Genf, 12. Februar – Der diplomatische Mitarbeiter der Sunday Times schreibt, in Ankara meine man, dass auf der Dreierkonferenz auch die Dardanellenfrage besprochen werde.
Man glaube, dass Moskau die Aufhebung aller Verkehrseinschränkungen durch den Bosporus und die Dardanellen sowie die Entmilitarisierung der Gebiete auf beiden Ufern verlangen werde. Dies würde das Ende der türkischen Herrschaft über die Dardanellen bedeuten.
The Pittsburgh Press (February 13, 1945)
‘Political murder,’ Goebbels’ boys cry
LONDON, England (UP) – German propagandists today called the Crimean declaration the “Program of the haters of Yalta.”
Germany “will smash this Satanic plan,” DNB promised.
After a lengthy delay in informing the German public of the nature of the Crimean communiqué, an official DNB News Agency dispatch was issued with instructions to German editors that it be headlined: “Germany Has to Be Exterminated.”
Caught off base
The DNB dispatch charged that President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Marshal Joseph Stalin had decided upon “new crimes against humanity.” It charged that the Crimean conferees were imbued “with the Spirit of Old Testament Jewish Hatred” and were attempting the “greatest political murder of all time.”
Apparently, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels was caught off base as he had been busily warning the Reich to beware of a Wilsonian peace plea.
Even since the Big Three conference had been rumored, Goebbels had turned loose the full propaganda facilities inside Germany to warn the Reich against a Big Three appeal to the German people.
Expected honeyed plea
The Goebbels line was that the Big Three would issue a honeyed plea to Germany which would make the “unconditional surrender” doctrine sound more palatable. Goebbels warned the Nazis to beware of any such new “Wilsonian” tactics.
But when the Big Three communiqué failed to bear out this buildup, the Nazi propagandists were apparently at a loss how to present the grim news to the Nazi public. For hours after the news had been announced and Allied radios were blaring it into Germany on all available wavelengths the domestic Nazi radio made no mention of the Crimea conference.
The flat Big Three assertion that Germany is doomed appeared to have thrown a monkey-wretch into the usually well-oiled Nazi propaganda machinery.
Give gist of communiqué
For foreign consumption the Nazi propaganda displayed equal uncertainty.
Initial broadcasts merely gave the gist of the Crimea communiqué.
Later, Nazi commentators said the Big Three had confirmed their policy of “hate and destruction” toward Germany. Broadcasts beamed to the United States said that the Big Three had adopted the “Morgenthau plan for enslavement and destruction” of the Reich.
Other comments said the Big Three committed “the greatest political crime of all times.” They said it was “a super-Versailles that surpasses the old Versailles by 100 percent.”
Attack Polish solution
Broadcasts to Europe attacked the Polish solution and made sarcastic references to Allied plans for relief of liberated countries.
Berlin spokesmen railed at the Big Three plan to transfer German territory to Poland and declared jeeringly that “the bear’s skin is being divided before the bear is caught.”
“The arrogant authors of the communiqué must have realized themselves that the German answer to these songs of hate cannot be anything but fight,” one broadcaster said.
Allied transmitters in London, Moscow and elsewhere in and around the continent told Germany the story of the Big Three meeting in the official words of the communiqué, without elaborating on that announcement.
Japs give news
At intervals of an hour or less, German-speaking announcers broadcast the official statement by shortwave to Germany and Austria, interspersed by similar transmissions to other parts of the continent.
FCC monitors in New York said the Tokyo radio broadcast a factual summary of the communiqué late last night to Japs living in the Americas, but there was no indication that the Jap home public had yet been informed of the meeting.
Stockholm dispatches, meanwhile, said a flood of fantastic rumors had come out of Germany in the wake of the Big Three proclamation, most of them from dubious anti-Nazi sources.
Explosion in Berlin
Among the most lurid of these were reports that Adolf Hitler had resigned as Reich Chancellor in favor of Baron Franz von Papen; that Hitler and von Papen had received a peace delegate from the Vatican; that Gestapo agents were searching Berlin’s graveyards for secret arms caches after a series of mysterious explosions in the capital, and that the Fuehrer was preparing to launch gas warfare with a new “wonder gas."
More reliable reports circulating in Zurich said the Swiss minister to Berlin had left the German capital and that other neutral delegations were expected to follow very shortly, presumably because of the Red Army advance from the east. The Papal Nuncio in Berlin was also said to have left the city for an undisclosed destination.
Sweden’s legation was reported to have been ordered to remain in Berlin as long as possible to assist the fairly large number of Swedes remaining in Germany.
United Nations to draft world security treaty in San Francisco April 25
By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff writer
WASHINGTON – The Roosevelt-Stalin-Churchill conference report got an enthusiastic cheer from Congress today on its proposal that the United States, Russia and Great Britain be bound in post-war unity as a “sacred obligation” to the peoples of the world.
President Roosevelt, Marshal Joseph V. Stalin and Prime Minister Winston Churchill made that post-war compact the foundation of their “report and statement” on the Crimean conversations.
To achieve it they announced they had summoned the United Nations to conference in San Francisco April 25 to draft a world security treaty. It will be in the Dumbarton Oaks pattern.
The Black Sea conferees announced they had reached final agreement on treaty framework, including voting methods.
Announcement yesterday of completion of the Roosevelt-Stalin-Churchill conversations and of the April conference call opens the administration campaign to present the security treaty to the Senate before hot weather begins to swelter this capital. Final Senate action is sought by midsummer.
The conferees held their eight-day meeting in Yalta, a Crimean resort.
German people assured
They said they had agreed on war and post-war plans for Germany. ‘They passed on her a grim cleansing sentence, but assured the German people that they would survive and be fit to live within the “comity of nations.”
They announced agreement on objectives and methods of dealing with most of Europe’s political and economic problems – boundaries, forms of government and such. They promised aid to distressed populations and revealed they would intervene jointly almost anywhere to aid or prod liberated peoples toward desired objectives.
The report revealed a specific Polish settlement based on compromise but in very substantial measure granting all basic Russian demands, including territory. There were instant rumblings of objections to that.
But overall political and economic plans for Europe were tied firmly to the ideal of free elections and universal suffrage.
April 25 fateful date
This latter plan was regarded as a reassurance to Americans, and especially to the Senate, where Mr. Roosevelt soon must stand sponsor of a security treaty guaranteeing world peace backed in part by our armed forces.
Some saw an inference in the statement that Russia is maneuvering to swing at least its moral strength into the Pacific war against Japan. It was no more than an inference.
But it was observed that April 25, when the United Nations conference begins at the Golden Gate, is the last date upon which Japan or Russia can denounce their mutual non-aggression pact.
