740.0011 European War 1939/14055: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 17—8:20 p.m.]
1521. Pravda and Izvestiya today publish on their front pages the full text of the joint message from the President and Churchill2 to Stalin and the text of Stalin’s reply.3 The two papers likewise devote their leading editorials to the message, the following excerpts from Pravda being similar to those appearing in the Izvestiya editorial: Pravda states that the personal message from the President and Churchill is an international political document of great importance and that the practical measures implicit in it will play an important role in the struggle against Hitlerite Germany. It points out that the message and its proposal of a conference in Moscow reflect the recognition by the peoples of the United States and Great Britain of the significance of the struggle of the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany, and adds that a new stage in the development of cooperation between the three great powers, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the United States, has commenced. The basic characteristic of this new stage is the joint preparation and immediate execution of a number of concrete and practical measures in the struggle against the common enemy, and the recognition of the special position of the Soviet Union in this great struggle. In this connection it is pointed out that Hitler and his generals expected to conduct a lightning war against the Soviet Union, but the powerful resistance of the Soviet Union frustrated this plan. The struggle will be long and stubborn, will impose great strain and cost great sacrifices, but Hitler has made the fatal strategic mistake of provoking a war on two or more fronts. He is now throwing into the battle increasing hordes of forces on the enormous front from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, and at the same time weaving a network of intrigue and provocation in the Near East, bringing pressure on the weak-willed Vichy Government in [Page 640] order to force an entrance into West Africa where he will create a base for an attack on the American countries.
It is stated in the editorial that the joint message of Roosevelt and Churchill has aroused joy in the hearts of the friends of the anti-Hitler front and consternation in Hitler’s camp, and that the Soviet people will be gratified by the report that the United States and Great Britain are ready to render, and are already beginning to render, extensive assistance to the Soviet Union.
The Pravda editorial concludes by pointing out the enormous resources of the three great powers, and the complexity and difficulty of the struggle. The first task is, while furnishing supplies to England, to assure the supply of the principal front, which is that of the Soviet-German war, inasmuch as the main blow of the German Fascists is at the moment directed against the Soviet Union. In the light of these circumstances the editorial states the convocation of the conference at Moscow with the participation of the representatives of the Soviet Union, the United States and England is of special significance,4 and the proposal for the convocation of such a meeting has met with the most positive response from the Soviet Government. It suggests that the conference will undoubtedly strengthen even more the fruitful cooperation of the three participants in the matter of the achievement of their common aim which is the liberation of mankind from the Nazi tyranny.
- Winston Spencer Churchill, British Prime Minister since May 10, 1940.↩
- See telegrams No. 1507, August 15, 7 p.m., and No. 1509, August 15, 9 p.m., from the Ambassador in the Soviet Union, pp. 819 and 820, respectively.↩
- W. Averell Harriman, Special Representative of President Roosevelt, and Chairman of the Special Mission to the Soviet Union, with a British counterpart led by Lord Beaverbrook, held conferences in Moscow, September 29–October 1, 1941. For correspondence concerning the Harriman–Beaverbrook Mission, see pp. 825–852, passim.↩