DIPLOMATIC NOTES
From December 18 to January 18
Prepared By Allan Westcott, Ph. D., Instructor, U. S. Naval Academy
RUSSO-GERMAN PEACE NEGOTIATIONS
First Meeting at Brest-Litovsk.—On December 23 representatives of the Central Powers and the Bolshevist Government in Russia met at Brest-Litovsk to negotiate peace. The delegates were as follows:
Germany: Dr. Richard von Kiihlmann, Foreign Minister; Herr von Rosenberg, Baron Von Hock, General Hoffmann, and Major Brinckmann.
Austria-Hungary: Count Czernin, Foreign Minister; Herr von Merey, Freiherr von Wisser, Count CoUerda, Count Osaky, Field Marshal von Chisceries, Lieutenant Polarny, and Major Von Gluise.
Bulgaria: Minister Popoff, Former Secretary Cosseflf, Postmaster General Stoyanovich, Colonel Gantjiff, and Dr. Anastasoff.
Turkey: Former Minister of Foregn Affairs Nessimy Bey, Ambassador Hakki, Under Foreign Secretary Hekmit Bey, and General Zekki Pasha.
Russia: Joffe Kamineff, Bisenko Pokrosky, Karaghan Lubinski, Weltman Pawlowich, Admiral Altvater, General Tumorrl, Colonel Rokki, Colonel Zeplett, and Captain Lipsky.
Prince Leopold of Bavaria, as Commander-in-Chief of the German forces in the east, welcomed the delegates and invited Hakki Pasha, as the senior delegate, to open the conference. Hakki Pasha, after an expression of a desire for a satisfactory result, declared the negotiations formally open, and proposed Dr. von Kiihlmann as the presiding officer. The German Foreign Minister was unanimously elected chairman.
The German Foreign Minister proposed the following rules, which were adopted:
"Questions of precedence will be decided according to the alphabetical list of the represented powers.
"Plenary sittings will be presided over by the chief representative of each of the five powers in rotation.
"The following languages may be used in the debate: German, Bulgarian, Russian, and Turkish.
"Questions interesting only part of the represented powers may be discussed separately.
"Official reports of the proceedings will be drafted jointly."
At von Kuhlmann's suggestion the chief Russian delegate stated the chief principles of the Russian peace program in a long speech, which coincided on the whole with the well-known resolutions of the Workmen's and Soldier's Deputies.
The delegates of the Central Powers declared their readiness to begin the examination of the Russian program. The result of their labors will be discussed at the next sitting.
Count Czernin's Terms for General Peace.—On December 25 Count Czernin, speaking for the Central Powers, offered a statement of terms involving no "forcible annexations" and no indemnities. Since the Central Powers stipulated a general acceptance of these terms on the part of Russia's allies, the Russian delegates requested a lo-day recess to consider the terms and present them to the Western Powers. Count Czernin's statement was as follows:
The delegations of the allied (Teutonic) powers, acting upon the clearly expressed will of their governments and peoples, will conclude as soon as possible a general peace. The delegations, in complete accord with the repeatedly expressed viewpoint of their governments, think that the basic principles of the Russian delegation can be made the basis of such a peace.
The delegations of the Quadruple Alliance are agreed immediately to conclude a general peace without forcible annexations and indemnities. They share the view of the Russian delegation, which condemns the continuation of the war purely for aims of conquest.
The statesmen of the allied (Teutonic) governments in programs and statements have emphasized time and again that for the sake of conquest they will not prolong the war a single day. The governments of the allies unswervingly have followed this view all the time. They solemnly declare their resolve immediately to sign terms of peace which will stop this war on the above terms, equally just to all belligerents' without exception.
It is necessary, however, to indicate most clearly that the proposals of the Russian delegation could be realized only in case all the powers participating in the war obligate themselves scrupulously to adhere to the terms, in common with all peoples.
The powers of the Quadruple Alliance now negotiating with Russia cannot, of course, one-sidedly bind themselves to such terms, not having the guarantee that Russia's allies will recognize and carry out these terms honestly without reservation with regard to the Quadruple Alliance. Starting upon these principles, and regarding the six clauses proposed by the Russian delegation as a basis of negotiations, the following must be stated:
Clause 1. Forcible annexations of territories seized during the war does not enter into the intention of the allied powers. About troops now occupy seized territories, it must be stipulated in the peace treaty, if there is no agreement before, regarding the evacuation of these places.
Clause 2. It is not the intention of the allies to deprive of political independence those nations which lost it during the war.
Clause 3. The question of subjection to that or the other country of those nationalities who have not political independence cannot, in the opinion of the powers of the Quadruple Alliance, be solved internationally. In this case it must be solved by each government, together with its peoples, in a manner established by the constitution.
Clause 4. Likewise, in accordance with the declaration of statesmen of the Quadruple Alliance, the protection of the rights of minorities constitutes an essential component part of the constitutional rights of peoples to self-determination. The allied governments also grant validity to this principle everywhere, in so far as it is practically realizable.
