ABSTRACT
Militarily, the policy with regard to Siberia was simple and direct. Canadian and British troops would be used defensively to bolster up the Czech and Siberian troops and help them maintain their present front. General Elmsley, who foresaw withdrawal of the Czechs from front if they should be denied Allied support much longer, suggested direct co-operation of his force with Czechs to prevent such eventuality. The Japanese, outnumbered, appealed to American detachment at Harborovsk for military assistance. Japanese obstruction of a railway agreement, which they had used as weapon to defeat Kolchak, was removed towards the end of January. A new plan called for general supervision of the railways by an Inter-Allied Railway Committee whose chairman would be Russian. It is indeed true that Admiral Kolchak, a proud Russian patriot, was often compelled by force of circumstances 'to operate under conditions of humiliating dependence on the caprices of foreign interventionist powers', but on this issue, at least, he stood firm.
