The
question of peace was first put before the world in a shape which made
it impossible to side-track it any longer by machinations behind the
scenes. On the 22nd of November a truce was signed to discontinue
military activities on the entire front from the Baltic to the Black
Sea. Once more we requested our Allies to join us and to conduct
together with us the peace negotiations. There was no reply, though this
time the Allies did not again attempt to frighten us by threats. The
peace negotiations were started December 9th, a month and a half after
the peace decree was adopted. The accusations of the purchased press and
of the social-traitor press that we had made no attempt to agree with
our Allies on a common policy was therefore entirely false. For a month
and a half we kept our Allies informed about every step we made and
always called upon them to become a party to the peace negotiations. Our
conscience is clear before the peoples of France, Italy and Great
Britain.... We did all in our power to get all the belligerents to join
the peace negotiations. If we were compelled to start separate peace
negotiations, it was not because of any fault of ours, but because of
the Western imperialists, as well as those of the Russian parties, which
continued predicting the approaching destruction of the workmen's and
peasants' government of Russia and who persuaded the Allies not to pay
serious attention to our peace initiative.
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