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My Dear Mr. Stalin: The Complete Correspondence of Franklin D.
Roosevelt and Joseph V. Stalin
by Susan Butler (2005)
Publisher: Yale University Press (2005)
ISBN-13: 978-0-300-10854-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-300-10854-0 (10-digit)
In the 32-page Introduction to My Dear Mr. Stalin,
Susan Butler summarizes the gist of the
letters between Roosevelt/Churchill and Stalin during WW2 and in the
294-page Corrrespondence section she often describes the background
context of this correspondence. Unfortunately, she was presumably
unaware that many of the personalities mentioned in her book were
Soviet agents, Communists and/or communist sympathizers, as revealed by
Stanton Evans and Herbert Rommerstein in their 2012 book titled
"Stalin's
Secret Agents". [See Book Review.]
[The important role of these subversive individuals is demonstrated by
the number of "hits" from a name search of the text: Harry Hopkins
(69), Philip Faymonville (32), Joseph E. Davies (55), Averell Harriman
(152), George Marshall (40), Henry Morgenthau (3), Henry Wallace (2).
Not mentioned in the book are Alger Hiss, Harry Dexter White and
Canadian Lauchlin Currie.]
Annoyingly, Ms. Butler (as well as Roosevelt and Churchill)
consistently refer to the inhabitants of the Soviet Union as Russians.
"The" Ukraine or Ukrainians are mentioned only 12 times:
p18 -- "Just before the
German invasion, Steinhardt mistakenly advised
Washington that the Ukrainians would not fight for Russia and that “the
Stalinist regime could not survive any invasion.”"
p28 -- "In return, Roosevelt agreed that the Soviet Union could have
two extra nation members in the General Assembly: Byelorussia and the
Ukraine, a position that Churchill, knowing that Great Britain could
count on the five votes of its dominions (and relying on the
concurrence of Canada and Australia as well), strongly supported."
p44 -- "In mid-September the Wehrmacht encircled Kiev, the capital of
the Ukraine, and captured an estimated 400,000 Russian troops."
p201 -- "“Views of your Government as outlined by Mr. Molotov” included
the refusal of the Polish government in London to accept the Curzon
Line, recommended by the Allies after World War I as the frontier,
instead insisting on the frontier established by the Riga Treaty of
1921, which gave Poland the western Ukraine and western Byelorussia, as
well as to the Poles’ calls for further investigation of the Katyn
massacre."
p204 -- "Within four months three airfields expressly built for this
purpose in the Ukraine -- at Poltava, Mirgorod, and Pyryatin -- were
ready."
p207 -- "In a recent operation in the Ukraine the Soviet army had
eliminated thirty-five thousand German troops and broken through into
Romania."
p207 -- "We have been following with keen interest and deep
satisfaction the recent successes of your troops, especially in the
Ukraine and in the Northwest."
p252 -- "The American request for approval for a shuttle mission of
American bombers from England to drop arms to the Warsaw defenders,
bomb nearby German targets, and land in the Ukraine had been turned
down.
p256 -- "You, of course, know that for instance the Ukraine,
Byelorussia which area constituent parts of the Soviet Union, by the
number of their population and by their political importance are
surpassing certain countries in respect to which all of us agree that
they should belong to the number of initiators of the establishment of
the International Organization."
p294 -- "We have agreed, and I shall certainly carry out that
agreement, to support at the forthcoming United Nations Conference the
admission of the Ukrainian and White Russian Republics as members of
the Assembly of the World Organization."
p296 -- "I entirely agree with you that, since the number of votes for
the Soviet Union is increased to three in connection with the inclusion
of the Soviet Ukraine and Soviet White Russia among the members of the
assembly, the number of votes for the USA should also be increased."
p298 --"General Deane requested of General [K. D.] Golubev,
administrator of the Russian Repatriation Commission, permission to
send small contact teams as close behind the Russian lines in Poland as
possible and to fly in medical supplies to the American hospital at
Poltava in the Ukraine. Golubev, constantly revising his figures as to
how many American prisoners there were, finally, hesitantly, on
February 19 told Deane that Odessa, in the Ukraine, had to be the
assembling point for released Americans and allowed one small group of
American officers to go to one location in Poland: Lublin."
