account of party quarrels and of the disturbed conditions in the Ukraine.
The detachment of the Ukraine from Russia began in January 1918. On January 18, the Ukraine was recognized by the Central Powers. I was well informed of what was happening and made arrangements accordingly. In a Ukraine completely separated from Russia I felt it would be impossible to stay, not only by reason of our earlier promises and obligations to Russia but out of consideration for our fellow-countrymen and especially for our prisoners in Bolshevist Russia who might otherwise have been persecuted. Without Russia, moreover, we could not reach Siberia on our way to France. When the Fourth “Universal” was issued on January 25, declaring the Ukraine a completely independent State, I informed the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, A. J. Shulgin (not to be confounded with the Russian V. V. Shulgin at Kieff) that the Fourth “Universal” had annulled our treaty and that our troops would therefore leave the Ukraine as soon as possible. Our army had been formed in agreement with Russia; our soldiers had sworn allegiance to Russia; we were devoted to Russia; and, though we did not wish to oppose the Ukraine or its policy in any way, we could not simply transfer our allegiance to it. Russia herself would also deal with the Ukrainian question and, on principle, we did not meddle in her internal affairs. I told Shulgin that, in the circumstances, I thought the detachment of the Ukraine from Russia a mistake, particularly because the Ukraine, in its disturbed and administratively immature condition, would be subject to excessive Austrian and German influences. I had serious reason to take this view; and a formal reason was that we could not remain in the territory of a State which had made peace with the Germans and the Austrians. This affected also our relations with the Bolshevists. The Ukraine had made peace with the Germans and the Austrians at Brest-Litovsk on February 9, a day after the Bolshevists had taken Kieff; and it is pertinent to remember that our non-recognition of the fourth “Universal” soon facilitated our negotiations with the Bolshevist Commander, Muravieff.
In Roumania.
To go from Kieff to France by way of Siberia—a fantastical plan, I sometimes said to myself. Yet, as often as I weighed all the circumstances, I concluded that it was the most practical, notwithstanding the distance to be covered. Naturally we
