9 May 1917. Franklin D. Roosevelt

Washington, D.C., United States

Roosevelt at the Navy League Reception to the naval members of the British War Commission

I have been asked to greet Admiral de Chair. We have all been doing our fair share of talking since our colleagues came over here.

I am sorry, in a way, to be spoken of as representing the "Navy Department ". I hate to think of the Navy Department as anything that is separate from the Navy itself.

May I say in this gathering of greetings, this gathering of fair words – this gathering of promises of what we are going to do – that we have got to do. What of the days that have gone by – the weeks that have gone by - and we are gradually getting to months that have gone by with mighty little done.

Admiral de Chair, Admiral … and other members of the English and French Commission, have not said so outright, but I fell quite sure that if I were in their place I would feel like reporting home to my government that I had received fair words, and again fair words, and I would feel quite sure that my government – if it were the right kind of a government – would cable back to me and say “What about the number of ships that have sailed?”, “What about the number of men that have left America for the other side, after a month’s participation in the war?” England and France know that we have got the men. England and France know that we have got a fairly good-sized number – for the United States – in the Army. We have got a division, maybe a couple of divisions of regular trained troops. We have got pretty nearly a division of Marines. I think as long as we are all connected more or less with the Navy here to-night – or connected with the Army – that we must take stock of the little bit we are doing.

It is all right to extend the greetings – a greeting that is just as hearty, I believe, in every city of this county, whether it be Washington, Philadelphia, New York or Boston – or cities like Chicago or St. Louis, - and Milwaukee!

There is no question about our being in this war to stick – to see it through to that end that is bound to come, but there is a question still we must face, and that is the question of what we have done in the days that are passed and what we are going to do to-morrow – Thursday – a definite day. What is going to be accomplished between now and Sunday.

Let us say, not what we are going to do next September or next spring – and may I say to the Admiral as I have said quite openly to other members of both the British and French Commission, that it is their duty to put before the American people,- not once, not as a request, - a polite suggestion – but again and again, what they need, what we can give TODAY and not to-morrow.

It is time that the officers of the service – of both services – appreciate more fully the exigencies of the moment. It is time that the Administration, that members of the Senate and House of Representatives, - women and men – appreciate more fully that our task is now and not to-morrow. It is time that they insist on action at once. Action that will give something definite – definite ships, definite men – on a definite day. And, my friend, we Americans, in whatever walk of life we happen to belong, should demand of our representatives that definite action be taken. The quicker this is done the quicker will it help the common Cause to come to some definite end.

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Romain Rolland

Saint-Légie, Switzerland

The membership of the Provisional Government is still a conundrum. Born of a popular revolution, it is now made up of people who are as far away from the spirit of revolution and as close to the spirit of a coup d’etat as it as it is possible to imagine. The Minister of War in the Provisional Government, Guchkov, is the former alter ago of Stolypin the “hangman”. The Foreign Minister, Milyukov, is an imperialist who supports continuing the war “to a victorious end”. It is impossible to place one’s trust in any of the generals. See more

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Anatoliy Lunacharskiy

Luckily, Martov, the leader of the moderate faction (the Mensheviks) is coming with me to Russia. A dedicated internationalist, endowed with all the qualities necessary in an outstanding statesman. He lacks the gift of oratory possessed by Lenin and Trotsky, but surpasses them in spirit and judgement.

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Elizaveta Naryshkina

Tsarskoye Selo, Russian Empire

The commandant came. He understands all my reasons for wanting to leave and approves the letter to Kerensky but he is very anxious for me not to take this step. He thinks that Kerensky will refuse. At such a critical and dangerous moment, the fact of my leaving will be exploited, misinterpreted, and will result in more unrest. See more

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Alexander Kolchak

Sevastopol, Russian Empire

At war, one can have wonderful dreams which, on awakening, make one feel sorry that they cannot continue.

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Maria Feodorovna

Ai-Todor, Crimea, Russian Empire

I was suddenly awoken at 5:30 in the morning by a knock at the door. In the terror of the twilight, I made out a man who loudly declared that he had been sent on behalf of the government to search the house. Despite my firm protestations, they pulled back the canopy, and the lieutenant said that I had to get out of bed. See more

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Amedeo Modigliani

is working on the painting 'Portrait of Jean Cocteau'

Emil Gudo's square, 13, Paris, France

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George Buchanan

4, Dvortsovaya embankment, Petrograd, Russian Empire (British Embassy)

The Government took a step in the right direction by announcing that the right to dispose of the troops was vested exclusively in the military governor of the town. On the same day the Foreign Office handed the Russian charge d'affaires in London our reply to Miliukoff's famous note that had been the cause of the recent crisis. We welcomed that note as showing that Russia would not relax her glorious efforts to defend, with her alhes, the cause of justice and humanity. See more

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Sofia Tolstaya

Yasnaya Pol'yana, Tul'skaya guberniya, Russian Empire

Our son Misha came for a visit. He told me a lot of interesting news. The lack of discipline among the troops is bad. All in all, everything is bad.

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The New York Times

To the Editor of The New York Times:

Recent editorial utterances of The New York Times and other usually well-informed newspapers indicate that the American public has formed an utterly false opinion about the attitude of Socialists in Russia and the United Stated towards the revolutionary Government of Russia and on the question of a separate peace between Russia and the Central Powers. See more

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8 May

Kerensky gives an ultimatum

Lenin on the Mensheviks

Elizaveta Naryshkina decided to leave Tsarskoye Selo