With the "Die-Hards" in Siberia
by
John Ward

Part 4 out of 4



On another occasion I remember Admiral Koltchak's almost hopeless
despair when some truculent officers had used their weapons and badges
of rank to secure the persons of some Bolshevik prisoners, and
anticipating the decision of the court about to try them, shot them in
cold blood. He at once executed the officers and men who handed them
over, as well as such of those who took part in the conspiracy, even
though they claimed to be merely the avengers of their own murdered
families. Stern, impartial justice is part and parcel of this remarkable
man's character. It was this very trait which made Semianoff and the
Supreme Governor natural enemies.

The day that I arrived at Chita it was officially announced that
Semianoff had made his submission to the authority of Koltchak, and had
accepted an appointment in the Russian Army. My task therefore changed
its character; the proposed admonishment became a congratulation in a
very frank and friendly half-hour's interview, the colonel returning the
visit to my carriage later. Colonel Semianoff is one of the most
striking personalities I have met in Russia; a man of medium height,
with square broad shoulders, an enormous head, the size of which is
greatly enhanced by the flat, Mongol face, from which gleam two clear,
brilliant eyes that rather belong to an animal than a man. The whole
pose of the man is at first suspicious, alert, determined, like a tiger
ready to spring, to rend and tear, but in repose the change is
remarkable, and with a quiet smile upon the brown face the body relaxes.
Colonel Semianoff is a very pleasant personality. His great physical
strength has caused the Japanese to name him "Samurai," or "Brave Knight
of the Field," and I think that is a good description of his character.
Relentless and brave, kindness nevertheless finds a part in his make-up.
The princes of Mongolia have asked him to become their emperor, and
should he choose this path a whirlwind will pass over the neighbouring
lands. Perhaps underneath he is, after all, a good Russian--time will
tell. If his conversion is real he will add a tower of strength to the
Russian fighting forces.

At Harbin I heard a full explanation of the reason for the Mongolians
approaching Semianoff to become their emperor. Mongolia previous to the
Revolution was considered as under a loose sort of Russian protection.
Since the break-up of the Russian Empire the Japanese have cast longing
eyes upon this extensive country, which is supposed to belong to both
Russia and China but in reality it belongs to neither. The Japanese have
roamed all over the country during these last two years, and have spent
time and money lavishly in propaganda. They first tried to orientate the
Mongol mind towards a direct connection with themselves, but their
avarice and conceit offend all the people with whom they come into
contact. This direct method of getting control of Mongolia had therefore
to be abandoned in favour of a round-about but more dangerous policy.
Colonel Semianoff is only half Russian, his mother being a Mongolian
woman of high birth. He speaks Mongolian perfectly, and the Mongolians
claim him for their own. Semianoff admitted to me personally that he had
been subsidised all through by Japan. It was the Japanese who called the
Mongolian princes together and prevailed upon them to offer Semianoff
the title of Emperor of Mongolia. He had other fish to fry, however, but
when his other schemes fail, as I think they must, he will be quite
ready to play the Japanese game in Mongolia as faithfully as he did in
Siberia. Semianoff will be the puppet, but Japan will pull the strings;
that at least is their hope and belief.

About thirty versts west of Manchuli our train was stopped by a red
flag, and a railway workman informed us of a raid upon a homestead by
the side of the railway, the robbers having decamped two hours before
our arrival. The father had two bullets through his chest and one
through the right side of his neck, and had crawled a distance of over a
verst to give information. He was taken up on our train, and we went
forward to the scene of the tragedy. In the small wooden house, covered
with loose feathers, lay the dead body of the mother with her unborn
baby, near by lay a girl of about ten with her head terribly wounded. In
an outhouse was the body of their Chinese boy. My hospital orderly
rendered what aid was possible to the girl, who was carried by Madame
Frank to my carriage for conveyance to the hospital at Manchuli. A
civilian doctor declared both cases hopeless, and the depositions of the
man were taken. Briefly thus:

When the Bolsheviks first occupied Manchuli a railway workman of
anarchist tendencies was appointed Soviet Commissar of the district.
Afterwards, when the Bolshevik power was destroyed and their forces were
driven off the railway, the Bolshevik bands took to the forest, some
engaging in running contraband over the Chinese frontier, others forming
themselves into bands who not only robbed the isolated peasantry, but
forced young men to join them, and afterwards levied toll upon large
villages and small towns. About three in the morning this Bolshevik
Commissar knocked at the cottage door and asked the father to let him
come in, as he was very tired, having had a long journey with
contraband. Believing him to be alone, the man opened the door. The room
was immediately filled with armed men, who demanded his savings or his
life. The commissar, from his knowledge of such matters, believing his
savings to be in the feather pillow, ripped it open and found 4,600
roubles. Having collected all the other small articles of value in the
house, these innocent children of the Revolution held consultation on
the necessity of killing everybody who knew them to be Bolsheviks, so
that the crime should be cast upon the Chinese robber gangs who
occasionally raid Russian territory. This important point in the
regeneration of Russia settled, they shot the man in the chest, the
bullet coming out by the shoulder-blade. The wife, begging for the life
of her husband, was bayoneted, and the aroused Chinese workman was
dispatched with a rifle. Then these harmless idealists proceeded to
depart. So far they had not touched the girl, but the father, on
regaining consciousness, heard the closed door open again, saw the
leader of the "comrades" re-enter and pick up a small axe near the fire,
with which he proceeded to smash the head of the child. Nature in its
terrible revolt gave the father the power to raise himself slightly from
the floor in a vain effort to grapple with this representative of the
new regime. The commissar shouted: "What, still alive!" and fired two
more point-blank shots at the prostrate man.

It was entirely due to the tenacity of the father that the object of the
killing was frustrated and the identification of the scoundrels with the
Bolshevik commanders operating in this neighbourhood completed. I had
no time to pick up the trail and punish the murderers. What sort of
punishment the Tommies would have decided as necessary to fit the crime
is better imagined than described!

It was June when we passed over the Hinghan range, a series of sand
mountains of great extent which form the breeding-ground for numerous
herds of horses who spread themselves over the slopes and plains and
sometimes endanger the safety of the railway. Snow was falling in
clouds, and banked itself against the rails and telegraphs in a
surprising manner considering the time of the year. The summer of this
wild region lasts about two months--July and August--during which time
the sand becomes hot, and travelling is not comfortable. After crossing
the summit the plains fell gradually away, enabling the trains to move
with great rapidity, and in less than two days we struck Harbin, and
donned our topees and tropical clothes.

