Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1919, Russia
Paris Peace Conference 861 E.00/180
The Secretariat-General of the Paris Peace Conference to the Secretariat of the Commission to Negotiate Peace
The Secretariat-General of the Peace Conference has the honor to transmit herewith to the Secretariat of the Delegation of the United States of America a copy of a letter addressed by the President of the Esthonian Delegation to the President of the Peace Conference relative to the negotiations of the Baltic States with the Soviet Republic.
[Page 715]The President pro tem. of the Esthonian Delegation at Paris (Pusta) to the President of the Paris Peace Conference (Clemenceau)
Mr. President: Following the letter sent to you on September 4, 1919,54 by the Esthonian Delegation, I have the honor to communicate to Your Excellency the following declaration concerning the opening of peace negotiations proposed to the Esthonian Republic by the Russian Federative Republic of Soviets and to inform you of the point of view of the Esthonian Government, and of the state of those negotiations at the present date.
The Government of the Esthonian Republic, having agreed to enter into negotiations with the Government of the Russian Federative Republic of Soviets concerning a suspension of hostilities, informed the Constituent Assembly of Esthonia of the proposal made by the latter. The Assembly unanimously adopted the decision taken by the Government and the date for the opening of the negotiations was fixed at September 16. Now, the Esthonian Government stipulated as a first condition to the Russian Bolshevists that they offer at the same time a suspension of hostilities to the Governments of Latvia, Lithuania and Finland.
That demand is the logical consequence of the policy followed by Esthonia and of the common struggle which it has carried on heretofore with its neighbors against Bolshevism.
The Conference of the Baltic States met at Reval on September 14 and it appears from information which has reached us that the Government of the Republic of Soviets sent a proposal of peace on September 11 to the Governments of Finland, Latvia and Lithuania.
The Assembly of the Prime Ministers and of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Baltic States adopted the following resolutions in the meetings of September 14 and 15:
- 1.
- Before beginning the actual discussion of the principles of peace it is necessary to lay down as a condition sine qua non that all the States who have received the proposal of peace from the Bolshevists and who have accepted it or will accept it, shall negotiate with the Government of the Soviets in common and not separately;
- 2.
- If this condition, which the Esthonian Government will communicate to the Bolshevists, is not accepted by the latter, the negotiations shall be stopped; in case of acceptance, the States acting together shall designate the place and the time of the negotiations within 15 days;
- 3.
- The special conditions which each State will have to make to the Bolshevists before entering into the discussion of principles shall be settled in preliminary meetings;
- 4.
- The States which will take part in the peace negotiations shall send their representatives within 15 days to the Conference at Tartu (Dorpat);
- 5.
- The Governments of the Entente must be notified of all steps concerning the peace negotiations until the convocation of the Tartu Conference by each Baltic Government separately and after the Conference meets by the organs created by it;
- 6.
- It is impossible, of course, to conclude with Russia a peace within the usual meaning of the word. Under present conditions, it is possible only to speak of a suspension of hostilities.
The principles of this suspension of hostilities, as stated above, were unanimously adopted by the representatives of the Baltic States at the Conference of Reval and the Esthonian Delegation was charged to communicate them to the representatives of the Government of the Soviets at Pskov. All the news spread by certain newspapers announcing that Esthonia intended to conclude a separate peace with the Bolshevists is therefore without foundation.
Esthonia took the initiative in the negotiations with the Government of the Soviets because the peace proposals made by that Government were first sent to her and because the Esthonian Army represents the largest fighting force of the Baltic States.
The Esthonian Government has several times proclaimed that Esthonia had gone into war against the Government of the Soviets because the latter had shown annexionist tendencies and had ordered an offensive against Esthonia. The Esthonians have made a defensive war; their purpose has been to repel the enemy, and by assuring the tranquillity of their frontiers, to re-establish order in the country.
That aim has been reached thanks to the efforts of the Esthonian Army. The Bolshevists have been completely expelled beyond the frontiers of the country with considerable losses, a democratic order has been established and a Constituent Assembly has been called to give a definitive form to the law of the country.
