THE COUNCIL OF FOUR


more democratic than other parts of Russia. There had been no class
of nobles or of large landowners, although there had been a few mil-
lionaires, but they did not now exercise former authority. There was
only a small middle class and the bulk of the population consisted of
peasant proprietors. There was practically no reactionary class. The
only reactionaries in Siberia were the military element and had only
come temporarily. It was on this population that Koltchak was de-
pendent in his government and for his military success. This was why
Koltchak, although a dictator, both in a military and political sense,
was constantly announcing democratic measures. This, indeed, was
essential to his position. Denekin's position was quite different. In
his part of Russia, there were large numbers of landowners, from
which class his military officers were largely drawn. This made Gen-
eral Denekin's declaration all the more significant. In reply to Presi-
dent Wilson, he said that Koltchak was much stronger than Denekin,
who had largely exhausted his recruiting resources and could only be
strengthened from outside. Koltchak, on the other hand, was enter-
ing a populous district and region from which he would be able to draw
his recruits.
Referring to Mr. Lloyd George's second point, M. Tchaykowsky
said that the question of the relations between the Central Government
and the smaller States was a most delicate and unsatisfactory one in
Russia. One result of the over-centralisation of Czardom and the
treatment of those States by the Bolshevist population had been that
all the national groupings that had sprung up had been seized by a
fashion of independence. But when they looked at the question coolly
and viewed their economic position, they were far from suggesting
any such solution. Economically, these small States were weak and
they must inevitably fall into dependence on someone else. The
Lithuanians, for example, he understood, had already received large
sums from the Germans. The same would apply to Esthonia and
Latvia. He had had several conversations with Esthonian repre-
sentatives in Paris and they admitted the truth of this. They at first
said that since Germany had overrun Estonia, they must consider
themselves free of any ties with Russia and start afresh. He had
replied that he understood their standpoint but could not admit such
a tabula rasa argument since Reval stood at the gate of the Finnish
Gulf and since it had been built by Russian energy. Eventually, they
had promised that, if when the day came for the final reckoning,
Russia would treat them as equal to equal and not as obligatory
members of the Russian State, they would be prepared to deal. They
had sent a telegram in this sense to the head of their Government, but,
owing to the serious situation there and the elections, the reply had
been delayed. In reply to Mr. Lloyd George, he said that Esthonia


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