Harbin is the centre of Chinese and Russian political and financial
intrigue. Other races take a fair hand in the business, but the
predominance must be conceded to these two. There is some sort of
national feeling amongst the worst type of Russian speculator, but none
amongst the Chinese. The Harbin Chinaman is perfectly denationalised,
and ought, therefore, according to some standards of political
reckonings, to be the most ideal citizen in the world; but the world who
knows him hopes that for ever he may be exclusively confined to Harbin.
I had a long conversation with General Ghondati, one of the most
level-headed living statesmen of the old regime. All his hopes are
centred on the success of Admiral Koltchak in his efforts to secure
order to enable the National Assembly to consider the question of a
Constitutional Monarchy on England's pattern to be established at
Moscow. If this cannot be, he fears Russia's travail will last longer
and may be fatal to her existence. He was not himself opposed to a
Federal Republic, but was certain that without a head the undisciplined
semi-oriental elements would never accept the abolition of absolutism as
final. The Russian people have it in their bones to obey a leader; their
warlike nature precludes the possibility of their continued loyalty to a
junta, however able. A crown on top, with a parliament to control and
direct, would be the happiest solution of Russia's present difficulties.
He summed his theory up in these words: "A properly elected parliament
to make the law and rule, but there must be a monarch to issue its
orders."

Though this is the expressed opinion of what the Bolshevik would term
one of the "old regime," it is nevertheless the openly-expressed opinion
of the sensible leaders of every class of Russian society except
two--the Bolsheviks at one end, and the Absolutists at the other. More
than once already these two extremes have come close together to
frustrate the possibility of a compromise on constitutional lines. They
openly declare that, unless power is given to either one or the other,
they would prefer that the present anarchy should continue. It is not
the first time in revolutionary history that the adherents of autocracy
(Royalist and otherwise) have preferred the ruin of their country rather
than lose their own personal power.

Ghondati is a clear-headed patriot, and I am surprised that his counsel
has not been sought for in this supreme moment of his country's history.
His ideas relating to recognition by the Powers were rather remarkable.
He did not think that any country could give help to Russia without
either asking for conditions or being suspected of doing so. The only
exception was England. The reason England is not suspected is that her
Empire is so vast and varied in character that she has all the raw
material for her trade and all the space she requires for her surplus
population. Her help, unlike that of any other State so far, has been
unselfish and unconditional. Ghondati quite saw that "this fact was
producing a steady and permanent orientation of Russian opinion towards
England, which, if cultivated by British statesmanship, would eventually
give my country everything she required, while those whose help was
always surrounded with conditions would have great difficulty to retain
the advantages they secured only under the pressure of circumstances."




CHAPTER XXII

AMERICAN POLICY AND ITS RESULTS


At Nikolsk my train was stopped as the No. 4 Post train from Vladivostok
had been wrecked by Bolsheviks, a startling situation considering that
eleven months previously the whole power of Bolshevism had been
destroyed in these maritime provinces. The station commandant was an old
friend, who had given me his own private official carriage at the time
when our little yellow brother had decided to lower the prestige of his
white Ally in Eastern eyes by making British officers travel in
cattle-trucks. He came into my car and began to explain how the
cross-purposes of the American and Japanese forces were producing a
state of uncertainty and disorder as bad, if not worse, than existed
under the Bolshevik regime. Our conversation was cut short by the
receipt of a telegram from the station-master at Kraevesk. It was to the
effect that he was using his own line from his house, because a few
minutes previously a detachment of the Red Guard had entered the station
and, in the presence of the American soldiers who were guarding the
railway, had placed himself and his staff under arrest and taken
possession of the station; that the Reds had sent a message to Shmakovka
ordering all Russian railway officials and staff to leave their posts,
as the Bolshevik army, with the sanction of the American forces, was
about to take over the line. The Red Guard officer in proof of his order
stated "that fifteen American soldiers are now standing in the room from
which I am sending this message." Having issued these orders in the
presence of the Americans, they had removed the telegraph and telephone
apparatus, and the station-master wished to know what he was to do and
whether any help could be sent him. Imagine my utter astonishment at
this message, containing, as it undoubtedly did, evidence of
co-operation and understanding between the Bolshevik forces and one of
our Allies.

In one of my numerous interviews with Admiral Koltchak at Omsk he had
made some very serious statements regarding the American policy in the
Far East, which he feared would result in reproducing the previous state
of disorder. I assured him that the policy of the Allies was to resist
disorder and support order, and that I could not believe America had
come to Siberia to make his task more difficult, but to help him in
every reasonable way. He agreed that such was the intention of the
American people, but he feared that the American command was being used
for quite other purposes. His officers had informed him that out of
sixty liaison officers and translators with American Headquarters over
fifty were Russian Jews or the relatives of Russian Jews; some had been
exiled from Russia for political and other offences, and had returned as
American citizens, capable of influencing American policy in a direction
contrary to that desired by the American people. I assured him that
this could not be, and that his people might themselves in this matter
be under the influence of a near Eastern neighbour not friendly to
American interference in Eastern affairs, and that under this influence
they might greatly magnify the danger. My words seemed to ease the
admiral's mind, but he regretfully replied that the reports were so
voluminous and categorical in character that he thought I, as a
representative of the people of England, as well as an officer of His
Majesty's Army, ought to be made acquainted with the situation.

This matter had almost disappeared from my mind, but the message from
the station-master at Kraevesk revived it with the vividness of a sudden
blow. I at once determined to make myself acquainted as far as possible
with the policy of the American commanders, and with this object in view
I interviewed many American officers and soldiers. I found that both
officers and men were most anxious to render all the help possible to
maintain Koltchak's authority and crush disorder in the Far East, and,
as they put it, "justify their presence in Siberia." Many felt that at
the time they were only helping the Bolsheviks to recover their lost
hold upon the people by providing neutral territory for Bolshevik
propaganda; that when they arrived in the country in August, 1918, the
English, Czechs, and Japanese, with the aid of such Russian units as
then existed, had reduced the maritime provinces to order, but that
their own efforts had produced a state of affairs similar to, if not
worse than, those which existed during the actual Bolshevik occupation.
I learnt from these American troops that their officers and officials,
from General Graves downwards, had been in actual correspondence with
Red Guard officers, and that more than one understanding had been
arrived at between them; that for a time the ordinary American soldiers
thought the understanding between the two forces was so general and
friendly in character that no further hostile acts were to be
contemplated between them. It was true that this wrecking of trains and
attacks on the line guarded by American soldiers made things look
serious, but they felt sure that the confidence existing between the
American and Red Guard Headquarters was so well established that these
acts of brigandage could only be due to some misunderstanding. The
Kraevesk affair appeared to be only a symptom of a much wider policy,
and not the foolish act of a negligent subordinate officer.

