air of approval of the United States is regarding Dutch East Indies as eventual compensation for cooperation in Russia. In view of these circumstances it may appear desirable to take some steps to check this particular form of enemy propaganda. KIRK File No. 861.00/2595 The Secretary of State to the Consul at Vladivostok (Caldwell) [Telegram] WASHINGTON, September 3, 1918, 3 p. m. Your 115, August 29, 4 p. m. This Government does not contemplate the dispatch of a high commissioner and has so informed the French Ambassador in reply to a suggestion that the representative of the United States assume the chairmanship of an inter-Allied board charged, among other duties, with that of safeguarding unity of action towards the Russian people, of deciding political disputes and of defining the attitude between the Allied Governments and local authorities. This Government deems cooperation in any political action unwise and believes it would be as unnecessary as it is undesirable at the present time. LANSING Special Mission of Ambassador Morris to Vladivostok: His Recommendation that an American Force be Sent to Omsk-Westward Movement of the Czecho-Slovaks from Vladivostok: Reverses on the Volga-Formation of a Government by Constituent Assembly Delegates at Samara: Conference at Ufa with Other Organizations File No. 861.00/2628 The Consul General at Irkutsk (Harris) to the Secretary of State1 [Telegram] IRKUTSK, September 2, 1918. [Received September 6, 10.20 a. m.] At the present moment Czechs are in power from Chelyabinsk and Ekaterinburg to Chita. They were also in power westward as far as Samara, Orenburg, and Kazan but since a week the Bolsheviks have succeeded in breaking the railway line at Ufa and the fate of these towns is not known. This proves that the Czechs are not strong enough to hold their grip on such a large territory and will be destroyed unless Allies hurry to their assistance. Russian army not progressing as it should and can not be depended on to materially assist Czechs. [HARRIS] 1 Sent via the Legation in China. File No. 861.00/2639 The Consul General at Irkutsk (Harris) to the Secretary of State 1 [Telegram] 1 IRKUTSK, September 4, 1918. [Received September 7, 3.40 p. m.] Unofficially reported that Samara is probably retaken by Bolsheviks. This means that Orenburg, Simbirsk, and Kazan are in danger. No communication with Ekaterinburg since yesterday, the worst is feared. Report August 25 from American Vice Consul Hadley, Samara [to Omsk?] says Bolsheviks are going strong all along the front west of the Volga from Penza to north of Kazan. This is due to the artillery which is under German direction. Unless Allies make strenuous efforts half the results of Czech victories will be lost. File No. 861.00/2651 [HARRIS] The French Ambassador (Jusserand) to the Secretary of State [Translation] WASHINGTON, September 4, 1918. MR. SECRETARY OF STATE: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your excellency's note on the subject of the coordination of the Allies' action in Siberia and northern Russia. I hastened to communicate it to my Government. If I correctly understood your excellency's idea in the passage of the note wherein it is stated that the Federal Government, which has ever since the Russian revolution maintained a strict impartiality among the parties, deems that any cooperation in a political action in Russia would be neither useful nor desirable, it seems as if your excellency may have thought that in speaking of political difficulties to be settled my communication of August 12 referred to preferences to be made between this or that government or local grouping. I wish to specify in this regard that the only difficulties which the French Government, anxious, like the Federal Government, to abstain from any interference in Russian internal affairs, had in view are those which the presence of the Allies may render inevitable with each one of the governmental elements with which we may have to deal on this or that point, and whose regulation it seems to us more appropriate to leave to a civil commission than to the commanders of the armed forces. Please accept [etc.] Sent via the Legation in China. JUSSERAND File No. 861.00/2643a The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Japan (Morris) [Telegram] WASHINGTON, September 4, 1918, 3 p. m. Please proceed at once to Vladivostok taking with you only such personnel as will insure efficiency and at the same time preserve a definitely informal character to your visit. The information you obtain and the judgments you reach are for the special information of the Department and your stay at Vladivostok will be unofficial and temporary. Upon arrival confer, in your discretion, with leading Russians and with Allied military and civilian representatives. Report in detail to the Department your views as to how the purpose of the United States to aid the Russian people, as expressed repeatedly in public statements by this Government, may best be furthered under the conditions which you will find to exist there. Your inquiries and reports should cover the economic, social, financial, political, and military