A LETTER FROM OUR PRIVATE ARCHIVES
DALLIN, DAVID J.
A Letter From Our Private Archives "Dear Monsieur Thorez from Generalissimo Stalin" By David J. Dallin From "Somewhere in the Kremlin" A FTER a period of greatigains for /\ the Communist...
...If Germany could be included today in our own circle of nations, her adherence would be a simple extension of lands and nations already extracted from the capitalist domain The protection of a new Germany would probably lie within our capacities...
...In fact, it is important and necessary •to secure the co-operation and sympathy, of the non-Communist left-wing elements...
...Inasmuch as most of the script was In tho fine hand of Darld J. Dallin, wo assume that Mr...
...Dallin had something to do with It...
...If the Governments of Britain and the United States were more insistent and more efficient, perhaps they would be able to sever all ties binding certain nations between the Baltic and Adriatic Seas to the Soviet Union...
...You must concur with ui in this respect...
...The state of things in the world today is an unstable balance of forces...
...People sometimes say that Germany is more important to the Soviet Union than...
...to resort to strong measures and purge the political life of France of each and every element of opposition, whatever its label—frankly fascist, clerical-fascist, or social-fascist...
...The consequence has been the worst harvest we have had in three decades, insufficient housing, and a shortage of the most essential commodities...
...Lot us face the fact that the forces of your enemies would be far superior to yours...
...You will be Isolated...
...As soon as you come to power, the other parties will join forces against you...
...who are sorry when a few Fascists or Socialist...
...There are, it seems, only one case in which you would be obliged to change your tactics and resume immediately a vigorous offensive...
...It costs us great sacrifices to keep these nations together, to resist the constant pressure of Anglo-American policy, and to repell the numerous attacks of our enemies...
...Between the Soviet zone in Germany and France lies the AngloAmerican wedge...
...Whether or not this struggle will assume the form of civil warfare, the'intervention of the great powers from the outside will probably become inevitable...
...U stress your adherence to political free* doms and to promise support and protec* tion to private property, to peasants and to small trade...
...Now you understand that it will be impossible lor us to protect France by military means, under the present circumstances...
...Many Communists look at them with contempt and are prepared to fight them...
...I often hear criticism in our midst about the shortcomings, the short* sightedness, the unreliability, and tho political Impotence of these groups, Dear Thorer, there is no man in all tho Communist parties who despises these noisy and talkative finc-people-and* salon-Communists^ more than 1 do-* these people who talk of revolution but are afread of a pool of blood...
...Why shouldn't we be able to convince, for a time at least, the world of "liberals" that we have discarded revolution, civil war, and militant Commanlsm...
...You have to make use of your force and of your participation in the government to penetrate into every possible position, especially in the army and in the police...
...You have tolerated regimes which would be swept away in a general strike and you have supported for high posts Socialists who would deserve quite a different treatment...
...The defense of the great new Soviet realm heavily taxes and overstrains the forces of the Soviet Union...
...Your immediate task, however, is not Bimply waiting for a turn in international relations...
...Is it puizllng or surprising our readers...
...But your regime will, of course, be the rule of a majority, a distinct dictatorship...
...You must be ready at all times to throw your weight onto the political scales...
...The Letter Is fictitious...
...Political parties thrown into opposition, from Blum's Socialists to the deGaullists and royalists, will in fact be united to overthrow your regime...
...In Hungary, in 1919, on the other hand, it was successful and led to the establishment of Admiral Horthy's regime...
...a well-known authority on European politics, hss given us his reassurances...
...But until this wedge is forced out, you are certain to be isolated and defeated if you precipitate a seizure of power...
...It was clever of you not to talk too much about dictatorship, and insur* rection...
...By such methods we induced the shrewd Churchill to approve of Tito for Yugoslavia, and we talked Franklin Roosevelt into acquiescing in our hegemony in various countries at the price of "free and unfettered elections...
...This, today, is the greatest task of our policy...
...You will have...
...Many people in our midst expect that the stalemate will be broken as soon as you take over the government...
...It must be forced out before we assume a new great offensive...
...But how great a role these men play in the "democracies,'' in their press, » their parliaments, aSd in their universities 1 Under the unstable conditions of the present, when at times a tiny weight tips tha balance and decides for off against a certain policy, these Intel* lectuals are of great importance to y*« and to us...
...You will recall that I have always maintained that the "German version" is the most advantageous for,us...
...With the greatest of efforts we have been able to attain a line across Europe stretching from Poland to Albania, and an indefinite line in the Far East, which we intend to protect...
...Nonsensel In the war against Germany we achieved a lot by using these means...
...Are there secret aspects which are hidden from political view...
...It lasted for two years in Russia and was eventually defeated...
...In the battles which you'll face the day alt?r you come to power, we can, of course, promise to give you all the diplomatic and political support...
...We will make great concessions to the Anglo-Americana if they promise to quit the continent We shall sign the treaty with Italy to let them pull out of the south...
...and they serve us...
...The correct attitude toward these people is important in view of the general instability not only in France but in all other countries as well...
...Your policy is wise and proper...
...In this policy of cautious movement which you must carry out, you have dons well with regard to the political groups and elements which constitute a barrier between you and the anti-Communist forces...
...YOU certainly remember the heated discussions in the top circles of the Communist International fifteen and twenty yeara ago about what was then called "the itinerary of social revolution...
