was evidently making concessions to the Left Wing elements among the workmen and soldiers, whose council at Petrograd had been established on the same day as Prince Lvov’s provisional Government. The moderate Socialist elements which it had contained at the beginning were gradually overruled by the Radicals under the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky. It had been the Government’s intention to convene a constituent assembly only at the conclusion of the war, when it would proceed to deal with the distribution of the soil by a legislative process. This was skilfully used by the extremists as a means for inciting the masses against the Government. They took advantage of the fact that war-weariness had now permeated the entire population of Russia and, by holding out a prospect of immediate peace and distribution of the soil, they had no difficulty in winning the people over. They disposed of the commitments to the Allies by describing them as part of the imperialistic policy of the former Russian regime, which would involve the shedding of Russian blood for the benefit of English and French capitalists.
Under these circumstances our liberation movement could only intensify its efforts for concentrating all our work in Western Europe, endeavouring at the same time to preserve our army in Russia, which Masaryk had succeeded in organizing on Russian soil during the revolutionary period, when political, administrative, and military affairs were in a state of chaos. He had arrived in Russia on May 16, 1917, two days after Milyukov’s resignation, which had been an unpleasant surprise for him. He had at once taken charge of the branch of the National Council, which had been established by the Congress in Kiev. He was fully recognized by the Russian revolutionary authorities and received everywhere by them with respect, but on account of the disorder prevailing in the ministries and military circles he was not always able to achieve his aims easily. He himself has given a detailed account of this in his Making of a State. Nevertheless, on October 9, 1917, his proposal for the formation of an independent Czechoslovak army corps was finally sanctioned by the Russian authorities.
As a result of the events which ensued in Russia after November 7th, it became urgent to transfer not merely a part, but the whole of our army to France, as this was the only way to save our troops. The establishment of an autonomous Czechoslovak army in France was made possible by a decree of the
