in accordance with the agreement with France. With this end in view he had given telegraphic instructions on November 7, 1917, the day of the coup d’état, to Jiří Klecanda, the authorized representative of the National Council on the General Staff, and through him to Prokop Maxa, the commissary of the Czechoslovak Army, that under all circumstances they were to maintain neutrality towards internal Russian disagreements. Then, after his arrival at Kiev, he made an arrangement with the Ukrainian Government then in power, by which the Czechoslovak Army should continue to receive supplies of all necessities. Finally, he discussed with the representatives of the Allied Powers, especially with the French representative, the methods by which the continued safety of the army corps was to be secured, and he urged that the troops should with the least possible delay be transferred from Russia to the Western front, although some of the Allied representatives wanted our army, jointly with the Rumanian, Ukrainian, and Polish troops, to renew the military action against Germany.
The measures taken by the Soviet Army against the Ukrainian Government, however, soon created an entirely new situation, making it even more urgent for our departure to be accelerated. As a result of pressure from the Soviet authorities, the Ukrainian Government on January 24th declared the independence of the Ukraine, and began to negotiate with the Germans. But before these negotiations were completed, the Soviet troops, under the leadership of Muravyev, drew near to Kiev and started a resolute offensive. This caused the leaders of the second Czechoslovak division, in accordance with the principles which Masaryk had insisted upon, to begin negotiations with the Soviet leader for neutrality. An agreement was reached in this, respect at Yagotin on January 31, 1918, and on the following day there was a supplementary agreement making the terms of the settlement applicable to all the Czechoslovak contingents.
It was under these circumstances that on February 7th Masaryk, as President of the Czechoslovak National Council, proclaimed all those Czech troops in the various regions of the former Russian State as being a component part of the Czechoslovak Army in France. When, on the next day, Kiev was occupied by the Soviet Army, negotiations were at once started between the National Council and the Soviet commander, Muravyev, who received representatives of the Allied armies and with them Prokop Maxa, the Czech representative. On
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