Page:Emile Vandervelde - Three Aspects of the Russian Revolution - tr. Jean Elmslie Henderson Findlay (1918).djvu/137

 either the Russians or the Germans—the latter apparently acting on the orders of their officers—leaving their trenches to come to the trenches of the enemy, and even to their billets, and mixing with the enemy troops and really fraternizing with them. We were told that in certain sectors of the northern front the Germans went so far as to organize behind their first line of trenches concerts with their military bands, to which the Russian soldiers were invited and eventually came in large numbers, ready to return the compliment the next day.

There is no doubt that incidentally these reciprocal visits have allowed the Germans and the Austrians to glean valuable information about the positions and numbers of the Russian troops. They did not limit themselves to that, however; all the information that we have received on the subject showed that the Austrians and the Germans, especially the latter, had organized the distribution of alcohol to the Russians on a large scale. Sometimes the Austro-German soldiers would exchange it individually for cigarettes or rations