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Fridtjof Nansen Proposals for Feeding Starving Russians in 1919
Fridtjof Nansen Proposals for Feeding Starving Russians in 1919
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Nansen Fridtjof

Fridtjof Nansen Proposals for Feeding Starving Russians in 1919


“the French government cannot give its support to any step which might...be a moral and material reinforcement of the iniquitous Bolshevik Government....”

 


STEPHEN PICHON, Typed Statement Signed, in Response to Fridtjof Nansen’s Proposal, April 16, 1919, in French, and two typed English translations of the statement,  10 pp., 8.25" x 10.5" to 8" x 13".  All text clear and dark; some paper clip indentations.

 

Excerpts


“Mr. Nansen’s proposal to attempt to revictual certain large Russian towns which are accessible and whose inhabitants are suffering from starvation can only be received with sympathy by the French Government which shares this humane attitude.


“On the other hand, the French government cannot give its support to any step which might invest this tentative with a political character, the result of which would be a moral and material reinforcement of the iniquitous Bolshevik Government, an evident support of its dangerous propaganda and, finally, the abandonment and definite loss of the loyal parts of Russia and of the Russians who have remained faithful to the Allies.”

 


“The French Government makes the following conditions contingent upon its acceptance of Mr. Nansen’s proposal:

“1) The revictualling of Russia to be clearly delimited, as it is physically impossible to undertake the revictualling of the whole of Russia and as only a few large towns are accessible; furthermore we ought not to run the risk of compromising by a new enterprise the still very imperfect revictualling of the Allied countries of Central Europe.

“2) No negotiations shall be entered into by or for the Allies with the Bolsheviks who would not fail to avail themselves of it for their propaganda or for their indirect recognition.

“3) Mr. Nansen would therefore act in a personal capacity, in his own name or in the name of the neutrals who would form his Committee of revictualling.

“4) Mr. Nansen shall judge for himself on the spot of the possibility of organizing the revictualling of which he would maintain an absolute control as regards:

            “a) the receipt of provisions;

“b) the distribution of the same through neutral agents aided by the populations and Russian ‘cooperatives’ entirely without the intervention of the Bolshevik Government;

“c) the equitable distribution among the different classes of population suffering from starvation without social distinction.”

 

“As to the idea of a mutual cessation of hostilities between the Bolshevik and the Russian Governments (such as those of Admiral Koltchak and General Denikine) it would not be accepted in good faith by either the one or the other parties and it would be an intervention in the internal policy of Russia to the detriment of the Russians who remained faithful to the Allies and who do not possess the stocks of arms and munitions upon which the Bolsheviks have laid their hands and with which they are abundantly supplied. The result would be to deliver the rest of Russia to massacres, oppression and Bolshevik anarchy in a short time.”

 

 

Historical Background


To combat starvation in Europe during World War I, President Woodrow Wilson created the United States Food Administration by executive order. Under the direction of Herbert Hoover, it became one of the most efficient and successful governmental initiatives in American history.

 

Although Norway, like Sweden and Demark, declared its neutrality during the war, its loss of overseas trade led to food shortages. In 1917, Norway sent explorer and scientist Dr. Fridtjof Nansen to the United States, where after months of discussion, he obtained food supplies in return for the establishment in Norway of a rationing system. He also met Herbert Hoover, and they quickly became good friends.

 

In Russia a pair of revolutions in 1917 left the Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin in power, and Lenin ended Russian participation in World War I by March 1918. Civil war erupted within Russia, which continued for several years, but the Bolsheviks emerged victorious as the Communist Party, which led to the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922.

 

By the spring of 1919, Russia had been out of the war for a year, but the civil war created havoc, and millions neared starvation. To extend the reach of the American Relief Administration, which he directed, into Russia, Hoover needed to find a “neutral executive” like Nansen to serve as an intermediary with the Russians. Nansen sent an initial radio message to Lenin to gauge his interest in allowing a “purely humanitarian effort” to feed starving Russians.


On April 3, Nansen sent a letter (edited by Hoover) to American President Woodrow Wilson, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando (the “Big Four” Allied leaders of postwar Europe), proposing the plan. This statement is French Minister of Foreign Affairs Stephen Pichon’s response to Nansen’s proposal. Nansen wired the offer to Lenin on April 17. The French, unwilling to do anything to keep the Bolsheviks in power, never sent Nansen’s telegram to Lenin. The offer had to be resent, by radio on May 3.

 

The Russians responded on May 14 (their reply was also blocked by the French but picked up by radio and relayed to Hoover), insisting that the Allied leaders were mixing politics with humanitarianism in their demands. The Bolsheviks refused to stop fighting until they had achieved their objectives and therefore blocked the proposed plan. 

 

Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930) was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway, and became a champion skier and ice skater. He was also an explorer and led a North Pole expedition from 1893 to 1896. He studied zoology, and his study of the central nervous system of marine creatures earned him a doctorate. He made many scientific cruises in his study of oceanography. From 1906 to 1908, Nansen served as the Norwegian representative to the United Kingdom. He devoted himself to the League of Nations and secured Norway’s participation in the League in 1920.  At the League’s request, he organized the repatriation of half a million prisoners of war, including 300,000 in Russia. Nansen received the 1922 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on behalf of persons displaced by World War I.

 

Stephen Pichon (1857-1933) was born in Arnay-le-Duc, Côte-d’Or, France. He served as French minister to China from 1897 to 1900 and as Minister of Foreign Affairs several times, from 1906 to 1911, in 1913, and from 1917 to 1920. His most notable service was under Clemenceau during the latter part of the World War I and at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

 

 



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