Taking up this question again in an interview with a correspondent of Le Temps in April, 1917, M. Miliukov stated that the map of Eastern Europe, as it ought to be drawn up by the Allies, involved “the liquidation of the Turkish possessions in Europe, the liberation of the peoples living in Asia Minor, the independence of Arabia, Armenia, and Syria, and finally, the necessity of recognising Turkey’s right to the possession of the Straits.” Nobody knows what was to become of the Turks in such a solution, or rather it is only too plain that “the liquidation of the Turkish possessions in Europe” meant that Russia would take possession of the Straits and rule over the Turkish territories in Asia Minor.
Though both the Conservatives and the Bolshevists in Russia were plainly drawing nearer to Germany, M. Miliukov, who seemed to forget the pro-German leaning of Tsardom and the tendency he himself openly displayed, came to this conclusion:
“The Straits to Russia—that, in my opinion, is the only way out of the difficulty. The neutralisation of the Straits would always involve many serious dangers to peace, and Russia would be compelled to keep up a powerful war fleet in the Black Sea to defend our coasts. It would give the warships of all countries a free access to our inland sea, the Black Sea, which might entail untold disasters. Germany wants the Straits in order to realise her dreams of hegemony, for her motto is ‘Berlin-Baghdad,’ and we, Russians, want the Straits that our importation and exportation may be secure from any trammels or threats whatever. Nobody can entertain any doubt, therefore, as to which Power is to own the Straits; it must be either Germany or Russia.”
Prince Lvov, M. Sazonov, M. Chaikovsky, and M. Maklakov, in a memorandum addressed to the President of the Peace Conference on July 5, 1919, on behalf of the Provisional Government of Russia, stated the Russian claims with regard to Turkey, and the solution they proposed to the question of the Straits and Constantinople was inspired by the agreements of 1915 and showed they had not given up anything of their ambition. For, though they had no real mandate to speak of the rights of New Russia they declared:
“New Russia has, undoubtedly, a right to be associated in the task of regeneration which the Allied and Associated Powers intend to assume in the former Turkish territories.
“Thus, the question of the Straits would be most equitably settled by Russia receiving a mandate for the administration of the Straits in the name of the League of Nations. Such a solution would benefit both the interests of Russia and those of the whole world, for the most suitable régime for an international road of transit is to hand over its control to the Power which is most vitally interested in the freedom of this transit.
“This solution is also the only one which would not raise any of the apprehensions which the Russian people would certainly feel if the aforesaid mandate were given to any other Power or if a foreign military Power controlled the Straits.
“For the moment, Russia, in her present condition, would be satisfied if the control of the Straits were assigned to a provisional international administration which might hand over its powers to her in due time, and in which Russia in the meantime should hold a place proportionate to the part she is called upon to play in the Black Sea.
“As to Constantinople, Russia cannot think for one moment of ceding this city to the exclusive administration of any other Power. And if an international administration were established, Russia should hold in it the place that befits her, and have a share in all that may be undertaken for the equipment, exploitation, and control of the port of Constantinople.”
Some documents, which were found by the Bolshevists in the Imperial Record Office, concerning the conferences of the Russian Staff in November, 1913, and which have just been made public, testify to the continuity of the aforesaid policy and the new schemes Russia was contemplating. It clearly appears from these documents that M. Sazonov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, had represented to the Tsar the necessity of preparing not only plans of campaign, but a whole organisation for the conveyance by rail and sea of the huge forces which were necessary to capture Constantinople, and that the Crown Council was of opinion this plan should be carried out in order to bring the Russians to Constantinople and secure the mastery of the Straits.