Clause 5. The allied powers have frequently emphasized the possibility that both sides might renounce not only indemnification for war costs, but also indemnification for war damages. In these circumstances every belligerent power would have only to make indemnification for expenditures for its nationals who have become prisoners of war, as well as for damage done in its own territory by illegal acts of force committed against civilian nationals belonging to the enemy. The Russian Government's proposal for the creation of a special fund for this purpose could be taken into consideration only if the other belligerent powers were to join in the peace negotiations within a suitable period.
Clause 6. Of the four allied powers, Germany alone possesses colonies. On the part of the (German delegation, in full accord with the Russian proposals regarding that, the following is declared:
The return of colonial territories forcibly seized during the war constitutes an essential part of the German demands, which Germany cannot renounce under any circumstances. Likewise, the Russian demand for immediate evacuation of territories occupied by an adversary conforms to German intentions. Having in view the nature of the colonial territories of Germany, the realization of the right of self-determination, besides the above outlined considerations, in the form proposed by the Russian delegation is at present practically impossible.
The circumstance that in the German colonies the natives, notwithstanding the greatest difficulties and the improbability of victory in a struggle against an adversary many times stronger and who had the advantage of unlimited import by sea, remained in the gravest circumstances faithful to their German friends, may serve as proof of their attachment and their resolve by all means to preserve allegiance to Germany, proof which by its significance and weight is far superior to any expression of popular will.
The principles of economic relations proposed by the Russian delegation in connection with the above six clauses are approved wholly by the delegations of the allied powers, who always have denied any economic restrictions, and who see in the re-establishment of regulated economic relations which are in accord with the interests of all people concerned, one of the most important conditions for bringing about friendly relations between the powers now engaged in war.
Germany's Specific Terms.—On returning from Brest-Litovsk on January 1 the Russian delegation presented the specific terms of the Central Powers as given at the conference. Russia objected to these terms chiefly on the ground that, according to Article I, Germany refused to evacuate Riga, Libau, and other parts of Russia until all elements in Russia had accepted the treaty; and that, as stated in Article II, Germany refused to move troops from Poland, Lithuania, Courland, and portions of Esthonia and Livonia, and considered that as these territories had already declared for independence, no further vote was necessary. The German terms were in substance as follows:
Article I. Russia and Germany are to declare the state of war at an end. Both nations are resolved to live together in the future in peace and friendship on condition of complete reciprocity. Germany will be ready as soon as peace is concluded with Russia and the demobilization of the Russian armies has been accomplished to evacuate her present positions in occupied Russian territory, in so far as no different inferences result from Article II.
Article II. The Russian Government, having, in accordance with its principles, proclaimed for all peoples, without exception, living within the Russian Empire, the right of self-determination, including complete reparation, takes cognizance of the decisions expressing the will of people demanding a full state of independence and separation from the Russian Empire for Poland, Lithuania, Courland, and portions of Esthonia and Livonia. The Russian Government recognizes that in the present circumstances these manifestations must be regarded as an expression of the will of the people, and is ready to draw conclusions therefrom. As in these districts to which the foregoing stipulations apply, the question of evacuation is not such as provided for in Article I, a special commission shall discuss and fix the time and other details in conformity and in accordance with the Russian idea of the necessary ratification by a plebiscite on broad lines and without any military pressure whatever of the already existing proclamation of separation.
Article III. Treaties and agreements in force before the war are to become effective if not directly in conflict with changes resulting from the war. Each party obligates itself, within three months after the signing of the peace treaty, to inform the other which of the treaties and agreements will not again become effective.
Article IV. Each of the contracting parties will not discriminate against the subjects, merchant ships or goods of the other parties.
Article V. The parties agree that with the conclusion of peace economic war shall cease. During the time necessary for the restoration of relations there may be limitations upon trade, but the regulations as to imports are not to be of a too burdensome extent and high taxes or duties upon imports shall not be levied. For the interchange of goods an organization shall be effected by mixed commissions to be formed as soon as possible.
Article VI. Instead of the commercial treaty of navigation of 1894-1904, which is abrogated, a new treaty will accord new conditions.
Article VII. The parties will grant one another during at least 20 years the rights of the most favored nation in questions of commerce and navigation. [This clause is apparently that carried in a German wireless message received in London and sent by cable on December 31.]
Article VIII. Russia agrees that the administration of the mouth of the Danube be entrusted to a European Danube commission, with a membership from the countries bordering upon the Danube and the Black Sea. Above Braila the administration is to be in the hands of the countries bordering the river.
Article IX. Military laws limiting the private rights of Germans in Russia and of Russians in Germany are abolished.
Article X. The contracting parties are not to demand payment of war expenditures, nor for damages suffered during the war, this provision including requisitions.
Article XI. Each party is to pay for damage done within its own limits during the war by acts against international law with regard to the subjects of other parties, in particular, their diplomatic and consular representatives, as affecting their life, health or property. The amount is to be fixed by mixed commissions with neutral chairmen.