At table with Chinese
Furthermore, unlimited Russian participation in a United Nations discussion will put them at the same table with the Chinese, whom Russians have avoided because their enemies have not been the same. China fights Japan. Russia fights Germany.
The Crimean report ended on a note of “unity for peace as for war.”
The three most powerful men in the world said:
Our meeting here in the Crimea has reaffirmed our common determination to maintain and strengthen in the peace to come that unity of purpose and of action which has made victory possible and certain. We believe that this is a sacred obligation…
France recognized
The conferees significantly beckoned France to first rank political status in post-war peace machinery and promised her participation in the occupation of the beaten enemy. China was also granted first-class power by promise of a permanent seat, along with France and the Big Three, on the World Security Treaty Council.
The bid for American and senatorial support was in the form of a vigorously enthusiastic conference endorsement of the Atlantic Charter.
Congress welcomed the report which was read in the Senate and circulated among members of the recessed House. The reaction was not unanimous, but it was far from partisan. Republican Senators rose with Democrats to say to the Big Three: “Well done.”
Lauded by Hoover
Former President Herbert C. Hoover called the Crimea agreement a “strong formation on which to rebuild the world.”
“It is fitting,” he told a New York audience, “that it should have been issued on the birthday of Abraham Lincoln.”
The Polish exile government in London evidently intends to repudiate the Big Three agreements as to its own fate, which is early extinction. There was some complaint here, too, against boundary and other plans for the Poles. But few of Mr. Roosevelt’s recent state papers have been better received at first glance on Capitol Hill.
‘Stimulating message’
“A very stimulating message,” said Sen. Alexander Wiley (R-Wisconsin), who has been listed by some persons as an isolationist. “It shows an apparent unity of purpose which the world has been looking forward to, and we hope it will ultimate in a real instrument for international collaboration.”
Referring to the report as “this momentous document,” Senate Democratic leader Alben W. Barkley, D-Kentucky, said:
If we can accomplish the objectives set forth in this Crimean conference, we will go a long way toward justifying the terrible sacrifices we are making in treasure and blood.
‘Great work done’
Senate Republican leader Wallace H. White Jr. (R-Maine) immediately rose from his seat across the aisle.
“A great work has been done,” he told the Senate.
Everyone wanted to know what Sen. Arthur H. Vandenberg (R-Michigan) thought of the Big Three job. Mr. Vandenberg proposed and Republicans generally have adopted a foreign policy based on immediate treaties for the permanent demilitarization of Germany and agreements for post-war examination of all political adjustments made or being made in Europe.
‘Best so far’
“The report is far the best that has issued from any major conference,” said Mr. Vandenberg, although reserving the right to seek more detailed information, especially about Polish political and boundary agreements.
He continued:
It reaffirmed basic principles of justice to which we are deeply attached. And it undertakes for the first time to implement these principles by direct action. The total demilitarization of Germany and the pledge to proceed among our Allied friends on the basis of the Atlantic Charter are greatly encouraging.
The Roosevelt-Churchill-Stalin report bore down hard on the Atlantic Charter, which Mr. Roosevelt has been accused of forgetting.
‘Joint’ action stressed
The three men repeatedly emphasized the “joint” nature of their plans and intentions in all respects. They reported, without disclosing the solution, that they had agreed upon a plan for voting in the council of the proposed security organization.
Voting procedure stymied the Dumbarton Oaks conference here: It adjourned without decision whether all council members should have a vote even though one of them be a party to the aggression they were seeking to suppress or to prevent.
Russia insisted that all should vote and that one negative ballot should have veto power.
Details withheld
The Crimean conference report said that the solution of this problem would be revealed after China and France have been advised of the agreed upon procedure. If China and France go along and the Crimean conferees explored all parts of the security problem in amity, it would seem that the United Nations conferees in San Francisco next April will not be long in session.
Mr. Roosevelt and his foreign policy advisers are convinced that agreement and ratification of a world security treaty must be obtained at once to avoid the delays and defeats encountered after World War I.
To that end they have laid out a program not unlike Woodrow Wilson’s famous 14 points. This time, however, there is a report from leaders of the three nations most immediately concerned, undertaking to follow stipulated procedure in making desired post-war conditions come true.
Procedure listed
The stipulated procedure is embodied in a “Declaration on Liberated Europe.” It is an agreement among the three men on several points:
The United States, Britain and Russia will act in concert to assist the liberated peoples to solve by democratic means their immediate political and economic problems. They expect that to be necessary during a “temporary period” only.
This requires destruction of the last vestige of Nazism and adherence to the Atlantic Charter principle that all peoples have the right to choose the form of government under which they shall live.
To foster conditions in which the liberated peoples may enjoy that right, the conferees agreed that when necessary, they jointly would assist the people of any liberated state or former Axis satellite to achieve four specific objectives:
(a) Establish conditions on internal peace.
(b) Effect emergency measures for relief of distressed peoples.
(c) Form interim governmental authorities broadly representative of all democratic elements of the population.
(d) Facilitate the holding of free elections.
Where the three powers intervened to form interim governmental authorities, it would be with the understanding, the report explained, that it would be only for the purpose of “the earliest possible establishment through free elections of governments responsive to the will of the people.”
The United States, Britain and Russia promised to consult other governments when matters of direct interest to them were involved in such cases. Prior to any action to make good on the foregoing pledges, the representatives of the three governments would consult among themselves.
The report said it was the hope of the three conferees that the provisional government of France “may be associated with them in the procedure suggested” – evidently as an equal partner.
The report said:
By this declaration, we reaffirm our faith in the principles of the Atlantic Charter, our pledge in the Declaration by the United Nations, and our determination to build in cooperation with other peace-loving nations world order under law, dedicated to the peace, security, freedom and general well-being of mankind.
To further the foregoing program and to maintain a political and diplomatic continuity of thought and action, the conference agreed that the foreign secretaries of the United States, Russia and Britain would meet hereafter about every four months. The first meeting is scheduled for London after the April United Nations conference here. Other meetings would rotate among the three capitals.
German militarism to be destroyed
WASHINGTON (UP) – The major decisions reached by the Big Three at Yalta:
GERMANY
Will be subjected to “new and even more powerful blows… to bring her to unconditional surrender.”
Terms were agreed upon for occupation and control of Germany.
German militarism and Nazism will be destroyed; the German General Staff will be “broken up for all time,” all of Germany’s capacity for waging war or producing war materials will be eliminated or controlled.
The criminals will be punished. A commission will be established to study reparations.
UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE
An agreement was reached on voting procedure in the Council of the contemplated world security organization, a question left unsettled at Dumbarton Oaks.
To prepare the charter for a world security organization along the lines of that contemplated at Dumbarton Oaks, a full United Nations conference will meet in San Francisco April 25.