Although Ukraine was absent, or perhaps even negative, in the mindset
of Roosevelt and Churchill, Poland was very high on their agenda. This
was because there were several million voters of Polish origin in the
United States and the Polish government-in-exile was located in London.
The Polish Diaspora was very influential -- they wanted Western Ukraine
back; whereas Stalin was adamant that Western Ukraine would be
incorporated into the Soviet Union. We have grouped references to
Poland below under three headings: KATYN FOREST MASSACRE (execution of
15,000 interned Polish officers in April 1940), POLAND-GERMAN-SOVIET
BORDERS (Oskar Lange proposes that Western Ukraine be exhanged for
parts of Eastern Prussia) and POLAND-SOVIET BORDER (Stalin defies
Roosevelt/Churchill, demonizes the Polish Diaspora and imposes his own
Communist government in Poland).
Ms. Butler emphasizes and the letters clearly demonstrate the
pro-Stalin and pro-Soviet orientation of Roosevelt and his
administration (obviously with the help of Soviet agents under Kremlin
control). Secondly, she emphasizes and the correspondence demonstrates
the absolutely massive material aid that the United States, as well as
Britain and her Dominions, sent to the Soviet Union. Most historians
agree that without this aid the Red Army could not have withstood the
German onslaught.
One final note. In his letters, Roosevelt repeatedly refers to the
heroism of the Red Army in its battles against German forces. Is it
"heroism" to have penal units armed with machine guns behind the
Russian front line to "discourage" terrified soldiers from retreating?
Is it heroism to dragoon young boys -- untrained and unarmed -- to act
as human minesweepers in advancing toward the German defensive
positions? Stalin and the Red Army commanders simply used the ordinary
Soviet soldier as cannon fodder. It is small wonder that the death toll
in the Red Army was so high.
Will Zuzak; 2013.06.21
Foreward
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
- Schlesinger argues that Roosevelt was not mentally incapacitated by
his illness at the Tehran and Yalta Conferences -- quoting Averell
Harriman, Chip Bohlen (American interpreter) and Valentin Berezhkov
(Soviet Russian Interpreter). He claims that Roosevelt wanted to
prevent American return to isolationism and supported the establishment
of the United Nations. Obviously, Mr. Schlesinger is a
Roosevelt apologist trying to deflect and minimize the damning contents
of the book.
Acknowledgments
- Among the people acknowleged are: "John Lukacs and Arthur
Schlesinger, Jr." and "Samuel Clapp and Simon Sebag Montefiore for
their invaluable advice".
Introduction
- The Roosevelt-Stalin correspondence was deliberately kept in
obscurity for 60 years, because "following Roosevelt’s death the Cold
War was upon the world, and the last thing anyone wanted to read about
was how Roosevelt had helped the Soviet Union beat Germany".
- Roosevelt "asked the Soviet ambassador in Washington, Constantin
Oumansky, to give him a list of the things that the Soviets most
desperately needed to defend their country".
- Roosevelt "goes to extraordinary lengths, disregarding the advice of
the many government officials who did not approve of his accommodating
posture, in his resolve to forge a relationship between the two
countries that will survive the war".
- Gen. John R. Deane: "For some reason our President often kept our
Chiefs of Staff in the dark on these matters until the die was cast."
- "Access to the Map Room was limited to Harry Hopkins and Admiral
Leahy." [W.Z. Keep in mind that Hopkins was a Soviet agent.]
- "Roosevelt threw his weight into making sure that the United States
fed, clothed, and armed the Soviet Army and supplied the tools and raw
materials it needed to rebuild its factories. The U.S. aid to the
Soviets was on a huge scale."
- "Harry Hopkins, who earlier had served as head of the Works Progress
Administration and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, as well
as secretary of commerce, was the administrator of Lend-Lease and lived
in the White House." "General Burns in turn chose Col. Philip R.
Faymonville to head Lend-Lease in Moscow and work out Russian
priorities." "Joseph E.
Davies disagreed; he wrote to Roosevelt in 1939 that Faymonville was so
effective that if the United States established a secret liaison for
the interchange of military and naval information on east Asia with the
Soviet government (which was under consideration), Faymonville should
be the Moscow representative."
- From pages 14 to 16 Susan Butler outlines the massive aid the United
States provided the Soviet Union.
