"Russian question" at the Paris Peace Conference and Azerbaijan

In the autumn of 1918, it was clear that the Allies had won the war and the Central power countries were conceding, one after another. By the end of November, preparations were under way for an international peace conference, to be held in Paris, that would officially announce the victors, decide the postwar situation, and resolve disputes. The main organizers of the Paris Peace Conference were France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, and Japan. All organizational issues were to be resolved within this limited circle, and deciding on questions concerning the participating countries and working principles posed numerous problems. French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau held that all matters should first be presented to the five states before being discussed by other parties to the conference. "If a new war erupts," he said, "Germany won"t invade Cuba or Honduras, but France, and France will have to fight back." U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was against resolving the issues in such a limited fashion. The British did not object to Clemenceau"s proposal, but they insisted on the participation of small nations at the conference.

After long discussions and based upon a document prepared by the French and adopted on January 12, 1919, the countries that were to participate in the conference were divided into four categories. The first category comprised the countries that fought in the war. Those countries were to take part in all activities and in all commissions of the peace conference. The second category consisted of countries that had fought for domestic interests. Those countries would take part in the discussions of the issues exclusively concerning them. The third category comprised countries that had severed relations with the Central powers during the war. The delegates of those countries would also be able to take part only in the meetings concerning problems specific to them. The last category comprised neutral countries and newly independent countries. Those countries could take part in discussions concerning only themselves and only with the invitation of the one of the states of the first category. They could present their wishes and proposals to the meeting either orally or in written form. Nothing was said about the regulations for Germany and its allies.

The main purpose of the conference was to prepare peace treaties to be signed between the Entente states and the Central powers, but it was obvious that "the Russia question" would be a major topic on the conference"s agenda. The states that had been newly created from the territories of the dismantled Russian empire had great expectations for the conference. The Azerbaijan Republic had declared its independence and had pinned its hopes on the conference: its recognition by world powers as an equal member of international organizations would uphold the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the republic.

The Paris peace conference was opened on January 18, 1919 at the Versailles palace. President of France Poincare made a brief speech, and French Prime Ministry Georges Clemenceau was elected a president of the conference. According to tentative agreement, Robert Lansing (USA), David Lloyd George (Great Britain), Vittorio Orlando (Italy), and Saionji Kimmochi (Japan) were elected vice-presidents, of the conference and a "tripartite organization" was established, consisting of Georges Clemenceau, David Lloyd George, and Woodrow Wilson. At first, the so-called "14 points" of Wilson were assumed as a basis of forthcoming debates. Basic load of the conference work laid on the Council of Ten" that included US President Woodrow Wilson and Secretary of State Robert Lansing, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and Foreign Minister Arthur James Balfour, accordingly, Georges Clemenceau and Stéphen Pichon from France; Vittorio Orlando and Sidney Sonnino from Italy; Nobuaki Makino and Chinda Sutemi from Japan.

Many issues were on the agenda of the conference, but the "Russia question" took center stage. The question whether to invite Russia to the conference was a topic of discussions that began in November 1918. Lloyd George sent a letter to Georges Clemenceau notifying him that he supported Soviet Russia"s participation

at the conference, but Balfour, Lord Curzon, and Clemenceau objected to this at the inter-Allied meeting. Lloyd George pointed out that Russia spanned two-thirds of Europe and a large portion of Asia, and like it or not, it would be impossible to resolve the problems of 200 million people without involving Russia. He supported the idea of inviting the White Guard government as well as the newly established states to the conference along with Russia. Clemenceau argued that the peace to be established now had nothing to do with Russia. On January 12, 1919, at the meeting of the Council of Ten, a resolution was passed upon the suggestion of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Stephen Pichon, moving not to officially invite Russia to the conference. Sergei Sazonov, Prince Georgy Lvov, Paul Milyukov, and other representative would be allowed to participate in the conference as consultants and advisers.

The "Russia question" was again discussed at the meeting of the Council of Ten on January 22, 1919. They adopted President Wilson"s appeal to all the warring parties in Russia to end military operations. It called on the White Guard government and the newly established states to meet for discussions on the Princes" Islands in the Sea of Marmara, close to Istanbul, by February 15, 1919. Representatives of France, Britain, the United States, and Italy were to take part in the conference. Ironically, Lloyd George was the author of this project, although for certain reasons it was Woodrow Wilson who introduced it.

Late in January 1919, British officers in Istanbul left for Princes" Islands in order to prepare for the "Russia conference." Unbeknownst to them, the islands had long been neglected, and there was no venue at which to hold the conference. It was evident that no one had bothered to look at the place before suggesting it as the meeting site. During the war, a nearby island had been used by the Turks to abandon dogs with infectious illnesses. At first the dogs ate each other but eventually all died of hunger. The dogs" bones had turned white with time and were reminiscent of snowy hills on the island. Winston Churchill wrote that the events that had taken place had not yet been forgotten on those inhospitable islands.

