Derevenskaia Pravda

(The Village Pravda), a newspaper, an organ of the Moscow Military Organization of the RSDLP (Bolshevik), the Bolshevik faction of the Moscow soviet of soldiers’ deputies, and the peasant faction of Bolsheviks of the oblast bureau of the Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’, and Peasants’ Deputies. It began publishing in Moscow on Oct. 4 (17), 1917, three times a week, and after the ninth issue, of October 24 (November 6), became a daily. Its circulation was 20,000 (4,000 copies were sent to the front and to rural areas for free distribution).

The official editor of Derevenskaia pravda was V. S. Popov-Dubovskii, but most of the actual editorial work was done by Em. Iaroslavskii, especially in the later months. Others who worked on the newspaper included M. S. Ol ’minskii, I. I. Skvortsov-Stepanov, V. A. Karpinskii, Demian Bednyi, and A. S. Serafimovich. The newspaper explained the policies of the Bolshevik Party in popular terms and roused the masses to the struggle to secure Soviet power. After Mar. 14, 1918, Derevenskaia pravda, Soldatskaia pravda, and Derevenskaia bednota were merged to form the newspaper Bednota.