LIBERATED EUROPE
The three countries will jointly assist liberated European territories and former Nazi satellites to establish internal peace, carry out emergency relief measures, form interim governments and hold free elections of permanent governments “responsive to the will of the people.” The three countries will confer whenever the necessity arises in connection with these problems.
The principles of the Atlantic Charter, including free determination of governments, are reaffirmed.
POLAND
Russia gets roughly the eastern one-third of pre-war Poland, on the basis of a Polish border roughly following the old Curzon Line. In return, Poland will get “substantial” territory from Germany in the West.
The so-called Lublin Government, now recognized by Russia, will be “reorganized on a broader democratic basis with the inclusion of democratic leaders from Poland itself and from Poles abroad.” The broadened government will be recognized by Britain and the United States.
YUGOSLAVIA
The Big Three recommended acceptance of the compromise calling for creation of a regency and broadening of the Yugoslav Cabinet.
FOREIGN SECRETARIES
The Big Three foreign secretaries will meet every three months, with the first session in London after the San Francisco conference.
FRANCE
France was invited to participate in control and occupation of Germany, and in settling problems of Liberated Europe, she will be given a preview of the world security organization voting plan agreed upon at Yalta.
But former premier may join cabinet
BULLETIN
LONDON, England (UP) – The London Polish government tonight flatly rejected the Big Three decision on Poland.
LONDON, England (UP) – The Polish Exile Cabinet was expected to defy the Allied Big Three today and reject its invitation to join the provisional government in liberated Poland.
The Exile Cabinet probably will make known its stand following a special meeting today, but its repeated anti-Russian declarations made rejection of the Crimean conference’s formula for Poland a foregone conclusion.
It was likely, however, that Stanislaw Mikolajczyk, who resigned as exile premier last November after failing to bring about a rapprochement with the Russians, would hasten to Poland to join a coalition government.
Unity demanded
President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill doomed the exile government by promising at Yalta to recognize the Soviet-supported Polish Provisional Government once it has been reorganized on a “broader democratic basis with inclusion of democratic leaders from Poland itself and from the Poles abroad.”
Mr. Roosevelt, Mr. Churchill and Premier Stalin also gave their blessing to a coalition government already in the process of formation in Yugoslavia under an agreement negotiated by Marshal Tito and Premier Ivan Subasic of the Royal Yugoslav exile government.
Other Balkan question
The Big Three recognized the objections of King Peter to a one-party (Communist) Parliament, however, by recommending that the anti-Fascist assembly be extended to include members of the last pre-occupation Parliament who had not collaborated with the Nazis.
The Big Three also made a “general review of other Balkan questions,” presumably including the Greek crisis, which was already well on the way to solution following the signing of a peace treaty by the Greek Government and the rebellious left-wing EAM-ELAS at Athens yesterday.
The formula for Poland represented a compromise between the Soviet and Anglo-American positions, though Moscow asserted that the Soviets had won “hands down.”
The Crimean declaration said Soviet Foreign Commissar V. M. Molotov, U.S. Ambassador W. Averell Harriman and British Ambassador Sir Archibald Clark Kerr would sit as a commission in Moscow with Polish leaders in reorganizing the provisional government, which would be known as the “Polish Provisional Government of National Unity.”
There was no question but what the Soviet views prevailed on the question of Poland’s eastern boundary. The Crimean declaration said the United States, Britain and Russia were agreed that the Curzon Line, which gives some 50,000 square miles of pre-war eastern Poland to Russia, should be adopted.
Poland would be recompensed by taking over German territory to the north and west, presumably including large portions of East Prussia, Silesia, Brandenburg and Pomerania, with the final boundaries being set at the Peace Conference.
By adoption of the Curzon Line as its western boundary, Russia would take over the former Polish cities of Lwow, Pinsk, Luck, Brest-Litovsk and Grodno, though Poland might retain the last two under the Crimean declaration’s provision for digressions in some regions of three to five miles “in favor of Poland.”
WASHINGTON (UP) – Allied abandonment of the London Polish exile government and acceptance of the Curzon Line as the eastern Polish boundary brought loud protests today from many Polish-American circles.
But the long-awaited decision appears to be final, with the Big Three ready to make it stick.
The London Polish government is not likely to find a court of appeal.
The key to the plan apparently is for Stanislaw Mikolajczyk, former premier of the London Poles, to join the Lublin government.
Russians particularly satisfied by decision which means end of exile Polish government
MOSCOW, USSR (UP) – Russia won “hands down” on all debatable questions in the Crimea Conference, it was felt in Soviet circles today, “as a party of the conferees including U.S. Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius Jr. arrived here from Yalta.
High satisfaction was expressed over results of the parley, particularly the agreement on Poland which spelled the end of the Polish exile government in London, and the fact that President Roosevelt had visited Soviet soil – regarded as a token of Soviet strength and prestige.
The Big Three decisions were hailed by the Soviet press with superlatives never before employed.
Izvestia, the government organ, called the Crimean Conference “the greatest modern political event.
Unprecedented mass meetings were called in cities and towns all over Russia at which the Big Three decisions were announced, cheered and discussed.
Mr. Stettinius flew here from the Crimea at the invitation of Foreign Commissar Vyacheslav M. Molotov for a one-day visit after which he will proceed to Mexico.
Roosevelt, Churchill gave way completely to Stalin in pact signed in Crimea
By William Philip Simms, Scripps-Howard foreign editor
The Big Three version of Poland after the war is shown on this map. The eastern boundary will follow approximately the Curzon Line. The territory taken from Germany may be as indicated in the other shaded area on the map.
WASHINGTON – If the Big Three decision regarding Poland stands – and it would now seem, to all intents, irrevocable – it may jeopardize Dumbarton Oaks and the whole American peace plan.
Under the pact signed at Yalta, in the Crimea, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill gave way completely to Marshal Stalin, whose plans for the partition of Poland are well known. They agreed to the Curzon Line as the new Russo-Polish frontier and to the Stalin thesis that Poland shall have several large slices of Germany by way of compensation.
The effect of all this on the United States will be tremendous, if, as it is generally expected, this country participates in the collective security guarantees so widely favored by the American people. It would start up a new and bigger “Alsace-Lorraine” between Germany and Poland and make the United States at least partly responsible for its safety.
To get German land
The Big Three did not specify the exact amount of German soil which the Poles might annex. They did, however, make it clear that while Poland’s eastern frontier is really no longer debatable, she “must receive substantial accessions of territory in the north and west.”
And Moscow has already indicated that, in the north, approximately two-thirds of East Prussia will go to Poland and, in the west, practically everything up to the Oder River, that is, up to within 40 miles of Berlin.
However, says the Big Three communiqué, “the final delimitation of the western frontier of Poland should… await the peace conference.”
The Poles themselves – that is the Polish government-in-exile in London – are under no delusions when it comes to what the annexation of purely Prussian territory will mean to them. They know it is loaded with dynamite.
