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UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS,
UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS,
Washington, D.C., Friday, September 12, 1919. The committee met, pursuant to the call of the chairman, at 10 o'clock a.m., in room 310, Senate Office Building, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge presiding. Present: Senators Lodge (chairman), Brandegee, Fall, Knox, Harding, and New. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Bullitt is to make a statement to the committee this morning. I think I ought to say that Mr. Bullitt was summoned on the 23d of August, I believe, and he was in the woods at that time, out of reach of telegr
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MR. BULLITT'S OFFICIAL STATUS
MR. BULLITT'S OFFICIAL STATUS
Mr. BULLITT. When I first arrived I was asked to take charge of a confidential bulletin which was to be gotten out for the benefit of the commissioners each morning. It was to be read by them. That lasted a very short time, and as is usual with most things of the kind, we discovered that the commissioners did not care to spend the time reading it, and therefore it was decided to abolish this bulletin, and that instead I should receive all the intelligence reports of military intelligence, of the
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ORDERED TO RUSSIA
ORDERED TO RUSSIA
Senator KNOX. What was your mission to Russia, and when did you go? Mr. BULLITT. I was ordered to go to Russia on the 18th of February. I received the following order from Secretary Lansing [reading]: 18 February, 1919. MR. WILLIAM C. BULLITT, American Commission to Negotiate Peace. SIR: You are hereby directed to proceed to Russia for the purpose of studying conditions, political and economic, therein, for the benefit of the American commissioners plenipotentiary to negotiate peace, a
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COUNCIL OF TEN FORMULATES A RUSSIAN POLICY
COUNCIL OF TEN FORMULATES A RUSSIAN POLICY
Mr. BULLITT. I had, of course, seen the discussions of the conference with regard to the entire Russian matter. The conference had decided, after long consideration, that it was impossible to subdue or wipe out the Soviet Government by force. The discussion of that is of a certain interest, I believe, in connection with this general matter. There are, in regard to the question you have just asked, minutes of the council of ten, on January 21, 1919. Lloyd George had introduced the proposition tha
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FRANCE BLOCKS PRINKIPOS CONFERENCE
FRANCE BLOCKS PRINKIPOS CONFERENCE
Mr. BULLITT. It was. That is why I say they replied in an evasive manner. The French—and particularly the French foreign office, even more than Mr. Clemenceau—and you can observe it from that minute were opposed to the idea, and we found that the French foreign office had communicated to the Ukrainian Government and various other antisoviet governments that if they were to refuse the proposal, they would support them and continue to support them, and not allow the Allies, if they could prevent i
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WHAT AMERICA WANTED
WHAT AMERICA WANTED
Mr. BULLITT. Yes; I asked Col. House these questions [reading]: 1. If the Bolsheviki are ready to stop the forward movement of their troops on all fronts and to declare an armistice on all fronts, would we be willing to do likewise? 2. Is the American Government prepared to insist that the French, British, Italian, and Japanese Governments shall accept such an armistice proposal? 3. If fighting is stopped on all fronts, is the Government of the United States prepared to insist on the reestablish
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THE BRITISH TERMS
THE BRITISH TERMS
I was asked to inform Mr. Kerr of this trip. I told him all about it, and asked him if he could get Mr. Balfour and Mr. Lloyd George to give me a general indication of their point of view on peace with Russia; what they would be prepared to do in the matter. Mr. Kerr and I then talked and prepared what we thought might be the basis of peace with Russia. I then received from Mr. Kerr, before I left, the following letter, which is a personal letter, which I regret greatly to bring forward, but whi
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TERMS WHICH RUSSIA OFFERED TO ACCEPT
TERMS WHICH RUSSIA OFFERED TO ACCEPT
As I said, I was sent to obtain an exact statement of the terms that the Soviet Government was ready to accept, and I received on the 14th the following statement from Tchitcherin and Litvinov. Senator KNOX. Who were they? Mr. BULLITT. Tchitcherin was Peoples' Commisar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Republic and Litvinov was the former Soviet Ambassador to London, the man with whom Buckler had had his conversation, and who was now practically assistant secretary for foreign affairs. I also ha
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TEXT OF PROJECTED PEACE PROPOSAL BY THE ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED GOVERNMENTS.