Following up my inquiries there fell into my hands a letter, dated May
24, from the American officer (Captain ----) commanding the American
forces at Svagena, addressed to the officer commanding the Red Guard
operating in that district. The American officer addressed the Red Guard
commandant as a recognised officer of equal military standing. The
American officer complained that after a recent fraternisation of the
two forces which had taken place in accordance with previous
arrangements near the "wood mill," on the departure of the Red troops he
received reports that the Red Guard officer had ordered the destruction
of certain machinery at the mill, and had also torn up two sections of
the line at points east and west of the station at Svagena. The American
captain enumerated other accusations against the Red Guard, such as
threats to bayonet certain orderly disposed people who would not join
the Bolshevik army, and warned the Red Commissar that these acts were
contrary to the _agreement_ entered into by the chiefs of the American
and Red forces, and if such acts were repeated he would take steps to
punish those who committed such breaches of _their joint understanding_.

I think this letter from the American officer at Svagena is positive
proof of some local or general understanding between the American
authorities and the Red army operating in the maritime provinces, and
further, that this understanding had existed for many months; that it
was this understanding which prevented the American forces joining in
the combined Allied expedition to relieve the besieged Russian garrison
in the Suchan district; that under this American-Bolshevik agreement the
small scattered Red Guard bands who were dispersed by the Allies at the
battle of Dukoveskoie in August, have collected together and formed
definite military units. In other words, that the American policy,
unconsciously or otherwise, has produced a state of indecision amongst
the Allies, and unrest and anarchy amongst the population of the
Transbaikal and Ussurie Provinces, which may prove disastrous to the
rapid establishment of order in Russia.

There are other indications that the presence of the American forces in
Siberia has been used by somebody for purposes not purely American. The
business of the American command is to secure order in those districts
which have been placed under its control by the Council of Allied
Commanders. There is another self-evident and obvious duty, namely, to
shape their conduct in such manner as to create friendly relations with
such elements of Russian authority and order as are gradually appearing
here and there, under the influence of the Supreme Governor, and also
provide as little space and opportunity as possible for the collection
and reorganisation of the elements of disorder. The policy of the
American command, quite unintentionally perhaps, has been quite the
reverse. Their policy has resulted in turning every Russian authority
against them, or, where this has not happened, they have themselves
turned against Russian authority. They have prepared plans and created
opportunities for the reorganisation of the forces of disorder which, if
it does not actually create a serious situation for themselves, will do
so for those Allies who are trying to bring order out of chaos. The
reduction of the whole country to order, to enable it to decide its own
future form of Government, is as much an American as a British object.
That some sinister underground influence has deflected American policy
from this straight and honest course is quite obvious.

Contrary to general Allied opinion, the American command declared a
neutral zone in the Suchan district. Armed operations by Russian, i.e.
Admiral Koltchak's or Red Guard forces, were prohibited within this
zone. Lenin and Trotsky's officers jumped at this order and at once
began to collect their scattered forces together. Within three weeks
they raised their Bolshevik flag on their own headquarters, under the
protection of the flag of the United States. From this neutral American
zone the Bolsheviks organised their forces for attacking the Japanese on
the Amur, for destroying British and other supply trains on the Ussurie
Railway, and finally exchanged shots with the Russian sentries near
Vladivostok itself, always bolting back to the American zone when
attacked by the forces of the Supreme Governor.

The other Allies and the Russians having got the measure of this neutral
zone business, naturally took steps to protect their men and property,
and for a time the operations of this very energetic Lenin officer were
confined to robbing and destroying a few isolated villages in the
maritime provinces; but the utter absurdity of American policy was at
last brought home to the Americans themselves. The Red Guard commandant,
chafing under the restrictions imposed upon him by the Russian and
Japanese forces (in which the British also joined when Captain Edwards
could get near with his good ship _Kent_), decided to attack the
unsuspecting Americans themselves. The Red Guard were very clever in
their operations. The American troops were guarding the
Vladivostok-Suchan Railway; the neutral zone was situated at the extreme
end of the line. If the Red Guard had attacked the end near the zone
their tactics would have been discovered at once. They therefore usually
marched out from the American zone, made a detour through villages and
forest, and struck the railway at a point as far distant as possible.
Destroying a bit of line--perhaps, if they had good luck, burning a
bridge--they usually exchanged a few shots with the American troops, and
if pressed, marched back to the zone under the protection of a section
of the very forces they had been raiding. The American command naturally
became more vigilant on the distant sections of the line, and this
forced the Bolsheviks to operate nearer and nearer the protected zone;
but in the meantime they managed to kill several Russian soldiers, wound
a few Americans, and destroy five different sections of the railway.
Then they operated too near the zone, and the American troops pressed
them straight into their own zone, where, to add insult to injury, they
claimed that in accordance with the American proclamation they could not
be molested as military operations were prohibited within the zone!

Instead of proceeding to root out this nest of pirates, someone
suggested that a more comprehensive and binding arrangement was
necessary between the American and Red Guard forces, to prevent such
regrettable occurrences in future. It was common talk that a conference
between the Red Guard commander and General Graves, the American G.O.C.,
was actually arranged, but was dropped when the Supreme Governor's
representative in the Far East declared to General Graves personally
that his proposed conference with the enemies of the Russian Government
would be considered as a hostile act. The breaking off of these
negotiations caused great annoyance to the Soviet Government at Moscow,
and they ordered their commissars in Ussurie to use the forces which had
been organised under American protection to attack their protectors,
which they at once proceeded to do. This doubtless altered the
relationship of these two parties, though the chances are that the
powerful influence which forced the American commanders into this
ill-fated policy will be powerful enough to prevent an open American
declaration against the Reds in the Far East.

It is well at this stage to estimate the effect this American muddle has
had, and will continue to exert, upon the effort of the Allies to secure
some sort of order in the Russian Empire, and upon the position of the
Americans themselves in their future relations with the Russian people.
The American troops were spread over the whole province from Vladivostok
to Nevsniudinsk, a point just east of the Sea of Baikal. They were
almost entirely confined to the railway, but in this country the railway
is the centre and heart of all things. American policy at Vladivostok
applied to the whole of this area, which is really the Transbaikal
provinces, or all Siberia east of Baikal. In the early days of
September, 1918, when I passed with my battalion towards Omsk, this
immense area had been reduced to order by the efforts of the Allies, at
the head of which I place the gallant Czechs. The American forces
arrived too late to take part in the military operations, but began to
settle down to the work of administration with energy and ability. The
French moved forward after myself, and the Italian unit followed later,
leaving the American and Japanese, with such isolated local Russian
forces as had called themselves into being, in absolute possession of
Transbaikal Siberia. There was not a single band of Red Guards one
thousand strong in the whole territory. After nine months of Allied
occupation the Reds organised, largely under American protection, two
divisions (so called) of from 5,000 to 7,000 men, and numerous
subsidiary units of a few hundred, who murdered and robbed in every
direction, and destroyed every semblance of order which the Supreme
Governor and the Allies had with so much labour attempted to set up.
Thus this huge province in a short time descended from comparative order
to sporadic disorder, simply because America had no Russian policy of
her own, and rejected that of her friends.

