ABSTRACT
Talk of coups and dictatorship prevailed as the only acceptable solution to replace the weak and divided Directorate. Colonel Frank, Ward's Russian liaison officer, relayed the news of the coup and said, 'Russia is doomed never to rise out of her troubles'. The entire French plan for the restoration of an acceptable order in Russia hinged on the performance of the Czechs assisted by the allies. The British and French who had originally intervened to save the Czechs and keep open the Eastern Front were therefore left to paper over the cracks in western Siberia. The Foreign Office's approach to the Russian situation contained more than a touch of flexibility and pragmatism. The responsible Russian desks in various Foreign Ministries had barely assessed the implications of the formation of the Czechoslovak Republic and the Armistice when news of the coup was heard.
