Paris Peace Conf. 180.03401/25
CF–25
Notes of a Meeting Held at President Wilson’s House in the Place des
Etats-Unis, Paris, on Thursday, May 22, 1919, at 6:15 p.m.
Paris, May 22, 1919, 6:15 p.m.
- Present
- United States of America
- France
- British Empire
- The Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd George, M. P.
- Italy
| Sir Maurice Hankey—Secretary. |
| Professor Mantoux—Interpreter. |
Polish Ukraine Armistice Commission 1. President Wilson read the despatch attached in
the Appendix, which was a revision of the earlier draft prepared as a
result of the meeting on the previous day.1
The revised despatch was agreed to.
President Wilson raised the question of whether
it should be sent to Poland or handed to M. Paderewski on his arrival in
Paris.
As there was some doubt as to the date on which M. Paderewski was due to
arrive, the question was adjourned till the following day.
Villa Majestic, Paris, 22 May, 1919.
Appendix to CF–25
Telegram From the President of the
Peace Conference to General Pilsudski, Head of the Polish State,
Warsaw
The Council of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers feel that
it is their duty to call the attention of the Government of Poland
to facts which are giving them the greatest concern and which may
lead to consequences for Poland which the Council would deeply
deplore. The boundary between Poland and the Ukraine is under
consideration and is as yet undetermined, and the Council has more
than once informed the Polish Government that they would regard any
attempt either by Poland or by the Ukrainian authorities to
determine
[Page 860]
it, or to
prejudice its determination, by the use of force, as a violation of
the whole spirit and an arbitrary interference with the whole
purpose of the present Conference of Peace, to which Poland, at
least, has consented to leave the decision of questions of this very
sort. The Council has, therefore, more than once insisted that there
should be an armistice on the Ukrainian front, arranged in Paris and
under the advice of the Council itself. Full conferences in that
matter have been held between a carefully selected Inter-Allied
commission and representatives of Poland and the Ukraine, and terms
of armistice drawn up which have been formally approved by the
Council of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers. The
representatives of the Ukraine have accepted those terms, but the
Polish military authorities, while acquiescing in principle, have in
effect insisted upon such conditions as would amount to a settlement
of the very questions in controversy, and have continued to use
force to maintain their claims. This has inevitably made the
impression on the minds of the members of the Council that the
Polish authorities were in effect, if not in purpose, denying and
rejecting the authority of the Conference of Peace. The Council feel
it their duty, therefore, in the most friendly spirit but with the
most solemn earnestness, to say to the Polish authorities that, if
they are not willing to accept the guidance and decisions of the
Conference of Peace in such matters, the Governments represented in
the Council of the Principal Allied and Associated Governments will
not be justified in furnishing Poland any longer with supplies or
assistance. If it is her deliberate purpose to set at naught the
counsel proffered by the Conference, its authority can no longer, it
is feared, be made serviceable to her. The Council will, of course,
insist upon an absolute cessation of hostilities on the part of the
Ukrainian military forces.
Paris, May —, 1919.
