JFK+50: Volume 7, No. 2256
UNITED STATES FIRST TO RECOGNIZE RUSSIAN REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) 100 years ago tonight, March 22, 1917, United States Ambassador David R. Francis*, based in Petrograd, extended formal recognition to the new Russian revolutionary government making the United States the first country to do so.
This action is considered unusual because normally time is taken to make sure a new government is stable. The New York Tribune reported on March 23, 1917 that there was "utmost satisfaction" in Washington circles with the decision to extend recognition and there was hope that the action would lead the German people to turn away from the tyranny of their own government.
The Tribune stated...
"The alacrity with which President (Woodrow) Wilson rose to the...situation indicates...his perception of the advantages (of recognizing the new Russian government)...in dealing with Germany."
*David Rowland Francis (1850-1927) was born in Richmond, KY & graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1870. He served as mayor of St. Louis, Governor of Missouri, Secretary of Interior under President Cleveland & was the last US ambassador to the Russian Empire.
SOURCE
"America First To Recognize Freed Russia, Quick Action Taken as Hint to German People to Demand Liberty," The New York Tribune, March 23, 1917, National Endowment For The Humanities, www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
UNITED STATES FIRST TO RECOGNIZE RUSSIAN REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) 100 years ago tonight, March 22, 1917, United States Ambassador David R. Francis*, based in Petrograd, extended formal recognition to the new Russian revolutionary government making the United States the first country to do so.
This action is considered unusual because normally time is taken to make sure a new government is stable. The New York Tribune reported on March 23, 1917 that there was "utmost satisfaction" in Washington circles with the decision to extend recognition and there was hope that the action would lead the German people to turn away from the tyranny of their own government.
The Tribune stated...
"The alacrity with which President (Woodrow) Wilson rose to the...situation indicates...his perception of the advantages (of recognizing the new Russian government)...in dealing with Germany."
*David Rowland Francis (1850-1927) was born in Richmond, KY & graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1870. He served as mayor of St. Louis, Governor of Missouri, Secretary of Interior under President Cleveland & was the last US ambassador to the Russian Empire.
SOURCE
"America First To Recognize Freed Russia, Quick Action Taken as Hint to German People to Demand Liberty," The New York Tribune, March 23, 1917, National Endowment For The Humanities, www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
David R. Francis
US Ambassador to Russia
The World's Work (1901)