All of the newly established states from the former Russian empire, excluding Poland and Finland, had received invitations to the conference to be held on the Princes" Islands. It was not easy to identify the main points of the conference at first, and not all of the invitees had agreed to attend. With a response sent via radio to Great Britain, France, Italy, United States, and Japan on February 4, 1919, Soviet Russia announced that it was ready to participate in the conference. The Baltic states agreed to take part in the conference with the condition that their independence would be recognized and that the conference would be limited only to peace talks with Soviet Russia. Not a single South Caucasus republic agreed to participate in the conference although the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Union of Mountain Peoples, Heydar Bammatov, relayed their acceptance of the invitation to a U.S. representative in Bern. Despite the pressure by British and French representatives in Istanbul, Azerbaijan and Georgia gave notice on January 28, 1919, that they would not take part in the conference on Princes" Islands. It was their opinion that the conference should discuss only disputable questions of recognition and not restoration of the unity of the Russian people. According to both countries, there was no need to sit at a table with representatives of Bolshevik Russia or the former Russia to take part in the conference when they were fighting for the recognition of the independence of their own republics. Mahammad Hasan Hajinski wrote to the chairman of the Azerbaijani government, "We consider it impossible" to take part in this conference.

On February 13, delegations of southern Caucasus Republics were informed that two Georgian representatives, Tckheidze and Tsereteli, were admitted to Paris. Istanbul interpreted this differently. On February 14, Topchibashov voiced a protest to the French mission in Istanbul over this glaring discrimination. The French replied that some day the two representatives from the Azerbaijani delegation would be allowed into Paris. On February 18, an enlarged meeting of the Azerbaijani peace delegation under the chairmanship of Topchibashov was held. He informed about obstacles on the road to Paris, and about French representative"s announcement that only two would go to Paris. Some members of the delegation suggested dividing by two: one for Paris, others - stay in Istanbul. Some people opposed the cleavage of the delegation. Hajinskii stated that there was no need in disbanding the delegation to please the occupation authorities of Istanbul. Sheikhulislamov suggested sending a telegram to the British government to ask for help. However, Ali Mardan bey said that the occupation authorities did not receive telegrams of this sort. So, it"d be necessary to choose two authorized persons for going to Paris or wait here indefinitely. On February 19, Ali Mardan bey telegraphed the Azerbaijani government the following: "I"d like to inform the chairman of the government that regretfully I failed to leave for Paris waiting for permission". Next session was held on February 28. It was decided to act jointly with delegations from other countries who had not been allowed to go to Paris.

However, it became clear later that denial of visas had a political background. In his report to the government of Azerbaijan dated March 5 Ali Mardan bey wrote that at first, it seemed to be the easiest way to resolve the problem, and the most difficult technical issue on this track was to embark on a steamer for Marseilles. However, visits to the British and French missions and talks with them, as well as analysis of the situation in the British headquarters and Ali Mardan bey"s personal visits to persons concerned showed that the problem here lay in reasons of political nature. Prof. Swietochowski wrote about it: "unlike their neighbors, they lacked support comparable to the Armenophile movement in the West or Georgian Mensheviks" connections with international socialism".

Further meetings with British representatives gave no essential results. On March 6, the British government said it had no objections against Azerbaijanian delegation"s participation in the Paris peace conference; just visas of the French government were required to get to Versailles. However, France kept silent. Besides Azerbaijanians, there were delegations of Don, Kuban, North Caucasus Union, parts of Ukrainian and Georgian delegations in Istanbul. It was natural that delegations began collaboring one with another, especially over visas to Paris. Topchibashov-chaired commission drew up a memorandum signed by representatives of Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Don, Kuban and North Caucasus Union. Tchkhiladze replacing Tckheidze, referred to an instruction not to take part in political actions, so he did not sign the memorandum.

Earlier March, the memorandum signed by heads of the delegations was handed over to Admiral Webb who promised to negotiate with the French commissar Amed. On March 5, a mixed delegation visited Italian and American commissariats. Mulish stubbornness of the French political circles not to recognize the newly formed independent states obviously resulted from political line of the Russian chauvinistic emigration. With a heavy heart, Ali Mardan bey wrote: "Not only our delegation was not allowed to attend the conference, nor it even was let into Paris, as if we are Germans, Austrians, Hungarians, Bulgarians, and Turks. Notwithstanding, as soon as we are allowed to the conference, we shall have our say".

On March 6, the British commissariat of Istanbul informed Ali Mardan bey that the royal government considered it possible to arrange a travel of the Azerbaijani delegation to Paris and discuss the issue with the French only. Topchibashov told a meeting of Marh 7 that he insisted on the necessity of the Azerbaijani delegation to attend the conference. British representative Holler asked: "Why don"t you get on with Armenians?" In reply, Ali Mardan bey referred to the March events. Holler returned that Armenians claimed the opposite. Topchibashov stressed that the Azerbaijani delegation needed to get to the conference and present there its explanations on the issue. This fact was illustrative of behind-the-scene deals around Paris visas.