TEXT OF PROJECTED PEACE PROPOSAL BY THE ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED GOVERNMENTS.
The allied and associated Governments to propose that hostilities shall cease on all fronts in the territory of the former Russian Empire and Finland on ——[1] and that no new hostilities shall begin after this date, pending a conference to be held at ——[2] on ——[3] [Footnote 1: The date of the armistice to be set at least a week after the date when the allied and associated Governments make this proposal.] [Footnote 2: The Soviet Government greatly prefers that the conference should be held in a
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MR. BULLITT'S REPORT ON RUSSIA
MR. BULLITT'S REPORT ON RUSSIA
Russia to-day is in a condition of acute economic distress. The blockade by land and sea is the cause of this distress and lack of the essentials of transportation is its gravest symptom. Only one-fourth of the locomotives which ran on Russian lines before the war are now available for use. Furthermore, Soviet Russia is cut off entirely from all supplies of coal and gasoline. In consequence, transportation by all steam and electric vehicles is greatly hampered; and transportation by automobile a
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APPENDIX TO REPORT
APPENDIX TO REPORT
Locomotives .—Before the war Russia had 22,000 locomotives. Destruction by war and ordinary wear and tear have reduced the number of locomotives in good order to 5,500. Russia is entirely cut off from supplies of spare parts and materials for repair, facilities for the manufacture of which do not exist in Russia. And the Soviet Government is able only with the greatest difficulty to keep in running order the few locomotives at its disposal. Coal .—Soviet Russia is entirely cut off from supplies
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STATEMENTS OF LEADERS OF OPPOSITION PARTIES
STATEMENTS OF LEADERS OF OPPOSITION PARTIES
The following statement was made to me by Volsky, leader of the right social revolutionaries, the largest opposition party: "Intervention of any kind will prolong the régime of the Bolsheviki by compelling us, like all honorable Russians, to drop opposition and rally round the Soviet Government in defense of the revolution. With regard to help to individual groups or governments fighting against soviet Russia, we see no difference between such intervention and the sending of troops. If the allie
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ARMY
ARMY
The soviet army now numbers between 1,000,000 and 1,200,000 troops of the line. Nearly all these soldiers are young men between the ages of 17 and 27. The morale of regiments varies greatly. The convinced communists, who compose the bulk of the army, fight with crusading enthusiasm. Other regiments, composed of patriots but noncommunists, are less spirited; other regiments composed of men who have entered the army for the slightly higher bread ration are distinctly untrustworthy. Great numbers o
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LENIN'S PRESTIGE
LENIN'S PRESTIGE
The hold which Lenin has gained on the imagination of the Russian people makes his position almost that of a dictator. There is already a Lenin legend. He is regarded as almost a prophet. His picture, usually accompanied by that of Karl Marx, hangs everywhere. In Russia one never hears Lenin and Trotski spoken of in the same breath as is usual in the western world. Lenin is regarded as in a class by himself. Trotski is but one of the lower order of mortals. When I called on Lenin at the Kremlin
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CONCESSIONS
CONCESSIONS
The Soviet Government recognizes very clearly the undesirability of granting concessions to foreigners and is ready to do so only because of necessity. The members of the Government realize that the lifting of the blockade will be illusory unless the Soviet Government is able to establish credits in foreign countries, particularly the United States and England, so that goods may be bought in those countries. For Russia to-day is in a position to export only a little gold, a little platinum, a li
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BREAKFAST WITH LLOYD GEORGE
BREAKFAST WITH LLOYD GEORGE
The next morning I had breakfast with Mr. Lloyd George at his apartment. Gen. Smuts and Sir Maurice Hankey and Mr. Philip Kerr were also present, and we discussed the matter at considerable length, I brought Mr. Lloyd George the official text of the proposal, the same official one, in that same envelop, which I have just shown to you. He had previously read it, it having been telegraphed from Helsingfors. As he had previously read it, he merely glanced over it and said, "That is the same one I h
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BULLITT REPORT SUPPRESSED
BULLITT REPORT SUPPRESSED
Mr. BULLITT. I attempted to. I prepared a statement for the press based on my report, giving the facts, which I submitted to the commission to be given out. No member of the commission was ready to take the responsibility for publicity in the matter and it was referred to the President. The President received it and decided that he did not want it given out. He thought he would rather keep it secret, and in spite of the urgings of the other commissioners he continued to adhere to that point of v
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NANSEN PLAN TO FEED RUSSIA
NANSEN PLAN TO FEED RUSSIA
Meanwhile Mr. Hoover and Mr. Auchincloss had the idea of approaching peace with Russia by a feeding proposition, and they had approached Mr. Fridjof Nansen, the Arctic explorer, and got him to write and send the following letter to the President. You doubtless have seen his letter to the President. PARIS, April 3, 1919. MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: The present food situation in Russia, where hundreds of thousands of people are dying monthly from sheer starvation and disease, is one of the problems now
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KOLCHAK'S ADVANCE CAUSES REJECTION OF PEACE PROPOSAL
KOLCHAK'S ADVANCE CAUSES REJECTION OF PEACE PROPOSAL
Mr. BULLITT. The principal reason was entirely different. The fact was that just at this moment, when this proposal was under consideration, Kolchak made a 100-mile advance. There was a revolt of peasants in a district of Russia which entirely cut off supplies from the Bolshevik army operating against Kolchak. Kolchak made a 100-mile advance, and immediately the entire press of Paris was roaring and screaming on the subject, announcing that Kolchak would be in Moscow within two weeks; and theref
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AMMISSION.
