Paris Peace Conference 861.00/512
The Russian Political Conference to the President of the Paris Peace Conference57
It appears that the purpose of the national movement in Russia, which is embodied in the Unified Governments, is not sufficiently clear to all. Consequently, and in order to eliminate every possible misunderstanding, the agents of the said Governments, charged with representing and defending the interests of national Russia before the Allies in Paris, believe they should make, in the name of the Russian Political Conference, the following declaration:
The purpose of the national movement and the task which the Unified Governments have undertaken do not consist in placing power in the hands of a chosen group. The national movement is [Page 333] free from any secret intention of restoration. The Governments protest categorically against any suspicion of wishing to reestablish the old regime and to take away the land from the peasants. The sole purpose of the movement is to reestablish national unity and to found the regeneration of Russia upon the solid basis of a democratic organization. It is for the Russian people themselves to decide their destiny by means of a Constituent Assembly elected freely and under legal conditions. As soon as the Bolshevist tyranny is crushed and the Russian people can freely express their will, we will proceed with the elections and the present governments will turn over their power into the hands of the National Assembly.
The Governments believe it their duty to fight for the principles of national unity and sovereignty of the people against those who trample them under foot. Forced into civil war by the Bolshevists, who have had recourse to armed force to impose their domination, the Governments will not prolong the struggle for a single hour once their task has been accomplished. However, they will not cease to fight until the day when right and liberty shall be reestablished in Russia and the Russian people can freely express their will.
The Governments are sure of the final victory of the national movement. No temporary trial or check will shake this conviction. If, in the struggle against Bolshevism, the Russian people expect the aid of the Allies, it is solely because their help would permit the more rapid termination of civil war. The Allies have recognized it themselves; the pacification of Russia is the necessary condition for general peace. But this pacification will only be possible when Bolshevism is struck to the heart at Petrograd and Moscow. The national movement in Russia is the more entitled to aid from the Allies, since it is struggling for the realization of the same principles of true democracy and social equality in the name of which the Peace Conference has assembled.
- Prince Lvoff
- Sazonow
- N. Tchaikovsky
- B. Maklakoff
- A copy of this statement was given by the Russian Political Conference to the American Commission to Negotiate Peace. The translation in the files has been revised.↩