Trotsky Sends ACable To Stalin In 1921
Typed 1921 telegram from Trotsky to Stalin as a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Soviet Republic, signed and inscribed by Stalin. Trotsky sent Stalin his thoughts about creating a special guard battalion which would serve as a "great example of discipline for the Red Army." The members, he said, would have to be Communists. He goes on to say that the members of the Revolutionary Military Council should make speeches to the military battalions and provide Soviet propaganda. At this stage in Russian history, Stalin and Trotsky had already become bitter rivals for power. Stalin scribbles defiantlyacross the top of the document, in blue pencil, "I do not mind. Stalin, December 7." The stamp of Stalin's Secretariat is at the bottom, indicating when the telegram was received - December 7, 1921.
