Foreign Relations of the United States, Conference at Quebec, 1944

PR 10 Foreign Relations of U.S./8-20-71: Telegram

Prime Minister Churchill to the British Foreign Secretary (Eden)¹

personal and top secret

Following for Foreign Secretary from Prime Minister.

My immediately preceding telegram.²

Following is text of message for Marshal Stalin.³

1. We are sending a full account of the conclusions which we have reached in our Conference here.⁴ We both much regretted that circumstances which we well understood made it impossible for you to be present with us and thus to repeat the historic precedent of Teheran.

2. In sending you our account of this essentially military conference we feel that we should be less than frank if we did not also express to you certain anxieties which are much in our minds about political developments in Europe. With the defeat of the enemy’s armies, political problems will arise in all parts of Europe. It is essential that we should work together to solve these. We mention in particular the situation in Yugoslavia and Greece, in both of which countries there has been, and in the former of which there still is, the danger of civil war. There is also the position in Poland, which causes us much anxiety. We were all much encouraged by the success of the visit of Monsieur Mikołajczyk, the Polish Prime Minister, to Moscow, and we hope that the conversations which were there opened can be carried to a successful conclusion with your help. It would be gravely embarrassing to the smooth working of our affairs if events should so fall out that we were left recognizing Monsieur Mikołajczyk and his Government while you supported some other authority in Poland.

3. These and all other matters which affect our relations towards other powers we are at all times ready to discuss with you, in order to seek agreement through the diplomatic channel or by any other means. As you know we think it extremely important that we should meet on this and other important topics as soon as the war situation allows.

W[inston] S C[hurchill]

[Hyde Park,] September 18, 1944.

1. This message was typed on the Prime Minister’s stationery, bearing the address “10, Downing Street, Whitehall”, and the source text indicates that it was dispatched to London in the Gunfire series.
2. Not available in United States files.
3. According to a minute of September 10, 1944, by Churchill’s Principal Private Secretary (Martin), this message to Stalin was “a draft provisionally agreed between the President and the Prime Minister during their discussions at Hyde Park on September 18. After further consideration however they decided not to send a message of this character to Marshal Stalin at present.” (PR 10 Foreign Relations of U.S./8-20-71)
4. i.e., at Quebec. For the account referred to, see ante, p. 478.