which he needed, and they yielded only after intervention of the
representatives of the foreign powers and under pressure of General
 Syrovoy. At that time the line was blocked to such an extent
that it could be used for only two trains daily. Four of Admiral
Kolchak’s trains could not, therefore, advance beyond Krasnoyarsk
and two only, that on which the Admiral was traveling and the one
carrying the gold, could reach Nijneudinsk. At the latter station
the events took place which are generally known. Admiral Kolchak
 left his train and the gold train, relying upon General Janin’s
promise, which was conveyed to him through the Czechs, to the
effect that he would be assured unhindered passage to Vladivostok
with the Czech detachment. Admiral Kolchak, accompanied by
28 persons of his retinue and by the officers of his guard, boarded
a car, which was then attached to the train of the 6th Czech
Regiment. That train, flying the flags of the Allies, went from
Nijneudinsk to Irkutsk. There the Czech guard was recalled, and
the Admiral was handed over to the Socialists. In spite of all
exhortations of his ministers, the Admiral had previously refused
to part from the gold train and to ship the gold to Irkutsk. He
had thus delayed his own departure to the East. Had it not been
for this circumstance, he certainly would have reached Irkutsk
before the Socialist coup of December 4, and his ultimate fate
would probably have been different. However, it would not be
fair to blame the Admiral for having been so anxious to keep the
gold under his own control. Since the fall of Omsk his authority
had been constantly threatened by uprisings in various cities. Shipping
 the gold to Irkutsk, which was regarded as the main center
of the Socialists-Revolutionists, would have meant creating particularly
 favorable conditions for the revolutionary movement and
for the constitution of a new government, with that gold as the
mainstay of its authority.
From the time that the gold train was left at Nijneudinsk, it
is impossible to ascertain its fate with the same exactitude. All
responsibility for its protection was borne by the Czecho-Slovaks.
Under the terms of the armistice concluded between the Bolsheviki
and the Czechs at the end of January, 1920, the gold was turned
over to the representatives of the Bolsheviki. That had been made
an absolute condition of allowing the Czech troops unhindered passage
 eastward.

RUMANIAN GoLD

In December 1916, when the Rumanian capital was menaced
by the German advance, the Rumanian Government entered into an

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