Article XII. Prisoners of war who are invalids are to be immediately repatriated. The exchange of other prisoners is to be made as soon as possible, the times to be fixed by a German-Russian commission.
Article XIII. Civilian subjects interned or exiled are to be immediately released and sent home without cost to them.
Article XIV. Russian subjects of German descent, particularly German colonists, may within 10 years emigrate to Germany, with the right to liquidate or transfer their property.
Article XV. Merchantmen of any of the contracting parties which were in ports of any other party at the beginning of the war, and also vessels taken as prizes which have not yet been adjudged, are to be returned, or if that be impossible, to be paid for.
Article XVI. Diplomatic and consular relations are to be resumed as soon as possible.
Negotiations Renewed.—On January 3 Count von Hertling announced to the Reichstag that Dr. von Kuhlmann had been instructed to reject Russia's proposal to transfer the conference to Stockholm, on the ground of difficulty of telegraphic communication with the capitals of the nations engaged and danger of interference from Russia's allies. Concerning Russia's rejection of the proposals relating to occupied territories, the Chancellor said: "We can cheerfully await the further course of this incident; we rely on our strong position, our loyal intentions, and our just rights." The decision to reject the Stockholm proposal was approved on January 4 by all parties in the Reichstag Main Committee save the Radical Socialists.
Sessions were renewed at Brest-Litovsk on January 8. Owing to failure of Russia's allies to take favorable action Germany withdrew the terms offered in Count Czernin's statement of December 25. Dispatches of January 15 stated that the armistice had been extended to February 18, and that the peace conference had been adjourned to be continued later. In the session of January 11 difficulty arose over the Russian request that deported Poles and Lithuanians should be allowed to return, and that imprisoned Czechs and Bohemians in Austria should be liberated.
German Peace Envoys Hold Divergent Views.—Arthur Ransome, the Petrograd correspondent of The Daily News, sends the following under date of January 3.
"From a source which has hitherto proved reliable I learn the following suggestive details concerning the peace negotiations. Two perfectly distinct tendencies were noticeable in the enemy delegation, one annexationist, represented by General Hoffmann, the other more moderate, represented by Dr. von Kuhlmann and Count Czernin. There were frequent disputes between these two tendencies, settled in each case by an appeal to Berlin. Berlin, without exception, supported Czernin and Kuhlmann. Hoffmann takes a purely military view, and more than once complained with great bitterness of the Russian use of the armistice to agitate among the German soldiers."—N. Y. Times. 5/1.
Separate Peace with Bulgaria.—London. January 10.—A separate peace agreement has been signed by Russia and Bulgaria, according to the Bund of Berne, a dispatch from the Swiss capital reports. A Bulgarian correspondent says Premier Radoslavoff read the following dispatch from Brest-Litovsk in Parliament:
"War between Russia and Bulgaria ceases. Diplomatic and economic relations between Russia and Bulgaria are resumed. Russia recognizes Bulgaria's right to nominate a delegate to an international Danube commission. The first peace is thus concluded, with the consent of Bulgaria's allies."
Separate peace proposals made by Turkey have been refused by the Bolshevist Government, according to a report in Petrograd. Turkey was requested to participate in the general conference between Russia and the Central Powers.
A dispatch of January 5, from Petrograd, purported to give the Turkish peace terms as presented to Russia. Among the terms proposed by Turkey were free passage of the Dardanelles for Russian ships, Russian evacuation of Turkish territory, and demobilization of the Russian Black Sea fleet. Turkey was to retain her active army in consequence of continuation of war against the Entente.
Bulgaria took part with Germany, Austria, and Turkey in the first negotiations at Brest-Litovsk, and it has been assumed that no peace terms would be agreed to by the Central Powers except in concert. However, advices yesterday giving the names of those who took part in the first session of the Brest-Litovsk conferences when they were resumed this week made no mention of a Bulgarian representative.—N.Y. Times, 11/1.
Internal Conditions in Russia.—In December General Kaledine was re-elected leader of the Don Cossacks by a vote of 562 out of a total of 638. Reports to Petrograd from Rostov on January 10 announced the formation of the Republic of the Don with General Kaledine as President and Prime Minister. The territory included comprised more than 63,000 square miles in the Don basin in southeastern Russia. The purpose of General Kaledine was said to be not to fight the Bolslieviki but to end civil war.
According to Petrograd dispatches of January 6, the Rada, the Ukrainian legislative body, and the Bolsheviki had agreed to a compromise, by which the Ukraine agreed to withdraw support from General Kaledine and his Cossacks in return for the removal of Bolshevist troops from Ukraine territory. Later reports stated that abundant food supplies had been secured for Petrograd through this settlement, the Ukraine agreeing to supply three billion pounds of bread within 60 days on payment half in cash and half in merchandise.
