Chapter 213 Volume 6, Chapter 23, The End of Yalta

A secret agreement between the United States, Russia and the Far East February 8 My secret conversation with Stalin July 5 My telegram to the prime ministers of the dominions February 10 Our last banquet at the Vorontsov dacha Stalin and the Emperor Toast I toast to Stalin Stalin's views on the UK general election about Uncle's meeting ends we drive to Sevastopol to Balaklava visit back to Saki fly to Athens visit my speech in Syntagma Square February 15th we Leaving for Egypt to have home cooked lunch with the President and say goodbye I met King Ibn Saud to exchange gifts I stopped at Villa Kasser February 19th we flew to England Debates on Yalta Deep worries on Poland.

We did not speak of the Far East in our formal discussions at Yalta.I know that the Americans intend to raise with the Russians the question of the USSR's participation in the Pacific War, which we talked about in general at Tehran.In December 1944 Stalin also made some detailed proposals to Mr. Harriman in Moscow concerning some of Russia's postwar claims to these areas.American military authorities estimated that it would be eighteen months after Germany surrendered before Japan could be defeated.Russia's help could mitigate heavy American casualties.At this time, the attack on the Japanese mainland was still in the planning stage.General MacArthur did not enter Manila until the second day of the Yalta Conference.The test detonation of the first atomic bomb would not take place for another five months.If Russia remained neutral, a large number of Japanese troops in Manchuria could be deployed to defend the Japanese homeland.

President Roosevelt and Mr. Harriman took this issue to discuss Russia's territorial claims in the Far East with Stalin on February 8.The only one present, apart from a Russian interpreter, was Mr. Charles E. Pollan of the State Department, who also acted as interpreter. Talks resumed two days later, and the Russian terms were accepted with some modifications.Mr. Harriman referred to these quid pro quos in his testimony before the United States Senate in 1951.Russia promised to participate in the war against Japan within two to three months after Germany surrendered. In a private conversation with Stalin that afternoon, I asked him about Russia's aspirations for the Far East.He said they would have a naval base like Lushunkou.

The Americans believed that those ports would be best managed by international condominiums.But the Russians demanded that their interests be safeguarded.I replied that we would welcome the presence of Russian ships in the Pacific, and we favored compensation for Russia's losses in the Russo-Japanese War.The next day, February 11th, they showed me the agreement drawn up by the President and Stalin the previous afternoon, and I signed it on behalf of the British government.This document was kept secret until the negotiations between the Soviet government and the Chinese Nationalist government were completed, and Stalin definitely agreed to support the Chinese Nationalist government.So far the matter was brought to an end, and it was not brought up again until shortly before our reconvening in Potsdam.

The record of these negotiations I have kept below in an excerpt from a telegram I sent on 5th July to the Prime Ministers of the Dominions. In top secret, Stalin informed Roosevelt and myself at the Crimea Conference that the Soviet government was willing to participate in the war against Japan within two or three months after Germany's surrender, on the following conditions: (1) The status quo in Outer Mongolia must be maintained. (2) Restoration of the rights lost to Russia in 1904, namely: (1) Take back the southern part of Sakhalin and all its adjacent islands. (2) For the internationalization of Dalian's commercial port, the Soviet Union's superior rights and interests in the port must be guaranteed, and the Soviet Union's lease of Lushun Port as a naval base must be restored.

(3) For the Middle East Railway and the South Manchuria Railway, which serve as the way out to Dalian, a company jointly established by the Soviet Union and China should be established to jointly operate them; it is understood that the superior rights and interests of the Soviet Union must be guaranteed, while China must maintain its position in Manchuria full sovereignty. (3) The Kuril Islands must be handed over to the Soviet Union. 2. These conditions were embodied in a private agreement between Roosevelt, Stalin and myself.The agreement required Chiang Kai-shek's assent to these conditions, and Roosevelt agreed to obtain Chiang's assent based on Stalin's advice.All three of us agreed to try to make the Soviet demands come true without any problem after defeating Japan.The content of the agreement contained nothing other than that Russia was prepared to conclude an alliance treaty with China in order to assist China in getting rid of the yoke of Japan.

I must say that although I represented Great Britain in this agreement, neither I nor Aiden had a hand in drawing it up at all.This is considered an American matter, and certainly one that has a huge stake in their military operations.We should not ask to draw up such an agreement.In short, they did not discuss with us beforehand, but only asked for our consent.We did the same.There was much condemnation in the United States of these concessions to the Soviet Union.The onus is on their own representatives.This question is insignificant and secondary to us. Unless we have a very good reason, it is wrong for us to intervene.

