File No. 861.00/2441

The Consul at Vladivostok (Caldwell) to the Secretary of State

No. 250

Sir: Referring to my telegram (No. 15) June 27, 6 p.m., I have the honor to transmit herewith copy of document presented by the representatives of the Czecho-Slovak National Council to the Vladivostok Allied consuls, explaining the position of the Czecho-Slovak troops in Russia. The spirit shown in this document and by the actions of the Czecho-Slovak troops is worthy of the most sympathetic cooperation of the people of the United States.

I have [etc.]

John K. Caldwell
[Enclosure]

The Representatives of the Czechoslovak National Council to the Consuls of the Allied Powers

At the very beginning of the war, the Czecho-Slovaks understood that the Allies had right and justice on their side, that the object of Germany was to obtain hegemony over the whole world, while the Allies were fighting for right and liberty for all mankind. This truth showed us that our place is with the Allies, and our people having taken of its own free will this fixed determination and accepted this duty, not only has always remained faithful thereto but has been ready to do all that was possible to assist in attaining the common object without heeding any sacrifices which this might entail. Truly it is not selfishness which guides our actions; we want no more for ourselves than for others and we are fighting for others also to attain that which every civilized and politically developed nation has a full right to demand, namely, full political independence.

To-day there is no battle field on any front where Czecho-Slovak soldiers have not poured out their blood. The majority of our troops have been fighting in the ranks of the Russian Army and only when the Russian Army collapsed [Page 266] irremediably and after the peace of Brest Litovsk, did we clearly understand that the part we could play on the Russian front was over.

Refusing to recognize the peace of Brest Litovsk, so shameful for the Russian people, we, the only portion of the once glorious Russian Army remaining strong in morale and organized as a military force, determined to pass to France to continue the strife.

The central Bolshevik government allowed us to leave Russia upon conditions which were laid down in the treaty concluded between our army and the government of the People’s Commissioners on the 26th of March 1918.

Loyally and faithfully have we fulfilled all the conditions imposed upon us by this treaty: never have we become involved in the internal political affairs of Russia.

Of this the best proof is that, in spite of all the obstacles that the local Bolshevik authorities placed in our road, 13,000 of our soldiers have accomplished the journey all through Russia without disputes and have been living for the past two months in Vladivostok in correct and loyal relations with the Bolshevik authorities here. This condition of things continued as long as the Bolshevik government remained in the hands of Russians but changed completely the moment Germans and Magyars obtained the mastery in the central government of Siberia and, under the guise of internationalists and communists, were accepted by the Bolshevik government in the ranks of the Red forces and even in the administrative organs of which they form to-day the kernel.

Obeying the ultimatum from Berlin, Trotsky, the People’s Commissioner, gave the order for our troops to be disarmed, our officers outlawed and our soldiers placed as prisoners in internment camps under severe control. As a result of this order, our troops along the line between Irkutsk and Penza were attacked simultaneously by Germans and Magyars. By Trotsky’s order, the treaty made between us and the Bolsheviks guaranteeing to us free departure from Russia was treacherously violated and the central government of Siberia fell into the hands of the Germans.

Our troops, ambushed by Germans and Magyars, had in self-defense to accept the combat, the result of which is that to-day the whole of the Trans-Siberian line from Penza to Irkutsk is in our hands. In all the places along this line, the Bolshevik government has been overthrown by the Russian Mensheviks and Revolutionary Socialists of the right wing without any cooperation from our troops. The central government of Siberia (Bolshevik) is hastily organizing against the Czecho-Slovaks German and Magyar prisoners. The Russian people welcomes our troops and supports them with all its power.

Our troops at Vladivostok hold it to be their duty to go to the help of their brothers attacked in western Siberia but can not do this now, when all negotiations with the central government of Siberia have come to nothing, otherwise than with arms in their hands. Now that we are about to fight here in Siberia only against the Germans and Magyars, we would much desire that our expedition should be made with the consent of the local Bolshevik authorities though we are very doubtful of obtaining such consent. To-day, we address ourselves to the representatives of the Allied nations in Vladivostok in order to put before them the absolute necessity of the decision which we have taken and the reasons which have dictated it; to request their consent and to ask them, in case of necessity, to assure us of their help.

At the same time, we would call their attention to the following fact. To-day, the central government of Siberia is, without doubt, under a strong or even a dominant influence of Germans and Magyars and, immediately our troops [Page 267] will leave the soil of Siberia, the whole of Siberia will at once fall into the hands of the Germans. There is no need to insist upon the influence which this circumstance might have upon the future of the war and, for this reason, we believe it to be essential that the troops of the Allies when our troops are withdrawn, should occupy the railway line in Siberia with the object we all have in view of forming a new front against the Germans. By following this course, the welfare of Russia would best be served; for the Allies in delivering Russia, or at least Siberia, from civil war will give her the possibility of building up a new form of government in accordance with the true desire and will of the Russian people.

The only object, and the most ardent desire of the Czecho-Slovak troops, is to arrive as soon as may be possible upon the French front but, should the Allies, together and unanimously, esteem that the final result of the war would best be attained, under present circumstances, by the return of our troops to the Russian front to be created, then our army would obey the order of its supreme political leader, Professor Masaryk.

(Two signatures which are illegible.1)
  1. The Consul’s comment.