A Ukrainian delegate was admitted to the peace conference at Brest- Litovsk and submitted the following statement:
"The Ukrainian People's Republic brings the following to the knowledge of all belligerents and neutral states: The Central Rada, on November 20, proclaimed a People's Republic, and by this act an international status was determined. Striving for the creation of a confederation of all the republics which have arisen in the territory of the former Russian Empire, the Ukrainian People's Republic, through its General Secretariat, proceeds to enter into the independent relations pending the formation of a federal government in Russia and until the relations of the Ukraine with the future federation are established."
It was later announced that Germany and the Ukrainian Government had negotiated peace independently from the Bolshevist delegates.
Finland and Ukraine Recognized.—Germany announced, on January 6, that she recognized Finland as a republic. The Paris Matin stated on January 6 that France had recognized Finland as an independent state, and that a high commissioner had been sent to Kiev by the Allies .to deal with the Ukraine. This action was taken "to assist each region to attain a form of government which in future shall assure the durable existence of the Russian federation."
Constituent Assembly Dissolved.—A Renter's dispatch of January 20 stated that the Bolsheviki had dissolved the Constituent Assembly, which held its opening session January 18. At this session the anti-Bolshevik element succeeded in electing their candidate for chairman by a vote of 244 to 151. The Bolsheviki and extreme Social Revolutionists thereupon withdrew from the Assembly.
PEACE TERMS OF THE ALLIES.
Premier Lloyd George to Trades Union Conference.—On January 5 Premier Lloyd George, speaking for the government and the nation before the Trades Union Conference in London, stated in the plainest language the essential peace terms demanded by the Allies.
Two weeks earlier, on December 20, the Premier had addressed the House of Commons on the same theme. In this earlier speech he made a favorable report on the shipping and submarine situation, stating that whereas available ship tonnage was "down about 20 per cent, imports had decreased in volume only 6 per cent." Reviewing the military situation, he called attention to successes in Palestine, the aid of America, and the difficulties created by the Russo-German armistice. He forecast further levies on man power, to be drawn from young men hitherto held in essential industries. Re-stating peace terms, he declared that Russia's interests were out of the hands of the Allies, and that German colonies would not be restored.
In the later speech, on January 5, following Count Czernin's statement of December 25 and the concrete terms presented to Russia, the Premier modified somewhat the position taken in his previous utterance. He first announced that he had consulted national leaders and representatives of overseas dominions, and could claim to speak "not merely the mind of the government, but of the nation and of the empire as a whole." He denied a war of aggression against Germany or a desire to disrupt the German state and declared that while a really democratic constitution in Germany would make it much easier to conclude peace, that, after all, was "a question for the German people to decide." He declared the terms offered by Count Czernin vague and deceitful, a device on the part of Germany to make territories nominally independent but actually under the political and economic domination of the Central Powers. He stated the essential conditions of a permanent peace as follows:
"The first requirement, therefore, always put forward by the British Government and their allies, has been the complete restoration, political, territorial, and economic, of independence of Belgium and such reparation as can be made for the devastation of its towns and provinces.
"This is no demand for a war indemnity, such as that imposed on France by Germany in 1871. It is not an attempt to shift the cost of warlike operations from one belligerent to another, which may or may not be defensible. It is no more and no less than an insistence that before there can be any hope for stable peace, this great breach of the public law of Europe must be repudiated and so far as possible repaired.
"Reparation means recognition. Unless international right is recognized by insistence on payment for injury, done in defiance of its canons, it can never be a reality.
Restoration of Alsace-Loraine.—"Next comes the restoration of Serbia. Montenegro, and the occupied parts of France, Italy, and Rumania. The complete withdrawal of the allied (Teutonic) armies, and the reparation for injustice done is a fundamental condition of permanent peace.
"We mean to stand by the French democracy to the death in the demand they make for a reconsideration of the great wrong of 1871, when, without any regard to the wishes of the population, two French provinces were torn from the side of France and incorporated in the German Empire.
"This sore has poisoned the peace of Europe for half a century, and, until it is cured, healthy conditions will not have been restored. There can be no better illustration of the folly and wickedness of using a transient military success to violate national right.
Russia and the Allies.—"I will not attempt to deal with the question of the Russian territories now in German occupation. The Russian policy since the revolution has passed so rapidly through so many phases that it is difficult to speak without some suspension of judgment as to what the situation will be when the final terms of European peace come to be discussed.
"Russia accepted war with all its horrors because, true to her traditional guardianship of the weaker communities of her race, she stepped in to protect Serbia from a plot against her independence. It is this honorable sacrifice which not merely brought Russia into the war, but France as well.
"France, true to the conditions of her treaty with Russia, stood by her ally in a quarrel which was not her own. Her chivalrous respect for her treaty led to the wanton invasion of Belgium and the treaty obligations of Great Britain to that little land brought us into the war.
"The present rulers of Russia are now engaged, without any reference to the countries whom Russia brought into the war, in separate negotiations with their common enemy. I am indulging in no reproaches. I am merely stating the facts with a view to making it clear why Great Britain cannot be held accountable for decisions, taken in her absence, and concerning which she has not been consulted or her aid invoked.