London Poles alarmed
Some months ago, when the London Poles became convinced that what has just happened at the Big Three meeting was inescapable, they were alarmed. History was full of warnings that it would become a perpetual bone of contention between a diminished Poland and a potentially powerful Germany and they knew they would be doomed unless they had the permanent protection of one or more of the great powers.
So, they approached Washington. They inquired if the United States would guarantee Poland’s proposed new frontiers. The inference, of course, was that if this country acquiesced in the Moscow plan, she should stand ready to guarantee the boundaries in question.
Washington said “no.” The United States never guarantees anybody’s specific frontiers.
Answers now yes
The answer however, might just as well have been “yes.” If the United States, in fact, agrees to the Polish settlement reached at Yalta, and if the Dumbarton Oaks formula is ratified by the Senate, the United States, of course, automatically will become a guarantor of Poland’s new boundaries – unless the Senate writes in reservations.
This means that should Germany stage a comeback 10, 20 or 50 years hence and attack Poland with a view to getting back her lost provinces, the United States would be bound to help put down the aggression.
Destroys all hope
As for Poland herself, the Yalta pact all but destroys any hope she may have had regarding her future independence. Hereafter no government at Warsaw will dare enter into a treaty, trade arrangement, non-aggression pact or any other government without first asking Moscow.
It was agreed that the so-called Lublin (or Moscow-sponsored) regime should be reorganized “on a broader democratic basis” with the inclusion of democratic leaders from Poland itself and from Poles abroad.
But, however well this plan works out, Poland still will not be a free agent. At best, she will be an international protectorate; at worst, a Russian puppet.
Speculation touched off by Big Three pledge of attacks on Germany from the north
By W. R. Higginbotham, United Press staff writer
LONDON, England – Military observers said today the Allied Big Three may have planned invasions of southern Norway, Denmark and even the German Baltic coast to speed victory in Europe.
Speculation was touched off by the Big Three’s promise in the Crimean declaration that Allied armies and air forces would strike “new and even more powerful blows… into the heart of Germany” from the east, west, north and south.
The timing and scope of operations from all four directions “have been fully agreed and planned in detail,” President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Premier Stalin said in the declaration.
Will shorten war
The declaration said:
Our combined military plans will be made known only as we execute them, but we believe that the very close-working partnership among the three staffs attained at this conference will result in shortening the war.
The declaration marked the first authoritative Allied word regarding the possibility of offensives against Germany from the north.
A Moscow dispatch said military circles in the Russian capital attached especial importance to the contemplated “blows from the north.” It was assumed, Moscow said, that these would supplement those from the Soviet bridgehead in northern Norway.
May cut off Nazis
The Big Three’s plan may envisage Anglo-American landings on the coasts of South Norway and Denmark aimed at cutting off German troops in northern and central Norway and forcing the Nazi command to disperse further their already limited forces.
Any landings on the Baltic coast of Germany presumably would be made by Soviet amphibious forces, but there remained a remote possibility of an attempt by Anglo-American fleets to force the Skagerrak and Kattegat into the Baltic.
Significantly, Vice Adm. Sir Harold Burrough, supreme naval commander in Western Europe. said at a press conference several weeks ago that other amphibious landings probably would be made under his command.
Drive in Italy hinted
New blows against Germany from the north also raised the possibility that Allied armies in Western Europe would drive into northern Germany to link up with the Russians along the Baltic coast.
Reference to “new blows” also from the south indicated that the long-dormant Italian front may erupt in a new Allied offensive aimed at clearing northern Italy and reaching the Brenner Pass.
Soviet forces in Hungary and Yugoslavia also probably will renew their drive in force along the Danube Valley toward Vienna and southern Germany. The smashing of organized resistance in Budapest, as announced by Moscow last night, may speed this drive.
Staffs to confer
Military observers were enthusiastic over the Big Three’s announcement that a “very close working partnership” had been attained among the American, British and Soviet military staffs. Meetings of the three staffs will be continued in the future whenever the need arises, the declaration said.
There had been widespread criticism in the past few months at what was felt to be a lack of coordination between offensives on the Eastern and Western Fronts.
Once Germany has been defeated, the Big Three announced their intention of assigning separate zones of occupation to each of the three powers and France.
To sit in Berlin
Coordinated administration and control would be provided under the plan by the establishment of a separate control commission in Berlin consisting of the “supreme commanders of the three nations,” plus a French commander.
The reference to the “supreme commanders” was not clear, but it was believed likely that Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of the Western Front, would represent the United States and Marshal Sir Harold R. L. G. Alexander, Allied commander in the Mediterranean, would represent Britain.
Hastening of peace believed effected
By William H. Stoneman
LONDON, England – Russia has finally drawn back the curtain concealing its military plans and, for the first time since it went to war with Germany in June 1941, is about to work in complete conjunction with the United States and Britain in finally crushing Germany.
This truly spectacular result of the Yalta conference ends an impossible situation in which the Western Allies were embarrassed, and at times positively handicapped, by lack of information.
End of war hastened
As a result of the Yalta conversations, it can be assumed that the forces invading Germany from the east and west will join speedily in giving Germany a decisive coup de grace on land and from the air. The end of the war should be materially hastened.
The only regret is that an agreement could not have been concluded months, or years ago.
The Yalta agreement for the division of Germany and Austria into three or four fixed zones of occupation, and for the coordination of Allied administration by a Central Control Commission sitting in Berlin, already had been worked out by the European Advisory Commission in London.
Who will form group
The Control Commission will consist of the supreme commanders of the American, British, and Russian forces in Germany, in addition to a French representative, if the French wish to name one.
If France wishes to share in the occupation of Germany, its zones of occupation, to be fixed by European Advisory Commission, will certainly include the west bank of the Rhine.
The decision not to announce terms of the “unconditional surrender” demands is significant. Obviously, these terms would be announced if the Allied chiefs thought they would contribute to the collapse of Germany’s home front. Thus, it can be assumed that these terms really involve complete surrender and that they are harsh enough to satisfy most proponents of a severe peace.
Washington unable to figure it out
WASHINGTON (UP) – Of all interesting sidelights on the Big Three Conference, Washington pondered the presence of Edward J. Flynn.
The White House explained that Mr. Flynn took no part in the discussions. It said President Roosevelt discovered, shortly before he left this country, that Mr. Flynn planned to go to Moscow. So, he invited the former Democratic National Committee chairman to accompany him as far as Yalta.
Mr. Flynn, the White House said, crossed the Atlantic with the President – method not announced. Then he flew with Mr. Roosevelt from Malta to Yalta. Apparently, he stayed in the Crimean resort town throughout the historic conferences, because the White House said he went to Moscow with U.S. Ambassador W. Averell Harriman. Mr. Harriman attended the entire eight-day conference.