At the last dinner on February 10, it was our turn to be chairpersons.A few hours before Stalin was due to arrive, a squad of Russian soldiers arrived at the Vorontsov dacha.They locked the doors on both sides of the parlors where the banquet was to be held. The guards stood guard and no one was allowed to enter.Then they searched everywhere, under the table, behind the walls.My entourage had to leave the house in order to pass from their office to his own lodgings.When everything was settled, the Marshal arrived, with great enthusiasm, and after a while the President also came. At the banquet in the Yusopov Palace, Stalin raised a glass to the health of the Emperor. Although he meant to show friendship and respect, he did not agree with me.He said that he was always against the king, that he was on the side of the people, not the king, but that in this war he had learned to respect the people of England.And the British people respect their king, so he wants to wish the emperor health.I am not satisfied with such a toast, so I asked Molotov to explain that on such occasions in the future, Stalin can avoid embarrassment as long as he wishes the heads of state of the three countries healthy.After I got the consent, I implemented my new rules:

I wish the health of His Majesty the Emperor, the President of the United States, Chairman Kalinin of the Soviet Union, and the three heads of state of the three countries. The President seemed tired, and he replied: The Prime Minister's greeting brought back many memories for me.In 1933 my wife visited a school in our country.In one classroom she saw a map with a large blank area.She asked what the blank piece was, and she was told they were forbidden to mention it, and that was the Soviet Union.This accident is also one of the reasons why we wrote to Chairman Kalinin asking him to send a representative to Washington to discuss the establishment of diplomatic relations.That is how we recognized Russia.

It is now my duty to wish the health of Marshal Stalin.I said: I have made this toast several times, and this time I toasted with greater enthusiasm than at previous meetings, not because he had won a greater victory, but because the great victory and glory of the Russian army made him a More kind than in the tough times we've all been through.I feel that whatever differences we may have on certain points, he has a good friend in Britain.I want to see a bright future, prosperity and happiness for Russia.I am willing to help as much as I can, and I am sure the President must be as well.There was a time when the Marshal wasn't very kind to us, and I remember saying some rude things about him, but our common troubles and common devotion swept it all away.The flames of war have burned away the misunderstandings of the past.We feel we have a friend we can trust; I hope he will continue to feel the same way about us.I pray to God that he will live long and see with his own eyes that his beloved Russia is not only glorious in war, but happy in peace.