Prussian Designs upon Russia.—"No one who knows Prussia and her designs upon Russia can for a moment doubt her ultimate intention. Whatever phrases she may use to delude Russia, she does not mean to surrender one of the fair provinces or cities of Russia now occupied by her forces. Under one name or another (and the name hardly matters) those Russian provinces will henceforth be in reality a part of the dominions of Prussia. They will be ruled by the Prussian sword in the interests of the Prussian autocracy, and the rest of the people of Russia will be partly enticed by specious phrases and partly bullied by the threat of continued war against an impotent army into a condition of complete economic and ultimate political enslavement to Germany.
"We all deplore the prospect. The democracy of this country means to stand to the last by the democracies of France and Italy and all our other allies. We shall be proud to stand side by side by the new democracy of Russia. So will America and so will France and Italy. But if the present rulers of Russia take action, which is independent of their allies, we have no means of intervening to arrest the catastrophe which is assuredly befalling their country. Russia can only be saved by her own people.
"We believe, however, that an independent Poland, comprising all those genuinely Polish elements who desire to form a part of it, is an urgent necessity for the stability of Western Europe.
"Similarly though we agree with President Wilson that a break-up of Austria-Hungary is no part of our war aims, we feel that unless genuine self-government on true democratic principles is granted to those Austro-Hungarian nationalities who have long desired it, it is impossible to hope for a removal of those causes of unrest in that part of Europe which have so long threatened the general peace.
"On the same grounds we regard as vital the satisfaction of the legitimate claims of the Italians for union with those of their own race and tongue. We also mean to press that justice be done to the men of Rumanian blood and speech in their legitimate aspirations. If these conditions are fulfilled, Austria-Hungary would become a power whose strength would conduce to the permanent peace and freedom of Europe instead of being merely an instrument to the pernicious military autocracy of Prussia that uses the resources of its allies for the furtherance of its own sinister purposes.
Turks to Keep Constantinople.—"Outside of Europe we believe that the same principles should be applied. While we do not challenge the maintenance of the Turkish Empire in the homelands of the Turkish race with its capital at Constantinople, the passage between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea being internationalized and neutralized, Arabia, Armenia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine are, in our judgment, entitled to a recognition of their separate national conditions.
"What the exact form of that recognition in each particular case should be need not here be discussed beyond stating that it would be impossible to restore to their former sovereignty the territories to which I have already referred.
"Much has been said about the arrangements we have entered into with our allies on this and on other subjects. I can only say that as the new circumstances, like the Russian collapse and the separate negotiations, have changed the conditions under which those arrangements were made, we are, and always have been, perfectly ready to discuss them with our allies.
Colonies to Settle Own Future.—"With regard to the German colonies, I have repeatedly declared that they are held at the disposal of a conference whose decision must have primary regard to the wishes and interests of the native inhabitants of such colonies. None of those territories is inhabited by Europeans. The governing consideration, therefore, must be that the inhabitants should be placed under the control of an administration acceptable to themselves, one of whose main purposes will be to prevent their exploitation for the benefit of European capitalists or governments.
"The natives live in their various tribal organizations under chiefs and councils who are competent to consult and speak for their tribes and members and thus to represent their wishes and interests in regard to their disposal. The general principle of national self-determination is, therefore as applicable in their cases as in those of the occupied European territories.
"The German declaration that the natives of the German colonies have through their military fidelity in war shown their attachment and resolve under all circumstances to remain with Germany is applicable, not to the German colonies generally, but only to one of them; and in that case, German East Africa, the German authorities secured the attachment, not of the native population as a whole, which is and remains profoundly anti-German, but only of a small warlike class, from whom their askaris, or soldiers, were selected. These they attached to themselves by conferring on them a highly privileged position, as against the bulk of the native population, which enabled these askaris to assume a lordly and oppressive superiority over the rest of the natives.
"By this and other means they secured the attachments of a very small and insignificant minority, whose interests were directly opposed to those of the rest of the population and for whom they have no right to speak. The German treatment of the native populations in their colonies has been such as amply to justify their fear of submitting the future of those colonies to the wishes of the natives themselves.
"Finally there must be reparation for the injuries done in violation of international law. The peace conference must not forget our seamen and the services they have rendered to and the outrages they have suffered for the common cause of freedom.
Must Have Permanent Settlement.—"One omission we notice in the proposal of the Central Powers which seems to us especially regrettable. It is desirable and essential that the settlement after this war shall be one which does not in itself bear the seed of future war. But that is not enough. However wisely and well we may make territorial and other arrangements, there will still be many subjects of international controversy. Some, indeed, are inevitable.
"Economic conditions at the end of the war will be in the highest degree difficult owing to the diversion of human effort to warlike pursuits. There must follow a world shortage of raw materials, which will increase the longer the war lasts, and it is inevitable that those countries which have control of raw materials will desire to help themselves and their friends first. Apart from this, whatever settlement is made will be suitable only to the circumstances under which it is made, and as those circumstances change, changes in the settlement will be called for.