It was a major mistake of England and France to leave America and Japan
cheek by jowl without a moderating influence, to wreck the good work
they had accomplished in the Far East. The rivalries of these two Powers
in this part of the world were well known and should have been provided
for. It was too much to expect that they would forget their concession
and trade rivalries in a disinterested effort to help Russia. States are
not usually philanthropic organisations, these two least of all. The
work has therefore to be largely done over again, either by us or by the
Supreme Governor, Admiral Koltchak. Or the Allies, finding the task too
great, may retire and allow this huge province, probably the wealthiest
part of the world, to recede back to the barbarism of the Bolshevik.




CHAPTER XXIII

JAPANESE POLICY AND ITS RESULTS


The lack of Allied cohesion produced by the defection of American policy
from that of the European Powers may change completely the status and
future of American enterprise in Siberia. America has transformed a
friendly population into at least a suspicious, if not a hostile, one.
Japan, on the other hand, has steadily pursued her special interests and
taken full advantage of every American mistake, until she is now looked
upon as the more important of the two.

The attitude of Japan to the Russian problem made a complete somersault
in the course of the year August, 1918, to August, 1919. When Japan sent
her 12th Division, under General Oie, to the Ussurie in 1918, she did so
with a definite policy. Her ambitions were entirely territorial in
character; they doubtless remain so. The line of her advance has,
however, completely changed. In 1918 she had made up her mind that
Germany was bound to win the war; that Russia was a conquered country;
that any day she might be called upon to repudiate her English alliance
and her Entente engagements, and assist Germany and her Bolshevik Allies
in driving the Entente Powers from the eastern end of the Tsar's
dominions. Provided Germany defeated the Allies on the Western front,
as she confidently anticipated, this task was well within her power. So
insignificant was the task assigned to her in this eventuality that she
confidently expected the immediate surrender of such scattered Allied
and American forces as would find themselves marooned in this back end
of the world. Believing this to be the position, she acted accordingly,
treating the Russians and the other Allied forces in the stupidly
arrogant manner I have already described. With the _naivete_ of a young
Eastern prodigy she not only made demands upon her Allies, but at the
same time made definite proposals to such Russian authorities as
retained a precarious control over the territory she had already
assigned to herself. On landing her troops at Vladivostok she presented,
through her proper diplomatic agents, to the commander of that province
a set of proposals which would have placed her in control of the Russian
maritime provinces. The Russian commander asked that these demands
should be put in writing, and the Japanese agent, after some demur,
agreed, on the understanding that the first demands should not be
considered as final but only as an instalment of others to come. The
first proposal was that Japan should advance the commander 150,000,000
roubles (old value) and the commander should sign an agreement giving
Japan possession of the foreshore and fishing rights up to Kamchatka, a
perpetual lease of the Engilsky mines, and the whole of the iron (less
that belonging to the Allies) to be found in Vladivostok.

The Town Commander appears to have been quite honest about the
business, for in correspondence he pointed out that he was not the
Government of Russia, neither could he sign the property or rights of
Russia away in the manner suggested. The Japanese reply was simple and
to the point: "Take our money and sign the agreement, and we will take
the risks about the validity." The old Directorate, with Avkzentieff,
Bolderoff & Co. standing sponsors for the Russian Convention, were
supposed to control Russian affairs at this time. Directly the
commandant refused to agree to the Japanese demands they transferred
their claims to the old Directorate. The Directorate sent Evanoff Renoff
to "Vlady" to conduct the negotiations, and I suppose to collect the
money. When I was at "Vlady," in June, 1919, huge stores of iron were
being collected, and some of it had already been shipped to Japan.
Avkzentieff was exiled and Bolderoff was living in comfort and safety in
Japan. These were the things that were above and could be seen; what
happened to the other part of the first instalment of Japanese proposals
for "helping" Russia will doubtless be known later.

At the end of August, 1918, it was decided that until some sort of
central authority to act as the organ of Government was set up, it was
futile to hope for the return of orderly government. For this purpose
the British went forward to Omsk and asked the Japanese to do likewise.
The Japanese would not move, first because they wished to consolidate
their power in the provinces nearest Japan, and secondly secure as many
concessions as possible before America arrived on the scene. When
America did arrive she still tarried to watch American operations. The
British moved off into the unknown with a 5,000-mile line of unguarded
communications; the Japanese, true to type, opened negotiations with the
Directorate for the absolute possession of the railway to the Urals, and
also asked what concessions she could expect to receive, territorial and
mineral, as compensation for the use of her army for the Directorate's
protection. A convention had just been signed, or was on the point of
signature, between the Japanese and the Directorate, placing the entire
railway under Japanese hands, when the Directorate fell. The first act
of the Supreme Governor, Admiral Koltchak, was to inform the Japanese
that the change in the Government involved a change in policy with
regard to the advance of Japanese troops and the occupation of the
railway. The Japanese protested, but the admiral stood firm.

This attitude of the Supreme Governor was a serious setback to Japanese
policy, and they became alarmed for their position in the Far East
should his authority extend in that direction; but it is not difficult
as a rule to find tools for any kind of work in Russia. Ataman Semianoff
had for some time been kept by the Japanese in reserve for such an
occasion. His forces were ranged around Chita, and his influence and
authority extended from the Manchurian border to Lake Baikal. On
receiving intimation of the change in policy from Admiral Koltchak, the
Japanese ordered Semianoff to repudiate the Supreme Governor's
authority; they gave the same instructions to Kalmakoff, who occupied a
similar position on the Ussurie Railway and so placed an effective
barrier between themselves, their Eastern concessions, and the Supreme
Governor. The Supreme Governor ordered his Staff to clear these two
mutineers off the line, but the Japanese Staff informed the Supreme
Governor that these two Russian patriots and their forces were under the
protection of Japan, and if necessary they would move the Japanese Army
forward to their succour.

The successful resistance of Semenoff and Kalmakoff to the Omsk
Government, backed up by the armed forces of one of the Allies, had a
disastrous effect upon the situation throughout Siberia. If Semianoff
and Kalmakoff could, with Allied help and encouragement, openly deride
the Omsk Government's orders, then it was clear to the uninitiated that
the Allies were hostile to the supreme Russian authority. If Semianoff
and Kalmakoff can wage successful hired resistance to orderly government
at the bidding of a foreign Power, why cannot we do so, to retain the
land and property we have stolen and prevent the proper administration
of justice for the crimes we have committed? It was intended as a
deliberate attack upon authority and an incentive to the disorderly
elements to continue the prevailing anarchy. A united, well organised
Russia is not the kind of Russia Japan wishes to see established. If
Japan is to succeed in her territorial ambitions in the Far East, Russia
must be kept in a state of mental disorder and physical paralysis.
Germany used the Russian love of conspiracy and intrigue to create
disorder and destroy the Muscovite power; Japan intends, if possible,
to continue that disorder for her own political reasons.

