ABSTRACT
In April 1914 political demonstrations took place throughout Russia. A protest strike was held in St Petersburg in response to the alleged food 'poisoning' of female factory workers. Sympathy strikes occurred in other cities, and Malinovsky, still in office, indulged in a good deal of oratory on 'poisoning'. On June 28, 1914, the assassination at Sarajevo of the Austrian heir to the throne plunged the world into crisis. On July 21st, the Petersburg Bolshevik committee distributed a leaflet requesting cessation of the strikes. It called for the strengthening of party organizations, emphasizing the need to mobilize the workers of the provinces, the peasants, and the soldiers, and to prepare for later demonstrations. On this day, 150,000 persons were on strike; Pravda was suppressed. While war clouds were gathering and the socialists of all countries were preoccupied with the war danger, Lenin did not write a single line on this crisis.