"So long as the possibility of a dispute between nations continues—that is to say, so long as men and women are dominated by impassioned ambition and war is the only means of settling a dispute—all nations must live under a burden, not only of having from time to time to engage in it, but of being compelled to prepare for its possible outbreak.
"The crushing weight of modern armaments, the increasing evil of compulsory military service, the vast waste of wealth and effort involved in warlike preparation—these are blots on our civilization, of which every thinking individual must be ashamed. For these and other similar reasons we are confident that a great attempt must be made to establish, by some international organization, an alternative to war as a means of settling international disputes.
"After all, war is a relic of barbarism, and just as law has succeeded violence as a means of settling disputes between individuals, so we believe that it is destined ultimately to take the place of war in settlement of controversies between nations.
"If, then, we are asked what we are fighting for, we reply, as we have often replied, We are fighting for a just and lasting peace, and we believe that before permanent peace can be hoped for three conditions must be fulfilled: First, the sanctity of treaties must be re-established; secondly, a territorial settlement must be secured, based on the right of self-determination or the consent of the governed, and, lastly, we must seek, by the creation of some international organization, to limit the burden of armaments and, diminish the probability of war. On these conditions its peoples are prepared to make even greater sacrifices than those they have yet endured."
President Wilson's Peace Program.—In a message received with enthusiasm by all the allied peoples and warmly approved by nations still neutral. President Wilson, on January 8, re-stated before Congress the aims of the allied nations in the war. The specific terms were summarized in the following 14 points:
- Open covenants of peace without private international understandings.
- Absolute freedom of the seas in peace or war, except as they may be closed by international action.
- Removal of all economic barriers and establishment of equality of trade conditions among nations consenting to peace and associating themselves for its maintenance.
- Guarantees for the reduction of armaments to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.
- Impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon the principle that the peoples concerned have equal weight with the interest of the government.
- Evacuation of all Russian territory and opportunity for Russia's political development.
- Evacuation of Belgium without any attempt to limit her sovereignty.
- All French territory to be freed and restored, and reparation for the taking of Alsace-Lorraine.
- Readjustment of Italy's frontiers along clearly recognizable lines of nationality.
- Freest opportunity for autonomous development of the peoples of Austria-Hungary.
- Evacuation of Roumania, Serbia and Montenegro, with access to the sea for Serbia, and international guarantees of economic and political independence and territorial integrity of the Balkan States.
- Secure sovereignty for Turkey's portion of the Ottoman Empire, but with other nationalities under Turkish rule assured security of life and opportunity for autonomous development, with the Dardanelles permanently opened to all nations.
- Establishment of an independent Polish state, including territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, with free access to the sea, and political and economic independence and territorial integrity guaranteed by international covenant.
- General association of nations under specific covenants for mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to large and small states alike.
The speech in full follows:
Gentlemen of the Congress:
Once more, as repeatedly before, the spokesmen of the Central Empires have indicated their desire to discuss the objects of the war and the possible basis of a general peace. Parleys have been in progress at Brest-Litovsk between Russian representatives and representatives of the Central Powers, to which the attention of all the belligerents has been invited for the purpose of ascertaining whether it may be possible to extend these parleys into a general conference with regard to terms of peace and settlement. The Russian representatives presented not only a perfectly definite statement of the principles upon which they would be willing to conclude peace, but also an equally definite program of the concrete application of those principles. The representatives of the Central Powers, on their part, presented an outline of settlement which, if much less definite, seemed susceptible of liberal interpretation until their specific program of practical terms was added. That program proposed no concessions at all, either to the sovereignty of Russia or to the preferences of the population with whose fortunes it dealt, but meant, in a word, that the Central Empires were to keep every foot of territory their armed forces had occupied—every province, every city, every point of vantage—as a permanent addition to their territories and their power. It is a reasonable conjecture that the general principles of settlement which they at first suggested originated with the more liberal statesmen of Germany and Austria, the men who have begun to feel the force of their own peoples' thought and purpose, while the concrete terms of actual settlement came from the military leaders who have no thought but to keep what they have got. The negotiations have been broken off. The Russian representatives were sincere and in earnest. They cannot entertain such proposals of conquest and domination.
Full of Significance and Perplexity.—The whole incident is full of significance. It is also full of perplexity. With whom are the Russian representatives dealing? For whom are the representatives of the Central Empires speaking? Are they speaking for the majorities of their respective Parliaments or for the minority parties, that military and imperialistic minority which has so far dominated their whole policy and controlled the affairs of Turkey and of the Balkan States, which have felt obliged to become their associates in this war? The Russian representatives have insisted, very justly, very wisely, and in the true spirit of modern democracy that the conferences they have been holding with the Teutonic and Turkish statesmen should be held within open, not closed, doors, and all the world has been audience, as was desired. To whom, have we been listening, then? To those who speak the spirit and intention of the resolutions of the German Reichstag of the 9th of July last, the spirit and intention of the liberal leaders and parties of Germany, or to those who resist and defy that spirit and intention and insist upon conquest and subjugation? Or are we listening, in fact, to both, unreconciled and in open and hopeless contradiction? These are very serious and pregnant questions. Upon the answer to them depends the peace of the world.
