This index to the Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Relations Between the United States and Russia and the Soviet Union, 1910-1929, collection provides the dates each reel covers. Government Information MAY NOT hold all of these reels. The record in the library catalog describes the extent of our holdings. For help, or to make an appointment to view a reel, email rad@colorado.edu
On the seven rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced the records from the decimal file of the Department of State, 1910-29, that concern political relations between the United States and Russia and the Soviet Union. Before 1917, documents are mostly instructions to and despatches from diplomatic and consular officials. As there were no American diplomatic representatives in Moscow after 1917, most records originated from Vladivostok during the years 1917-19 and from American diplomatic posts in the Baltic States, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Germany, and China during the years 1920-29.
Also included in these records are notes between the Department of State and foreign diplomatic representatives in the United States, memoranda prepared by officials of the Department, and correspondence with officials of other Government departments and with private firms and individuals. The Lists of Documents or "purport sheets" reproduced on Roll 1 give brief abstracts of the documents reproduced in this microcopy and serve as a finding aid to the documents themselves. The arrangement of the entries on these lists corresponds to the arrangement of the documents in the file.
Since 1910 the central files of the Department of State have been grouped and arranged according to a decimal system of subject classification. This decimal file initially consisted of nine primary classes numbered 0 through 8, each covering a broad subject area. Under Class 7, Political Relations of States, the documents are arranged according to the countries concerned. Each country has been assigned a 2-digit number and the numbers for the United States and for Russia are 11 and 61, respectively. Thus, the documents reproduced in this microcopy bear the file number 711.61 and concern political relations between the United States and Russia and the Soviet Union. The digits that follow the second country number represent a specific subject. This number, in turn, may be followed by a slant mark (/). The numbers following the slant mark are assigned to individual documents as they are accumulated on a specific subject. For example, a decimal file number taken from a document reproduced in this microcopy is 711.612/193. The digit 2 following the country number for Russia (61) signifies that the subject of the correspondence pertains to a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and Russia, and the number following the slant mark indicates that this is the 193d paper received on this subtopic.
The documents under one subject classification are generally in chronological order, coinciding with the document number assigned (which follows the slant mark). There are instances, however, when a document file number was not assigned until a date considerably later than the one on which the document was received.
Cross-reference sheets that refer to related records under other subject classifications in the decimal file have been reproduced as they occur, and appropriate cross-reference notations appear in the Lists of Documents. Other cross-reference notations are to documents in the "numerical file," a system used for the central files of the Department of State for the period 1906-10. This numerical system of assigning consecutive numbers to subject case files was replaced by the decimal system of subject classification in 1910.
Before filming the records a search was made by the National Archives and the Department of State for missing documents. The checkmarks that appear by most entries in the left-hand column of the Lists of Documents indicate that the papers are in the file. The absence of checkmarks denotes that the documents were not found; it is believed that they were not among the records when they were received from the Department.
This file contains communications received from and classified by foreign governments and Federal agencies other than the Department of State. Those documents that have not been declassified are not available as part of this microcopy. The National Archives and Records Service does not have authority to make reproductions of such documents available to searchers.
Under the general heading, Relations Between the United States and Russia (on Rolls 2 and 5), are discussed such subjects as visits of American businessmen to Russia, Russian newspaper comments on American policy in the Far East, and Russian-American political relations in general. After 1919, most of the correspondence relates to economic conditions in Russia and Soviet attitudes as reported by the State Department representatives at diplomatic posts in the Baltic States, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Germany, and China. There is also considerable discussion of the nonrecognition policy of the United States toward the Soviet Government.
Under the same heading (on Rolls 3 and 4) is a large collection of documents compiled by the Division of Eastern European Affairs of the Department of State and transmitted by letter of June 25, 1927. The collection consists of five volumes, the first of which contains a chronological table of contents, a subject index, and a list of Soviet officials who are cited throughout the collection. In the other four volumes are documents that were arranged in chronological order and assigned consecutive file numbers. This collection is a compilation of diplomatic correspondence of the Soviet Government, resolutions of Soviet organizations, statements by Soviet officials, and other papers containing comments regarding the attitude of the Soviet Government toward the United States. The documents specifically relate to the Soviet Government and World War I, charges of American interference in the internal affairs of Russia, attitudes toward American officials in Russia, Soviet representation in the United States, the Washington Conference of 1921-22, proposals made to the United States Government by the Soviet Government, commerce and commercial relations, and expressions of desire or hope for diplomatic relations with the United States.
Among the records on other rolls in this microcopy is considerable correspondence concerning the abrogation of the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation of 1832 between the United States and Russia, which was terminated on January 1, 1913. There are also many documents later concerning Russia's adherence to the Kellogg- Briand Pact of 1928. Other records consist of a few documents each on the provisions of treaties on arbitration, naturalization, consular affairs, and regulation of corporations.
This microcopy does not include the records for Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Lithuania, the Ukraine, Poland, Transcaucasia, and Azerbaijan, former provinces of Russia, during the period of their independence after World War I.
A table of contents, indicating the document number range and the subjects covered by the documents in this microfilm publication, appears after the information on related record groups given below.
The spreadsheet attached below contains a reel-by-reel description of the complete collection.