Office of the Historian

861.00/3526: Telegram

The Minister in Sweden (Morris) to the Acting Secretary of State

Stockholm, December 24, 1918, 5 p.m.
[Received 9.06 p.m.]

3394. The British, Italian, French Ministers and myself have received the following letter dated Stockholm December 23 signed: “Maxim Litvinoff, Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federative Republic of Soviets.” Each of us is repeating this letter by cable to our respective governments with the request that we be instructed what, if any, reply shall be made to this communication which reads:

“The Sixth All Russian Congress of Soviets of November last reflecting the sincere desire of the Russian toiling masses to live in undisturbed peace and friendship with all the people of the world addressed to the governments of the Allied powers a formal offer of peace.1 This offer has been repeated by the Soviets Hassock [sic] wireless a few days ago.2

I am told to inform you that I have been authorized by the Soviet Government to enter into preliminary peace negotiations with representative[s] of the Allied countries should their Governments reciprocate the desire of the Russian Republic of a peaceful settlement of all the outstanding questions which may give rise to a continuation of hostilities between the countries concerned.

I shall be glad if you will kindly bring the above declaration to the notice of your Government and also of the President of the United States now in France.”

[Page 2]

Litvinoff who has been in Stockholm about three weeks was prior to that time Bolshevik representative in London. Repeated to Paris. Copy to London.

Morris
  1. In Foreign Relations, 1918, Supp. 1, vol. i, p. 484, is printed a note from the Soviet Foreign Commissariat based on the peace proposal of the Sixth All-Russian Congress of Nov. 6, 1918, above cited. The minutes of this congress may be found in Shestoi Vserossiiskii Chrezvychainyi S‘ezd Sovetov … Stenographicheski Otchet (Moscow, 1919). The peace proposal of the congress is also printed under date of Nov. 8 in Mezhdunarodnaya Politika Noveishego Vremeni v Dogovorakh, Notakh i Deklaratsiyakh (Moscow, 1926), pt. ii, p. 194.↩
  2. Not found in the Department files.↩