The London Conference
The London Conference An Imaginary Report From Molotov to'Stalin Ah Conceived by David J. Dallin HERE in a fancied 'report, which Molotov might have made to the Poli'.bureeu of the' Communist...
...Our 'friends' who always seek to compromise were advising us to be modest and to1 meet the Allies halfway since 'everything had changed after Germany's surrender.' "We had to take the temperature of the three Bs: Byrnes, Bevin and Bidault (the Chinese delegation remained passive...
...They do not possess the determination, the boldness and strong will, the readiness to make great sacrifices, which are the characteristics of our Bolshevik philosophy...
...The three Bs were, of coilrse, angry—but Anally they retreated.' Our Yugoslavia' was invited, ' their Greece was rejected...
...Hut l his potential superiority is net enough...
...As-fas as military force is concerned, America is, of course, stronger than we are...
...If he wills it...
...Mao 'I'm- tiing need nnt capitulate to Chiang Kai-shek...
...V' r- ••• • •¦» "ii...
...It is here that man's survey of himself needs the severest scrutiny, for he is his own greatest obstacle to the achievement of those attainable snd necessary goals...
...Their temperature was low...
...And the ¦nation which hai the initiative hue a great advantage in international etffair* —a* 'timer proved be/ore dnd 'during' the war...
...All the people present st the conference remembered,' of course, Italy's war on Greece, the letter's heroic fight, her enormous losses, the' privations and the starvation of her people.' If they had really insisted snd made the invitation to Greece a prerequisite for the conference, it would have meant that they really were in a fighting' spirit and we would probably have had to capitulate, since it Was an unimportant* matter...
...as, a matter of fact, it was one ef the most important sessions of the allied governments in recent, years, •To put it ia military terms: the conference meant, a concentrated attack on our Balkan fortresses on the part of a powerful coalition...
...This conclusion is wrong, as fax as .the interests of the Soviet Union are concerned...
...sure that we shall remain just as firm as we have been at Teheran, Yalta, San Francisco, and London...
...If you intend to insist on annexation of Turkish Armenia, we can now proceed safely...
...He has exalt' ed change ia' everything but himself...
...When, j&* conference in London was starting, some or their leaders and" their press' emphasized 'the new secret weapons as a great asset in the negotiations with us...
...He has at last unlocked enough of the earth's secrets to provide for his needs on a world scale...
...their soldiers in Germany and Japan have one topic' of conversation only—to return home...
...It need no longer be a question as to which peoples shall prosper and which shall be deprived...
...He haa leaped centuries ahead in inventing a new world to live in, but be knows little or nothing about his own part in that world...
...It will take our allies a long time before they ran launch a new diplomatic offensive—if ever they do,So...
...The Balkan question was the crux of the conference...
...but by hig own hand, he ia destroying, even time...
...The British can not act without the Americans, and the Americans are only concerned with reconversion and demobilization...
...If a new conference is held, you...
...It seemed that ws would have to struggle against odds...
...he m in a position to refine his competitive impulse...
...the losses were not in blood but in prestige...
...Such a government will never be able to wrench the Initiative from our hands...
...ff HEN we arrived in London, we were not certain- that We WOuld be able to achieve this'goal...
...To-detach them from us will become increasingly difficult...
...They count war losses by individuals, not by millions of men...
...if the British tried to resist -well, -London is not immune...
...the Yugoslavs fear tlyir repatriation to Yugoslavia...
...Tie result is that now they finally begin to realize" fh> situation: their intervention in the internal affairs of the nations within1 ear aphere of influence will not he tolerated by as any more than, their intervention in the former Haltir States or in the internal affairs of the Soviet Union...
...the Ball...
...We did so in connection with a question which might seem subordinate: whom to invite to make statements on the peace treaty wih Italy...
...The Balkans and other nations of the European East and half of Germany will, be'firmly consolidated and tied up with our economic and political organism...
...Decision and...
...We demanded an inviatloh to Yugoslavia and opposed an Invitation to Greece...
...first iadignation...
...ommuniration, transportation, war no longer wait on time...
...the well-known columnist Walter Lippmann demanded that 'the big stick' policy be abandoned at the moment when Byrnes began to curtail our influence...
...During some months before our meeting in London the internal political situation of Bulgaria and Jtumania was 'made by America and England the'pivotal point of a heated diplomatic discussion...
...Itf America, public opinion is divided in regard to the Soviet" Union, and her government hak to b« cautious and compromising...
...Often people abroad discuss the question, which is stronger today, the United States or the Soviet Union...
...he can take the step from competitive man to Cooperative man...
...Last-year, Mr...
...Congressmen are seeking to accelerate the demobilization of the Army and the Navy...
...I would prefer, however, to direct further negotiations into normal diplomatic channels...
...We awaited the reaction...
...We have made it clear that as a result of great historical events,.our intervention in these countries is lawful, necesaary and beneficial Their intervention, on the contrary...
...the 'attack was repelled d>y us with heavy losses for the attackers...
...Thus, whatever bridges nan has to build and cross he shall hare to build and cross immediately...
...As I remarked to Comrade (! cornykn, what would become of one of our People's Commissars if he proposed to you to deliver our most imf right ens most of all...
...The Americana themselves...
