File No. 861.00/7412
[Copies of the following paraphrase of a telegram and of the draft
proclamation were handed by the Ambassador to the Acting Secretary
of State on July 27, 1918:]
The British Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs (Balfour) to the Ambassador at
Washington
I am to-day telegraphing to you the draft of a proclamation which
has been prepared by a committee of experts having an intimate
acquaintance with Russia. The committee believe that the
proposed proclamation is an effective and suitable method of
explaining the policy of the Allies to the Russian people
themselves.
[Page 306]
You are authorized to communicate the draft to the Secretary of
State and to ask his views upon it.1
draft proclamation
Peoples of Russia! Your Allies have not forgotten you. We
remember all the services which you heroically rendered us in
the early years of the war, and we are coming to your help. We
are coming as friends to save you from dismemberment and
disaster at the hands of Germany who is trying to enslave your
people and to use the great resources of your country for their
own ends.
But we wish solemnly to assure you that while our troops are
entering Russia to assist you in your struggle against Germany,
we shall not retain one foot of your territory. We deplore the
civil war that divides you, and internal dissensions that
facilitate German plans of conquest. The destinies of Russia are
in the hands of the Russian people. It is for them and for them
alone to decide their form of government and to find a solution
for their social problems.
Peoples of Russia! Your very existence as an independent nation
is at stake; the liberties you have won in revolution are
threatened with extinction by the iron hand of Germany. Rally
round the banner of freedom and independence that we, who are
still your Allies, are raising in your midst, and secure the
triumphs of those two great principles without which there can
be no lasting peace or real liberty for the world.
Peoples of Russia! We want not only to stem the German
penetration, but to bring economic relief to you and your
country. Supplies accompany the military expedition, and there
are more to follow. It is our wish to aid the development of the
industrial and national resources of your country, not to
exploit them for ourselves, to restore the exchange of goods, to
stimulate agriculture, to reestablish Russia’s commercial
integrity and to enable you to take your rightful place amongst
the free nations of the world. All your chief allies are
represented in the force that is coming to help you. As the
Allies are united in defence of their ideals of liberty on the
battle fronts of the West, so that [they] are united in their
desire to deliver Russia from the German yoke.
Peoples of Russia! Unite with us in defence of your liberties.
Our one desire is to see Russia strong and free, and then to
retire and watch the Russian people work out its destinies in
accordance with the free expression of the wishes of the
people.