Even Mr. Flynn’s close associates in New York were at a loss to explain his presence in Russia. They professed not to know that he accompanied the President.
Monroe Goldwater, Mr. Flynn’s law partner, said he “thought Mr. Flynn was in Mexico.”
“He left New York about two weeks ago,” was all Mr. Goldwater could add.
If anybody knew the nature of Mr. Flynn’s business in Moscow, they weren’t talking about it. Unquestioned, however, was the fact that he was not wen route to Australia.
WASHINGTON (UP) – The presence of Mrs. Anna Roosevelt Boettiger at the Big Three Crimean Conference gave emphasis today to her new role as confidante, boon companion and adviser to her father.
The tall blond, only daughter of President and Mrs. Roosevelt, returned to the Executive Mansion to live more than a year ago.
Prior to and for a while after Pearl Harbor, she was a columnist and woman’s page editor of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Her husband, John, was its publisher. Mrs. Boettiger moved into the White House while her husband was overseas as an Army major. Now he is stationed in Washington.
Mrs. Boettiger is in her late 30’s. Gifted with her mother’s energy, she plays the role of White House hostess during Mrs. Roosevelt’s frequent absences.
She is good company. Lively, animated and possessor of quick wit, she has a talent for informality.
She and her father have at least one common attribute. They both use long cigarette holders.
Town damaged only slightly by Nazis
By the United Press
Yalta is probably the most beautiful of the Russian Black Sea resort towns.
It is situated in a narrow sloping cleft on the cliff-studded southeast coast of the Crimea.
The cliffs rise sheer from the area into towering 8,000-foot mountain peaks, crowned at this season of the year with snow. At Yalta itself there is a sandy curving beach, lined with villas and resort hotels, many of which date from Czarist times.
Occupied two years
Yalta and the whole resort coast of Crimea was occupied by the Germans for about two years, but damage when the Nazis were ousted last spring was comparatively light. In the town of Yalta itself, windows were blown out of a good many seashore buildings and some of the shops were wrecked. But many of the villas and palaces were intact or suffered damage which could be repaired easily.
Winters are mild on the Crimean coast, not unlike those on the California coast. Days are generally warm and sunshiny, but the nights are cool.
The steep, stony land running back up to the mountain crags is covered with vineyards. Crimean champagne and fine wines are famous in Russia and many consider their quality second only to the wines of France.
Sevastopol visit hinted
Above the vineyards the hillsides are deeply forested with pines and other evergreens stretching up to the timber line. Clouds often hang over the high peaks above Yalta, obscuring the mountain crests.
It is probable that the conferees took time out from their deliberations to visit Sevastopol which lies about 40 miles from Yalta on the southwest corner of Crimea. Sevastopol has been back in Russian hands about 10 months.
ROME, Italy (UP) – Italians were glum today over the Crimean Conference, making much of the fact that Italy was not even mentioned in the official announcements.
Before the meeting the Italian press had dwelt on hopes that the Big Three would “regurgitate” Italy’s position, which is generally regarded here as depressingly uncertain.
Vatican quarters were equally gloomy. They felt the Crimean declaration was a disappointment in three respects: First, that Italy was not mentioned and appears to have little prospect of participating in the peace; second, that freedom of religion was not mentioned; third, that the Polish issue has been settled on a basis of compromise.
Speculation is rife after Big Three talks
WASHINGTON (UP) – Washington observers carefully studied the Big Three report today for indications of Russian cooperation in the war against Japan. Optimists found a few hints – but nothing more than hints.
There was much speculation over the date chosen for the start of the full-dress United Nations conference at San Francisco on the world security organization – April 25.
By design or by accident, that also is the final date on which Russia could notify Japan that she does not care to renew the Russo-Japanese Non-Aggression Pact. If no notice is sent by that date, the treaty automatically will be renewed for an additional five years beyond April 25, 1946.
To sit with China
Some observers found a hint of future Russian cooperation in the Pacific War in the fact she will sit down at the same conference table with China at San Francisco.
They recalled that the original Dumbarton Oaks talks had to be split into two sessions because Russia would not participate in the same conference with China.
Less optimistic persons pointed out that the San Francisco meeting would be a full-dress conference of all 44 of the United Nations, whereas the Dumbarton Oaks talks involved only the United States, Britain, Russia and China.
Situation ‘about same’
The fact that Russia agreed to submit the compromise voting procedure for the proposed world security organization to China before making it public also was cited by some observers. Again, however, it was pointed out that this will be strictly in anticipation of the full-dress San Francisco conference.
All in all, the situation seemed to be just about what it was before the Yalta conferees reported on their talks. That is, Russia still maintaining a most discreet and unbreakable silence but the Allies hoping that eventually – probably after Germany surrenders – she will throw in her might with the United States, Britain and China to beat Japan.
Will take part in Reich occupation
PARIS, France (UP) – French quarters expressed full agreement with nearly all phases of the Big Three declaration today and said France would accept invitations to participate in the occupation and control of post-war Germany.
France will also send a representative to the United Nations conference at San Francisco in response to the Big Three’s invitation, these sources said.
Bitter over exclusion
Satisfaction over the Crimean declaration was tempered, however, by bitterness over France’s exclusion from the conference though she is Germany’s principal neighbor in the west.
France was kept in the dark as to when and where the conference was being held and what was being discussed. The decisions were finally handed to French Foreign Minister George Bidault by the American, British and Soviet ambassadors last night as they were being announced.
De Gaulle vindication
The Big Three’s invitations to participate in the occupation of Germany and join the Allied control commission at Berlin were seen as vindication of Gen. Charles de Gaulle’s diplomacy.
Gen. de Gaulle twice recently had reaffirmed France’s right to occupy the Rhineland and Ruhr, possibly in connection with the U.S. and Britain at first but later alone. Occupation of a broad strip of the east bank of the Rhine was also seen as a possibility.
The Big Three agreement at Yalta was a compromise in which Marshal Stalin dictated most of the terms, and the Atlantic Charter pledges – other than German disarmament – came off second best.
The biggest thing in its favor is that it ties the Big Three together for continuation of the war until unconditional surrender; that it proposes a post-war security organization, and pledges a United Nations meeting in San Francisco in April to open up general discussion among all the Allies.
Like most compromises, it isn’t satisfactory; but it does lay a groundwork for future effort to bring about an eventual settlement worked out in a more democratic manner than is possible in the critical stages of the war.
In justice to the President, it should be recognized that he has much less bargaining power than Marshal Stalin in any Big Three meeting now.
Marshal Stalin enjoyed actual possession of part of eastern Germany and all of Eastern Europe, except Greece, and the strongest military force on the continent. He had secured Prime Minister Churchill’s prior acceptance of Russian claims and sphere of influence, and agreement that these decisions should be made by the Big Three (or four) instead of the United Nations. And, thirdly, he had the power to help us, or not help us, lick Japan later.