Directly it became known that Semianoff and Kalmakoff had set the Omsk
Government at defiance, numerous other would-be Semenoffs came on the
scene until the very residence of the Supreme Governor and his
Headquarters Staff scarcely escaped attack, and it became necessary to
show the British Tommy on the side of order. This was the position up
till the early days of December, 1918.

Just about this time the fact that Germany was beaten began to take
shape in the Japanese military mind, and the fact was hammered home by
the terms of the Armistice. For some days the Japanese Mission at Omsk
flatly refused to believe the cables; their national pride refused to
admit that they had so far misunderstood the power of Britain and her
Allies. It was a terrible awakening to the self-styled "Lords of the
East" that all their schemes should be brought to nought, that British
and American squadrons might be expected to cruise in the Sea of Japan,
and perhaps hold the scales fair between her and her temporarily
helpless neighbour. I do not suppose it will ever come to that, but such
was her fear. From this time on, while the objects of Japan in Siberia
were still the same, she pursued them by quite different methods.

The first sign of change was that Japanese soldiers were allowed to
salute British officers and were no longer allowed to use the butts of
their rifles on inoffensive Russian citizens. Their military trains no
longer conveyed contraband goods to their compatriots who had
_acquired_ the Russian business houses in the main trading centres along
the railway. The Staff no longer commandeered the best buildings in the
towns for alleged military purposes and immediately sub-let them to
private traders. Japan at once re-robed herself with the thin veil of
Western morals and conduct which she had rapturously discarded in 1914.
While Hun methods were in the ascendancy she adopted the worst of them
as her own. She is in everything the imitator _par excellence_, and
therefore apparently could not help herself.

The British and French mildly protested against the attitude of Japan
towards Semianoff and Kalmakoff, but it was continued until the anarchy
created threatened to frustrate every Allied effort. Not until the Peace
Conference had disclosed the situation did a change in policy take
place. From this time on the conduct of Japan (both civil and military)
became absolutely correct. President Wilson brought forward his famous,
but impossible, proposal that the different Russian belligerents should
agree to an armistice and hold a conference on the Turkish "Isle of
Dogs." If patriotism is the maintenance of such rules of human conduct
and national life as will justify one man in killing another, then no
Russian patriot could meet in friendly conference those who had
destroyed and murdered their own country and people. Russia during the
previous two years had shown that there could be no compromise between
anarchy and order, or their several adherents. This was, however, the
policy of America, and as such received the blessing of every
representative, Jew or Gentile, of the U.S.A. in Siberia. Japan saw a
kink in the American armour and took full advantage of the chance to
damage U.S.A. prestige. She rallied Russian patriotism to her side by
advising that no notice be taken of this harebrained suggestion. Japan's
advice received the secret blessing of both French and English who knew
the situation, though in our case we had to admit that the British
Premier had stood sponsor for this international monstrosity. This gave
Japanese diplomacy its first clear hold upon Russian patriotism and
enabled her to appear as a true friend of orderly government.

American diplomacy in Russia had received its first great shock, but
with careful handling it was still possible to recover the lost ground.
With the utter failure of the "Isle of Dogs" policy, Russian rage
quickly subsided and a normal condition soon returned. The Allies had
received a salutary warning, and most of them took the hint, but America
continued on her debatable course. Having failed diplomatically to
effect a compromise, she tried to force her views by military means. The
neutral zone system of her commanders was the natural outcome of
President Wilson's proposal. The intention was excellent, that the
results would be disastrous was never in doubt. It forced the American
command to adopt a sort of local recognition of the Red Army within the
zone, and enabled the Japanese to appear as the sole friend of Russian
order. The Japanese were attacked by Red forces collected in these
zones, with American soldiers standing as idle spectators of some of the
most desperate affairs between Red and Allied troops. Japan was
entitled to reap the kudos such a situation brought to her side, while
America could not expect to escape the severest censure.

Profiting by the blunders of her great antagonist, Japan managed in six
months to recover all the ground she had lost while suffering under the
illusion of a great Hun victory that was to give her the Lordship of the
East. From a blustering bandit she has become a humble helper of her
poor, sick, Russian neighbour. In which role she is most dangerous time
will show. The world as a rule has little faith in sudden conversions.

This, then, was the situation in the Far East in June, 1919. As I was
leaving Vladivostok I heard that the Red forces that had been organised
in the American neutral zones had at last boldly attacked their
protectors. If this was correct, it may be the reason why Admiral
Koltchak was able to report their defeat and rout over the Chinese
border and we were back again at the point at which British and Czech
co-operation had arrived a year previously.




CHAPTER XXIV

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS


Before we decide our policy as to withdrawal or otherwise from Russia it
is necessary to know whether we have contracted any obligations to the
Russian people, and what is the nature of such obligations, if any. Are
they moral, military, or political?

Towards the end of 1914, when our army had been driven back behind the
Marne and the future of Europe and our Empire was in the balance,
frantic appeals were made by British statesmen, and even by still more
august authority, asking Russia to rush to our aid and save us from
destruction. This appeal was backed by British public and Labour
opinion, and through our Press made a profound impression upon the
Russian people. The Russian Government, regardless of their best
military advice, forced their partially mobilised legions to make a
rapid flying raid into East Prussia, which immediately reduced the
pressure upon our own armies and made the victory of the Marne possible.
Hurriedly mobilised, imperfectly equipped, not too brilliantly led,
these legions, constituting the chivalry of Russia, became the prey of
Prussia's perfect military machine. The Russian Government never dared
to tell the Russian peasant the number of Russian souls who were
mutilated by high explosives and smothered in the cold Masurian marshes
in that sublime effort to save her friends. Russia lost as many men in
saving Paris during that raid as did all the other Allies in the first
year of the war.

Russia continued to fight and mobilise until 1917, by which time she had
collected a huge army of over twelve million men. The Hohenzollern
dynasty and its military advisers came to the conclusion that it would
soon be impossible to stem this human tide by ordinary military means,
and having a complete understanding of Russian psychology through its
dynastic and administrative agents, decided to undermine the _moral_ of
the Russian people. German "Black Books" were not employed against
British leaders exclusively. We need not wonder at the rapid spread
among Russians of suspicion against their civil and military leaders
when we remember that the same sort of propaganda admittedly influenced
the administration of justice in England. The people of Russia were true
to their friends, demoralisation and decomposition began at the head,
rapidly filtering down to the lowest strata of society.

