THE RUSSIAN SITUATION.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16146, 26 February 1918, Page 7

THE RUSSIAN SITUATION.

GERMAN PEACE DEMANDS. ' DRASTIC TERMS IMPOSED. (By Cable.—Prc&s Association. —Copyright.) , (Australian and X.Z. Cablo Association.) (Reuter's T-eleg:flms-) Admiralty por tireless Press. LONDON, February 24. A Russian official communique states'- — , Replying to the Russian proposal 3 of Fobruary 19th, Germany on February 21st intimated her readiness to conclude peace on the following terms: (1) Germany and Russia shall declare the state of war ended. (2) The regions west of the lino indicated at the Brest-Litorsk Conference to the Russian delegation formerly belonging to Russia are no longer under Russian territorial protection. In the region of Dvinslc this line must be advanced to the eastern frontier of Courland. Germany and Austria-Hungary will define the further fate of these regions in agreement with their population. (3) Livonia and Esthonia must immediately be cleared of Russian troops and Red Guards, and bo occupied by German police till security is guaranteed by their constitutions. (4) Russia will conclude peace with the Ukraine and evacuate the Ukraine and Finland. (5) Russia will do her utmost to secure the orderly return of Eastern Anatolian frontiers to Turkey. (G) Complete demobilisation of tbe Russian Army. (7) The Russian fleets. including warships of the Entente Powers, must be kept in Russian harbours till a general peace is signed or till they are disarmed. (8) The Russo-German Commercial Treatv of 1904 comes into force. Free export of ores must be guaranteed, and a new commercial treaty must bo negotiated. (9) Legal and political relations shall be regulated in accordance with the first German-Russian Convention. (10) Russia promises to end propaganda aeainst the Quadruple Alliance. (11) These conditions must be accepted within 48 hours. _ The Russian plenipotentiaries must sign at BrestLitovsk within three days, and rhe reace treaty must be ratified in writing. RUSSIA'S ACCEPTANCE ANNOUNCED. (Australian and N.Z. Cablo Association.) CReuter'* Telegrams.) (Received February 25th, 8 p.m.) LONDON, February 24. A Russian official report states: — "Lenin and Trotzky have sent a message to Berlin conveying Russia's acceptance of the Germans' peace conditions. Thoy are sending a delegation to Brest Litovsk." THE INVADER'S PROGRESS. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) (Bcuter's Tnlegrama.) LONDON, February 24. A German official message says:— "We advanced by forced marches in Esthonia, the enemy resisting at some points. "We are approaching Reval. "We took prisoner 1000 men anfl liberated 600 Austrians and Germans in Valk. "We captured OstrofF (35 miles south of Pskoff), taking 1000 prisoners. "General von Linsingen entered Iskoroff." HOW DVINSK WAS TAKEN. (Australian and Iv.Z. Cablo Association.) PETROGRAD, February 24. The chairman of the Soviet states that Dvinsk was taken by only 1(J0 Germans, owing to the members of the local committee losing their' heads. The committee will be tried by a revolutionary tribunal. The advance of the Germans has aroused the masses, who are rapidly enrolling to the defence of the capital, where martial law has been proclaimed.

A drastic Press censorship has been > established, and there nro stringent > regulations against looting. Persons possessing arms hnv© been ordered to ■ hand them over to the military.' , SIDELIGHTS OX THE INVASION. 1 (Received February 2oth, 8.30 p.m.) | LONDON, February 25. Tho "Morning Post" states that tho Germans are moving oil Petrograd at the rate of fully 50 miles a day, by motor-car dashes. They aro capturing everything, and spreading Jennie eastwards. Specialist troopers are acting as advance guards, supported by aeroplanes. Small bodies of those specialists dash right through tho principal towns, often without attracting notice. Then they cut tho railways. and stop tho roads beyond, thus preventing the withdrawal of any war material. Other Germans then follow, and securc all tho booty intact. Thoir main difficulty is to destroy tho hooligan crowds of criminals or wander, ing soldiers, who seize the opportunity, with crics of "Kill the bourgeoisie,'' to run amok in tho townships pillaging, killing men, violating women, and carrying off girls. Tho hooligans arc all armed, so the Germans shoot thom at sight. Owing to these hooligans many towns welcome the arrival of tho Germans. Meanwhile tho Lenin Government has proclaimed a holy war. They call upon all men from 17 to 55 to defend tho country, but practically all tho artillery has now been captured, and there are enough Gorman prisoners, with officers, in Petrograd to deal with tho extremists when Germany gives tho word. The Germans at present are not seeking to reach Potrograd, which would be merely spectacular. They are driving at lightning speed to reach tho railways about Bologdio, midway octween Petrograd and Moscow. The Grand Duko of Hesse has been appointed Commandor-in-Chief of tho Riga section of the German front because his sister, the ox-Empress Alexandra, is guardian of th 6 Czarevitch, and is a favourite German candidate for the Russian throne. It is ceram that Nicholas will not accept the throne from the Germans. DEFENCE OF PETROGRAD. (Rcuter'a Telegrams.) (Rec3ived February 25th, S p.m.) PETROGRAD*, February 24. The enrolment of volunteors to defend the capital is proceeding rapidly. Ii is anticipated that 50.C00 men will be under arms in a few days, besides tho soldiers who desire to fight. Special Socialist regiments are being formed from the Esthonian. Lettish, and