AMMISSION.
The commission considered that matter, and this is the official minute of their meeting [reading]: AMERICAN MISSION TO NEGOTIATE PEACE, [No. 211.] April 10, 1919. To: The Commissioners, for action. Subject: Telegram to Tchitcherin. Statement .—Action by the council of four on the reply to Mr. Nansen was prevented yesterday by French objection to a minor clause in the President's letter. It is hoped that agreement in this matter may be reached to-day or to-morrow, but it is qu
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LLOYD GEORGE DECEIVES PARLIAMENT
LLOYD GEORGE DECEIVES PARLIAMENT
Senator KNOX. Did not Mr. Lloyd George in a speech to Parliament assert that he had never received the proposal with which you returned from Russia? Have you a copy of his speech? Mr. BULLITT. About a week after I had handed to Mr. Lloyd George the official proposal, with my own hands, in the presence of three other persons, he made a speech before the British Parliament, and gave the British people to understand that he knew nothing whatever about any such proposition. It was a most egregious c
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MR. BULLITT RESIGNS
MR. BULLITT RESIGNS
Senator KNOX. Mr. Bullitt, you resigned your relations with the State Department and the public service, did you not? Mr. BULLITT. I did, sir. Senator KNOX. When? Mr. BULLITT. I resigned on May 17. Senator KNOX. For what reason? Mr. BULLITT. Well, I can explain that perhaps more briefly than in any other way by reading my letter of resignation to the President, which is brief. Senator KNOX. Very well, we would like to hear it. The CHAIRMAN. Before that letter is read, you did not see the Preside
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REPORT OF LINCOLN STEFFENS
REPORT OF LINCOLN STEFFENS
(By order of the committee the report of Lincoln Steffens referred to is here printed in full in the record, as follows:) Politically, Russia has reached a state of equilibrium; internally; for the present at least. I think the revolution there is ended; that it has run its course. There will be changes. There may be advances; there will surely be reactions, but these will be regular, I think; political and economic, but parliamentary, A new center of gravity seems to have been found. Certainly,
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REPORTS OF CAPT. W.W. PETTIT
REPORTS OF CAPT. W.W. PETTIT
(The reports of Capt. Pettit are here printed in full, as follows:) I left Petrograd on March 31. During the past three weeks I have crossed the Finnish border six times and have been approximately two weeks in Petrograd. I have met Tchitcherin, Litvinov, and most of the important personages in the communist government of Petrograd (including Bill Shatov, chief of police). Briefly, my opinion of the Russian situation is as follows: In Petrograd I presume the present communist government has a ma
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SOCIAL WORK IN PETROGRAD
SOCIAL WORK IN PETROGRAD
The wife of Zinoviev, Madame Lelina, is in charge of the social institutions in the city of Petrograd. This does not include the public schools, which are under another organization. Madame Lelina is a short-haired woman, probably Jewish, of about 45. She has an enormous amount of energy, and is commonly supposed to be doing at least two things at the same time. The morning I met her she was carrying on two interviews and trying to arrange to have me shown some of the social work she is directin
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