If the Allied cause was deserted, it was the desertion of a ruling
class, not of a people or its army. German treachery wormed its way in
at the top, and so destroyed a great race it never could have conquered.

Having disorganised the Russian military machine, Germany sent her
agents to continue the disorder and prevent recovery. She secured the
Brest-Litovsk Treaty, and made a levy of several hundred millions
sterling upon her bailiffs, whom she put in possession of her
neighbour's property. Lenin and Trotsky found anarchy the most effective
weapon to further the interest of their masters and protect their
Eastern flank. A peace which virtually extended German conquest to the
hinterland of Tsing-Tchau was dangerous to every civilising influence in
the Far East.

The Bolshevik treaty was not less dangerous to Europe herself, since it
brought a war-like population of one hundred and eighty millions within
the sphere of German military influence.

The British Expeditionary Force was ordered to Siberia in June, 1918, to
assist the orderly elements of Russian society to reorganise themselves
under a national Government and to resurrect and reconstruct the Russian
front. Firstly, to enable Russia to resist German aggression; secondly,
to weaken German military power on the Western front, where at that time
she was again delivering hammer-blows at the gates of Paris. This
expedition was approved by every party and patriot in Britain, and the
only criticism offered at the time was that it should have been so long
delayed. Soviet power under German and Austrian direction had released
the German and Austrian prisoners of war, armed and organised them into
formidable armies to perform the double task of maintaining their
creatures in power at Moscow and extending their domination over a
helpless friendly Allied Power.

There was every reason for treating the Dictatorship of Lenin and
Trotsky as a mere side-show of the German military party; they were, in
fact, a branch of the military problem with which the Allies were bound
to deal. Under Entente direction anti-Bolshevik Governments were
established, and were promised the unstinted help of the Allies to
recover their territory and expel the agents of the enemy who had so
foully polluted their own home. It was on this understanding that
Admiral Koltchak, by herculean efforts, hurled the German hirelings over
the Urals, and awaited near Vatka the advance of the Allies from
Archangel preparatory to a march on Petrograd. Alas! he waited for seven
long months in vain; the Allies never came! After expending his last
ounce of energy and getting so near to final victory, we failed him at
the post. Why?

The menace to our own armies in France had disappeared; there was, I
suppose, no longer an urgent necessity to re-establish the Russian
front, though the possibility of such re-establishment had kept huge
German forces practically demobilised near the Russian and Ukrainian
frontiers. Koltchak and his gallant comrade Denikin had served the
Entente purpose. Lenin and Trotsky, by wholesale intimidation and
murder, had aroused the enthusiasm of similarly disposed compatriots in
Allied countries. These compatriots were becoming noisy in the
constituencies. The establishment of order to enable the Russian people
to establish a clean democratic Government, and arise from their
nightmare of unbridled anarchy, while very desirable in itself, was not
a good party cry in any of the Western democracies. I grant all these
things; but what about honour? Has this no longer any place in the
political curriculum of the Allied Powers?

These are only some of the things it is necessary to remember before we
finally decide to desert a temporarily sick friend. If I were the ruler
of a state I should pray the gods to preserve me from half-hearted
Allies and over-cautious friends. If I wished to help a fallen state or
lend an honest hand in a great cause, whether it were to eradicate a
hideous and fatal national malady or assert a principle of right and
justice, first shield me from the palsy of Allied diplomacy! One
clear-sighted, honest helper is worth a dozen powerful aiders whose main
business is to put obstacles in each other's way.

If we were discussing the question of Allied interference before the
fact, I could give many reasons for remaining neutral; but we have to
recognise that for their own purposes they have interfered, that their
Military Missions and forces have been operating in the country for over
a year, during which time they have made commitments and given pledges
of a more or less binding character. That these commitments and pledges
are not the irresponsible acts of subordinates on the spot, but have
been made by Allied statesmen, both in and out of their several
Parliaments; and in this respect our national leaders are no exception
to the rule. Without filling my pages with quotations, readers will be
able to find and tabulate such for themselves. So categorical are the
nature of these that it is impossible to imagine them to have been made
without fully understanding their import and significance to the
orderly section of the Russian people who, on the faith of these
pledges, gave us their trust.

It cannot, therefore, be a discussion upon interference or
non-interference; _that_ has long since been disposed of by our words
and acts. It is now a question whether we shall withdraw from Russia
because we have thought fit to change our attitude to the Russian
problem. It is certain that our decision to-day upon this subject will
decide our future relations with this great people. If you desert a
friend in his hour of need, you cannot expect that he will be
particularly anxious to help you when he has thrown off his ill-health
and is in a position to give valuable help to those who gave succour in
his distress.

If our desertion turns this people from us, they will become the prey of
our recent enemies, and if that happens we can prate about the Treaty of
Paris as much as we like. The Teuton will have more than balanced the
account.



Index


Absolutists, Russian
Affinasiaff, General, headquarters of
Allies, the,
a Russian reaction against
policy for resurrection of Russia
All-Russian Government, the formation of
America
and Siberia
and the Far East
her "neutral zone" in the Suchan district
American policy and its results
Americans
arrive at Vladivostok
an agreement with Bolsheviks
Anghara River
Anglo-Russian infantry brigade, formation of
Antonovka
a critical position at
Cossack position at
Kalmakoff, surprised at
Antonovsky, General, intrigues of
Archangel
an Anglo-American force at
failure of a projected march on Petrograd from
Argunoff exiled
Armistice between Germany and Entente Powers
Armoured trains, a duel between
Avkzentieff and Chernoff
exiled
President of Council of Ministers

Baikal
a titanic struggle at
arrival at
Baikal Sea (_see_ Lake Baikal)
Barabinsk
a meeting at
the market at
Bath, Captain
Beloff, General, intrigues of
Berwkoff, death of
Bezovsky, Colonel, and a Cossack parade
Blizzard, gales and frost in Siberia
Bogotol, a meeting at
Bolderoff, General
and Japanese demands
confers with Koltchak at Petropalovsk
in consultation with Czech National Council in Japan
Bolsaar, Lieutenant
Bolshevik
losses at Perm
method of military organisation,
Bolsheviks
an agreement with Americans
atrocities of
author's address to
disguised as Russian soldiers
recognised as legitimate belligerents
successes of
their conception of treachery
train-wrecking by
utter demoralisation of
Boulton, Quartermaster-Captain
Bowes, General
Brest-Litovsk Treaty, the
British Expeditionary Force ordered to Siberia
British Military Mission placed under arrest
Browne, Captain
Browne, Major
inspects guards of honour at Krasnoyarsk
Buckley, Lieutenant
Budburg, von, and an alleged Allied force