3lussuiman regiments in Petrograd, Many women wish to take up arms against the Germans, and the supporters of General Kaledin. The same thing is happening in Kieff, Moscow, and Pskoff. CONFLICTING PROCLAMATIONS. ("The Times ") PETROGRAD. February 24. 3Lany non-Bolsheviks and Socialists favour guerrilla warfare, believing thai the proletariat of the Central Power: will yet rise. The commissaries, however, plead that they must, like the defeated strikers, accept the enemy's terms to rescue the country and the revolution from ruin and exhaustion. Tlie Commissaries arc issuing a pandemonium of decrees, proclamations, and exhortations, first stating that the Germans intend to restore the landlords, hankers, and the monarchy, and calling on all workers to enrol iu the Red Army to expel from tho ranks and wipe off the face of the earth all hooligans and cowards; then an hour later announcing their readiness to accept the German terms. The perplexed peasants and soldiers are hurrying back to tho village faster than ever. This means that a new national forco must necessarily be raised from the unemployed, whose increasing numbers, owing to the Bolsheviks' policy of closing the mills and factories, are becoming a serious danger. STATEMENTS BY LENIN AND TROTZKY. ("TEo Times.") (Received February 25th, 8.30 p.m.) PETROGRAD, February 24. Lenin, urging the acceptance of the German terms, stated that tho army was retreating, demoralised. It refused to fight. Ho declined to remain in tho Government, which was relying on mere phrases. Tho Commissaries havo suppressed tho anti-Soviet papers, but ordered tho managers to continue to pay wages to their staffs. Wild panio has seized the Seventh and Eleventh Armies which aro retreating in disorder. Trbtzky, in an interview, declared: We hare no army. It lias been in a stato of rebellion for three months. Crowds continued to live in the trenches but waited tho first chance to escape. ADVICE OF FRENCH SOUGHT. PARIS, February 24. Telegrams from Petrograd indicate that the Council of Commissaries Ju>s Tesolved on resistance. The Conncil lias sounded the French Mission, under General Disselle, on the organisation of the defence. A TELL-TALE MAP. PAHIS, February 24. The "Matin" states that a so-called ethnographical map, published • rt Berno in 1917 by German propagandists, shows the delimitation or t£e Ukrainian and Polish frontiers as defined by the Brest-Litovslc Conference., It shows that the Western frontier given to Russia would ran by PskaiT and Kharkoff, merging into that which formerly was the easterly limit of Greater Poland, while Petrograd is shown as belonging to Finland—thus driving Russia back to the Muscovite Steppes. BOLSHEVIK REVERSES IN FINLAND. STOCKHOLM, February 24. The White Guards drovo back the Red Guards at many points, and captured Bjorneborg and Tammerfors. They are now advancing towards the important junction of the HelsingforsViborg railway. EVACUATION OF AALAND ISLANDS. (Reuter'fl Telegrams.) (Received FeUruarv 25th, 8.30 p.m.) STOCKHOLM, February 24. An agreement has been reached for tho evacuation of the Aaland Islands by tho Russian and Finnish troops. A Swedish forco has gone to the islands to maintain ordor. ALLIED EMBASSIES LEAVE. (Australian and N.Z. Cablo Association.) (Received February 2Gtb, 14.40 a.m.) PETROGRAD, February 24. The Japanese and American Embassies, and Chinese, Siamese, and Brazilian Missions left on Saturday. They aro going to Piatka (?), and if necessary will reside in Siberia or Vladivostock. Many centres report the formation of revolutionary detachments, composed of soldiers and civilians.. ROUMANIAN AFFAIRS. PEACE NEGOTIATIONS BEGIN. (Australian and N.Z. Cablo Association.) AMSTERDAM, February 24. Informal peace negotiations between Herr von Kuhlmann ' (German Foreign Minister), Count Czernin (Austrian Foreign Minister), M. Radoslavoff (Premier of Bulgaria), and General Averescu (Premier of Roumania), began on Saturday at Castel Bufftea, near Bucharest. The Central Powers' terms comprise territorial acquisitions for Bulgaria, and economic facilities for Austria and Germany. General Averescu has left for Jassy to consult the King. He obtained a few days' grace for Roumania's reply.