The 5th of September, to make an end of the affair, a
heavy barrage was laid on the camp, and our soldiers occupied it
little by little. The rebels kept up a heavy fire with their
machine-guns. September 6th, at 9 o’clock, the camp was entirely
occupied…. After the disarmament of the rebels, 81 arrests were
made….”
Thus the report. From secret documents discovered in the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, however, we know that the account is not strictly
accurate. The first trouble arose when the soldiers tried to form
Committees, as their comrades in Russia were doing. They demanded to
be sent back to Russia, which was refused; and then, being considered
a dangerous influence in France, they were ordered to Salonika. They
refused to go, and the battle followed…. It was discovered that they
had been left in camp without officers for about two months, and
badly treated, before they became rebellious. All attempts to find
out the name of the “Russian artillery brigade” which had fired on
them were futile; the telegrams discovered in the Ministry left it to
be inferred that French artillery was used….
After their surrender, more than two hundred of the mutineers were
shot in cold blood.
8.
TERESTCHENKO’S SPEECH_ (Resum?_)
“… The questions of foreign policy are closely related to those of
national defence….
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