File No. 861.00/2914
The Consul at Irkutsk (Thomson) to the Secretary of State1
[Received October 8, 1918, 7.30 p.m.]
Situation around Samara which we have repeatedly reported in detail to you has become so bad that to-day the evacuation of the city officially began. This afternoon a conference of representative leaders—Russians and Czechs—decided to put every possible effort [Page 410] in a final defense of Samara in the hope that the promised help can arrive in time to save the situation. The fall of Samara does not mean only the loss of one city and the Volga but the opening up of the way to Turkestan, the forcing of the Russian Government and army practically out of European Russia and a reaction to Bolshevism and to Germany which will be of direct consequence to the Allies. The conference which I have already referred to has requested that official inquiry be made as to what extent Allied help can be expected here and when. Our position here as officers will become untenable if we do not receive definite information in detail immediately regarding these matters.
- Sent via the Consulate at Vladivostok (No. 187).↩