861.01/238: Telegram
The High Commissioner at Constantinople
(Bristol) to the Secretary of State
Constantinople, September 8, 1920.
[Received September
9—10 a.m.]
478. [From] Admiral McCully [,Sevastopol].
75. September 8, 10 p.m. Your August 27, 6 p.m. Queries answered
categorically in official French translation, copy forwarded by
mail. Unofficial translation into English as follows:26
[Page 617]
- “1. General Wrangel has declared on different
occasions that his object is to place the Russian people
in position to express their will freely in regard to
the future regime of the country. Consequently he wishes
now to confirm once more his intention to achieve such
conditions as will allow the convocation of a national
assembly elected on the basis of general suffrage and by
means of which the Russian people itself shall decide
the form of government of new Russia.
- 2. General Wrangel has not the slightest intention of
imposing upon Russia any régime which would act without
the cooperation of national representation or without
popular sympathy and support.
- 3. The interpretation of the recent declarations of
General Wrangel in the sense that he does not regard the
restoration of law and freedom in Russia as primarily a
military task is fully justified. The series of reforms
already realized prove on the contrary that General
Wrangel attaches a primordial importance to the work of
reconstruction of the state and to the satisfaction of
the needs of the peasants, who constitute the great
majority of the Russian people. It is precisely with the
object of furthering the peaceably constructive work of
the Government that General Wrangel has refrained from
giving precedence to an extension of the front of his
armies facing the Bolsheviks, but tends instead to
insure the integrity of the political and economic
center built up on the territory occupied by the Russian
Army as well as in the Cossack provinces which are
allied to him in close union. The preservation of this
healthy nucleus is indispensable with a view to its
serving as a center of gravitation around which may
gather and develop freely the subsequent efforts of the
Russian people tending to national regeneration.
- 4. The information regarding the reforms undertaken by
the Government of General Wrangel for the introduction
of cantonal Zemstvos and for agrarian reform is strictly
correct. The former places local power and the
management of local economic interests in the hands of
the population itself, acting in this domain through the
agency of freely elected organs. The law on cantonal
Zemstvos will be followed within the shortest time by a
law on district Zemstvos; both are destined to serve as
a basis for the creation of a representative system of a
broader character. Land reform is intended to solve the
agrarian problem radically, and involves the lawful
transfer of the cultivable land to the cultivators by
means of repurchase; the land shall be transferred to
private ownership so as to create a strong class of
small landholders, which corresponds entirely to the
ideals of the Russian peasant.
- 5. The number of refugees who have sought the
protection of General Wrangel against the Bolsheviks is
very great. It surpasses considerably 500,000 people for
Crimea alone, to which an equal number of refugees
scattered in the Near East, Egypt, and Europe must be
added. The majority is composed of aged men, women, and
children. All these refugees are in one way or another
dependent on the support and succor of the Government of
South Russia. If the integrity of the territory of the
Government of South Russia came to be guaranteed,
General Wrangel would consider it his duty to
[Page 618]
facilitate the
return of refugees to their native country so as to give
them the opportunity to employ themselves in productive
work. Refugees are composed of the most varied elements.
They belong to all classes of population who have
equally found it impossible to bear the Bolshevik
tyranny.
- 6. General Wrangel believes that the Government
presided over by him is the sole depository of the idea
of national regeneration and of the restoration of the
unity of Russia. He thinks nevertheless that only a
government set up after determination by the National
Assembly of the definite form of government of the state
will be qualified to make treaties affecting the
sovereign rights of the Russian people and to dispose of
the national patrimony.
- 7. The declaration of policy recently made by the
Government of the United States corresponds entirely to
the political program of General Wrangel, both as
regards the part dealing with the preservation of the
unity and territorial integrity of Russia and as regards
the part relative to Poland. General Wrangel already
deemed it his duty to express to the Federal Government
on that occasion his sincerest appreciation.
- 8. General Wrangel believes that the foreign powers by
taking cognizance of the work achieved by his Government
would be better able to convince themselves of the
absolute groundlessness of any apprehension that
activities of the Government of South Russia may come to
degenerate into either a military adventure or a
political reaction than by means of verbal declarations.
As to the former eventuality, General Wrangel wishes to
state that he is prepared to put an end to the civil war
as soon as the integrity of the territory under his
control, as well as that of the Cossack provinces, is
effectively guaranteed and as soon as the Russian people
oppressed under the Bolshevik yoke are placed in
position to express their will freely. For his part,
General Wrangel states that he is prepared to insure to
the population of the territory which is under his
authority the possibility of expressing its preference,
being firmly convinced that this population will
certainly not declare in favor of the power of the
Soviets.
- 9. As regards himself personally, General Wrangel has
already openly stated that his object consists in the
achievement of a state of things which would give the
opportunity to the people to manifest their will freely,
and that he would bow without the slightest hesitation
to the sovereign voice of the Russian nation.”
I submit the following personal comment on these answers. Regarding
question 4, these measures are being put into effect and are making
fair progress. By end of September all land councils will be
organized and elections completed. So far only a small portion of
the land has actually been distributed. Although not as far reaching
as American opinion might advocate they are acceptable to the
peasants, meet bitter hostility of Reds and covert opposition of
reactionaries. Regarding query 5 my estimate of refugees in Crimea
is not over 300,000 while exact number of
[Page 619]
refugees from South Russia in camps in various
places about Mediterranean September 1st was 39,300. This does not
include large number refugees from other parts of Russia scattered
about Europe. Regarding query 6 Wrangel did not wish to state that
he did not regard himself as head of an all-Russian government at
this moment as this might imply his intention of becoming such at
some later date. Present official title of Wrangel is ruler or
director of South Russian Government and commander in chief of the
Russian armies. He is really dictator with unlimited power.
Undoubtedly both he and his Government earnestly desire recognition
as de facto Government of South Russia and
are disposed to look upon these queries as tending toward
recognition. The inquiries were presented in my own name but this
Government knows they were directed from Washington. I informed
Foreign Office that there was no implication of recognition and in
my personal opinion such recognition was unlikely. Regarding query 8
General Wrangel stated he did not mean that cessation of civil war
must wait until the freeing of the entire Russian people from the
yoke of Bolshevism. The relations of Cossack provinces to South
Russia Government will make solution question regarding their status
in case of negotiations for cessation of hostilities extremely
difficult. A considerable portion of Wrangel’s forces consist of
Cossacks from Don, Kuban and Terek and he is bound to them by the
ties which he cannot break. The Cossacks form a minority of three
millions against five millions non-Cossacks in these provinces and
the Soviet Government is not likely to acquiesce in the attachment
to Wrangel and he cannot desert them. As regards plebiscite in
Crimea and Tauride as to whether population would prefer Wrangel or
the Soviets the large majority would probably be in favor of Wrangel
for various reasons. General Wrangel himself is absolutely sincere,
Krivoshein sees necessity of extension of Democratic principles,
Struve is democratic by conviction, and general opinion in
Government circles favors concessions to democratic principles.
There is, however, reactionary element not large in number but very
active which will go to any extreme to prevent such action. Under
present conditions it would not in my opinion be advisable to hold
elections for a representative form of government for the entire
territory under Wrangel’s control as military operations would be
seriously interfered with and the mental attitude of population is
in too confused and uncertain a state to make such elections truly
indicative. In case of armistice or cessation of hostilities such
elections should be held within three months after their
beginning.
