Not unto glamorous “Holy Russia” but
into the drab, mechanized Soviet Union came last week the first
Reigning Sovereign to enter Moscow since the days of Tsar Nicholas the
Last. The visiting potentate was His Majesty, King Amanullah of
Afghanistan, styled by his Moslem subjects, “The Peace of God.”
Accompanied by his Queen, Thuraya, “The Starry One,” he is now
completing a tour of the Occident which has
taken him on state visits to Rome, Paris, Berlin, London and several
smaller Capitals. Last week the royal party, including Crown Prince
Rhamatullah Khan and highest dignitaries of the Afghan State plunged
from the Polish border into Russia aboard a new and sumptuous Soviet
special train of 14 salon cars. The plunge was momentous because King
Amanullah, whose Realm lies between India and Russia , holds
the balance of power in Middle Asia betwixt the British Empire and the
Soviet Union. He has just learned secretly at London how much Great
Britain is prepared to offer for his friendship. Last week it was
Russia's turn to cap the British bid and to dazzle King Amanullah with
a display more imposing than the English pageantry and war games in his
honor which have just cost the British Exchequer some 45,000
. Reception. To welcome and impress the Afghan Potentate, when his train
chuffed into Moscow last week, there stepped forward a scrubby-bearded
one-time peasant, clad in a plain dark overcoat topped by a soft felt
hat. This was Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin, beloved President of the
Soviet Union.* The effect of his sombre simple garb upon King
Amanullah, who for four months has been feted by Presidents in sleek
tail coats and Monarchs attired as field marshals, must indeed have
been impressive. Darting a quick glance about the station, His Majesty
saw not a single silk hat or full dress uniform. Behind the President
were grouped several Commissars clad as simply as he, and
behind them, filling the station square, stood rank upon rank of Soviet
infantry and a detachment of Red Cossack cavalry. President Kalinin,
stepping forward and extending his hand, said briefly in Russian: “In
behalf of the Soviet Government I greet your Majesty's arrival in the
Soviet Union.” Then as Queen Thuraya descended from the train, that
great and polished linguist Soviet Foreign Minister Georges Tchitcherin
advanced and addressed Their Majesties in their own tongue. He said: “ T^ u ^^ F j o L” , l-; ul 1 Comrade Tchitcherin words may be
translated: “O King and Queen, you are welcome!”