Re-Statement of Specific Aims.—But whatever the results of the parleys at Brest-Litovsk, whatever the confusions of counsel and of purpose in the utterances of the spokesmen of the Central Empires, they have again attempted to acquaint the world with their objects in the war and have again challenged their adversaries to say what their objects are and what sort of settlement they would deem just and satisfactory. There is no good reason why that challenge should not be responded to, and responded to with the utmost candor. We did not wait for it. Not once, but again and again we have laid our whole thought and purpose before the world, not in general terms only, but each time with sufficient definition to make it clear what sort of definite terms of settlement must necessarily spring out of them. Within the last week Mr. Lloyd George has spoken with admirable candor and in admirable spirit for the people and government of Great Britain. There is no confusion of counsel among the adversaries of the Central Powers, no uncertainty of principle, no vagueness of detail. The only secrecy of counsel, the only lack of fearless frankness, the only failure to make definite statement of the objects of the war, lies with Germany and her allies. The issues of life and death hang upon these definitions. No statesman who has the least conception of his responsibility ought for a moment to permit himself to continue this tragical and outpouring of blood and treasure unless he is sure beyond a peradventure that the objects of the vital sacrifice are part and parcel of the very life of society and that the people for whom he speaks think them right and imperative as he does.
Response to Russia.—There is, moreover, a voice calling for these definitions of principle and of purpose which is, it seems to me, more thrilling and more compelling than any of the many moving voices with which the troubled air of the world is filled. It is the voice of the Russian people. They are prostrate and all but helpless, it would seem, before the grim power of Germany, which has hitherto known no relenting and no pity. Their power apparently is shattered. And yet their soul is not subservient. They will not yield either in principle or in action. Their conception of what is right, of what is humane and honorable for them to accept, has been stated with a frankness, a largeness of view, a generosity of spirit, and a universal human sympathy which must challenge the admiration of every friend of mankind; and they have refused to compound their ideals or desert others that they themselves may be safe, They call to us to say what it is that we desire, in what, if in anything, our purpose and our spirit differ from theirs; and I believe that the people of the United States would wish me to respond with utter simplicity and frankness. Whether their present leaders believe it or not, it is our heartfelt desire and hope that some way may be opened whereby we may be privileged to assist the people of Russia to attain their utmost hope of liberty and ordered peace.
No Secret Peace.—It will be our wish and purpose that the processes of peace, when they are begun, shall be absolutely open, and that they shall involve and permit henceforth no secret understandings of any kind. The day of conquest and aggrandizement is gone by; so is also the day of secret covenants entered into in the interest of particular governments and likely at some unlooked-for moment to upset the peace of the world. It is this happy fact, now clear to the view of every public man whose thoughts do not still linger in an age that is dead and gone, which makes it possible for every nation whose purposes are consistent with justice and the peace of the world to avow now or at any other time the objects it has in view.
We entered this war because violations of right had occurred which touched us to the quick and made the life of our own people impossible unless they were corrected and the world secured once for all against their recurrence. What we demand in this war, therefore, is nothing peculiar to ourselves. It is that the world be made fit and safe to live in; and particularly that it be made safe for every peace-loving nation which, like our own, wishes to live its own life, determine its own institutions, be assured of justice and fair dealings by the other peoples of the world, as against force and selfish aggression. All the people of the world are in effect partners in this interest and for our own part we see very clearly that unless justice be done to others it will not be done to us.
World's Peace Program.—The program of the world's peace, therefore, is our program, and that program, the only possible program, as we see it, is this:
I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind, but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.
II. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants.
III. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance.
IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will reduce to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.
V. Free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the population concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.
VI. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest co-operation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political development and national policy, and assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good-will, of their comprehension of her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and their intelligent and unselfish sympathy.
VII. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired.
VIII. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly 50 years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all.
IX. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality.
X. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity of autonomous development.
XI. Roumania, Serbia, and Montenegro, should be evacuated; occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea; and the relations of the several Balkan States to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan States should be entered into.
XII. The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.
XIII. An independent Polish State should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant.
XIV. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.
Stand Together to the End.—In regard to these essential rectifications of wrong and assertions of right, we feel ourselves to be intimate partners of all the governments and people associated together against the imperialists. We cannot be separated in interest or divided in purpose. We stand together until the end.
