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 it, or the allied Governments, to make peace
with the Russian Soviet Government.
At all events, the time set for the Prinkipos proposal was February
15. At that time nobody had acted in a definite, uncompromising
matter. It therefore fell to the ground.
There was a further discussion as to what should be done. The peace
conference was still of the opinion that it was impossible to hope to
conquer the Soviet Government by force of arms, because in the latter
part of that report, which I did not read to the committee, there was
expressed very forcibly the opinion of Mr. Lloyd George, that the
populations at home would not stand it. Therefore they desired to
follow up further the line of making peace.
About that time I was working particularly closely on the Russian
affairs. I had had a number of discussions with everyone concerned in
it, and on the very day that Col. House and Mr. Lansing first asked me
to undertake this mission to Russia, I was dining at Mr. Lloyd
George's apartment to discuss Russian affairs with his secretaries, so
that I had a fair idea of the point of view of everyone in Paris.
I further, before I went, received urgent instructions from Secretary
Lansing if possible to obtain the release of Consul Treadwell, who had
been our consul in Petrograd and had been transferred to Tashkent, and
had been detained by the local Soviet Government and had been kept
there several months. He was one of our Government officers they had
seized. Mr. Lansing ordered me to do everything I could to obtain his
release.
I further, before I went, asked Col. House certain specific questions
in regard to what, exactly, the point of view of our Government was on
this subject, what we were ready to do, and I think it perhaps might
be important to detail a brief resume of this conversation. The idea
was this: Lloyd George had gone over to London on February 9, as I
remember, to try to adjust some labor troubles. He, however, still
insisted that the Prinkipos proposal must be renewed or some other
peace proposal must be made, and I arranged a meeting between him and
Col. House, which was to take place, I believe, on February 24, at
which time they were to prepare a renewal of the Prinkipos proposal,
and they were both prepared to insist that it be passed against any
opposition of the French.
I arranged this meeting through Mr. Philip Kerr, Mr. Lloyd George's
confidential assistant. However, on the 19th day of the month, Mr.
Clemenceau was shot, and the next day Mr. Lloyd George telephoned over
from London to say that as long as Clemenceau was wounded and was ill,
he was boss of the roost, and that anything he desired to veto would
be immediately wiped out and therefore it was no use for him and Col.
House, as long as Clemenceau was ill, to attempt to renew the
Prinkipos proposal, as Clemenceau would simply have to hold up a
finger and the whole thing would drop to the ground. Therefore, it was
decided that I should go at once to Russia to attempt to obtain from
the Soviet Government an exact statement of the terms on which they
were ready to stop fighting. I was ordered if possible to obtain that
statement and have it back in Paris before the President returned to
Paris from the United States. The plan was to make a proposal to the
Soviet Government which would certainly be accepted.
The CHAIRMAN. These orders came from the President?
Mr. BULLITT. These orders came to me from Col. House. I also discussed
the matter with Mr. Lansing, and Mr. Lansing and Col. House gave me
the instructions which I had.
Senator KNOX. You said a moment ago that you went to Col. House to get
a statement of the American position.