One afternoon, while a crowd of us were sitting at tea in the officers’ dug-out not far from the front-line trenches, a soldier appeared at the door and called the commanding Colonel out. When the Colonel returned he had a sheet of yellowish paper covered on both sides with neat Russian script. A scouting party outside the barbed-wire entanglement had suddenly come upon a group of Germans hiding in a hole in the sand. The Russians expected to be fired upon, but instead the Germans ran up a white flag and motioned them to come forward. “This,” said the Colonel, “is what they gave them.” It was a German proclamation, compiled with thorough knowledge of the psychology of the Russian soldier. The Colonel read it aloud, pausing between sentences to permit Peter to translate. “Russian soldiers!” [he began]. “The chief commander of the Western Army tells you that the army of the southwest front has broken our lines and achieved a great victory, and that we are defeated. This victory is called the beginning of a fight upon the outcome of which depends the freedom of the Russian people. Asking you not to be traitors, he tells you that you must defend the freedom, the fortune, and the honor of the Russian nation. “All this is not true. Our lines were not broken. They are very strong, and the divisions were forced to retreat with losses greater than ever before. “It is known that the Russian soldier is always ready to shed his blood, but it is also known that your commanders shed your blood for causes that are not worth it--for ideals that can never compensate for loss of life on the field of battle. “We presume that you have not forgotten the place of the people’s sacrifice! The order of the commander of the western front is interesting because it does not correspond with what is printed in your papers. “Have you forgotten what was said on the day of the Holy Easter? That represented the holy ideal of the Russian Revolution. It seems that peace, a general honorable peace, without war and indemnities, is the ideal of the Russian people and was the cause of the fall of Nicholas. This advance, these horrors, seem the only result of the sacrifice of those who sleep in the brothers’ sepulcher. “Do you hear the cry of the suffering workmen? Do you hear the cry of the blood of the soldiers? Does this appear to be your wish for peace? “Has the blood of the Revolution been spilt for nothing? The sacrifice of blood was little to what will now be spilt.