situations. Please inform the Minister for Foreign Affairs at Tokyo frankly of these instructions and say that your reports, where they concern our two countries, will be discussed fully with Viscount Ishii here. Please make clear orally also to the Allied diplomatic representatives at Tokyo the informal, special, and temporary character of your visit. Spare no effort to present a complete review of the situation as you see it. Time is a vital element in view of the approach of severe weather. The Department regards intelligent assistance in Siberia, supplementary to the military support already afforded the CzechoSlovaks, as a matter of the first importance. The United States Government has been invited by the French Government to take the chairmanship of an inter-Allied civilian board at Vladivostok charged, among other things, with deciding political disputes and defining the attitude between the Allied Governments and local authorities. This has been answered by a refusal, with the statement that political activity there is undesirable to this Government. The American Consul at Vladivostok, in answer to an inquiry as to whether he should act temporarily with the Allied commissioners now there, has been told that we contemplate the dispatch of no high commissioner to Siberia. LANSING File No. 861.00/2629 The Consul at Vladivostok (Caldwell) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] VLADIVOSTOK, September 5, 1918, noon. 124. Opposition which Czechs feared would prevent their reaching comrades in Irkutsk before winter has suddenly collapsed under pressure from both sides, and railway should soon be open from here to near Perm. It is evident Czechs have been greatly assisted by Russian forces in western Siberia which appear to be under Siberian government and this should relieve difficult political situation in eastern Siberia. General Horvat suddenly left here night before last; is ready to confer with Czechs at Irkutsk. Military forces against Czechs and all other Allies in this district will also probably collapse within a very short time. This makes imperative immediate assistance in transportation, economic and money matters if we are [to] alleviate to any degree suffering which appears certain this winter. If it is intended to send here engines, cars which were ordered for Russian railways and some of which have been stopped en route, information should be sent at once to prevent building intended for their erection being so altered by army for military purposes as to prevent or delay erection. The addition of Allied military and associated organizations to an already overcrowded city have made the securing of any living or office accommodations so extremely difficult that I would request that I be notified as far in advance as possible of the arrival of any commission for which my assistance in securing quarters would be required. CALDWELL File No. 763.72/11342b The Secretary of State to the Chargé in China (MacMurray) [Telegram] WASHINGTON, September 5, 1918, 5 p. m. For immediate transmission to Irkutsk: Please cable Department the following: (1) The number of Russian military forces cooperating with the Czechs west of Irkutsk, including European Russia; (2) Their organization and to what extent it is developed; (3) Their supplies, what they are and how obtained; (4) Their morale; (5) Whether they are subject to proper military discipline; (7) Who are their leaders. Cable preliminary report at once. LANSING File No. 861.00/2627 The Ambassador in Japan (Morris) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] TOKYO, September 5, 1918, 6 p. m. [Received September 5, 5.15 p. m.] The General Staff to-day confirmed the report that connections had been established between the Czech forces operating east of Karymskaya and those which had been cut off in the Baikal region. This connection was effected by the capture of both Chita and Karymskaya and trains are now being operated from the Irkutsk to the Onon River. The bridge over the Onon is still unrepaired. Otherwise through service could be established to Manchouli, thus releasing all the Czech forces in Siberia. The General Staff still fear the activities of Austrians and Germans in the Amur region. In Central Siberia reliable reports indicate close cooperation between Czechs and the Central Siberian Army. The third Japanese division has been fully mobilized and it is expected to embark from Ujina for Manchouli Saturday afternoon. It is apparently the intention of the Japanese General Staff to begin operations at Karymskaya eastward to clear the Amur of the Austrian and German prisoners concentrated there. In the meantime the main part of the French forces and a portion of the British contingent have left the Ussuri front and have passed through Harbin on their way to Manchouli. The success of the expedition to relieve the Czechs seems now assured. MORRIS File No. 861.00/2614 The Secretary of State to the Chargé in the Netherlands (Kirk) [Telegram] WASHINGTON, September 5, 1918, 6 p. m. 2008. Your 4196, August 31, 1 p. m. Mail to the Department texts and translations of the secret archives and comment published in Dutch press. |