THE TSAR AND PEACE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 230, 23 June 1919, Page 5

THE TSAR AND PEACE

SECRET OFFERS REJECTED BY LUDENDORFF A STORY FROM BUDAPEST (From a Correspondent of the "Manchester Guardian."; The "Pester JJoyd" of February 28 published an article giving particulars of several secret oft'nrs.of peace alleg<Kl to have been made to tho Central Powers 'by Russia in 1916 and 1917. 'J'ho stoiy is as follows:— On October 16, 1916, the Russian Court informed Vienna and Berlin tlirough a. noutral channel that as Russia s sttorts had already exceeded her obligations she would henceforth reserve complete fieedom of action for herself. The implication was that peace could be concluded at once. Everything depended on her many's willingness to give wy on tli» nuestion of Constantinople. If uepan} wore ready to make concessions, Uussiu would demand nothing from Austria. Hungary, and would restore tul «ie occupied territories. Germany was either to leave Turkey to her fate, oi ot tho very least oblige her to internationalise the narrow waters round Constantinople by means of a coastal strip on cither Bide, five'kilometres deep, administered by a sovereign international coniimsuon. in which all seafaring States were to be represented. Stamboul was to remain under' the immediate sovereignty of the Sultan and under the administration oi the Porte. ' Armenia was \o oe an autonomous buffer State, under international OTotectiou, with an Armenian (Nubar K for example) at its head, and with a defensive gendarmerie, for ffluch Russia would provide the necessary instructors. Russia was prepared to cede to Bulgaria the line Itidia-Euos, ■ the Aegean coast "as far as the mouth of the Struma, and, Macedonia.as •iar.as the line Kumariovo-Uskub-IvalKando.len (inclusive of. these towns), .as well as the Dobrudia as far aa the frontier \w\ torn In the year 1913 at St. Petersburg. ThTonlythL demanded of Bugana in return .was that she should .ssist in the realisation of the given above. As for Poland, Bussr had no objection to an autonomous Mate i.eaded by a Pole-and under the protect on, of the three Empires. Moreover, the isar was prepared to restore complete lnde--nSn^»i«^ Ballplatz, to ttTe High Command of tho Tmnerial and Boya •■ Armies, to the,lxeinfan KnOffice at Berlin, to General Setdquartfrs of the German Army and the Imperial and Royal Annies gave them serious consideration, bat German General Headquarters;rejected them uncon27, 1917, the Russian Court again made through the earn* neutral channel. The "Pester Lloyd-' , gives lonp; extracts from tae document that emanated from Petroßrad. In substance the Russian argument ,is as follows:— ' . . ■■■■■• "The war has bocome one of exhaustion, and the Entente can hold out longer than,the Central Powers. Turkey, wm be separated from her allies and Bulgaria mll bo detached even j.f the next summer (i.e., the summer of .1910) brings no decision. That is why we. do not ask Bulgaria to make any sacrifices. Our peace terms, as stated in our reply to Wilson, may be excessive, ibut they should not be taken literally, and,, in tiny case, the peaco. terms of the Central Powere, as communicated to us .through neutral channels, are alsp excessive. If Ehe Central Powers desire peace we ftdhero to our proposals of last October. , These new overtures were communicated to the Cenh-al Powers on February IT 1917. The result was the same aa in file previous October. Bulgaria v'as agreeable, Vienna and Buda were not disinclined.'nor <lia Berlin refuse a hearing German Gen - eral- -Headquarters de. finitely rejected the offer. The Tsar's Lest Effort. The Tear and his colleagues feared that the Revolution was at hand, and they realised that peace alone could save them. On March 6, 1917, they made an appeal through the same neutx'al channel. They pointed out how intense the general desire for peace had become, and, above all, how unsafe thinga were for crowned heads both in Russia and elsewhere— '•the position of the. dynasties is nowhere pleasant and comfortable at tho present day.", They" implored the Central Powers to listen to reason. They were even willing to ext6nd their October peace programme in several respects. Iloroover— and here it is necessary to give the actual words of tho Russian appeal, as quoted in tho "Pester Lloyd":— The Russian Court believes itself justified in being able to give the assurance that, when onoo Russia has entered upon peace negotiations, Italy would soon follow suit, and would also open negotiations. The news proposals would be: Restoration of the territorial statue quo ante between Itaiy and Austria. The Italian population? to receive the privileges Austria inteuded to confer on them before Italy entered the war. Th'e definite and unconditional surrender of the Libyan colonies to Italy. Italy to dispose of tho Bight of Valona and the outlying Island of Sasseno without any restriction. The restoration. ("Wiederherstellung") of Montenegro as well as of Serbia within the frontiers that existed before the Balkan War, and both countries to be united with the former Sanjak and tho Scutari district, so as to form an .undivided kingdom under the dynasty of tho Petrovics. In an extreme case it ini«ht bo possible to reach an agreement with Austria-Hungary concerning the possession of Mount Lovcen in consideration of the interests and grievances ot the Dual Monarchy. The rest of Albania to bo divided into three States, republics, or principalities; tho northern (Catholic) part—tho Miridites and the , Malisso'res—under Austro-Hungariau protection, Central Albania as a Mohammedan State under the protection of the Sultan and of Gonnany, the southern part, tho Epirdt Republic, under the protection of Italy. In exchange for the complete surrender of Libya to Italy, the Porte will be guaranteed tho retention of Egypt. The Suez Canalj with a fitrip of land three kilometree east and west, ae well as the straits between Aegea and Pontile to be .internationalised and placed under-the administration of it sovoreign international- commission. . . . Tho Dodecanese to go to Greece, with the exception of eovon of tho smaller islands, of which tho Great Powers of Europe 'as well as Turkey should take over one each as a control-station for tho correct execution of tho united international regime, _ "Furthermore, Russia would be prepared to recognise tho complete independence of Poland on condition that all Polish districts in Germany and Austria are included, so that no new , danger to Europe may arise through the unavoidable insurjrenoo of a Polish irredenta." This appeal and the accompanying proposals wore also communicated to Vienna, Buda; Berlin, and Spa. King Ferdinand intervened personally in order to induce the Kaiser and the Emperor Charlea to give a favourable reply. But the German High Command remained obdurate, maintaining that the interests of the Central Powers would be better served by a revolution, which would place Russia at their mercy. Hardly a week had passed when the Russian Revolution broke out, and on March 15 the Tsar, was compelled to abdicate. Nevertheless, a last despairing attenipr was made by several members of the Russian Imperial Family, again throiigii the same neutral channel. ■jThey expressed tho conviction that if the Central Powers were willing, peace could be concluded and the Revolution crushed. "We will not assume that Sovereigns, however hostile they may be towards each other for the time being, are prepared to let, a red chaes arise in Russia, tho consequences which would in all probability recoil upon themselves." But. even this offer was rejected.