PREFATORY NOTE

The present volume is a continuation of Foreign Relations, 1918, Russia, volumes I, II, and III.

Brackets, [], occurring in the text enclose editorial insertions. These are of two main types: (1) words or phrases, in ordinary type, supplied to fill in omissions; and (2) suggested corrections, in italics, following words or phrases which appear to be incorrect.

Brackets have also been used to show differences in sources in the case of documents emanating from the Commission to Negotiate Peace, Paris. For such documents there are two sources: the files of that commission (now in the Department of State), showing the message as sent; and the files of the Department of State, showing the message as received. The source of the text printed is given by the file number; divergencies brought to light by the other source are noted in brackets. The same use has been made of brackets in the case of telegrams sent from some foreign post both to the Commission to Negotiate Peace, Paris, and to the Department of State.

There has been no attempt in the present volume to harmonize the spelling of Russian proper names.