Poland

(a) Despatch of General Haller's Army

been received on the subject of the transportation of General Haller's troops by sea to Dantzig. Apparently some misunderstanding had occurred yesterday. The question was being studied by the Allied Maritime Transport Council in London, and not by the International Ports, Waterways and Railways Commission in Paris. General Weygand would, however, be able to make a statement on this subject. GENERAL WEYGAND said that the question of the transport of troops by sea to Dantzig had formed the subject of a study by the French General Staff. To give some indication of the magnitude of the shipping problem involved, he would quote the following figures:suppose twenty ships of 5,000 tons each could be made available, the transfer of the four Polish Divisions, now in course of formation, would take three months, provided a continuous circulation of the ships were arranged. On the other hand, if transport of the troops were to be completed in two months, the period required for the complete organisation of the four Polish Divisions, twenty-seven ships of 5,000 tons each would be required for the purpose. Those figures would provide a basis for an appreciation of the problem. The problem, however, was far more complex. Provision would have to be made for the transport of the necessary horses required by the four divisions. But, if horses could be found in Poland, then with the same twenty ships the transport could be completed in two months instead of three months. Furthermore, the harbour accommodation at Dantzig must be sufficient to cope with the requirements of the In his opinion the Allied Commission in Poland should be asked to report on the following two questions, namely:

1. Number of horses obtainable in Poland to meet requirements of General Haller's Divisions.

2. The accommodation available for disembarkation of troops at the Port of Dantzig.

MR. BALFOUR agreed that an enquiry to that effect should be sent to the Allied Commission in Poland. In addition, however, he thought that an enquiry should be sent to the Allied Maritime Transport Council in London regarding the supply of the ships required for the transport of the troops in question.

M. PICHON expressed the view that a question of principle still remained unsettled, namely, the military conditions to be fulfilled. The view had been expressed by Marshal Foch that the military occupation of the railway line between Dantzig and Thorn by Allied troops would be necessary, otherwise the Poles would always be liable to attack by the Germans. A question had been put by Mr. Balfour as to whether small Allied contingents could not be sent to accompany the Polish troops. Thereto Marshal Foch had replied that such an arrangement would undoubtedly help matters; but it

would not guarantee the safety of the Polish troops. Consequently, the question as to what could be done to secure the safety of the Polish troops in transit from Dantzig to Poland still remained to be settled. Marshal Foch had expressed the view that the best plan would be straightaway to fix the Eastern frontier of Germany.

MARSHAL FOCH agreed that that would undoubtedly be the best solution. Whatever measures might be taken to ensure the transport of the troops by sea to Dantzig, the Allies would still be faced with other problems connected with the disembarkation of the troops at Dantzig, and their transport along the railway lines from Dantzig to Thorn, and from Dantzig to Mlawa, since the Port of Dantzig and the railway lines were under control of the Germans. The Port and the railway lines could be occupied by the Allies, but that solution would cause great difficulties, would entail great expense, and would not appeal to all of the Allied nations. Consequently, it was not a practicable solution. The second solution would be to fix the Eastern Frontiers of Germany at the next meeting with M. Erzberger, and so free the Port and the railway lines of all German control.

The present difficult situation of the German Government was well known; internal troubles were daily increasing; at Mannheim, Carlsruhe, Baden and Düsseldorf, the Soviet movement was rapidly extending. At the present moment Germany would therefore accept any terms that the Allies might demand. The German Government only asked for a Peace. That was the only thing that would satisfy the people and enable the Government to master the situation.

(b) Settlement of Situation on Western Front Before Proceeding With Eastern Problem

In his opinion, whatever attempt might be made to settle the situation in the East would be fruitless until the Western question had been settled. It was imperative, in his opinion, that the account with Germany should forthwith be settled in a summary manner by fixing the Frontiers and by assessing the sums due on account of indemnities and reparations. It should be realised without disillusions that in the year 1918 a favourable situation on the Western Front had only been created as a result of victory; but since the Armistice had been signed, the Allies had been marking time in the West, and they had lost ground in the East. Consequently, the situation on the Western Front should forthwith be settled so that all the resources in men and material thus set free could be made available for the solution of the Eastern problem.

In Russia at the present moment Bolshevism and complete anarchy reigned, and sooner or later these Russian questions must be solved, otherwise the fruits of victory would be lost, either through the cementing of an alliance between Germany and Russia, or through the spread of Bolshevism in Germany. On the other hand, if care

fully considered, the Eastern problem would not be more difficult to solve than the Western problem. From 1812 up to 1917, Russia had ever been the burial ground of every government and of every army that had attempted to enter the country without first establishing sufficient bases and sufficient lines of communication, and without an adequate number of men. A war in that country had to be carried on under very special difficulties, due to the enormous extent of country that had to be penetrated, occupied, and defended.

MR. LANSING, intervening, enquired whether when Marshal Foch had spoken of settling the Allies' difficulties in the West, he had meant that the Allies should forthwith enter into a Treaty of Peace with the Germans.

MARSHAL FOCH replied that what he had meant had been that the Preliminaries of Peace must be signed, and that could be done with Germany alone in a fortnight's time: and the same thing could be done as soon as possible with the other enemy countries. In other words, his plan would be to settle all the important outstanding questions on the Western side in order to enable the Allies to use the resources thus made available for the solution of the Eastern questions.

