Monday, January 29, 1917.
The French, British and Italian delegates to the allied conference arrived in Petrograd this morning.
It has only taken them three days to come from Port Romanov, and their train is the first to traverse the Murman coast line from end to end.
Leaving General de Castelnau to the care of my military attaché, I took Doumergue to the Hotel de l'Europe.
He asked me about the internal situation in Russia. I painted it without sparing the darker colours, and drew the inference that it was necessary to hasten military events.
"On the Russian front," I said, "time is not working for us now. The public does not care about the war. All the government departments and the machinery of administration are getting hopelessly and progressively out of gear. The best minds are convinced that Russia is walking straight into the abyss. We must make haste."
"I didn't think the mischief had got so far."
"You'll be able to see for yourself." He then told me in confidence that the Government of the Republic is anxious to secure the Emperor's express promise that the peace treaty shall include a clause giving France full liberty to decide the fate of the territories on the left bank of the Rhine.
I reminded him that the question of the Rhine Provinces was settled between France and Russia long ago, at any rate so far as the "war map" made it possible.
"In November 1914 the Emperor told me on his own initiative that he unreservedly gave us the left bank of the Rhine; he said so again on the 13th March last year. What more could we want?"
"But Monsieur Briand thinks we ought to bind the Russian Government by a written and detailed record ... We cannot be too careful in so serious a matter."
After a private luncheon at the embassy, I took Doumergue and General de Castelnau to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where the conference was to hold a preliminary and official sitting to lay the foundations for its work.
The following representatives were present:
Russian: Pokrovsky, Foreign Minister; the Grand Duke Sergei Michailovich, Inspector-General of Artillery; M. Woynovski, Minister of Communications; M. Bark, Finance Minister; General Bielaïev, War Minister; General Gourko, Chief of Staff to the High Command; Admiral Grigorovitch, Minister for the Navy; M. Sazonov, who has just been appointed ambassador in London, and M. Neratov, assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs
French: M. Doumergue, Minister for the Colonies General de Castelnau and myself:
English: Lord Milner, minister without portfolio, Sir George Buchanan; Lord Revelstoke and General Sir Henry Wilson:
Italian: Signor Scialoja, minister without portfolio; the Marchese Carlotti and General Count Ruggieri.
At the very outset it appeared that the governments of the western Powers had only given their delegates vague instructions; no directing principle to co-ordinate the allied effort and no joint programme to hasten the common victory. After a prolonged exchange of generalities, the emptiness of which everyone felt, we modestly agreed to say that the recent conferences in Paris and Rome had sufficiently defined the object of the present meeting. We next decided that questions of a political nature should be examined by the chief delegates and ambassadors; plans of operations should be settled by the generals; a technical committee should look into questions of matériel, munitions, transport, etc.; final decisions to be taken by the full conference.
Paleologue, Maurice An Ambassador's Memoirs, Vol. 3 /chapter 7 January 29-February 21, 1917/.
The exact date of the Doumergue award ceremony is unknown. General de Castelnau, who accompanied Doumergue, received the Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky on February 6, 1917. It is reasonable to assume that the latter also received the order on this date.
