ship, and finally the French Socialist Party. The latter party was a source of danger from 1917 because of the endeavours of certain of its influential members (notably Jean Longuet), who began to exert a strong pressure with a view to ending the war quickly. As regards the Freemasons, I established contact with them through the help of our fellow-countrymen in Paris, and with the support of the Jugoslav members of the Freemasons’ Lodge there, I had an opportunity of lecturing to the Lodge on our affairs, and gained the sympathies of Freemasons in Paris.
I often attended the meetings of the well-known League for the Rights of Mankind and Citizenship, and on several occasions I gave lectures there on the Austro-Hungarian problem. By its very character this was an excellent centre for our propaganda. By coming into contact with the members of the Socialist Party there, especially Albert Thomas, Dubreuilh, and Longuet, I endeavoured to counteract the tendencies unfavourable to us, for at first, under the influence of the International, there were many in the Socialist Party who were emphatically opposed to the policy of destroying Austria-Hungary, which they regarded as involving an unnecessary prolongation of the war.
I add one remark in connection with the policy of the French Socialist Party. From the summer of 1917 a group of Socialists was formed in Paris, around Albert Thomas, to deal with the war aims of the belligerents. They endeavoured to lead the Allied Socialist parties towards a policy favourable to the oppressed nations and the destruction of the Habsburg Empire.
On his return from Russia, after the revolution there, Albert Thomas organized a special committee for the protection of oppressed nations, its members comprising Socialist representatives of the Czechoslovaks, Poles, Rumanians, Jugoslavs, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, and the Italians from Austro-Hungarian territories. After a certain time this committee carried out an important propaganda, taking part in a number of Socialist demonstrations, and exerting an influence upon the policy of the French Socialist Party and the English Labour Party. Together with Albert Thomas I had a share in this work throughout the period during which this committee existed. By this activity Albert Thomas rendered valuable services to our cause.