When Stalin gave his speech, he was very interested. I felt that he thought the statement of the head of state was very suitable for our tripartite meeting.I have no record of his exact words.There were less than a dozen of us together with the interpreter. After the formal courtesy speech, we talked in twos and threes.I mentioned that after the defeat of Hitler there would be a general election in the United Kingdom.Stalin thought my position was secure because the people would understand that they needed a leader, and who could be a better leader than the one who won?I explained that in Britain we had two political parties and I belonged to only one of them.Stalin said with deep conviction that one party is much better.I then thanked him for his hospitality to the British Parliamentary delegation which recently visited Russia.Hospitality, Stalin said, was his duty, and he liked young fighters like Lord Lovat.Of late he had acquired a new interest in life, an interest in the military; in fact, it had become almost his only interest. This caused the President to speak of the British Constitution.He said that I often talk about what is allowed by the constitution and what is not allowed by the constitution, but in fact Britain has no constitution.Still, an unwritten constitution is better than a written one.Just like the Atlantic Charter, there is no document, yet the whole world knows about it.Among his papers he once found a transcript bearing his own and mine signatures, but, strange to say, both signatures were in his own handwriting.I replied that the Atlantic Charter was not a law, but a star. We went on, and Stalin spoke of what he called the blind discipline of Kaiser Germany, and detailed an incident in Leipzig as a young man.He came to attend an international conference with 200 members of the German Communist Party. Their train arrived on time, but there was no staff at the station to collect the tickets, so all the members of the German Communist Party waited for two hours before leaving the platform.Thus none of them could attend the meeting they had come from afar to attend. The night passed so easily and happily.When the Marshal left, many members of the British delegation gathered in the drawing room of the dacha. I called for three cheers for Marshal Stalin, and they cheered loudly. There was another time when we were in Yalta and things didn't go so well.Mr. Roosevelt held a lunch meeting, and he said that he and I often referred to Stalin as Uncle Jo in secret telegrams.I suggested that he tell him in private, but instead he told the audience in a humorous tone.This caused momentary embarrassment.Stalin was angry.He asked angrily, when can we leave?Mr. Bernas saved the situation by one very ingenious remark.He said: When it comes to Uncle Sam, you don't mind after all, so what's wrong with dating Uncle Sam?Having said this, the Marshal calmed down, and Molotov told me later that he understood that it was a joke. He already knew that many people abroad called him Uncle Yue, and he also realized that this name was called in a friendly tone, indicating a close and friendly relationship. The next day, Sunday, February 11th, was the last day of our visit to Crimea.As usual, many important issues remained unresolved at these meetings.The Polish communiqué sets out a policy in general terms, which, if carried out faithfully, will certainly work, pending a general peace treaty.The agreement on the Far East, which the President and his advisers concluded with the Russians in order to bring them into the war against Japan, has nothing to do with us directly.The agreement later became a hotly debated issue in the United States.The president was eager to go back, and on the way home he would visit Egypt, where he would discuss Middle East affairs with various powerful figures.Stalin and I had lunch with him in the former Tsar's billiard room in the Livagia Palace.At mealtime we signed the finalized papers and official communiqués.Now everything depends on the spirit of implementation. That afternoon Sarah and I drove to Sevastopol, where the cruise ship Franconia was moored.This ship came by way of the Dardanelles and was used as a command ship.It can be used even if the equipment on the shore of Yalta is destroyed. We went aboard, with Sir Alan Brooke and the other Chiefs of Staff.From the deck one can see the port, practically all destroyed by the Germans, though it is now full of activity and illuminated at night from the ruins. I was very anxious to see the Balaklava field, so I asked Brigadier General Peake of the War Office Intelligence to look up the details of the operations and be ready to guide us.On the afternoon of February 13th, I visited that location.With me were the chiefs of staff and the Russian admiral commanding the Black Sea Fleet, who had been ordered by Moscow to entertain me whenever I landed.We felt a little awkward about our host, and handled it with perfect tact, but there was no need to scruple.When Pique pointed to the line of defense that the light brigade had been moved up to defend, the Russian admiral pointed in almost the same direction and shouted that the German tanks came to attack us from there.After a while, Peake explained the deployment of the Russians back then, pointing to the hills where their infantry had once held. A place for one person.I think it is time to explain to him that we are studying another war, a war of a dynasty, not a people's war.Our host made no sign of understanding, but seemed quite satisfied, and so all passed happily. Ahead of us was the valley from which the light brigade descended to attack, and we could see the ridge which the Highlanders had so valiantly defended.Looking at the scene ahead, one can appreciate the situation which faced Lord Ragland some ninety years ago.We visited his grave in the morning, and we were very moved to see how the Russians love and respect this grave. [1] Lord Ragland (1788｜1855) was the commander-in-chief of the British army in the Crimean War. He defeated the Russian army and died in the Battle of Sevastopol in June 1855. .translator I would have liked to take the sea route through the Dardanelles to Malta, but I felt it my duty to make a lightning trip to Athens to see how Greece was after the latest turmoil.So early on the 14th of February we drove to Saki, where our plane was waiting for us.Aiden has gone first.As we drove through the winding mountain roads, we passed a gorge where the Germans had abandoned dozens of locomotives.At the airfield, a handsome guard of honor from the Russian secret police was lined up.I inspected them the way I was used to, looking each one of them straight in the eye.This took some time, as they numbered at least two hundred, but it was done well with