The Esthonian Army, after having fought continuously against a superior enemy for ten months, has finally been overcome by fatigue in spite of its energy. To that fatigue has been added a profound disappointment caused by the delay of the Peace Conference in taking up the question of Esthonia’s independence.
It is for that reason that last spring the Supreme Commander of the Esthonian forces had already created an army composed principally of Russian prisoners captured in the course of our operations against the Bolshevist Army. In placing that army between the [Page 717] Esthonian Army and the Bolshevists, on the territories conquered by the Esthonians in the governments of Petrograd and Pskov and which are not claimed by them, he was trying to create a kind of a buffer state to give to the tired Esthonian Army a little rest which was so necessary to it.
This strategic move made it possible for him to take from the Narva front a considerable force to repulse the attacks of the Landeswehr of the Baltic Barons and of the German divisions of Von der Goltz.
That operation began by the Esthonian Army with a splendid dash could not be carried through completely, that is to say to the complete expulsion of the German forces from Latvia and Lithuania, because of the intervention of the representatives of the Allied and Associated Powers who imposed an armistice upon the Esthonians and the Letts. The German troops have remained in Latvia and continue to recruit new forces in Germany.
To the Esthonian Government it was evident that those German forces estimated lately at 100,000 men represented for Esthonia a serious danger and a growing menace. The Esthonian Government could not have any doubt as to the intentions of the Landeswehr and of the army of Von der Goltz after the very clear way in which they manifested themselves in the month of July last.
Moreover, signs of demoralization and a beginning of dislocation were being felt in the Russian Army of the Northwest in face of the violent attacks of the Bolshevist troops. Differences had arisen between the commanders of that army, Yudenich and Balakhovich, following which they had been obliged to abandon the city of Pskov conquered by the Esthonian Army. The fate of the Russian detachments on the Narva front seemed finally settled. Those detachments consisted altogether of 15,000 men but amounted in reality to only 5,000 armed men with 4,000 officers from various headquarters. A new clash between the Esthonians and the armies of the Soviets seemed inevitable, and, as the Bolshevists had concentrated considerable forces (a force of 75,000 men was mentioned) the Esthonians were to expect new and hard struggles.
To meet those two dangers, the menace of the Germans from the south and that of the Bolshevists from the east, the Esthonian Army, although animated with a good spirit and well disciplined, remained with munitions quite insufficient to carry on wider and prolonged operations, for, since the month of May, in spite of reiterated requests, the Esthonian Government has received no war materials from the Allies.
The financial difficulties were felt more and more every day and weighed heavily on the internal situation as well as on the external [Page 718] situation. War debts had already reached several hundreds of millions; it was hardly possible to contemplate the continuation of such enormous expenditures and the Esthonian Government found itself unable to improve its condition, since the Allied Powers left unanswered its request regarding a loan.
In face of all these difficulties Chicherin’s offer could not be rejected without a previous examination. Taking into account the state of mind of the population and the opinion of the majority of the Constituent Assembly, it was impossible for the Esthonian Government not to accept overtures for negotiations which, by all evidence, seemed well founded and promised at least to give a moment of respite to the country.
Through its delegation in Paris, the Esthonian Government communicated immediately Chicherin’s offer to the Allied Powers. It did not wish to act alone and immediately entered into relations with the other neighboring Governments to whom the Government of the Soviets had also made similar offers. We can affirm, with certainty, that no important decision will be taken by Esthonia without the consent and the approval of those neighboring Governments.
No decisions also will be taken without the knowledge of the Allied and Associated Governments with whom Esthonia, since the very beginning of its independent existence, has tried to act in accord and with whom it is endeavoring to strengthen the bonds which unite them.
Nevertheless, the declarations made to the Esthonian Government by the representatives of the Allied Governments do not enable us to be sufficiently informed of the plans of the Allies. Indeed, the representative of the Government of His Britannic Majesty at Reval has just informed the Esthonian Government that the British Government asks that no action be taken with a view to concluding peace with the Bolshevists. Moreover, the British Government would deplore any individual action and hopes that the Esthonian Government will continue, as it has done heretofore, to follow an external policy which shall be part of the plan adopted by the Allied Governments. The representative of France has also addressed to our Government a note in which he declares that the French Government has no advice to give and that it is for the Esthonian Government to assume the responsibilities which this negotiation might bring about regarding the Allies and eventually the Russian authorities. The French agents in Esthonia, Latvia and Lithuania are charged to notify the Governments of those countries that the French Government could not consider in any way the participation of French officers and agents in the negotiations with the Bolshevists.