As it stood, the Azerbaijani delegation decided on March 15th to appeal to the chairman of the Paris peace conference with a brief letter. From now on, the French representative wrote to Ali Mardan bey that the situation had changed, so it was necessary to appeal to the French government. Azerbaijani delegated linked this change to the pressure of General Franchet d'Espèrey. On March 21, this letter was sent again to Paris under the signature of Topchibashov and secretary of the delegation Mahammad Maharramov. The letter said that the Azerbaijan Republic had proclaimed its sovereignty on May 28, 1918, with a population numbering 4 mil and a territory of 100,000 sq.km. In The letter asked the chairman of the Paris peace conference to render the Azerbaijani delegation in Istanbul assistance in attending the conference. Copies of the appeal were distributed among heads of governments of the United States, England, France, and Italy.

A correspondence of the Azerbaijani government says that in mid-March the French government had not objected to the candidatures of some delegation members - first, Hajinski, then Sheikhulislamov and Hajibeyli. However, a name of Topchibashov was not included in the list. Initially, the Azerbaijani delegation disagreed to go without Topchibashov; all its efforts were unavailing. They had to address to the allies in Istanbul. On March 27, American commissar Lewis Heck declared that the American mission saw no obstacles in obtaining visas for France. The same statement was made on March 29 by Italian commissar Serezoli. He wrote: "Your excellency, High Commissioner of Italy instructed me to inform you that he does not mind Azerbaijani delegation"s going to Paris". In fact, everything depended on the French. If on March 15, the French High Commissioner, Col.Foulon allowed some members of the Azerbaijani delegation to go to Paris, on March 25, Deputy High Commissioner Seon referred to the ban of the French Foreign Ministry to allow the Azerbaijani delegation to Paris and offered no further comments.

Hopeful of upholding rights of Azerbaijan, the delegates did their best to attain political goals of the country. It was decided to appeal to the chairman of the peace conference and heads of governments of the United States, Great Britain, France and Italy. On April 8, a text of the telegram had been prepared and circulated among parties concerned. The same day, Ali Mardan bey sent a letter to an extraordinary representative of the French Republic to Paris. The letter practically repeated the contents of the telegram above. Besides, the letter rejected absurd allegations of the French party and references to technical reasons of our delegation"s delay; it stressed international illegality of obstacles raised against the Azerbaijani delegation with its appropriate mandates of the Parliament and government. Besides, a technical office of the French Foreign Ministry reported that this delay was not caused by technical reasons.

On April 12, the French office replied to the letter from April 8 saying that only three delegates above were allowed to go to Paris. Having discussed the situation, the Azerbaijani delegation decided to divide into several groups. Three of them, consisting of Hajinskii, Maharramov, and Hajibeyli, will go to Paris; while Sheikhulislamov and Mehdiyev will go to London; and Topchibashov, the secretariat, personnel, and technical staff will stay in Istanbul. Wherever they were, they had to act as delegation members and not on delegation"s behalf. Upon arrival in Paris, three delegates were to apply efforts for getting visas for the whole delegation.

Having discussed the telegrams of Topchibashov and a report of special courier, the Azerbaijani government passed a decision on appointing Hajinskii as a head of the peace delegation, and on April 17, it sent an appropriate radiogram to Istanbul: "The government suggests that members of the delegation are not staying too long to get to Paris as soon as possible. If you cannot go to the Paris conference, the government offers to assign the chairmanship to Hajinskii. New people will come in a day or two to strengthen the delegation". However, it proved no use to discuss the radiogram. In connection with US President Wilson"s intention to raise the Azerbaijani question in Versailles, our delegation was urgently called to Paris.

On April 14, 1919 the US Secretary of state, Robert Lansing had been handed a brief survey on Baku oil that testified to Americans" interest in the Caucasus. Proceeding from an appeal Topchibashov to President Wilson, Lansing sent a letter to French Foreign Minister Pichon asking him to issue a visa to the Azerbaijani delegation. Finally, following a long correspondence all members of the delegation, except for technical personnel, were provided with visas. Notes in the diplomatic passport of Topchibashov were indicative that an inter-allied control bureau in Istanbul gave him a visa on April 15, and on April 22 the Azerbaijani delegation left Istanbul, while a technical personnel headed by Alekber bey returned home.

On May 2, a ship playing between Istanbul-Salonika-Piraeus-Messina-Naples arrived in Italy. Following a 4-day waiting period, the Azerbaijani delegation left Rome on May 7 and arrived in Paris on May 9. There is a record of Ali Mardan bey"s passport indicating he crossed the French border. Entry of the Azerbaijani delegation into Paris in terms of aggravated Caucasian relations showed the government"s aspiration for integration in the free world assumed reality upon arrival in France, the Azerbaijani delegates were accommodated first at "Terminus-Saint Lazarus", then at "Claridge" hotel and got down to active work since May 12. At first, Ali Mardan bey sent a report to the French Foreign Ministry about the delegation composition and its exact address. Thus, a 3-month struggle of the Azerbaijani delegation in Istanbul gave its results, and the Topchibashov-led delegation was allowed at the Versailles conference. That was an initial result of goal-oriented steps aimed at removing artificial obstacles.