[Enclosure—Translation]
The Montenegrin Minister for Foreign Affairs
(
Popovitch
) to the Ambassador in France
(
Sharp
)
No. 2456
Neuilly-sur-Seine
, November 14, 1918.
Mr. Ambassador: The negotiations between
the heads of the Governments and the Ministers for Foreign Affairs
of the Allied States being about to begin in Paris in order to
prepare the peace preliminaries, the undersigned has the honor to
address himself to Your Excellency in the hope that the Government
of Montenegro will be represented thereat.
It is within the knowledge of Your Excellency that the right of
Montenegro to take part in the Inter-Allied Conferences has been
acknowledged by all the Allied Governments.
However, at the last Versailles conference the Montenegrin delegates
were not mentioned, although our Government had requested in
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good time to be
represented. It was attempted to justify this omission on account of
the military character of the decisions to be taken at Versailles,
Montenegro having no army at the front. Our Government regretted
this exclusion, Montenegro being since many centuries essentially a
military state and nearly always at war with Turkey and Austria.
There is no need to add that Montenegro in these last wars, although
small, has dared to stand up against the forces of Austria and beat
them in several combats, and that it was only after four years of
struggle heroically supported that it succumbed for the cause of the
Allies, standing alone against three enemies. In spite of all its
sacrifices Montenegro, in the most glorious period of the war and in
the days of the armistice, had on the Eastern front and on the
Franco-Belgian front, some thousands of soldiers in the service of
the Allies in the Anglo-Canadian armies, in the French army (Foreign
Legion and Army of Macedonia) and in the aviation. These soldiers,
under the flags of the Allies, have shown themselves heroes and have
won the highest military decorations.
The Montenegrin Government had declared at the second Inter-Allied
Conference, which took place at Paris in December, 1917, (meeting of
the commissions), that it was ready, if its organization in France
were facilitated, to get together in a very short time, under the
French high command, a legion of soldiers for whose qualities it
offered every guarantee. Such a request had been presented at the
beginning of 1916 after the fall of Montenegro. Thousands of
Montenegrins in North and South America and in the other Allied and
neutral countries impatiently awaited the call to put themselves at
the sides of their brothers and Allies on the European fronts.
Furthermore, history has shown the importance of the Montenegrin rock
in the central Adriatic region and in its relation to the other
interior regions. Montenegro therefore had every right to take a
place even at the military conference. Montenegro has been and will
continue always to be a devoted and faithful Ally of the Allied
Powers. The Royal Government therefore has the honor to address
itself to the Government of the United States with the assurance
that in the negotiations about to begin at Paris to prepare the
peace preliminaries the place which is its by right shall be kept
for it.
With assurances [etc.]
