Chapter 230 Volume 6, Chapter 40, The End of My Records

Frustrated Social Contact July 23rd I had my last banquet July 24th Stalin got news of the atomic bomb His reaction July 25th I attended the last meeting to continue discussing Poland My policy in Potsdam I flew to London with the results of the general election 26th July 1945. My farewell letter to the British people. The fate of the last meeting of the three major powers was a setback.It is not my intention to describe all the unresolved issues that have been raised in our meetings. I just want to give an overview of what I knew at the time about the atomic bomb and about the dreaded German|Polish border issue.We have not resolved these matters to this day.

For the rest, I just want to mention some of the social and personal touches that made us feel at ease after our dull debates.The three major delegations took turns hosting banquets for the other two parties.It starts with the US.When it was my turn, I proposed a toast to the Leader of the Opposition, with the side note that it doesn't matter who it will be.Mr. Attlee and everyone here found it very interesting.The Soviet banquet was equally delightful, and there was a good concert, performed late into the night, by the first Russian artists, after which I slipped away. On the evening of the 23rd it was my turn to hold a final banquet.I made it bigger.Delegates and key commanders are invited.I invite the President to sit on my right and Stalin to my left.There were many people speaking at the meeting.Without even asking whether the waiters and orderlies had all left, Stalin proposed that our next meeting be held in Tokyo.There can be no doubt that Russia's declaration of war on Japan could be announced at any moment, and their forces are already massing the frontier, ready to break through the much weaker Japanese front in Manchuria.To keep the party light and pleasant, we switched seats from time to time so that the President sat across from me.I had another very friendly conversation with Stalin.He was very happy and didn't seem to know anything about the important news the President had told me about the new bomb.He speaks enthusiastically of Russia's entry into the war with Japan, and seems to anticipate many months of war in which Russia will become larger and larger, limited only by the Siberian railway.

During the dinner, a very strange thing happened.My distinguished guest arose from his seat, and with a menu in his hand went round the table for autographs from many present.It never occurred to me that they were collectors of other people's autographs and handwritings!When he came back to me, I signed my name as he wished, and we looked at each other and smiled.Stalin's eyes twinkled with joy, with great joy.I have mentioned before that in the toasts of these banquets, Soviet delegates always drink from very small glasses, and Stalin never made an exception, but now I want to ask him to step up, so I use small glasses for red wine Poured a glass of brandy each for him and me.I looked at him meaningfully.We both fucked at once and looked at each other admiringly.After a pause, Stalin said, if it is impossible for you to give me a stronghold in the Sea of ​​Marmora, can we have a base in Dedejagach [1]?I myself felt quite satisfied with the answer, and I said: I will always support Russia's claim to freedom of navigation at sea in all seasons.

[1] The port of Alexandroupolis in present-day Greece.translator The next day, July 24, after our plenary meeting, we all rose from our round tables.We stood in twos and threes before we dispersed.I saw the president go over to Stalin, and they talked alone, only the interpreter was there.I was only about five yards from them, and I followed this important conversation closely.I know what the president is going to do.The most important thing I want to spy on is the effect of this talk on Stalin.I look back now like it was yesterday.Stalin seemed very happy.A new type of bomb!Very powerful!It may have a decisive effect on the entire Japanese war!What a fortune!This was the impression I had at the time, and I am convinced that when he heard the news he did not understand the significance of the matter.In the midst of his intense work, the matter of the atomic bomb obviously never worried him.If he had the slightest idea of ​​the great changes in world affairs that were underway, he should have had a noticeable reaction.His most convenient answer would be, I am very grateful to you for telling me about your new bomb.I certainly have no technical knowledge.Can I send my nuclear science specialist in this field to see your specialist tomorrow morning?

But his face was still so gentle and cheerful, and the conversation between the two rulers soon came to an end.While we were waiting for the bus, I found Truman beside me.I asked him, what's going on?He replied that he never asked a single question.So I can be sure that on that day Stalin did not have a special understanding of the vast research process that Britain and the United States had been engaged in for a long time, and he did not know that the United States had bet 400 million on the heroic venture of producing the atomic bomb. Sterling above the pound. As far as the Potsdam Conference was concerned, that was the end of the matter.The Soviet delegation never mentioned this matter after that, and no one mentioned it to them again.

On the morning of the 25th, the meeting was reopened.This is the last meeting I will attend. Once again I strongly advocate the question of the western borders of Poland, which cannot be resolved without the consideration of the 1.25 million Germans remaining in that area.The President solemnly stated that any peace treaty could only be ratified with the advice and consent of the Senate.We have to find a solution that he can honestly recommend to the American people, he said.I said that if we allowed the Poles to take the position of the fifth occupying state without working out a way to distribute the food produced by Germany equally among the people of Germany, and without us agreeing on compensation and spoils, the conference would fail .These intricacies are the focus of our work, and until now we have not reached an agreement.And so the debate continued.Stalin said getting coal and metal from the Ruhr was more important than food.I said they would be bartered with food crops from the East.Besides, how else can miners get coal?The answer is that they imported food from abroad before, and they can still do so now.So how can they pay compensation?The grim answer is that Germany still has a lot of fat left.I object to starvation of the Ruhr by the Poles taking over all the grain-producing regions of the East.Britain itself is short of coal.Stalin said: Then take German prisoners at the mines; that's what I'm doing, there are still 40,000 German troops in Norway, you can get them from there.I said: We are sending our own coal to France, Holland and Belgium.Why can the Poles sell coal to Sweden while the British toil themselves for a liberated country?Stalin replied, but that was Russian coal.Our situation is even more difficult than yours.We lost more than five million men in the war, so we are now very short of manpower.Once again I offer my opinion.We should send coal from the Ruhr to Poland, or wherever else, if we can get food for the miners who produce it.