As a result, Stalin got what he wanted at Yalta with few exceptions.
The most important exception was his agreement that the entire German military system, as Well as Nazism, must be eliminated permanently. Earlier he had publicly favored a post-war German Army.
Since most of the other terms to be imposed on Germany were kept secret pending unconditional surrender, they cannot be evaluated now. Though war criminals would be punished, no specific reference was made to the Junker generals on Marshal Stalin’s “Free Germany Committee.” Germany must pay reparations in kind – Stalin wanted that, while other Allies have been undecided or divided at home.
Mr. Roosevelt got reaffirmation of the Atlantic Charter pledge of self-government for liberated peoples. first by broadening the representative base of the Russian puppet provisional regimes of Poland and Yugoslavia, and by promising later free elections, But of course the territories taken by Russia will have no such elections.
Nominally, the President won a point in getting a United Nations conference called for April in San Francisco. But whether Marshal Stalin will have veto power over any league action relating to Russia, as he insisted at Dumbarton, is still a secret. Anyway, according to the Yalta plan, the San Francisco conference will not consider the peace settlement but only the machinery for a later security league. It is supposed “to prepare the charter of such an organization along the lines proposed… at Dumbarton Oaks.”
The Polish settlement was the payoff. Mr. Roosevelt agreed to Russia taking eastern Poland up to a slightly modified Curzon Line; whether to include additional southern Polish cities and oil fields, as previously agreed to by Mr. Churchill, was not stated. Poland is to get “substantial” territory in the north and west – the original Stalin plan to load her with large slices of Germany, making Poland a perpetual Russian puppet for defense of a larger “Alsace-Lorraine.”
The Yalta settlement is, after all, simply a Big Three agreement. Perhaps that is all it could possibly be under present war conditions.
The other United Nations have had no voice in the settlement. We hope that they will have an opportunity to be heard and to make their voices effective at the San Francisco meeting.
Völkischer Beobachter (February 14, 1945)
Berlin, 13. Februar (vb.) – Es liegt jetzt eine Reuters-Bekanntgabe über den Besuch Roosevelts und Churchills bei Stalin vor, die aus mehreren Teilstücken besteht und sich einerseits mit allgemeinen Erklärungen über die gegen Deutschland geführten militärischen Operationen befasst und anderseits eine Reihe von politischen Bemerkungen enthält.
Die angekündigte und von der Konferenz beabsichtigte große Erklärung an das deutsche Volk ist in den bisher veröffentlichten Verlautbarungen nicht enthalten. Es scheint, daß die drei Kriegsverbrecher sich über die Formulierung der dem deutschen Volk aufzuschwatzenden betrügerischen Phrasen noch nicht einig geworden sind. Die Konferenz dauerte, wie Reuters bekanntgibt, acht Tage.
Roosevelt und Churchill hatten sich sogar auf sowjetischem Boden nach Jalta auf der Krim begeben, um die Stalinschen Weisungen entgegenzunehmen. Neben Stalin waren auch Molotow, der Jude Maiski sowie der aus dem Baltikum bekannte Völkerschlächter und Massenmörder Wyschinski anwesend.
Der äußere Rahmen dieser Konferenz war bezeichnend für ihren Inhalt und Verlauf: Roosevelt und Churchill hatten sich diesmal nach der Sowjetunion zu begeben, um in Jalta an der Südküste der Krim die Befehle Stalins entgegenzunehmen, während ihnen bei der Konferenz in Teheran doch noch erlaubt wurde, protokollarisch einigermaßen das Gesicht zu wahren, weil man sich am dritten Ort traf. Acht Tage waren erforderlich, um die lange Liste zu erledigen, die der Diktator im Kreml seinen Verbündeten vorlegte. Was dabei herausgekommen ist, hat der Londoner Daily Express durch die Floskel umschrieben: „Probleme wurden nicht gelöst, aber der Welt wurde ganz deutlich die Methode gezeigt, in der sie gelöst werden können.“
Diese Methode war längst bekannt: es ist die bolschewistische und sie besteht darin, alles so lange in der Schwebe zu lassen, bis eine „Lösung“ im Sinne der Sowjets erfolgt ist und ihren Spießgesellen nichts anderes übrigbleibt, als sich mit den vollzogenen Tatsachen abzufinden. So ist es auch zu verstehen, wenn Daily Herald bekniffen feststellt: „Sicher müssen noch viele Punkte im Einzelnen studiert und kritisiert werden.“
Dieses Herumreden um die laufenden Kapitulationen der Westmächte vor Moskau ist tatsächlich noch das einzige Recht, das ihnen verbleibt: In der Sache bestimmt der Kreml, was zu geschehen hat, und die Erfahrung zeigt, daß den Roosevelt und Churchill dann nur obliegt, mit geschlossenen Augen zu unterschreiben, was ihnen abverlangt wird.
Was vor der Konferenz über die englische und amerikanische Haltung zu den schwebenden Fragen verlautet, ließ erkennen, dass man sich von vornherein vorsorglich weitgehend den bolschewistischen Gesichtspunkten angepasst hatte. Wir haben die uferlosen Vernichtungspläne eingehend geschildert, die vor allem auf dem berüchtigten Morgenthau-Schema fußten, und wissen daher zu würdigen, wenn die drei Verschwörer gegen jeden wirklichen und dauerhaften Frieden in Jalta nochmals von der Atlantik-Charta redeten und wenn der Daily Telegraph psalmodiert, man habe den „Verzicht auf alle Gewalttätigkeiten“ erklärt. Es erhellt daraus die abgrundtiefe Heuchelei dieser drei Betrüger und Volksschlächter. Im Übrigen finden wir bestätigt, dass sie die meisten wichtigen Fragen erneut vertagt haben, das will heißen, alle Probleme, die Moskau in seinem Sinn noch nicht für reif hält, weil es sich vom weiteren Verlauf der Dinge noch manches versprechen zu können glaubt. So wird eine neue Konferenz angekündigt – unbeschadet der sonstigen Besprechungen, die Weiterläufen werden.
Auf die Einzelheiten dieser Beschlüsse werden wir noch zurückkommen, wenn sich das materielle Ergebnis genauer überblicken lässt. Zwei Punkte verdienen aber schon jetzt Hervorhebung: Erstens hat man den geplanten Aufruf an das deutsche Volk noch verschoben, und zweitens hat man es im Zusammenhang damit unterlassen, bereits die Bedingungen bekanntzugeben, die man Deutschland zudenkt. Wie das deutsche Volk über feindliche Einreden denkt, liegt klar auf der Hand. Einig mit seiner Führung, sieht es im unerbittlichen Kampf gegen die Todfeinde seines Lebens und seiner Freiheit das Gebot der Stunde und lässt sich nicht in dem Bewusstsein beirren, dass sein leidenschaftlicher Einsatz für die Zukunft des Reiches und der Nation die verdiente Frucht tragen wird.
