Office of the Historian

File No. 861.00/3368

The Consul at Irkutsk (Thomson) to the Secretary of State1

[Telegram]
Irkutsk, December 6, 1918, 9 a.m.
[Received December 9, 9.35 a.m.]

Controversy between Semenov and Kolchak government not yet ended, and feeling of all classes Russians this district very bitter against Semenov and his mercenary troops, who are regarded as hirelings of Japan. Semenov desires supreme authority over eastern Siberia, which territory is coveted by Japan as sphere of influence. General feeling is that Semenov’s [policies?] are dictated by Japanese military officers.

Thomson
  1. Sent via the Legation in China.↩