Tsarist Coup?

Grand Duke Nicholas, cousin of Tsar Nicholas II (who with his family was reported to have been murdered by the Bolsheviki at Ekaterinburg), and one time Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Russian Army, was reported to be preparing for a "peaceful conquest" of Soviet Russia.

The Duke believed that the Russian people would recall the old rulers if they had a free choice. He appealed to Russian emigres scattered all over the world, of whom there are said to be 2,000,000, to contribute one franc (about 5-c- ) per month for the dissemination of Tsarist propaganda in Russia with the object of delivering the people from the Bolsheviki and giving them a fair chance of holding a plebiscite for the election of a new Tsar.

The Duke's immediate object is to raise 100,000,000 rubles ($51,400,000, pre-War rate) for his propaganda campaign. He appointed the Cossack General, Krasnov, as his aide-de-camp, and rented the Villa Choigny at Sauteny, Seine-et-Oise, as the temporary headquarters of the new movement.

This peaceful penetration program does not contradict the agreement recently reached by the Imperial Russian Family at Paris (TIME, Dec. 10), except regarding the recognition as Tsar of the Grand Duke Cyril by the family, which was guaranteed if the question were to arise in the future. The House of Romanov decided to back the Grand Duke Nicholas' plan, but promised to consider Tsar Nicholas alive. "If and when Russia is reconquered, should it be found that the Ekaterinburg murders really took place, the Russian people will be asked to hold a plebiscite for a new Tsar."

Furthermore, presupposing the fall of Bolshevism, the Tsarist regime will ask certain foreign Governments, including that of the U. S., to return "the 1,000,000,000 gold rubles ($514,000,000) sent from Russia before the revolution and now deposited in various banks under Government guarantees." With this sum, it was believed that the restoration of the economic and social life of Russia may be accomplished without appealing to foreign nations for a loan.