The Eurasian Triangle. Russia, the Caucasus and Japan, 1904-1945

34 Ë The Russo-Japanese War

arranged to buy “tens of thousands of inexpensive ries in Switzerland.”⁵⁵Eventu-

ally sixteen thousand ries and 3 million bullets were bought in Switzerland to be

sent to the Baltic regions, and likewise eighty-ve hundred ries and 1.2 million bul-

lets were to be shipped to the Black Sea regions. The latter purchase was arranged

by Dekanozishvili with the help of the Georgian anarchist Varlaam Cherkezishvili and

the wealthy Swiss anarchist Eugène Baud.⁵⁶Cherkezishvili’s contact with anarchist

networks in the Netherlands and Southern France proved especially useful. An anar-

chist organization based in Marseilles, a French port city on the Mediterranean coast,

and led by R.O. Colombo (who, according to some data, was secretary of the Mar-

seilles Sailors’ Union),⁵⁷rendered invaluable assistance in shipping small packs of

arms, explosives, and political literature to the Caucasus via passenger boats on which

some of their members worked.⁵⁸Dekanozishvili was also aided in his work by his

fellow Georgians in Paris, including Artshil Dzhordzhadze, publisher of the journal

Sakartvelo, and “Miss Cholokashvili” and “Mr. [Aleksandr] Gabunia,” couriers.⁵⁹Ac-

cording to contemporary accounts, Dekanozishvili made sure that each Georgian re-

turning home from France took along the journalSakartvelo. Dekanozishvili also at-

tempted to ship a printing press to the Caucasus, although he succeeded in this only

in the spring of 1906.⁶⁰

The transport of the purchased weapons to the Baltic regions and their fate are

well known. Akashi bought a small steamship, theJohn Graftonfor this purpose, but

the shipment was delayed repeatedly for various reasons. Finally, in late July 1905,

with the aid of the Japanese shipping company Takada in Rotterdam, the Netherlands,

and the implicit support of British authorities, theJohn Grafton, with sixteen thousand

ries, three million bullets, three thousand revolvers, and three tons of explosives, left

England for Russia. This rst journey did not succeed because many revolutionaries

(mainly Socialist Revolutionaries) had been arrested by the police and were not in a

position to accept the arms. The Bolsheviks led by Lenin, however, were eager to ac-

quire the weapons and arms from this shipment. On its second journey, staed mainly

by Finns and Latvians, theJohn Graftonwas forced by weather and miscommunica-

55 Akashi,Rakka ryusui ̄ , 45.
56 Akashi,Rakka ryusui ̄ , 46–47. According to Russian records, Baud once worked as a correspondent
in Russia for a French newspaper. French intelligence noted Baud’s extensive travels to England, Ger-
many, and Switzerland and his “conspiratorial contacts” with many individuals, concluding that he
was an “international spy.” GARF, f. 102, DP PP 1904-II, op. 316, d. 28, ll. 130–30ob.
57 “Personal Memoirs by Christiaan Cornelissen,” International Institute of Social History, Amster-
dam, the Netherlands, 331.
58 GARF, f. 102, DP PP 1904-II, op. 316, d. 28, ll. 78, 94–95, 125, 133, 162, 190. See also Sakhokia’s letters
to Dekanozishvili (28 June, 15 July, and 23 August 1905): Fonds Georges Dekanozichvili, CHAN, boxe
345 AP/1.
59 “Rapport sur la surveillance du colonel japonais AKASHI” (13 May 1905), Archives de la préfecture
de la police de Paris, BA, Carton 1673, dossier “Missions japonaises venues en France (1879–1930),” 3.
60 GARF, f. 102, DP PP 1904-II, op. 316, d. 28, l. 190.