861.00/3323: Telegram

The Minister in Norway ( Schmedeman ) to the Secretary of State

1403. I beg leave respectfully to transmit to the Department for its consideration an idea which has suggested itself in consequence of the character and activity of Bolshevism as recently manifested in Scandinavia, Russia and elsewhere. The idea is that much might be gained towards a solution of Bolshevik problem if the Associated Governments took the opportunity presented by the forthcoming peace negotiations to procure [from] the defeated enemy unrestricted access to the archives of the late Imperial Government at Berlin and of the German General Staff with a view to obtaining an accurate insight into the relations of the latter with the Bolshevik movement in Russia and into the detailed methods employed for developing the movement in that and other countries. An investigation of this sort might bring to light very valuable information, the possession of which by the Associated Governments might conceivably greatly facilitate their action in eradicating the menace of Bolshevism outside of Russia and in restoring Russia herself to ordered life. Paris advised. Copy to London.

Schmedeman