declared between Great Britain and the Government of Central Russia, and the Bolsheviks used as an argument for recruiting the fact that their enemies were attempting to dictate the form of government which should be adopted by the Russian people.
IV.
The Red Army and the Czecho-Slovak
Forces.
A comparison between the Red Army and the Czecho-Slovak forces should reveal factors which may go a long way towards explaining some of the sharp contrasts in the two movements in Russia that stand at the back of these bodies.
Among the motives which induced men to join the Red Army of the Bolsheviks these may be noted. There was a feeling in the minds of many people that the ideals which the Revolution stood for were in some danger of being crushed. They felt impulsively that if considerable numbers joined the Army of the Revolution a greater security would result, and thus the delicate task of embodying the national desire and the national consciousness in a suitable instrument of government would be facilitated. They set about forming this army with the forgetfulness of self so characteristic of the Russian, and often considered that good intentions might be a substitute for the colder task of political and military organisation. While this desire for security influenced many men in the earlier days of the Bolshevik movement, the hard conditions of life in Russia and increasing poverty led many family men with dependents to seek employment in the Red Guard, because the wages were good and the conditions as to food and clothing were excellent. For the latter reasons many joined towards the end of the winter of 1917–18 who saw no other alternative but starvation. This probably was the reason why many Austro-German prisoners of war found themselves in the ranks of the Red Army. But another motive in this case must also be considered. The Bolshevik programme stood for internationalism, and while few prisoners of war that I spoke to were able to explain exactly what this meant, yet a very strong impression was gathered that in the minds of these men internationalism meant some kind of international brotherhood.
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