...the government is forced ,to give in...
...The picture was clear...
...Isolationism grows stronger...
...As one of the members of our delegation jokingly told me: 'Comrade Molotov, if tomorrow you demand in the conference portant military secret to another' power1...
...The struggle between science and morals...
...The latest joke in London is: 'The Poles in Europe do not want to be returned to Poland...
...Their newspapers were full of protests sgainst the use of this powerful weapon...
...Nobody ran effectively Oppose us...
...Do you know whom the atomic bomb that the American Navy should be turned over to us, the reaction would be...
...execution in the modern world are becoming virtually synchronous...
...ran be...
...will he resisted by us by every nean...
...This diplomats victory made it worth while to spend a few weeks away from my important work in Moscow...
...He has shattered the atom snd harnessed Its fabulous power to s bomb, but he balks—or allows himself to be balked—when It comes to harnessing that power for human progress...
...At the same time, other Important personalities and newspapers, such as he Herald Tribune, I'M and others, opposed that policy...
...Likewise we will soon be in a posi-lion to take the offensive in Asia...
...After angry outbursts of temper snd protracted negotiations, they at least understand our viewpoint...
...While he Is willing to mobilise all his scientific and intellectual energies for purposes of death, he is unwilling to undertake any comparable mobilisation for purposes of life...
...They have bemoaned the fate of Hiroshima more than the Japanese did...
...In the meantime, American industrialists, looking for contracts, will urge a loan of billions to the Soviet Union...
...I dare to affirm that, on the contrary, this conference was extremely useful,to us...
...If you have taken a decision con-ceraing northern Iran, now we ran • proceed (o achieve our goal...
...political and psychological factors are decisive...
...Their losses in the war amount hardly to more than five, percent of our losses, and their economy can produce war materials of larger quantity and of better quality...
...The only nationals who insistently demand to be sent home are the til Joes.'" ATOMIC POWER MANES MAN OBSOLETE Modern man is obsolete, a >self-made anachronism becoming more incongruous by the minute...
...How wonderful this Would have been and how easy our tasks would have become I With the atomic bomb in eur hands, we could bring the Turks st the Dardanelles to than- senses, we weald get Manchuria, and Eritrea without argument, We would have a friendly government in Greece...
...There ia power enough and resources enough for all...
...Their governments and their press expected thst these questions would be discussed in the London conference, and a solution reached to serve ss a pattern for the whole of Central and Eastern Europe...
...Already, many representatives of industry have counseled words of synthetic caution, informing a puxxled public that we shall not see the practical application of atomic energy for general ase ia our lifetime...
...Our' allies munched their attack across tbe conference table...
...The other subjects on the agenda were much less important: Italy, the African colonies, Finland, even Trieste, were insignificant as compared with the great question of our position in the Balkans...
...they have no taste for big, daring, costly operations...
...Here ia is government, we told ourselves, whose members are working at cross-purposes, and which does not have the unanimous support of the American people...
...Wallace was not far from becoming again the Vke*Preet-dent instead of Harry Truman...
...He haa surrounded and confounded himself with gaps— gapa between revolutionary science snd evolutionsry anthropology, between cosmic gadgets and human wisdom, between intellect snd conscience...
...The London Conference An Imaginary Report From Molotov to'Stalin Ah Conceived by David J. Dallin HERE in a fancied 'report, which Molotov might have made to the Poli'.bureeu of the' Communist Party of the Soviet Union on the conference of the five foreign minister* in London, aa thil writer imagines it: "The general impression and the opinion of the press of the 'allied nations is that the I-ondon conference was fruitless and even harmful...
...But nothing nf the kind happened...
...J Man now has it within his grasp to emancipate himself economically...
...Therefore they could not and have not achieved anything in London...
...In Korea the Americans are pursuing a policy which will prepare the way for our increased influence...
...that Henry Thomas Buckle foresaw a century age has been all but won by science Given time, man might be expected to bridge those gaps normally...
...Henry Wallace and many others even urged the disclosure of the secrets of the atomic, bomb to the Soviet Union...
...The same atomic and electrical energy that ran destroy a city can also usher in an age of economic sufficiency...
...A few old gentlemen will shake their fists at us, a few angry editorials will appear in the anti-Soviet press—and that will be all...
...Everybody in London and Washington was saying that the situation had become unfavorable for us, that America now had her atomic bomb, that England had « new government which was not inclined to compromise on the 'rights of small nations,' that they did not need any longer the armies of the Soviet Union, etc...
...second deliberation, and third, some intermediary would atop you ia the corridor, to ask whether you would be ready to compromise on fifty percent.' "Dear Josif Vissarionovicb, ths rosd is clear, we need not worey about the Balkans, CaeebcsdovaMst or Poland...
...ft wae obviout that tee could press eur demands and seize the initiative again...
...do not want to go home to he Balic coun-ries...
...In this respect, the Americana are much, inferior to us...
...If it works out this way, it will not be because of any lack of knowledge or skill, but only because of the fear in certain quarters that atomic energy will mean a complete revamping of the economic structure, with the probability that it would be operated as a government utility' or public service.—From an editorial by Norman Cousins, "Saturday Review of-Literature," Aug...
Vol. 28 • September 1941 • No. 39