Soviet newspapers.Before I got on the plane, I gave my farewell speech. We flew to Athens without incident.Fly over Rupert Brooke's grave in a circle over Skyros.When we arrived at the airport, the British Ambassador Mr. Lipper and General Scobie came to welcome us.When I left the Greek capital just seven weeks ago, it was being torn apart by street fighting.Now we drive in in a convertible.The last time I was there, it was near Christmas, and in the streets where hundreds of people died, now there was only a small line of Greek soldiers in kilts holding back a large group of people who were eagerly shouting and trying to squeeze through.About 50,000 people gathered in Syntagma Square that night.The lights shining on these quaint scenery at night are very wonderful.I don't have time to prepare a speech.Our guards think we must arrive completely unnoticed.I gave them a short and enthusiastic speech. Blessed are you, warriors and citizens of Athens and Greece, this is a great day, a day when the dawn shines and the darkness disappears.A great future lies before your country. There has been much misunderstanding and ignorance of our common cause in many parts of the world, and there has been misreporting of issues for which struggles have been fought here in Athens, but these events have now become Its role and the role it will play in the future have already been understood. As a Briton speaking here at this moment, I am extremely proud that the British Army has played a part in fighting back the violence and insurrection to defend this great and immortal city.Our two countries have long walked the difficult and dusty road together in a relationship of friendship and loyalty. Liberty, prosperity and happiness are cherished by all peoples of the British Commonwealth and Empire.With you we have fought long for the liberty of Greece; with you we shall walk with you to the end of the dark valley, and with you we shall rise to the broad plateau of justice and peace. May no one neglect his duty to his country, may no one depart from the path of truth and honor.In this great hour and glorious day, may no one slump.Let the Greek nation be first in every heart, in every man and woman.Let the future of Greece shine brightly in their eyes. I sincerely wish you prosperity.I sincerely hope that Greece will take its proper place in the ranks of the victorious nations and among the nations that have suffered heavy losses in the war.Let justice prevail.Let partisan hatred die.May you be united and may you be friendly. May Greece live forever!I wish the whole country of Greece solidarity! I dined that evening in the bullet-ridden embassy, ​​and we boarded my plane for Egypt early on the 15th of February. I boarded the HMS Aurora in Alexandria.I did not participate in the discussions between the president and the three heads of state in the Middle East.They were King Farouk, Emperor Haile Selassie and King Ibn Saud, all invited to meet the President.The meeting took place aboard the Quincy, moored in Bitter Lake.That same morning the American cruiser sailed into Alexandria.Towards noon, I went on board to have a conversation with the President that would turn out to be forever.Afterwards we gathered in his cabin for a potluck.I was with Sarah and Randolph, Mrs. Bertiger, daughter of Mr. Roosevelt, and Harry Hopkins and Mr. Winant.The president seemed calm and weak.I don't think his life span is long.I will never see him again.We bid our sincere farewells.In the afternoon of that day, the president and his party returned home from Haidao. After our American friend left, I made an appointment with King Ibn Saud.When he talked with the President, he went on the American destroyer Murphy. During the trip, he carried all the luxury of an oriental monarch. He had about fifty people in his entourage, including his two sons, his prime minister, and his astrologer. and the flocks to be slaughtered according to the Moslem ritual.On February 17th we organized a welcome banquet for him at the Durak Hotel in the Fayoum Oasis, and all the residents there were temporarily asked out by us.There were several social issues at that time.I was told that smoking and drinking alcoholic beverages were not allowed in the king's presence.Since I am the host of the luncheon, I immediately ask this question.I told the interpreter that if the king's religion forbade him to smoke and drink, I must point out that my law of life stipulates that smoking cigars and drinking alcoholic beverages before and after meals, or in between meals, or between meals, is absolutely sacred. the behavior of.Thanks to the king's kindness, I accepted my opinion.His drink-officer from Mecca presented me with a cup of water from the holy well there, the best drink I ever tasted in my life. I had been told in advance that during the meeting gifts should be exchanged, so I did what I thought fit.Tommy Thompson bought me a small box of very expensive perfume in Cairo with a hundred pounds of public funds, and I gave it to the other party.We were all given jeweled and diamond hilted swords, and other expensive gifts.Sarah got a large traveling suitcase (the King of Saud said it was for your women).In presents it seemed that we were too poorly compared, so I said to the king: what we bring is only a small gesture.The British government has decided to send you one of the best cars in the world, with all the comforts, comforts and safety features to protect against enemy attack.This matter was done later. The King of Saud made a deep impression.I have great admiration for him because of his unwavering loyalty to us.Even in his darkest moments he always performed well.He was now past seventy, but he had not lost one bit of his warrior's exuberance.He is still living the life of a patriarchal king in the Arabian desert. He now has forty sons and seventy female relatives, and has married three of the four official wives stipulated by the prophet, leaving one vacancy. On our way back to Cairo from Fayoum, we stopped for tea in the desert house of the British embassy.I stayed at Villa Kasai for a few days and met King Farouk and the President of Syria.We touched on recent entanglements in the Middle East, many of which remain.At the same time Sarah opened the travel suitcase that the King of Saudi Arabia had given her.It contained many luxurious and beautiful Arabian robes, and several bottles of extremely rare and exquisite perfumes.On the bottom floor are six cardboard boxes of various sizes.One contained a diamond estimated to be worth about twelve hundred pounds, and other precious stones, and a necklace of pearls from the Red Sea.Anthony had a similar gift, but the diamonds in his box were befitting of his status.When I later reported these matters to the Cabinet, we