...The style Itself Is not quite In the heavy, doughy Jargonised manner of the Kremlin...
...They will not without resistance let France slip away to ihelr mortal enemy...
...and your force is so overwhelming, it appears, that you could "seize power by telephone" as one of your deputies has put it in a joke...
...Even when the wedge is removed, foreign intervention will remain a certain danger to your policy...
...Safeguarding of the Soviet Union, the nucleus of the Communist movements throughout the world, is still the first commandment...
...With France moving into o»<r family of nations our general offensive can be resumed,—or at least so it seems...
...And if afterwards France, in turn, would come to join us, the whole continent would present an impregnable bastion...
...Who said that camouflage.cannot change the course of history...
...Should it become an issue of life and death, we will even have to withdraw in Eastern Europe...
...They p-otert ui In the moit critical moments, and the value of their services cannot be exaggerated...
...In the north, Western Germany is a combined Anglo-American sons, controlled by their armor and aviation...
...Should it take place In France, you will not enjoy the advantages wo had in Russia—vast spaces for retreat, and the internal squabbles among the interventionists...
...And yet, you had to apply reluctant and cautious tactics...
...In accordance with the traditional Nf» Letter Open-Door policy on Archives, we now nubllsh for tha first time any* where this "Stalln-Thorei Letter...
...not to antagonize more then absolutely necessary the Catholic and other creeds and not to push the Marxism-Leninist position on religion...
...in whose Tela* flows milk, and whose minds are coward* ly and narrow...
...Otherwise, do not be hasty and Veep your powder dry...
...Inside the capitalist nations, however, the Communist movement has continued to grow and France Is the country, where, after magnificent victories in elections, and plebiscites, you seem to be on the verge of victory...
...Dot we waive our technical doubts and suspicions—Mr...
...Don't throw them away until you have squeezed the last drop of utility out of them...
...Military intervention has thus far been the concomittant of many an attempt at social revolution...
...P.S.—Aside fo all scholars and librarian...
...You will need the powder, lots of It, in the nesr future...
...in peace we mean to achieve even more...
...Things change quickly at present and' powder still remains a great rower...
...well...
...We are keeping millions of men under arms at a time when they are badly needed in the kolkhozes and in .industry...
...No Communist party is entitled to demand for itself that the Soviet Union undertake any action that might seriously endanger its existence...
...What we must consider, however, is the situation that will necessarily arise in the aftermath of your victory...
...The capitalist world, is still much stronger than we are, therefore our policy must be planned cautiously...
...THE LETTER WHAT Is behind the strange policy of the French Communist Party...
...And this must be stressed over and over again: So long as Western Germany is occupied by the Anglo-Americans, we in the Soviet Union will not be able to give you the support which you would need in case of such a conflict...
...You must dispatch your men into every important government agency...
...We use them in the new countries of our sphere as evidence p/ democratic governments, to silence the' doubtful voioea in the United States and Britain...
...are tried and removed...
...Events have taken a different course, and today France is ready for the social transformation while Germany is not...
...If the French government joins a hard* and-fast alliance with Britain and they United States against the Soviet Union, —a "Western Bloc" or whatever its name...
...You can seize power, all right...
...We have been stopped temporarily...
...They will join forcea with your domestic opponents, and Messieurs Bidault, Blum, Herriot and many others will become in our eyes agents of- the international offensive against Communist France...
...As soon as you come to power, antiCoinmunist forces will join and begin to bring pressure to bear on you from within France as well as from without...
...Along with us French Communism la Interested in solving the specific "German problem," as a prerequisite for further progress...
...We will do what we can to move into the control of the Ruhr...
...You must attain such a level of preparedness that, when a derisive moment arrives, the machinery of the state can easily be taken over by your party...
...If Isolated, you will bo crushed...
...But real military help would under the circumstances be the sole decisive factor—tind that we will not be able to supply...
...France...
...There is a grain of truth in this contention...
...Peoples totaling at least 150 million have been torn out of the capitalist world and are now undergoing a process of transformation...
...There'are a good many such people in Fiance, too...
...In this letter, which made a curious appearance one eve* nlng In our editorial offices, there is a sharp, shrewd and realistic analysis of the French situation In Europe...
...A Letter From Our Private Archives "Dear Monsieur Thorez from Generalissimo Stalin" By David J. Dallin From "Somewhere in the Kremlin" A FTER a period of greatigains for /\ the Communist movemcntjn 1944 and 1945, its territorial expansion has been brought to a standstill and since the end of the war in Europe the demarcation line dividing its realm from the capitalist world, has changed only little...
...I refer to the multitude of men and organizations, variously termed "crypto-Communists," "fellow-travelers," "left-wing Socialists," "liberals" in the United States, and so on...
...Franco Spsin will be glad, if called upon, to participate In any action against you...
...Of the three great nations bordering on Francs, Italy lies In the .AngloAmerican sphere, and tho armies located in Northern Italy can promptly and cosily bo shifted to the French border...
...Zllllacus and Crossman it England, Henry Wallace in America, Pletro Nennl in Italy, different as thel* "ideologies" may appearTb themselves, are in effect a buffer between tho two worlds of today...
...In order to avoid dangerous entanglements we have had to pull out of Northern Iran and abandon it to reaction...
...we could give you what you would probably no longer need—financial support...
Vol. 30 • January 1947 • No. 4