For such arrangements and covenants we are willing to fight and continue to fight until they are achieved; but only because we wish the right to prevail and desire a just and stable peace, such as can be secured only by removing the chief provocations to war, which this program does remove. We have no jealousy of German greatness, and there is nothing in this program that impairs it. We grudge her no achievement or distinction of learning or of pacific enterprise such as have made her record very bright and very enviable. We do not wish to injure her or to block in any way her legitimate influence or power. We do not wish to fight her either with arms or with hostile arrangements of trade, if she is willing to associate herself with us and the other peace-loving nations of the world in covenants of justice and law and fair dealing. We wish her only to accept a place of equality among the peoples of the world—the new world in which we now live—instead of a place of mastery.
Neither do we presume to suggest to her any alteration or modification of her institutions. But it is necessary, we must frankly say, and necessary as a preliminary to any intelligent dealings with her on our part, that we should know whom her spokesmen speak for when they speak to us, whether for the Reichstag majority or for the military party and the men whose creed is imperial domination.
We have spoken now, surely, in terms too concrete to admit of any further doubt or question. An evident principle runs through the whole program I have outlined. It is the principle of justice to all people and nationalities, and their right to live on equal terms of liberty and safety with one another, whether they be strong or weak. Unless this principle be made its foundation, no part of the structure of international justice can stand. The people of the United States could act upon no other principle, and to the vindication of this principle they are ready to devote their lives, their honor, and everything that they possess. The moral climax of this, the culminating and final war for human liberty, has come, and they are ready to put their own strength, their own highest purpose, their own integrity and devotion to the test.
UNITED STATES
Government Control of Railroads.—On December 26 President Wilson issued a proclamation declaring that on December 28 the government would take possession and assume control "of each and every system of transportation and the appurtenances thereof located wholly or in part within the boundaries of the continental United States, and consisting of railroads, and owned or controlled systems of coastwise and inland transportation, engaged in general transportation." This action did not include street and so-called interurban lines. Control of the railroads was vested in the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. McAdoo, who was appointed Director General of Railroads. The President stated that he would recommend to Congress a guaranteed income to the railroads based on the average of their net profits during the three years ending June 30, 1917. This was estimated to represent an average profit of 5.32 per cent.
Coal Shortage Forces National Shut-Down.—On January 17 Fuel Administrator H. A. Garfield issued a proclamation ordering that all industries (with certain exceptions named by War and Navy departments), all professional offices (except physicians, dentists, and government officials), all stores and business buildings, should use no fuel, save sufficient to prevent freezing, on January 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22, and on each Monday following up to and including March 25. The order included all states east of the Mississippi and also Minnesota and Louisiana. The purpose of the order was to save fuel and at the same time lessen the burden of freight on the railroads.
GERMANY
Prussian Reform Bills.—Three reform bills have been introduced in the Prussian lower house. They are summarized as follows in the Frankfurter Zeitung:
"The first bill regulates the Prussian franchise as follows: Every Prussian subject who has been such for at least three years, has resided in the same parish at least one year, and is at least 25 years of age, will be entitled to vote. Each elector will have one vote and all elections will be by secret ballot. In cases where no candidate obtains an absolute majority, a second ballot will be necessary. The bill also provides for the redistribution of seats, giving a slight increase to the number of representatives in the larger towns.
"The second bill modifies the right of the Prussian Herrenhaus as regards the control of finances. Whereas, heretofore, the Herrenhaus could adopt or reject a budget en bloc, now the bill provides that henceforth a budget may be discussed in detail and single clauses amended.
"The third bill deals with the reform of the Herrenhaus and proposes that it shall be thus composed : Ten representatives of the princely houses, 24 from the princes and counts, 26 from the remainder of the hereditary nobility. 36 burgomasters, 36 great land-owners, 36 representatives of commerce and industry, 76 from local governing bodies, both municipal and rural, 36 from agriculture, 36 from trades, 12 from the artisan class, 16 from the universities, and 16 ecclesiastics, while the Kaiser, as King of Prussia, will nominate 150 other peers, making a total of 510 representatives."
While apparently introducing a favorable extension of the franchise, the first bill has been criticized by the German Socialist press on the ground that it needlessly increases the age limit and restricts the labor vote by long residence requirements.
The bills reconstructing the Upper House, while increasing the representation of the cities and the moneyed classes, leave that body safely under the control of the Emperor and nobility; and at the same time the Upper House is given a greatly increased power over financial measures. "In future," according to the Westminster Gazette, "it will be able to reverse the decision of the Lower House upon any particular vote, while the government will have power to proceed with the expenditure of money, even if the budget is not voted."
SOUTH AMERICA
Additional Luxburg Dispatches.—On December 20, Secretary Lansing, acting in concert with the Argentina Foreign Office, published 38 further dispatches between the German charge at Buenos Aires and the Berlin Foreign Office, covering the period from July 7 to September 1, 1917, and dealing chiefly with negotiations in the Toro case and German intrigues in South America. The notes indicate that Count Luxburg regarded President Irgoyen of Argentina as favorably disposed, and sought through him to maintain a favorable attitude on the part of Argentina, Chili, and Bolivia. The notes are similar in tone to those published on September 8 and October 30, and contain little additional information.