861.00/11963: Telegram
The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Henderson) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 9—11:50 a.m.]
438. 1. The outstanding feature of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the revolution was Stalin’s speech of November 6, a brief summary of which has been telegraphed to the Department from Kuibyshev. It is assumed that the full text is available to the Department. The Embassy’s own translation will be sent by mail.
2. It is apparent that in his speech Stalin endeavored to give his Soviet listeners the impression that Soviet agriculture and industry are functioning satisfactorily; that the Red Army has been conducting defensive and offensive operations against the German coalition in a manner which the army of no other state could equal; and that the sole reason for the successes of the German armies during the past summer has been the absence of a second front in Europe. The concensus of foreign observers here is that those sections of the speech which touched on the second front were worded in such a mariner as, without giving undue offence to Russia’s allies, to cause the Russian’ people to blame Soviet military reverses on the absence of such a front rather than upon errors or miscalculations on the part of the Soviet leaders.
Both Lozovsky57 and Zarubin58 pressed me yesterday for my opinion as to the manner in which Stalin’s reference to the second front might be received in the United States. I told Lozovsky that I was confident that the American Government and American people would understand Stalin’s position and would certainly not take offense at his intimation that Russian reverses were due to the absence of a second front. I said that Americans appreciate plain speaking and do not object to criticism of a frank nature, provided such criticism is not made in sarcastic vein or in such a manner as to question the good intentions or the integrity of the American Government or people.
3. Stalin’s insistence in the latter part of his speech that close cooperation is possible among the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, and that there has been a progressive improvement in the relations of these three countries did much, it is believed, to soften the criticism for the failure of an establishment of a second front. His comparison of the aims and resources of the Allies with those of the Axis Powers as well as his delineation of the tasks of the Soviet Union should be extremely useful in connection with the conducting [Page 476] of Allied propaganda not only in the Allied and neutral countries but also in Germany and Italy.
4. Among the omissions in his speech the following are of particular interest: (a) No reference to the Far East or to the fact that there is a war in the Pacific. (b) No mention of countries other than Great Britain and the United States as Soviet allies and reference to the United Nations as such. Some of the United Nations of the European continent were mentioned but merely as occupied countries. (c) No acknowledgment of material or other aid to the Soviet Union from the United States or Great Britain, (d) No accusation that Great Britain and the United States had failed to live up to their obligations. (e) No reference to the international revolutionary movement or to religious questions. (f) No mention of the military contribution of the United States and Great Britain other than a comment on the small number of German and Italian troops in Egypt.
5. Although Stalin could have given more credit to other United Nations for their contribution to the war effort without detracting from the accomplishments of the Soviet Union, it is nevertheless felt, here in diplomatic circles and by those Soviet officials with whom members of the Embassy have discussed the speech, that it represents another step forward in the direction of closer cooperation between the Soviet Union and its allies.59 I believe and already have received indications that Soviet officials are interpreting the speech as a directive for the display of greater friendliness toward the United States and Great Britain.
- Solomon Abramovich Lozovsky, Assistant People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs.↩
- Georgy Nikolayevich Zarubin, Chief of the American Section of the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs.↩
- The Chargé further reported in telegram No. 440 of November 9, 1942, that in Kuibyshev “during the whole celebration we sensed a feeling of restored confidence. The general attitude seemed to be that the worst strain was over; the Germans had finally been halted; winter was coming to the rescue; and at least by spring help would be forthcoming from the western Allies.” (861.00/11964)↩