The Bullitt Mission: A Study in Diplomatic Imperialism at the Peace of Paris in 1919

One of the choice bits of scandal hovering over the Peace Conference at Versailles in 1919, was the mystery shrouding the Bullitt Mission. This was a secret delegation of three men sent to Russia in order to negotiate peace with the Bolsheviks. It was an incident directly connected with the Russian policy pursued at that time by the Allied powers. The League of Nations, the attitude of Secretary of State Lansing toward the League, the political assault of the Republican party, upon the Wilson foreign policy, also occupy part of the story.This thesis is to be a study of the Bullitt Mission in its relationship to American policy toward the Soviet government. It will, therefore, necessarily be intimately concerned with the entire Russian policy of the Allies, the various international questions that this policy brought forward, the personnel and methods employed by the delegates to the Parisian international conclave of 1919.The sources used herein are documents, hearings, printed reports of legislative debates, newspapers, periodicals, and carefully selected modern secondary works. The bibliography has been condensed to a bare minimum, emphasizing quality rather than quantity. The conclusion is that the Bullitt Mission was a failure for two reasons:1. It was foredoomed to failure by the compromise policy of the Peace Conference,2, It was a political mission whereas the situation demanded an economic or humanitarian mission.The reports submitted by members of the Mission, touched incidentally in this thesis, are valuable as source material for economic and social conditions in Russia in 1919.