Mr. Lloyd George went on to defend his proposal to
recognize the Bolsheviks by referring to Pitt's overtures to the Directory in 1796-97 and quoting speeches in which Pitt argued that,
violent and odious" as was the French Republican Govern- ment, peace on fair terms was anxiously to be sought. Pitt failed through no fault of his own. But Mr. Lloyd George, in saying that eighteen years of war followed, forgot the Peace of Amiens of March, 1802, which was made by Addington with the First Consul and which endured for fourteen months. Trade would not revive, said Mr. Lloyd George, until we had peace with the whole of Europe, for the mere rumours of what the Bolsheviks might or might not be doing with the Red Army sufficed to spoil business. Moreover, we needed what Russia could supply. " Germany cannot pay the full demand of reparation until Russia is restored."
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