Was aber die Feindpläne angeht, so kennen wir sie ohnedies, auch ohne dass sie uns erneut vorgetragen werden: namenloses Elend, Dauerkrieg, Versklavung und eine Entwürdigung, wie sie noch nie einem großen Volk widerfahren ist und einer Auslöschung des deutschen Namens gleichkäme.
Das allein ist für uns wesentlich. Alles andere, wie das Schicksal, das man den Polen und Serben bereitet und wie man die kleinen Nationen um ihr Eigenleben und ihr Mitbestimmungsrecht prellen will, ist uns nur als Bestätigung einer Skrupellosigkeit wertvoll, die über alle verkündeten Grundsätze kalt hinweggeht und im Betrug an den schwachen der Weisheit letzten Schluss sieht. Zu diesen Schwachen gehört aber das deutsche Volk nicht. Unbeugsam besteht es die Prüfungen, die ihm der Krieg gegen sein Dasein auferlegt, in der Gewissheit, dass es sich allen Gewalten zum Trotz durchsetzen und seine Zukunft aus eigener Kraft sichern wird. Es steht und kämpft damit für alle Völker, die Moskau heute unter sein erdrückendes Joch gebeugt hat oder die sich dem Diktat der Wall Street und ihrer Beauftragten in Washington fügen müssen.
Von Frieden wird erst dann zu sprechen sein, wenn Deutschland seine Stimme erheben wird und die Welt von dem Alpdruck erlöst ist, von den Stalin, Roosevelt und Churchill Dauerkrieg und schrankenlose Willkür verordnet zu erhalten.
The Pittsburgh Press (February 14, 1945)
London observers believe Hitler and his gang may be holed up or finished off in weeks
By William H. Stoneman
LONDON, England – Speculation regarding the date of “V-Day” has been revived by the Yalta conference. Most serious people with enough knowledge to form an opinion now put it well ahead of previous estimates.
Last night’s statement by James F. Byrnes (director of U.S. War Mobilization and Reconversion) that Allied leaders “do not ignore the possibility of the early collapse of Germany” but “are not counting on it” is regarded as definitely cautious by these people.
His statement that they are planning on major operations in March involving more men and material than ever before is not taken to preclude the possibility of very sudden developments.
The opinion here in London is that a quick finale to the war in Europe is now on the books and that it can happen any time. It definitely is, believed that Hitler and his henchmen will be holed up in Berchtesgaden or finished off in a matter of weeks.
It is also the growing conviction that guerrilla warfare will be limited in scope. Everybody agreed that the final concerted blow at the Reich from the east and west will outdo anything seen before and those who can gauge its proportions and its direction do not think it can fail.
Although there has been much talk about the weather and swampy ground, the Germans themselves are not planning on it to stave off the evil day.
Denude Western Front
They talk daily of the impending assault by the U.S. First Army toward Cologne. Yet they have been forced by the Russian advance on Berlin to denude the Western Front of such potent units as the Sixth Panzer Army. A number of first class but badly battered paratroops units-are being depended upon to brace Field Marshal Gen. Karl von Rundstedt’s forces facing the British and Americans.
Irrespective of what the Germans may be telling themselves about the possibility of defending Berlin, it is regarded here as a hopeless proposition. Yalta’s achievement in coordinating the movements of Russian and Anglo-American armies should make it impossible for even the agile Germans to do much more switching of large forces.
It is believed here that Hitler may be able to stage a last stand in the Bavarian Mountains, but that this will be nothing more than troublesome. Guerrilla warfare throughout Germany now is thought to be unlikely because it simply would subject the civilian population to additional hardships and countermeasures without any prospect of reward. Even France, which always had the prospect of eventual liberation, was quiescent for two years after its occupation, it is pointed out.
Can play ‘possum
Germany’s only possibility for a comeback as a military power will lie in playing ‘possum for an extended period.
The present plans for control of Germany, accepted at Yalta, call for a high degree of military supervision and do not seem to require formation of a responsible central government of Germans in the near future.
Local German officials undoubtedly would be held responsible for the administration of towns and villages, but they would enjoy little political authority. Any confusion which results from the abolition of established governmental machinery must be accepted by the Germans as just another reminder that war doesn’t pay.
Michigan Republican refuses to say whether he’ll become delegate
By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff writer
WASHINGTON – Sen. Arthur H. Vandenberg (R-Michigan) said today he had received no invitation to be a member of the American delegation to the United Nations conference at San Francisco. He refused to say whether he would accept if invited.
Mr. Vandenberg said he had seen newspaper reports that he had been named to the delegation in a White House announcement. But he said he had not heard from either the White House or State Department.
He is one of three Republicans designated yesterday to be among the eight American delegation members.
It was believed he would accept, but so long as any question remained about his plans the degree of Republican cooperation in drafting a post-war security treaty remained in some doubt.
Asked if he would accept an official invitation, Mr. Vandenberg replied: “As the President says, that is an ‘iffy’ question.”
His remarks clouded, for the moment at least, what had been a bright prospect that Republicans would accept joint political responsibility for the San Francisco conference. That acceptance in turn had been expected to speed the proposed anti-aggression treaty toward ratification.
The other Republicans named to the delegation were Rep. Charles A. Eaton (R-New Jersey), senior minority member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Cmdr. Harold E. Stassen. the 37-year-old political fireball from Minnesota.
Approval needed
The broad outlines of the Anglo-Russian-American plans for world stabilization evidently appeal to Mr. Vandenberg.
But he had not endorsed the partition of Poland nor, especially, the apparent assignment of the cities of Wilno and Lwow to Russia. There will be bitter objection by many persons of Polish extraction in the United States. Many of them live and vote in Mr. Vandenberg’s State of Michigan.
Membership on the American delegation probably would require direct or indirect approval of allotment of pre-war eastern Poland to Russia.
Mr. Vandenberg is the key figure among the three Republicans. If he balks the momentum of early anti-aggression treaty action would diminish considerably.
Avoids Wilson’s mistake
Announcement of the delegation personnel, with Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius Jr., as chairman, followed within 24 hours the release of news that the Big Three in the Crimea had agreed on the pattern of the post-war world.
Members of Congress, with astonishingly few exceptions, were still speaking well if sometimes cautiously of the program when the San Francisco conference delegation was announced.
Unlike Woodrow Wilson, who went alone to Versailles in 1919, President Roosevelt is inviting individuals among his political opposition to help write the peace bond that he must ask the Senate to sign.
