III. THE SMALL NATIONS IN THE PERIOD OP THE EUROPEAN WAR.
Only the briefest summary of the salient facts involved in the participation of the small nations in the hostilities of the World War can be attempted here. For a more detailed ac count the reader must be referred to the sec tions dealing with the military operations in the war.
While there were many signs of the old national separatism among the Finns from the outbreak of the war, they participated in the military operations to a greater or less degree along with the other portions of the Russian empire, though the traditional enmity of the Finns toward Russia early led them ant° nego tiations with Sweden and intrigues with Ger many. The outbreak of the active revolt against Russian domination .which followed the March Revolution of 1917'in Russia, began in August of that year. In December 1917 the Firms declared their independence of Russia, and by the forced Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 3 March 1918, Russia was obliged to recognize the full independence of Finland and to agree to evac uate Esthonia and Livonia. Great Brit ain and tile United States recognized the inde pendence of Finland on 5 May 1919 and on 25 July of that year the Finns elected as their president the liberal statesman and publicist, Professor Stalberg. Down to the period of the German conquest the state of affairs in the districts inhabited by the Letts and Lithuanians 1Nas not widely different from that which ob tained in Finland, as far as their relations with the Russian empire were concerned. Most of Lithuania was conquered by the Germans in. 1915, and the Letto-Lithuarnans were not in disposed to accept the change of masters. The Teutonic conquerors stimulated the desire for independence, which was declared by the Lith uanians at Vilna in January 1918. They elected a president and received recognition from scrme of the European states during 1919. The Letts have also established a provisional government following a declaration of inde pendence from Russia. This new state, Letvia, was seriously threatened by a German occupa tion in 1919, but the Allies intervened. From the outbreak of the war it seemed evident that at its close the Poles would realize. a greater amount of autonomy than they had enjoyed since the Revolution of 1830, if not since the period, of partition. 011 15 Aug. 1914 the tsar gave out a proclamation promising autonomy to Russian Poland after the war, and also to German and Austrian Poland, in case Russia should conquer and hold them in the course of the conflict. However, the tsar's anticipations as to conquest were not realized and the Ger mans began to occupy portions of Poland very soon after the outbreak of hostilities. Hinden burg's severe defeat of the Russians at Tannen berg in September 1914 opened the way for the German advance and Poland was occupied in the summer of 1915, following the famous re treat of Grand Duke Nicholas in August of that year. By the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Rus
sia was forced to abandon Russian Poland. At the dose of the war Poland declared its in dependence and elected a constitutional con vention, which met on 9 Feb. 1919. The new state was soon recognized by several powers and a general recognition of the independence of Poland was included and implied in the Treaty of Peace submitted by the Allied Pow ers to Poland on 28 Jnne 1919. Follovring the Russian Revolution of 1917 the Ruthenians of the Ulcraine showed signs of restlessness, pro moted hy the severity of the Russification pol icy during the early years of the war, and later in the year began a definite movement for in dependence. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk pro vided for the Russian recognition of the inde pendence of the Ulcraine, but the Ruthenians suffered severely as a result of the accom= ing Teutonic invasion. The Czecho-S1 fought in the early years of the war on the side of the Austrians, though without great enthusi asm. The nucleus of the Bohemian revolt was the group of Czecho-Slovak prisoners of war captured by the Russians during General Brass'. lov's great drive into Galicia and detained in Sibena. They refused to abide by the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and rebelled and conquered the city of Vladivostok when the Bolshevik government refused them transit across Siberta to join the Allies. On 18 Oct. 1918 the Czecho-Slovak National Council, sit ting at Paris, drafted a declaration of independ ence. On 28 October a republic was declared, and on 14 November Thomas G. Masaryk, the distinguished statesnian, publicist and Slavonic scholar, was elected the first president. The Poles, Ulcrainians and Czecho-Slovalcs entered into an armed conflict over disputed boundaries, and the Czecho-Slovaks were also involved in a disastrous conflict with the Soviet government of Hungary during the summer of 1919. The Magyars fought loyally with the Austrians dur ing the greater part of the period of hostilities, but the development of signs of ultimate defeat for the Central Powers produced a separatist spirit in Hungary. On 17 Oct. 1918 the Hun garian Diet declared itself independent of all bonds of union with Austria, save only the per sonal union created by the fact that Emperor Charles of Austria was also the Icing of Hun gary. On 3 November the Hungarians declared their complete independence of Austria and on 16 November a republic vras formally proclaimed. The liberal regime established under Count Karolyi was overturned by the failure of the Allies to protect Hungary from invasion and by what the patriotic Hungarians regarded as the severe terms likely to be imposed upon Hun gary at the Peace Conference, and a Soviet government was formed by Bela Kun and his associates. The refusal of the Allied Powers to deal with this government did much to retard the final settlement of territorial prob lems in central and southern Europe.