In fact he had been a good intermediary between the Russian Government, the “League” and, afterwards, Dürich’s “National Council.” He had been put in charge of Czech military affairs in the Kieff Military District, to which he was attached soon after the outbreak of war; and, when the General Staff issued the order for the formation of our army in the autumn of 1916, the execution of it was entrusted to him.
My Own Plan.
My own plan differed from those of the Russian Government and of the “League” in that my aim was to have an independent army at our own disposal. It was not enough that it should be a part of the Russian army since, in this case, it might be dispersed along a huge front without coming into play as a unit. Besides, I wanted as large an army as possible, an army really military, not political. Its spirit had to be Czech, not Russian, albeit pro-Russian. To me it mattered little whether the command were Russian or Czech, the main points were what its commanders would be like, what its spirit and what purpose it would serve. A Czech army must know clearly what political aims it was fighting for, and why; it must swear allegiance to our nation; in a word, it must be our own army.
Secondly, the army must be transferred to France. This had been agreed upon in Paris a year before, and to this end Štefánik had worked in Russia before I came. The anti-French and the anti-Western Russians had all along opposed the transfer which had been discussed in various Departments of State and in the Council of Ministers before the Revolution. On reaching Petrograd after the Revolution, M. Albert Thomas renewed, on behalf of the French Government, the request for the transfer; and, on May 14, 1917, the Russian General Staff granted it, on good grounds. The Revolution had broken the ice. I arranged with the French Military Mission that, as a first instalment, 80,000 prisoners should be sent to France, including some thousands of Southern Slavs. M. Thomas agreed and helped in every way to hurry things on. This Agreement with him was the first Treaty to be concluded by our National Council with a State; and, once again, France was the first to recognize our National Council as a contracting Power. It was understood that some of these prisoners would work in French factories. The Russian Foreign Office and General Staff promised to get the convoy off as quickly as possible by way of Archangel; but, in consequence of delays, the first contingent
