File No. 763.72110/658
As I have previously reported by cable, Mr. Tereshchenko has only recently
assumed this portfolio, having been transferred from the Ministry of
Finance. This is the first declaration of his policy and, in view of
the still unsettled condition of affairs, it is impossible for me to
forecast what effect this enunciation may have upon public
sentiment.
In this connection and of possible assistance in appraising the class
of Russian society which Mr. Tereshchenko represents, the Department may find of
interest his biographical statement which I had the honor recently
to transmit to the Department.1
[Enclosure—Translation]
Statement issued to the Russian press by the
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs (
Tereshchenko), May 6/19, 1917
You ask what is my program? You can read it in the declaration of
the new Provisional Government called to power by free Russia.
This program is short, but significant; namely, the
reestablishment as early as possible of universal peace: a peace
which aims neither at domination over other peoples, nor a
seizure of their national patrimony, nor a taking by force of
foreign territories, a peace without annexations or indemnities,
based on the principle of the rights of peoples to dispose of
themselves, a peace concluded in close and indissoluble union
with the Allied democracies. Free Russia, like every country
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which has made a great
renovating revolution, is moved by two motives profoundly
idealistic. The first is an aspiration to give a just peace to
the entire world, not to injure any nation, not to create after
the war a hatred, an estrangement which remains always when one
nation comes forth from the struggle enriched at the expense of
the other nations, when the latter are crushed and obliged to
accept humiliating conditions of peace. We have seen a sad
example of that in 1870. The wounds dealt to France by Germany
remained open for forty-five years. The hope of the people of
Alsace-Lorraine for a better future is not dead up to the
present and they have now a right to hope for the realization of
their ideal. Outrage and injustice are not forgotten, violence
creates hatred. Liberated Russia does not wish that either for
herself or for others.
The second motive is the consciousness of its ties with the
Allied democracies, consciousness of the duty which these ties
have imposed on her. Revolutionary Russia cannot and ought not
to break these ties sealed by blood; for her it is a question of
revolutionary honor which is so much the more precious to her
now. The great revolution which stirred the public ocean to its
greatest depths could not but influence the army, which was
unable to immediately accommodate itself to the suddenly changed
state of affairs. At the same time the democracy of the west
continued to accomplish with tenacity its warlike work which was
for us a powerful aid. The Allied armies of whom the great mass
is composed, as with us, of peasants and workmen, carried on
without stopping the struggle against the enemy, diverting his
strength and by their heroic effort are saving the Russian
revolution from an external defeat. The success of the Russian
revolution is also bought by their blood; it is with a sentiment
of profound satisfaction that I must state that in free Russia
in spite of a divergence of opinions of the democratic parties,
there has not been a single party, a single organization, as
there was in reactionary Russia, which would have made a
propaganda for a separate peace. I know, however, that there
exists a question capable of stirring the emotions of the
numerous groups of the Russian democracy, that is the question
of the treaties concluded by the old Russian régime. This
question stirs up the passions. But I believe nevertheless that
I ought to touch upon this question, expressing my entire and
true opinion, for the Russian people has the right to expect and
expects that the Provisional Government should only tell it the
truth. The Russian democracy is afraid that bound by these old
treaties it will be made to serve purposes of annexation which
are foreign to it. This disturbs its revolutionary confidence,
diminishes its spirit and enthusiasm. That is why demands for
the immediate publication of all the treaties concluded by the
old régime are being made. I think that in this case the
sentiments which bring forth these demands are highly
humanitarian, but I am convinced that the question is raised in
an entirely erroneous manner and that should be understood by
the Russian democracy.
It ought absolutely to understand that in the name of the safety
of the Russian revolution and the Allied democracies, the
immediate publication of the treaties is equivalent to a rupture
with the Allies and will result in the isolation of Russia. Such
an act will necessarily bring on a separate situation and for
Russia will be the beginning of a separate peace. But it is
exactly this which the Russian people repudiates with all its
force and not only by a feeling of honor. It understands that
the international war can only be ended by an international
peace. It is only this peace which could guarantee this justice,
this right of the people to dispose of themselves which is
ardently desired by liberated Russia. Other ways must be chosen,
for new Russia must look forward
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and not backward. Now the world at war is
confronted by some new facts; namely, the great Russian
revolution and the entry into the war of the great American
Republic, which hailed with enthusiasm the Russian revolution
and has united itself without hesitation to the Allies after the
disappearance of Russian absolutism. We must” start from these
facts and these facts cannot but be counted on by the Allied
democracies. Personal intercourse with representatives of the
western democracies, as for example, Mr. Thomas, makes near and clear to
all the aims which are now placed before Russia and before the
world as a result of the Russian revolution. In basing oneself
on this intercourse I notice the growth of a reciprocal
confidence with the Allies which will permit the Russian
Government to undertake preparatory measures for an agreement
with the Allies on the basis of the declaration of March
27/April 9, and I will apply every effort to hasten the process
of rapprochement of mutual understanding
and agreement. But to attain this aim with success free Russia
must prove that she is accomplishing faithfully her fundamental
engagement that she has taken towards the Allies, the engagement
of united struggle and mutual help.
She must inspire an unlimited confidence in herself and prove
that her idealism is not derived from weakness and that she
renounces annexations not because she cannot realize them but
because she does not desire them. It is precisely the reason why
in the name of the demands of the democracy, in the name of a
peace rapid and just, it is necessary to recreate the military
power of new Russia, to strengthen it by all the force of her
revolutionary enthusiasm and to prove really the existence of
this force. The Russian Army proved its heroism, its great
self-denial, even when it was sent to the field of battle by the
old regimé. At present being subjected only to a discipline
freely accepted it must understand and understands that it is
struggling for what it holds most dear, for the integrity and
the safety of its freed country aspiring to a new life. It
understands also that a defeat will annihilate this liberty and
this new life. And that ought to be the only aim to animate it.
It is ridiculous in fact to speak at the present moment of the
annexationist plans of the Allies as of a real menace to peace,
just when Russia, Belgium, France and Serbia are themselves
occupied in whole or in part by the enemy. Now it can only be a
question of an active defense with a view to defending the
national independence and liberty. As for the future the Allied
democracies in their evergrowing confidence must count with the
desire and tendency of all. It is not for nothing that Russian
liberty comes to the world and that its consequences and
influences are spreading in a large and powerful wave across the
civilized world. That is all that I can say for the moment in
regard to what will serve me as a basis for my activity and the
measures that I propose taking.