This statement seemed to give Stalin pause.He said that the whole issue had to be considered.I agree, and say, I'm just pointing out our current difficulties. As far as I'm concerned, that's the end of the matter. I am not responsible for any conclusions reached at Potsdam other than what is stated here.During the course of the meeting, I let disagreements that could not be reconciled at the round tables or in the daily foreign ministers' meetings hang in the air.As a result, an astonishing number of issues on which there were differences of opinion were shelved.If, as is generally expected, the electors want to re-elect me, I plan to fight the Soviet government hand-to-hand on this series of resolutions.For example, Mr. Eden and I would never agree to the Sines River as a boundary line.The line between the Oder and the Donis has been recognized as compensation for Poland's retreat to the Curzon Line, but the territory occupied by the Russian troops has reached as far as the Sines, and in some places even crossed the river, and that was led by me. No government, either before or in the future, will ever agree.Here is not just a matter of principle, but a major practical one, affecting another group of some three million political refugees who do not wish to be repatriated.

There are still many things that should be argued with the Soviet government and the Poles.Gobbling up chunks of German territory in one gulp, the Poles had apparently become zealous puppets of the Soviet Union.However, due to the results of the general election, all these negotiations were cut into two paragraphs and an untimely conclusion was reached.In this way, I am not blaming the ministers of the new government. They were forced to reopen the negotiations unprepared. If necessary, it is better to break openly than to cede to Poland any land beyond the Oder and Donnis rivers. However, it has been shown in previous chapters that the most appropriate time to settle these problems is when the powerful allies are arrayed against each other in the field of battle, and when the Americans and the lesser British are in a line of 400 miles (in some places as wide and as deep as 120 miles) there had not been a massive retreat before the German hinterland and most of it had been surrendered to the Russians.At that time I would have thought to settle the matter before we made such a vast retreat and while the Allied forces were still in existence.The Americans hold us to be bound by fixed lines of occupation which I urge that we speak of only when the whole front from north to south is satisfactorily resolved in accordance with the wishes and spirit of our original agreement .On this point, however, we have no support from the United States; while the Russians, advancing with the Poles at the fore, drive out the Germans ahead, depopulate large parts of Germany, and deprive these Germans of food, while Drive a large number of food households to the already overpopulated Anglo-American occupied areas.Even at Potsdam things might have been salvaged, but my departure at a time when I still had considerable influence and power before the end of the British Coalition Government made a satisfactory settlement impossible.

I took Mary back by plane on the afternoon of July 25th.My wife picked me up from Northolt Airport and we all had a quiet meal together. Captain Pym and the map room staff had arranged excellently for continuous reporting the next day as the results of the election began to be known.The last estimate at Conservative Party headquarters was that we would hold a solid majority.In the midst of the important business of the meeting, I did not take too much responsibility for the matter.Basically I accepted the opinion of the party manager and went to bed, trusting that the British people would want me to keep working.I fell asleep hoping that it would be possible to restructure the National Coalition Government in proportion to the new House of Commons.But when it was about to dawn, I suddenly woke up as if I had been stabbed with a knife.My whole mind was gripped by a subconscious belief that had just emerged: We had failed.

The burden that has been placed on my shoulders by many great events in the past, in order to carry this burden, I have been relying on an inner speed of flight [1] to maintain my balance. Now it is about to be lifted, and I am about to lose my center of gravity and fall. .The power to shape the future will not be mine.All the knowledge and experience I have accumulated, the prestige and good relations I have established in so many countries will be destroyed.Dissatisfied with the prospect, I turned away and immediately fell asleep again.When I woke up, it was already nine o'clock.When I walked into the map room, preliminary results were already being reported.These results turned against me, as I expected at the time.By noon, it became clear that the Socialists would have a majority.At lunch, my wife said to me that it might be a blessing in disguise. [2] I replied that, so far, the appearance was pretty decent.

【1】A plane's level flight without falling depends on a necessary speed, which is the so-called flight speed.If this speed is not reached, the plane will fall.translator 【2】According to the original text, it has the meaning of being a blessing in disguise, knowing that it is not a blessing.translator As usual, I should have a few days to wrap up my government business on a regular basis.I might as well wait, according to the constitution, for Parliament to sit a few days later and accept the dismissal of the House of Commons.This allowed me to announce Japan's unconditional surrender to the whole country before I resigned.But all the important matters we had discussed were at Potsdam, where a British plenipotentiary was badly needed, and any delay would be contrary to the national interest.Also, having the choice of the electors so overwhelmingly expressed, I would not spend another hour in the charge of their affairs.So after asking for an audience, I drove into the Palace at seven o'clock to submit my resignation to the Emperor and to ask the Emperor to summon Mr. Attlee. I publish the following address to the people of the country, and my narrative ends here: July 26, 1945 The decision of the British people has been recorded in the ballot papers seized today, so I have relieved you of the duties you have entrusted to me in these dark times.I regret that I have not had the opportunity to complete my work on Japan, but all plans and preparations have been made in this direction, and the results may come much sooner than we can at present foresee.Unlimited responsibility at home and abroad rests on the new Government, and we should all hope that they succeed in shouldering that responsibility. It is only now to express my profound gratitude to the people of Britain, whom I have served in times of danger, for their unfailing support in my work, and for the many kindnesses shown to their servants.