‘The government of the Bolsheviks, which has broken up the Constituent Assembly and which rests on the bayonets of hired red guards, will never elect to apply in Russia the very just principle of self-determination, because they know only too well that not only the republic of the Ukraine, but also the Don, the Caucasus, Siberia, and other regions do not regard them as their government, and that even the Russian people themselves will ultimately deny their right.’18 Trotsky was visibly embarrassed by this retort. But his answer to the Rada was the same as the answer he had given to Hoffmann.