Canadians
arrive in Siberia
insubordination among
Chernoff, President of Social Revolutionary party
Chilliyabinsk, a visit to
Chinese Eastern Railway, American control of
Chinese
entertain British at Harbin
friendship for the English
frontier, State prisoners conveyed to
robber bands of Mongolia
Chita
an incident at
Bolshevik "kultur" at
Japanese at
Royalist conspiracies at
Clark, Captain, and Dukoveskoie battle
Coleman, Sergeant, of the Durham L.I.
Cornish-Bowden, Second Lieutenant, and the political exiles
Cossacks, horsemanship of
Czech National Army, the, presentation of colours to
Czechs
a tribute to their gunnery
and the question of a Dictatorship
defection of
defensive tactics of
frustrate a Bolshevik scheme
mutilated by Bolsheviks

Denikin, General
makes submission to Koltchak
Detriks, General
reports on military situation
visits the front
Directorate and Government, members of, arrested
Directorate of Five, the
dissolved
Dukoveskoie
a new line at
battle of
Dust-storms, Siberian
Dutoff, General
reports Bolshevik treachery

Easter at Perm
Eastman, Captain
Education, the Church and
Edwards, Captain
Ekaterinburg
an invitation from
meetings of railwaymen at
Eliot, Sir Charles, British High Commissioner
Elmsley, Brigadier-General
European Russia, a visit to

Frank, Colonel R. Antonivitch, author's liaison officer
an exciting incident at Krasnoyarsk
Frank, Madame
acts as correspondent and translator for labour missions
commands a company in the trenches
conveys a Bolshevik victim to hospital
Frazer, David, _Times_ correspondent
French, the, and General Knox's mission
form a German Legion
"prestige" of
protect Serbian ruffians
their influence in Omsk
French-Tonquin Battalion, the
Fugi, General, and his command

Gaida, General
and Pepelaieff
arrests Czech soldiers
author's introduction to
captures Perm
resigns his Czech commission.
surrender of Red Guards to
Galitzin, General Count
and the Perm offensive
personality of
Ganin, General, a strange order from
and his command
decorates Allied representatives,
releases enemy prisoners
the Omsk Government and
George V., King, letter to President Wilson
German-Magyar-Chinese combination, the
Germans, enterprise of
sanguine of victory in world war
"Germans of the East"
Ghondati, General, his hopes and fears
Glashoff, a seven months' wait at
Golovaehoff, M., meets author
Gordon, Regimental Sergt.-Major
Graves, General, and the Bolsheviks

Hachinsk, author at
Hampshire Territorials arrive at Omsk
move to Ekaterinburg, 222
Harbin, author's reception at
political and financial intrigues in
question of travelling accommodation at
Hazelar, a parade service at
Hepoff, General, a story of
Hinghan Range, the
Hodgson, Mr., British consul
Hong-Kong, "Die-Hards'" departure from
"Hovart's Army"

Imokentievskaya, a workmen's meeting at
Inagaki, Colonel
"Intelligenzia," the
(_cf._ Kerensky)
International World Workers, the
Irkutsk, author opens his campaign at
arrival at
Bolshevik "kultur" in
Japanese traders at
much-needed rifles at
welcome to Middlesex Regiment at

Japan and the maritime provinces
her attitude to Siberians
intervention of
policy in the Far East
Japanese, a promise countermanded
and "class" carriages for British officers
and Semianoff
and the English flag
bugle band, a
casualties at Dukoveskoie and Kraevesk
changed attitude of, after the Armistice
charge an armoured train
propaganda in Omsk
retire without notice
their contempt for Russians
their mistrust of Allies
Johnson, Lieut.-Colonel, and his command
introduced to Koltchak

Kalmakoff, Ataman, Cossack commander
a forced retirement
dismisses his second in command
Japanese orders to
Kameragh, railway troubles at
Kanaka, General, Japanese Chief of Staff
Kansk, an address to workmen at
revolt at
Katanaev, Lieut.-Colonel, placed under arrest
_Kent_
Kerensky destroys old Russian army
Kerensky and Korniloff
Intelligenzia party of
Russian opinion of
Khama River, evidences of Terrorist atrocities in,
moving ice on the
King, Lieutenant T.E., of Middlesex Regiment
Klukvinah, enemy defeat at
Knox, General, a conference with
a decoration for
and the railway revolt
at Taiga
inoculated against typhus
Japanese insult to
object of his mission
patriotic speech by
removes to Ekaterinburg
Siberian tour of
tribute to
Koltchak, Admiral, accepts supreme authority
Allied felicitations to
an unexpected conference with Bolderoff
and an Allied appointment
and the arrest of members of the Council
and the Czech ceremony
and the December revolt
and the Omsk _coup d'etat_
assurances on the labour problem
author's farewell interviews with
becomes Minister for War
impartial justice of
intrigues against
on American policy in the Far East
orders arrest of Czechs
personality of
receives reports of author's mission
tenders his resignation
tribute to
visits Ural fronts
Korniloff, General, Kerensky's order to
Koulomsino, Bolsheviks at
Kraevesk, battle of
startling news from
"the station without a town,"
visited by author
Krasilnikoff, Lieut-Colonel, placed under arrest
Krasnoyarsk, an incident at a banquet at
an interview with Gen. Rosanoff at
arrival at
author's addresses at
Bolsheviks in
Colonel Frank wounded by Serbs at
derelict war material at
international intrigues at
Kunghure front, a visit to the
Kushva, evidences of Bolshevik rule in
mineral deposits of
the Bolshevik Commissar of
the Watkin Works and its heroes

Lake Baikal
an autumn sunrise on
Lebediff, Colonel (afterwards General)
a warning to
Ledwards, Mr., British Vice-Consul at Nikolsk
Lenin
Lisvin front, a visit to the

Machinery, German _v_. English
Malley, Major, friendly relations with
his command
Manchuli, a much-talked-of incident at
Bolshevik atrocities at
Japanese Division at
Manchuria, plains of
Manchurian-Chinese Eastern Railway, the
Manchurian front, conditions on the
Marca, author's Cossack attendant
Matkofsky, General, welcomes author at Omsk
Middlesex Regiment (25th Battalion) and battle of Dukoveskoie
leaves Hong-Kong for Siberia
machine-gun section of
welcomed in Irkutsk
Mitchel
bravery of
Moffat, Petty Officer, his Naval party surrounded,
Mongolia, plains of
robber bands of
Tartars of
the Japanese and
Mongolians ask Semianoff to become their Emperor
Moorman, Lance-Corporal
Morrisy, Lieut.-Colonel, of Canadian contingent
Mosquitoes In Siberia,
Munro, Lieutenant, brings comforts for soldiers
Murray, Captain Wolfe, commands armoured trains from _Suffolk_
Muto, General, and Japanese propaganda