said to them, of course we should not keep any of these valuables for ourselves.In fact, the treasury that received this gift has paid almost as much for the car that I propose to give to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I flew back to England on February 19th.Northolt was covered in fog so our plane landed at Lynham instead.I traveled to London by car and stopped at Reading to wait for my wife, who had come to pick me up. At noon on February 27, I asked the House of Commons to approve the agreement of the Crimea Conference. I said: It is my desperate hope that all parties will unite on this new document so that these noble matters can, as Gladstone said, rise and fall beyond the ebb and flow of partisan politics.The Crimea Conference brought the Allies closer together than before, both militarily and politically, and made Germany deeply realize that it was futile to hope for a split among the Allies, and that its complete failure was inevitable.Continued resistance will only cause unnecessary suffering.The Allies are determined to completely disarm Germany, Nazism and militarism in Germany must be destroyed, war criminals must be promptly punished as they deserve, all German industry that can be used for military production must be dismantled or controlled, and Germany must do its best to deal with Material compensation for losses suffered by the Allies.On the other hand, it was not the intention of the Allies to exterminate the German people or to deprive them of the materials necessary for their survival. Our policy is not to retaliate, but to take necessary measures to ensure the future peace and security of the world.One day the Germans will be given their place in international relations, but not until all vestiges of Nazism and militarism have been effectively and completely wiped out. It was the Polish question that was making waves in the House. The three powers agree that the acceptance by the Poles of the terms of the eastern border and, as far as can be determined, of the western border is the main condition for the establishment of a strong, independent and nationally united Poland and its future happiness and security.But the more important question than the question of the Polish borders is the freedom of Poland, as far as it has now been revealed.The range of residence of the Poles has been determined.Can they be the masters of the house?Can they be free, as we are in Britain, or America, or France?Was their sovereignty and independence unfettered, or was it merely a product of Soviet design, coerced by a armed few into adopting a communist or totalitarian system against their will?I was bluntly laying things out.This is a more sensitive and far more important touchstone than drawing border lines.Where does Poland stand?Where do we all stand on this issue? Marshal Stalin and the Soviet Union have declared with great solemnity that they will maintain the independence of Poland, and Great Britain and the United States are now participating in this decision.In this regard, too, the world organizations will assume a certain degree of responsibility in due course.The Poles will take their own future into their own hands, the only condition being that they, in concert with their allies, faithfully follow a policy friendly to Russia. that's certainly reasonable The agreement stipulates that all parties must act through consultations, with the aim of establishing a new Polish interim government of national unity in Poland, so that all three major powers can establish diplomatic relations with it, lest some countries recognize this Polish government while others recognize another. The British government will do its best to ensure that the representative Poles of all democratic parties have full freedom to stand up and express their opinions. I feel compelled to declare that I believe that the Soviet Union sincerely wishes to do this.In this respect, I am encouraged by Stalin's approach to Greece. The impression I brought back from the Crimea and all other contacts was that Marshal Stalin and the leaders of the Soviet Union were willing to live in honorable friendship and equal relations with the Western democracies.I also feel that what they say has credibility.So far as I know, no government has followed its obligations more strictly, even out of desperation, than that of Soviet Russia.I absolutely refuse to initiate a discussion here about Russian sincerity.It is evident that the whole future of the world is at stake in these events.If there were a dire split between the Western democracies and the Soviet Union, the fate of humanity would surely be bleak. I continued: We are stepping into a world beyond measure, and at every stage there is a need for self-reflection.It is a mistake to think too far into the future.Only one link in the chain of fate can be mastered at a time. I am sure Parliament will feel that hopes have been greatly increased as a result of our meeting in Crimea.The ties that unite the three powers and their mutual understanding of each other have increased.The United States has entered actively into the life and salvation of Europe.All three of our countries have embarked on a lofty cause that is both practical and serious. The general reaction in parliament was to unconditionally support the attitude we took at the Crimea conference.But there are strong moral feelings about our duty to the Poles, because the Poles suffered so much at the hands of the Germans, and for their sake we went to war as a last resort.A group of about thirty members of Parliament was so excited about the matter that some of them spoke against my proposal.There is a distressed feeling that we shall see a heroic people enslaved.Mr. Eden supported me.When we voted in groups the next day, we had an overwhelming majority, but twenty-five MPs, most of them Conservative, voted against the government, and eleven government members abstained.Mr Strauss, the political undersecretary at the Ministry of Town and Country Planning, has tendered his resignation. To those who are charged with dealing with great affairs in times of war or crisis, they are not to be allowed to speak only of the general principles agreed upon by good people.They have to make specific decisions on a day-to-day basis.How can they sustain united action without firmness?After the defeat of the Germans it was easy to condemn those who did all they could to encourage Russia to fight hard and to maintain close contact with our great allies who suffered so much.When the Germans still have two or three hundred divisions on the front line, if we quarrel with the Russians, what will happen?The scenarios on which we had placed our hopes soon came to nothing, but they were, however, the only possible ones at the time.