industry also suffered huge losses during the civil war and was unable to repair the railways and replenish the losses of railway locomotives. So we can only quench our thirst and use overloading to barely maintain transportation.

This method of inducing poison to quench thirst does not only exist in the railway sector, but is a universal phenomenon. The Bolsheviks took over a collapsed country that had gone through several years of world war. The revolution broke out because it could not sustain the war, and ended up falling into an even more brutal civil war. The way the Bolsheviks won the civil war was to use every possible means to squeeze out all the remaining war potential within their jurisdiction. Even if the consequences of doing so will seriously damage Russia's future productivity.

Because they were afraid of war, they fell into a more brutal civil war. Because of the desire to liberate productivity, the result is that productivity levels have seriously regressed. This is Russia now!

Among the various methods of "stimulating potential" adopted by the Bolsheviks, the most harmful was probably the "surplus grain collection system" - farmers must hand over all harvests except rations and planting grains for free.

Such a policy was naturally not supported by farmers, and to implement it, machine gun grain collection teams were organized to force farmers to hand over grain. As a result, farmers naturally lost their enthusiasm for farming.

When the train stopped for various accidents, Hessmann would get off and walk with Natalie nearby, taking the opportunity to observe the Russian countryside. He also carried a Leica portable camera everywhere, sometimes taking a few pictures of Natalie, but most of the time he was photographing abandoned lands, ruined villages or starving and begging Russia. farmers.

When he arrived in Moscow, he was still filming before waiting to be received by Lenin. Empty shelves in stores, long lines of people lining up to buy rationed potatoes and brown bread, and factories that were closed down at some point were all his subjects.

These photos were not intended to be taken back to Germany and published in magazines, but were intended to be given to Comrade Lenin for viewing.

"Vladimir Ilyich, this is for you. I don't think you can see this in Pravda."

Lenin should have known for a long time that Hersman was filming the bad side of Soviet Russia, but he did not let anyone stop him - Hersman was not the kind of foreign spy who entered Soviet Russia under the guise of a reporter, he was a senior German intelligence officer personnel! Although the Bolsheviks did not know that he was the "general" of the Stasi, they still knew that he was the director of the German Military Intelligence Service.

Since you have invited such a person as a distinguished guest, are you still afraid that he will take "unflattering" photos?

However, Lenin did not expect that Hersman would show these photos to him when he was received in the Kremlin.

Those who attended the meeting, including Kollontai, Krestinsky (he is the People's Commissar of Finance and one of the five newly elected leaders) and Rakovsky were a little embarrassed. But Lenin was not displeased. Instead, he took the photos and looked at them carefully one by one.

"The situation is very bad. Although there is no such thing in "Pravda", I still know the difficulties." Lenin's tone sounded very serious, but he quickly added, "But this is a temporary difficulty, caused by the war. Once we defeat the White Guards, things will get better soon."

"Not soon, Vladimir Ilyich," Hessmann was sitting on a large, soft sofa and talking to Lenin. Lenin was on a sofa next to him. The scene was a bit like TV. Inside, national leaders met with foreign guests. "You know that Marxism is economics, and you are an expert in this field. The damage suffered by the Russian economy is quite fatal, and it is impossible to recover so quickly. If the war ends tomorrow, by 1929, Russia's industry and agriculture will Maybe it will return to 1913 levels.”

"Ludwig, I don't think it will be that long. You don't know the power of Bolshevism." Kollontai interjected, "This can greatly liberate productivity."

"Why? Positivity?" Hessman shrugged, "I think that's idealism! When material conditions can't keep up, can productivity be improved by relying on spirit? If this kind of thing can succeed, our two countries will still have What kind of cooperation is necessary?”

Lenin handed the photo to Nikolai Nikolayevich Krestinsky, the People's Commissar of Finance beside him, who also looked at it carefully.

Lenin looked at Hersman, nodded and said: "Ludwig, you are our friend, and friends should tell the truth. So I agree with you... Although there is a difference in the 10-year period, it will definitely take us a long time, unless..."

"There is no unless!" Hersman said, "The German revolution will not succeed, let alone the world revolution. In fact, you and I know very well that the future of the Hungarian revolution is not bright. For a long time in the future, Soviet Russia is the only one."

Most likely the only one! Judging from the current situation, it is good to have this only one.

The highly anticipated German revolution has completely failed-just a few days ago, the Bavarian Soviet Republic has been suppressed by the Free Corps without any effort! This shows that in Germany, the power of the reactionaries is overwhelming, and the German reactionaries are very smart! The skills are much higher than the leaders of the progressive forces...

But the "only one" thing cannot be admitted now, and the banner of the world revolution must be held high. Otherwise, how can we incite the foreign working class to make trouble with their governments? If they don't make trouble, how can the Soviet Union live in peace?

Hersman smiled at the silent Lenin and said, "Some things, just understand in your heart." He paused, "I took these photos and brought them to the Kremlin, just to make a point... The scene in the photo is not what a socialist country should have. The current Soviet Union is only ruled by a socialist party, but it is not socialism. It is moving towards socialism, and the way forward is currently war. But after the victory of the civil war, it will be a long-term construction! This is the way for Russia to achieve socialism, and we in Germany are the only one among all the more developed countries in the world that is truly willing to help the Soviet Union with construction. This is the basis for us to establish a strategic partnership!"

——

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