Nadegenska, steelworks of
Nash, Consul, as host
Navy, the, artillery assistance by
Neilson, Lieut.-Col. J.F.
Nesniodinsk, an address to workmen at
Nevanisk, before and after Bolshevik rule
Nicholas II., Tsar, abolishes vodka
his prison
murder of
Nikolioff, Colonel, and surrendered Bolsheviks
Nikolsk, a courteous station-master
arrival at
Bolshevik "kultur" at
Japanese headquarters at
Niloy-ugol, the barracks at
Novo Nikoliosk, author at
enemy prisoners released at

Oie, General, an urgent message from
headquarters of
thanks British
Olhanka, Czech and Cossack retirement from
Omsk, a _coup d'etat_ in
a dust-storm in
arrival at
blizzard, gales and frost in
Canadians arrive at
comforts for the troops
disappearance of British influence in
friendships formed at
terrible days in
the political situation in
revisited
Otani, General, orders to author

Paris, a bombshell from, and the effect
Paris Council, the,
and the pressure on French front
Pastokova, Madame, author's meeting with
Pastrokoff, Mr.
relates an incident of relief of Perm
Payne, Commodore
a paraphrased cable from War Office
provides artillery assistance
Peacock, Consul, and the imprisonment of an Australian
Pepelaieff, General, conference with
meets General Gaida
plight of his army
the Perm offensive
Perm, a French Mission arrives at
a meeting in railway works at
a suggested advance on
an incident of relief of
Bolshevik atrocities in
capture of
high prices and rate of exchange at
increased wages under Bolshevik rule
the opposing forces at battle of
the Orthodox Easter celebration at
Petrograd, failure of a projected march on
Petropalovsk, an eventful conference at
Pichon, Major, and the Japanese commander
author's tribute to
consultation with author
his command
informs author of Armistice terms
thanked by author
Pickford, Brigadier, and the Canadian troops
Plisshkoff, General, and his command
Pomerensiv, Captain, a consultation with
a present from
Poole, General
Pootenseiff, General Evan, his farewell to author
Preston, Mr., British Consul at Ekaterinburg
evidence as to Bolshevik outrages
Prickly heat

Renault, Monsieur, French representative at Omsk
Renoff, General Evanoff
a cipher message from
and the Japanese demands
Roberts, Captain
Robertson, Colonel
Rogovsky, exile of
Rosanoff, General, Bolderoff's Chief of Staff
in command at Krasnoyarsk
Royalist and Bolshevist conspiracy, a
Runovka, an entertaining duel at
Cossack position at
enemy success at
Russia, a political crisis in
a reaction against European Allies in
aim of Allied "politicals" in
an unholy partnership in
German treachery in
hard lot of workmen in
labour problem in
murder of the Tsar
peasantry of
railway troubles in
the herald of Spring in
the puzzle of Allied help to
Russian Army, the, mutiny in
"Bill of Rights," the
democracy: the Soviet basis of
Headquarters, British in possession of
political exiles conveyed to Chinese frontier
Russians, emotionalism of
religious instincts of
Royalist sympathies of officers

Sand dunes of Mongolia
Savinoff, trial of
Semianoff, Colonel, agent of Japanese traders
and the political exiles
makes submission to Koltchak
personality of
repudiates Koltchak's authority
revenue from railway carriages
Serbian soldiers, an exciting adventure with
Sheep, Mongolian
Shmakovka, Allies at
armoured trains dispatched from
enemy centre at
Siberia, a belated expedition to
American policy and its results
and the Allies
arrival of Canadians in
derelict corn in
Government of
Japanese policy and its results
mosquitoes in
reason for British intervention in
Siberian Cossack Regiment (2nd), parade of
Siberian Rifles, presentation of colours to
Sly, Mr., British Consul at Harbin
Social Revolutionary party, the
a fateful proclamation by
and the new army
Soldiers' Councils established
Soviets and Russian democracy
Spascoe, author's headquarters at
British quarters at
Stephan, Captain (now Major)
Czech commander
his services to Allies
Stephani, Captain
Stephanik, General, the Legion of Honour for
Suchan district, a neutral zone in
_Suffolk_
Sukin, M.
Sungary, River
Surovey, General
releases Czech prisoners
Svagena, an American-Bolshevik agreement at
arrival at
Czech retirement on
Japanese at

Taiga, a successful meeting at
Taighill, Bolshevik destruction at
Tartar herdsmen, Mongolian
Terrorists (_see_ Bolsheviks)
Teutonic penetration and Bolshevism
Titoff, trial of
Tomsk, the Siberian Districts Duma
Trotsky
Tumen, author addresses workmen at
Typhus in European Russia

Ufa Directorate, the
United States (_see_ America)
Ural front, question of supplies for
Urals, the, mineral wealth of
Uspenkie
Ussurie front, critical conditions on
Ussurie operations, completion of

Vackneah Turansky Works, the
Vatka
Ventris, Major-General F.
Verzbitsky, General
and the battle of Perm
Vladimir
Vladivostok, Americans arrive at
arrival of Canadians at
author's arrival at
Japanese arrival at
Japanese demands to Town Commander of
iron shipped to Japan
Volagodsky, President of Siberian Council
Volkov, Colonel, placed under arrest

Ward, Colonel John, a Bolshevik
surrender and an object-lesson
a guard of soldier "monks"
addresses surrendered Red Guards
an interview with Major Pichon
an urgent message from Japanese commander
and December Royalist and Bolshevist conspiracy
and the Kraevesk affair
and the Omsk _coup d'etat_
appeals to working men and women at Irkutsk
arrives at Vladivostok
as administrator
at banquet in honour of All-Russian Government
at Irkutsk
attends Allied commanders' council
attends an Orthodox Easter celebration
created a C.B.
entrains for Ussurie front
exciting experiences at Krasnoyarsk
experiences of the "hidden hand"
farewell interviews with Koltchak
homeward bound
in European Russia
inquires into railwaymen's grievances
leaves Hong-Kong for Siberia
made an Ataman
official reports on Omsk situation
officialdom--and a proposed attack
on the labour problem in Russia
ordered to Omsk
receives the Croix de Guerre
reports result of his mission
requests removal of his headquarters
revisits Omsk
speech at Svagena
straight talk with a Japanese officer
the Manchuli incident and an explanation
visits a Tartar herdsman's abode
visits Ural fronts
witnesses a duel between armoured trains
Webb, Sergeant, death of
Wilson, President, his impossible proposal
King George's letter to
Wolves, Mongolian
Women's suffrage, question of

Zema, a stop at, and the cause
a successful meeting at
houses searched and arms seized
Zenzinoff and Chernoff
exiled
Zochinko, General





 


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