[Page 719]Now, therefore, the Esthonian Government is replying that it proposes to follow, as it has always tried to do, an external policy in conformity with the desires and the will of the Allies. Unfortunately it must be recognized that that task has not been easy for it and that sometimes it has even seemed impossible for the reason that the Esthonian Government completely lacked exact information regarding the plans adopted by the Allies among themselves as well as the role that they meant to reserve for Esthonia in those plans.
Especially as regards the acceptance by the Esthonian Government of the proposal made by the Government of the Soviets to begin peace negotiations, it was not possible for our country simply to reject those proposals for the reasons mentioned above.
It is evident that the best means of protection against the attacks of the Russian Soviets would have been to overthrow the Bolshevist Government and to replace it by a Government which would recognize our independence. Unfortunately, the Russian forces which have assumed the task of overthrowing the Government of the Soviets, notably those of Kolchak and those which have organized themselves under his direction, with the exception of the Russian Government of the Northwest, oppose the rebirth of the independence of Esthonia and, by that very fact, they take from our people any desire to uphold them in their struggle. Moreover, according to the official communication which was made to us, England, to whom we owe an immense and unforgettable debt of gratitude for all she has done in our favor, can no longer help us in the future. France is willing to give us material assistance but only for cash payment or for goods. But, for the present, we have not enough money to pay cash or enough products to pay in kind.
Therefore, the Government of the Esthonian Republic would be very glad to be told what role Esthonia has to play in the plans conceived already by the Allied Governments. It asks again if it is not possible, by recognizing the independence of Esthonia, to enable it to convince the people and the army that new sacrifices are yet necessary to bring about the failure of the Bolshevist regime in Russia, and to tell her in what measure the Allies could, in that case, procure adequate munitions for our armies.
Will the negotiations begun with the Bolshevists bring about peace? For the present it is difficult to give an answer to that question.
In the course of an interview which took place on September 16 at Pskov, between the Esthonian Delegation and the representatives of the Russian Federative Republic of Soviets, the Russian Delegates [Page 720] MM. Krassin, Litvinov, and Dimitri Bogolyubov declared that they would accept the first condition made by the Baltic Conference, namely to begin negotiations simultaneously with the other Baltic States, but asked that the negotiations be not interrupted. Although the Esthonian Delegation did not grant that request, the Russians declared themselves ready to resume the negotiations at the time which the Baltic Conference should appoint. That did not prevent the Russians, during that interval, from launching anew violent attacks against our front which were repulsed everywhere with heavy losses for the enemy.
The Conference of the Baltic States met again on September 28 at Tartu (Dorpat) and will take decisions required by the latest events.
While these negotiations did not bring about peace, a prolonged armistice, a state of armed peace between the Baltic States and Russia of the Soviets seems possible, as also the ratification by all the Baltic States of a military convention for the defense of their independence against the Bolshevist attacks. It would be the beginning of the realization of the “cordon sanitaire” which the Allies have sought to create around Bolshevist Russia and against German expansion in Russia. It is certain that in case an armistice is concluded with the Government of the Soviets, Esthonia will never become a zone of infiltration for Bolshevist propaganda and that she will always remain a barrier to the latter. In beginning negotiations with the Bolshevists, Esthonia has not modified the orientation of her policy, and her sentiments toward the Allies remain the same, for she maintains the firm hope that it is only with their support that she will preserve the possibility of realizing her aspirations, namely, to obtain her complete independence.
Esthonia, which has turned to the Allies with entire confidence ever since the beginning, now in such a critical moment still needs to be supported by their advice and to have the collaboration of their military and diplomatic representatives. The Esthonian Government still believes that the Allied and Associated Powers will not refuse to contribute to the strengthening of the Esthonian Army which, whether the armistice is signed or not, will always remain on guard against any new attack of the Bolshevists.
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