Selection of Cmdr. Stassen will be offensive to some Republicans. Although twice elected Governor of Minnesota and a potential 1948 GOP presidential nominee, Cmdr. Stassen is not loved by all his fellow party leaders. He went far beyond most Republicans for full United States participation in world affairs.
Hurt by Ball’s bolt
Cmdr. Stassen appointed Sen. Joseph H. Ball (R-Minnesota) to the Senate. Mr. Ball in turn managed the commander’s 1944 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, but finally bolted the GOP ticket last autumn. Cmdr. Stassen is smeared with that bolt. But he undoubtedly has a considerable following in the party below the grade of top leader.
Other members of the U.S. delegation will be former Secretary of State Cordell Hull with the courtesy title of senior adviser; Chairman Tom Connally (D-Texas) of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Chairman Sol Bloom (D-New York) of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Dean Virginia Gildersleeve of Barnard College, New York City.
Labor not represented
There was no labor representation on the delegation, an exclusion likely to sound the alarm siren among some of the President’s union supporters. But the service man with a gun float or in a foxhole will be represented by the big bodied, blond young man from Minnesota.
There were some strictly off-record but emphatic Senate protests against the delegation personnel. Senators are jealous of their treaty powers. Among them it was remarked that the two House members, Mr. Bloom and Mr. Eaton, had no business on the delegation.
Problem for Republicans
Cmdr. Stassen’s selection was condemned as a political reward, for Mr. Ball’s bolt rather than as recognition of the fighting services. Mr. Roosevelt has posed a nice problem for some Republicans by naming Mr. Vandenberg to the delegation. The Senator recently has been discussing foreign relations in a manner both forceful and challenging. Many Republicans, including Gov. Thomas E. Dewey, have made public commitments to his ideas.
Now, if Mr. Vandenberg joins in making a treaty which he reports conforms with his major objectives, it will be difficult but not impossible, for others to go all out in challenge to the pact. Persons who know Mr. Roosevelt well do not doubt he is having a chuckle about that – wherever he may be.
Senate recognized
Discussing the delegation, Mr. Connally said:
The President recognizes the functions of the Senate and his action indicates his desire to have the utmost cooperation peep the Senate and the executive.
Mr. Ball expressed approval of the whole trend of foreign policy as charted at the Crimean Conference by Mr. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Marshal Joseph V. Stalin.
Mr. Ball’s statement seemed to ensure that Cmdr. Stassen will jump at the chance to appear again on the political stage. He is serving now on the staff of Adm. William F. Halsey Jr. Mr. Eaton is expected to accept delegate membership, but is a much lesser figure in the party than either Mr. Vandenberg or Cmdr. Stassen.
Poison gas attacks predicted in Sweden
LONDON, England (UP) – European dispatches said today that Germany has proclaimed her intention of scrapping the rules of war for a “no-holds-barred” fight to the death as a result of the Big Three’s Crimean declaration.
The new policy was said to have been set forth yesterday by Paul Schmidt, official spokesman for the German Foreign Office, in an angry outburst at the Wilhelmstrasse over the joint statement of President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Premier Stalin.
Stockholm sources speculated that Schmidt’s statement might foreshadow German use of poison gas.
Cites death sentence
The death sentence outlined for Germany in the Crimean declaration frees the Reich of “all moral obligations” to abide by the rules of war, the Nazi-controlled Scandinavian Telegraph Bureau quoted else as saying.
“The Germans henceforth will conduct the war with all suitable means, no matter how grim their effect,” Schmidt said.
The STB dispatch, published in Stockholm newspapers, said mention of the Crimean declaration caused “by far the worst explosion” foreign correspondents ever have witnessed at a Wilhelmstrasse press conference.
The Swiss Telegraph Agency said the official German Foreign Office publication Diplomatische Information commented that the Red Army in eastern Germany already had “placed itself outside any moral qualification.”
Nazi arms stolen
“There would be no surprise if such a plan of destruction as the Yalta statement revealed would bring the complete ‘demoralization’ of war,” the publication said.
It contended that the statement, far from hastening Germany’s defeat, would steel the spirit of resistance inside the Reich.
The publication said:
Every doubter and every optimist throughout Germany now understands that Germany as a nation and Germans as individuals could not fare worse than if they capitulated now.
Reliable reports reaching Stockholm from Berlin said Nazi authorities were concerned over extensive thefts of arms from Volkssturm (home guard) barracks outside Berlin.
The Nazis were said to fear that foreign workers, war prisoners and native anti-Nazis may try to stab the German Army in the back as soon as military events force the Gestapo to loosen its grip on the German home front.
A Berlin dispatch to the Stockholm newspaper Dagens Nyheter said German authorities had ordered that all guns, rifles, pistols, machine-guns, tommy guns, signal pistols and hand grenades must be registered by February 20.
The arms are needed for the Volkssturm, the dispatch said.
Reds have scores to settle with Tokyo
By William Philip Simms, Scripps-Howard foreign editor
WASHINGTON – Russia’s entry into the war against Japan, perhaps at a not distant date, is now regarded as just about certain.
The selection of San Francisco as the meeting place of the first conference of the United Nations, and of April 25 as the date, may or may not have significance. Russia may or may not give notice to Japan terminating their non-aggression pact on April 26, 1946. But whether she does is not regarded as particularly important.
What is important is the fact that Russia has many important scores to settle with Japan and that he hardly would overlook the present opportunity to wipe them from the slate – pact or no pact.
Treaty cited
Much is being made of the Soviet-Jap treaty as barring Russian involvement in the Pacific war. Russia, however, had a similar treaty with Poland – which treaty, incidentally, does not expire until the end of this year – but that did not prevent her from joining Germany in September 1939 and dividing that country between them.
Russia’s stakes in the Western Pacific are materially greater even than those of the United States. Unless Japan, like Germany, is forced to surrender unconditionally, and her war machine dismantled, she will continue to block Russia’s access to the Pacific.
Contrary to the popular impression, Siberia is one of the richest parts of the globe.
Has one good port
The vast empire, considerably larger than the United States, faces the Pacific, or rather the seas between the mainland and Japan’s island chain. Yet at present it has only one fairly good port – Vladivostok. As long as Japan remains a first-class power, she bottles up Siberia.
Russia is also vitally interested in Manchuria. The Chinese Eastern Railroad shortcut between Chita, on the Trans-Siberian, and Vladivostok crosses Manchuria, now a puppet of Japan. Russia built the Chinese Eastern but Japan cheated her out of it when Russia was weak. The warm water port, Port Arthur, on the Yellow Sea, once belonged to Russia but now is Japanese.
These are just some of Russia’s interests in East Asia. So, make no mistake about it: Russia intends to sit at the peace table when Japan is liquidated. This means she must come into the war, When, however, is another story. Russia certainly will do her own timing and neither the Soviet-Jap pact nor any pressure which we might try to bring on her is likely to affect it in the least.
