861.00/5282: Telegram
Representatives of the Northern Region of Russia to President Wilson
[Received at the White House 1:50 p.m.]
Representatives of the Northern Region of Russia, elected by the entire population of the region and representing the democracy of the region, having assembled here in Archangel at the conference of the Zemstvos and Municipalities have heard with misgiving of the recall of the British troops. In our country’s cause and in fulfillment of the destiny imposed upon us by our electors we appeal to you, the allied democracies and governments, as follows. You are aware that Russia, your honest ally in the struggle with Germany and Austria, is now in a state of terrible civil war. The horrors, official disorganization and savagery have reached their climax. The peaceful population are dying out, murdered and robbed. The so-called Bolsheviks having scorned the people’s will as expressed by the Constituent Assembly force the people by bayonet and machine gun to acknowledge them as rulers. They do not permit the free expression of the people’s will and have again introduced into Russia an autocratic regime with even greater terror and bloodshed. Supported by Germany with the intention to defeat us they have in every way deceived the Russian people. They promised peace and gave us Brest. They promised freedom instead of which each non-Bolshevist thought or word is followed by imprisonment and execution. Instead of the promised bread they gave ruin, unemployment and terrible famine. They promised power of the workers and now none but their partisans are allowed to vote. The sale of Russia to Germany and neutral bankers and agreement with the servants of the old regime complete the picture of Bolshevist tyranny. Institutions expressive of the people’s will, such as Municipalities and Zemstvos, even the Constituent Assembly, all were dispersed and scorned as they scorned universal suffrage. The Russian people could not bear this heavy yoke. From the very beginning of their rule insurrections in different parts of Russia took place against the Soviet Government. Siberia, the South, the Volga region, the North and West have closely surrounded central Russia where the Bolshevist rulers still hold their cruel sway over the peaceful population. Unarmed and scattered among the villages this population [Page 656] is unable to withstand the well-armed Bolshevist Army, even though this army is mobilized by force and terrorized into fighting and thousand[s] of the population go to their death for the happiness of their country, for the people’s freedom. Our native North which never has known either nobles or landlords was one [of] the first to rise. During the unequal armed struggle your troops arrived with words of encouragement and with promises of brotherly assistance. We believed you, we agreed unconditionally to the establishment of a front against Germany and her Allies the Bolshevists. The struggle be equal war [sic]. We believed that the work once begun would be carried on to the end. We had no reason to disbelieve the honorable words of our Allies. Our loyalty and the millions of lives given by Russia in your victorious cause were our guarantee. With your help we overcame distances far exceeding the areas of your countries.
With your help we created a Russian force which sustains most of the burden in this struggle. Unfortunately our numbers are few in this region and we who have sacrificed most of our healthy sons for your victory over Germany will be unable to withstand the forcibly mobilized Bolshevik forces who fight under threat of machine guns. The presence of your troops was a moral support to us allowing us to gain time during which the Bolsheviks steadily neared their downfall. We were mistaken. You are recalling those eight or ten thousand men, of whom half are volunteers, who came to our assistance in the name of humanity. Our army young and small in numbers has not yet regained its moral strength after five years of incredible trials and without support loses the strength of will to defend its homes. Old men, peasants, guerillas who took up arms to defend their villages in mortal anguish drop their rifles, hundreds of thousands of the population mostly peasants and workmen deceived in their hopes will upon the arrival here of the Bolsheviks become the victims of their cruel vengeance. And to think only that your volunteers as a reserve could save us from massacre, starvation and ruin. We the representatives of the democracy appeal to you with the request to think of the blow to our unhappy country which your action entails. We appeal to the feeling for human justice and believe in its triumph. Drawn into the present form of struggle we cannot stop half way. The victory of Bolshevists means death to us and we losing our country cannot find safety beyond the sea.
For the sake of the sanctity of human life you must leave your forces here so that in the last hour of our triumphs you may in humanity save those of us who are still alive. We do not wish for civil war or for its continuation. We wish to be free nation to [Page 657] work in peace and freedom. This is why we cannot abandon the fight. Disorganization in the centre and ever increasing revolt betoken the end. The dawn is near. And we look into the future with anguish uncertain of our ability to hold out to the end. This is the picture created by the departure of your troops. You plunge us into a multitude of calamities and give new encouragement to the Bolsheviks to mock at the unhappy population. We ask you to believe this cry of despair and pain for the people who elected us which is caused by your decision.
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Vice Presidents,
Secretaries,