The difficulties which the Allies had to face in Russia were due, not only to the enormous distances, to which he had already referred, but also to the nature of the enemy that had to be dealt with. The enemy might be badly organised, but he was scattered over an enormous territory, acting like a violent virus. Now to fight against such an enemy, troops of a particular composition were required; and in great numbers in order to cover the whole territory involved. But those troops need not be strongly organised or of superior quality. The necessary conditions would be fulfilled by the employment of such armies as might be raised locally in the countries of Eastern Europe. For instance, the Polish troops would be quite able to face the Russians, provided the former were strengthened by the supply of modern appliances and engines of war. But great numbers were required, which could be obtained by mobilising the Finns, Poles, Czechs, Roumanians and Greeks, as well as the Russian pro-Ally elements still available.

These young troops, in themselves not well organised, (though better organised than the Bolsheviks), would, if placed under a unique command, yield a total force sufficient to subdue the Bolshevik forces and to occupy their territory.

If this were done, 1919 would see the end of Bolshevism, just as 1918 had seen the end of Prussianism. But in order to attain that object, just as the Allies had a base on the Western front, the Rhine, which enabled them to impose their will on Germany, so would it be necessary to constitute a similar base on the Eastern

side, consisting of a chain of independent states-the Finns, the Esthonians, the Poles, the Czechs and the Greeks. The constitution of such a base would enable the Allies to impose their demands on the Bolsheviks.

Finally, to enable the Allies to transfer their resources from the Western base to the Eastern base, an end would have to be put to all further discussions on the West by imposing on Germany the Preliminaries of Peace, which she would be bound at the present moment to accept.

MR. HOUSE enquired from Marshal Foch whether he thought a preliminary peace with the Germans should be hurried on, to include the determination of the eastern boundaries of Germany besides including a summary decision of the military conditions, and questions relating to frontiers, finance and reparation; the whole to be disposed of simultaneously.

MARSHAL FOCH replied that Mr. House had correctly stated his views.

MR. BALFOUR said that everybody must admit that Marshal Foch had made a speech covering a wide field and of far reaching importance. On the other hand, the proposition which he (Mr. Balfour) had moved yesterday was that the Polish division now in France should be sent to Poland: a small and modest suggestion involving no particular question of principle at all. On that narrow foundation Marshal Foch had started out to build a great plan stretching from the Rhine to Vladivostock, which involved the immediate conclusion of the preliminary terms of peace with Germany.

He (Mr. Balfour) was most anxious to hasten the conclusion of the preliminary terms of peace. He had, himself, moved a proposition with that object in view. He could not, therefore, be accused of hampering the attainment of that object. But when Marshal Foch asked the Conference to defer the sending of a Polish division to Poland until the preliminaries of peace had been concluded with Germany, he evidently underrated the difficulties of the latter task. A discussion with a view to bringing about a preliminary peace could hardly be brought to a satisfactory conclusion unless three or four such questions as the following were first settled, that is to say: financial questions, the question relating to the left bank of the Rhine, the question of Dantzig, etc., questions which could hardly be settled before President Wilson's return to Paris. No doubt other questions connected with the future frontiers of Germany could practically be settled in President Wilson's absence. For instance, the frontiers between France and Germany, the frontiers between Denmark and Germany and the frontiers between Poland and Germany excluding Dantzig.

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On the other hand, the Conference could not move a step until the reports of the Allied Commissions, which were now at work on these problems, had been received. Those reports could not, however, be expected before the 8th March next. The Conference would then have a week to consider those reports before the return of President Wilson, and during that time no doubt some spade work could be done. It was evident, however, that, if the dates suggested by him were correct, it would be impossible to have the preliminary terms of peace ready, covering finance, disarmament, future maritime conditions, the question of the left bank of the Rhine, territories adjoining Alsace-Lorraine, Dantzig, etc., regarding which well-informed people held very divergent views. It would be impossible to draft a peace, involving all these questions, at the earliest before the end of March, and even that would be a very sanguine estimate. He would, therefore, press for the acceptance of his original proposal. It would be impossible to wait five or six weeks, which appeared to be the shortest time within which the preliminaries of peace could be drawn up, before sending to Poland the Polish troops which were so urgently required.

As regards Marshal Foch's plan to mobilise the whole of Eastern Europe, the Finns, the Esthonians, the Poles, the Roumanians and the Greeks into a great anti-Bolshevik army to be hurled against Russia, he had no objections to offer, as he was not qualified to express an opinion. But the plan undoubtedly dealt with tremendous issues: it could not be regarded as part of the accepted policy of the five Great Powers, and the Conference could not be asked to settle that question before deciding to carry out the small and most desirable operation of sending General Haller's army to Poland. He fully agreed with Marshal Foch that not a single hour should be lost in settling the preliminary terms of peace, since a settlement of that question would help to solve all other problems. On the other hand, the question of sending troops to Poland must, for the moment, be dissociated from the greater question of policy raised by Marshal Foch: a question which must await the receipt of the recommendations of the various Allied Commissions and the return of President Wilson.

MARSHAL FOCH said he did not object to the idea of sending a division to Dantzig with as little delay as possible. But, at the present moment, the wish could hardly be realised, as the gates of Dantzig were closed. The Allied Commission in Poland could be asked if the thing were possible. But he, himself, could not see how the Poles, who were at war with Germany, could disembark in a German town. He quite agreed with Mr. Balfour that troops should be sent, but for the moment he failed to see how it could be done, and some other solution of the difficulty might have to be found.