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  Selected Secret Documents from Soviet Foreign Policy Documents Archives - 1919 to 1941

Concentrated on 1st and  2nd WW Correspondence and Meetings related to Turkey, Balkans and Iran, with some additions from Afghanistan and India.

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Letter from the chairman of the Russian‐Ukrainian‐Georgian delegation at the Louisan conference to the deputy peopleʹs commissar for foreign affairs of the RSFSR M.M. Litvinov 

December 17, 1922 m 12

Dear comrade,

At the time of sending you my letter no. 9 *****, an incident with the experts, described in this letter, occurred. Our experts were invited to a joint meeting for the first time and left, because, firstly, the allied experts declared that the issue of demilitarization of the straits did not concern Russia, and, secondly, because the presentation of new projects to the meeting of experts turned this meeting into a subcommittee conference, which achieved the elimination of us from the negotiations of the allies with the Turks. Right now, after that, the union project for the demilitarization of the straits was officially sent to us from the secretariat of the conference, 3. I wrote to you about this that the cards are confused. Later statements by the conference secretariat confirmed that the conference believes that the demilitarization of the straits concerns Russia. [...]

During all this time, the negotiations of the Turks with the allies continued in the form of a meeting of experts, and the Turks partly kept us informed of these negotiations, but not always and not in everything. Yesterday, conference interim secretary Logard called by telephone that the allied experts are inviting our experts to take advantage of their right to come to a meeting with them. We rejected this, because this would mean that we would recognize separate meetings of allied experts with experts from individual countries. We have therefore sent a secondary copy of the previously stated request for the convening of the subcommittee * with an accompanying letter, which is sent to you separately.

During the talks between the allied experts and Turkish experts, the allies made a number of concessions to the Turks. The day before yesterday, he made two important concessions, which I informed you in a coded message: the Turkish fleet can freely pass through the straits and land everywhere, even in the demilitarized zones; all restrictions are removed from the Asian coast of the sea of Marmara, and the Turks can install any large artillery there.

These negotiations are intertwined with other negotiations, and, as you already know from the Rosta telegrams, there was an extreme aggravation between Curzon and the Turks on the issue of minorities, but when after that the Turks agreed to join the league of nations, Curzon expressed his greatest pleasure. As you know, behind this lies the British maneuver on the issue of Mosul and oil. Mosul is included in Iraq, which is mandated by the league of nations; after Turkey joins the league of nations, the latter may transfer the mandate to Turkey. Behind this lies negotiations on the preservation of oil concessions or on the transfer of oil concessions to the Turkish petroleum company, where the British have an overwhelming majority. There are different versions of the specific proposals that the British make to the Turks regarding the oil agreement: the division of the territory or the transfer of 25% of the profits to the Turks. These trial balloons are launched through Ricket, who visits Ismet pasha at least once a day. Their meaning is to eliminate the American!! From this oil. Hence the colossal excitement evoked by every such trial balloon. There are shouts that the conference is in danger, and the offended American oilmen will achieve the derail of the conference.

For two days now, the Turks have been telling us very secretly that they allegedly drew up a counter‐draft on the question of the straits, but so far they have not sent this counter‐draft to us, and they say that it is ʺbeing translated.ʺ [...]

During the entire past week, Rickett has developed an intense activity towards us. I do not accept him, but he constantly sees Arens. As you probably remember, Rickett in berlin was an intermediary between Krasin and the British oilmen, but nothing came of it. Now he began to develop Arensʹ plan for an agreement between us and Curzon. He said that Curzonʹs hostile line did not correspond to the mood of British public opinion. The latter, like the government itself, with the exception of Curzon, ardently desires an agreement with Russia. Curzon will perhaps be considered a personal success if he brings a treaty with Turkey without the participation of Russia, but England will see this as a failure, and this will be a pyrrhic victory for him. One of the largest political forces of the conservative party, Sir George Armstrong, is traveling from London especially for talks with us.

From conversations with others it later emerged that this Armstrong was also a major oil worker. He actually came not only to negotiate with us, but also to negotiate about Mosul, and has now left for Paris to negotiate the same with the French government. He left VikkersArmstrong a long time ago. He finances the conservative party and enjoys influence in it. Goodbye, Armstrong had a conversation with our maritime expert Behrens and told him: ʺyou are a big elephant, he dominates the shore, leave us the water.ʺ

.....................

To my reproaches, he replied that the Russian delegation in Lausanne eliminated itself. The Russian experts left the meeting, and when they were later invited, they did not come at all; elaboration of details at meetings of experts is a general rule, it always happens; in genoa it was, perhaps, not so, but everyone is generally satisfied with the much more business‐like, non‐theatrical conduct of this conference; at the very first meeting, the Russian delegation outlined its plan, later the allies outlined their plan, then the details were discussed by experts, this is quite normal; tomorrow, as a result of the expertsʹ work, the allies will submit a new draft to the straits commission, and the Russian delegation will have a full opportunity to express itself; if because of each article to negotiate and negotiate ‐ there will be no end. “we went very far to meet the Turks, they agreed to our proposal ‐ and the foundation of your project will be taken away from you; if you offer it again, no one will accept it; for England, the possibility of turning the black sea into a Russian lake is excluded. ʺ “if you insisted so much on the participation of your experts in the meetings, why did not your Turkish friends demand this?” ʺyou cannot demand the creation of a subcommittee when the conference has not created one, this is the business of the conference, a separate delegation cannot demand it.ʺ ʺregarding demilitarization, I personally would think that this does not concern Russia, but I do not want to remove Russia from this.ʺ ʺit was I who insisted that you be invited to Lausanne, while Poincare proposed that at the end of the Lausanne conference another conference on the straits in Geneva be convened with your participation.ʺ “all other delegations were of their own accord against your plan; I didnʹt know in advance what Romania and others would say; they did not require their experts to attend the meetings at all. ʺ “I came to conclude an agreement on the straits with the participation of Russia. I am fully aware that without Russia this treaty will have less force. But if you do not sign, / this your case, we will sign without you. Maybe you will join later. ʺ reproaching us for our tactics, he recalled my interviews in English newspapers: ʺyou are trying to denigrate me in the English press, you only worsen relations and complicate your own situation.ʺ

In the course of this dispute, I gradually laid out all our claims, but all the time I met a cold, purely formalistic attitude.

My general impression is that under Curzon there can be no serious agreements with England at all.

Tomorrow there will be a decisive meeting of the straits commission, but in view of the departure of the courier, we have to send the accumulated material to you now.

With communist greetings

Georgy Chicherin