For the rest of the Introduction until page 32, Susan Butler describes
the interaction between the various personalities on both the Russian
and American sides. (Since this book was written in 2005, she was
presumably unaware that many of the personalities discussed were Soviet
agents as revealed in the book of Romerstein and Evans titled "Stalin's
Secret Agents: The Subversion of Roosevelt's Government" and published
on 13Nov2012.)
Correspondence
- Stalin refused to believe evidence indicating a German attack on
22Jun1941, went into a period of defeatism -- "Everything's lost. I
give up." -- , but at the urging of Molotov, Voroshilov, Beria and
others, he resurfaced with a speech calling on Russians to defend their
country on 03Jul1941.
- "The bulk of the Soviet Air Force -- almost 1,000 planes -- was
destroyed on the ground." "By mid-July 2 million Russian soldiers had
been killed and another 300,000 captured. On July 21, 1941 Roosevelt
put Maj. Gen. James H. Burns, whom Hopkins called a “doer,” in charge
of Lend-Lease to Russia. On July 23, upon receipt of a $22 million
Russian wish list, Roosevelt directed his appointments secretary Gen.
“Pa” Watson to “get the thing through” within two days."
- Roosevelt sent Harry Hopkins [Soviet agent] to meet with Stalin on
30/31Jul1941 to discuss the military aid that the United States could
offer.
- Finland controversy.
- 14Aug1941 "Atlantic Charter" statement of Roosevelt and Churchill
following Argentia Bay, Newfoundland Conference. -- Sent to Moscow via
American and British ambassadors.
- 28/30Sep1941, Averell Harriman and Lord Beaverbrook in Moscow (with
Germans at the doorstep) and signed Moscow Protocol on 01Oct1941.
- Averell Harriman attacks Major Ivan Yeaton for defeatist attitude and
refers to optimism of Faymonville [Soviet agent].
- 13Oct1941 FDR to Stalin: shipping 94 light tanks, 72 medium 32-ton
tanks; 100 bombers and 100 fighter planes; 5,500 trucks; barbed wire.
- Circa 15Oct1941, 498 companies and 210,000 workers evacuated from
Moscow; Soviet government moved to Kuibyshev.
- "... shipments up to the value of one billion dollars may be made
under the Lend Lease act."
- 31Oct1941 FDR to Stalin: List of 64 items to be supplied including
trucks (5,600 immediately + 10,000 per month thereafter), nickel,
electrolytic zinc (full amount + 750 tons monthly thereafter),
ferrosilicon (300 tons monthly), ferrochrome (200 tons monthly), armor
plate (1,000 tons monthly), hard alloys and cutting tools ($100,000
monthly), high-speed steel (100 tons monthly), tool steel (500 tons
monthly), steel alloy tubes (200 tons monthly), stainless steel wire
(20 tons monthly), nickel chrome wire (20 tons monthly), toluel (2,000
tons monthly + 10,000 tons of TNT), phenol (400 tons + 750 tons
monthly), dibutil-phalate (400 tons + 300 tons monthly),
dimethylanaline (100 tons monthly, later 200 tons monthly),
diphenylamine (100 tons monthly), electric furnaces (140 pieces + more
later), forgings and press equipment (627 pieces + more later), army
boots (200,000 monthly), army cloth (one million yards of woolen
overcoat cloth).
- 04Nov1941 Stalin to FDR: Thanks Harriman and Beaverbrook for
successful Moscow aid conference; thanks for one billion dollar
interest-free loan.
- 05Nov1941Ambassador Steinhardt replaced. "Within weeks Oumansky, too,
was gone, replaced by Maxim Litvinov, with whom Roosevelt had
negotiated the recognition of the Soviet government. Litvinov, like
Oumansky, was Jewish."
- 06Nov1941: medical supplies via American Red Cross.
- 14Dec1941/17Dec1941 -- Exchange of letters proposing Chungking
Conference consisting of Chinese (Chiang Kai-shek), Soviet, British,
Dutch and American representatives. Declined by Stalin.
- 09Feb1941 FDR to Stalin: shipments of 244 fighter planes, 24 B-25s,
233 A-20s, 408 medium tanks and 449 light tanks; troubles with Japanese
in Far East.
- 12Feb1942 FDR to Stalin: Admiral William Standley appointed as
ambassador to Moscow; an additional $1 billion interest-free loan to
Soviet Union.
- Stalin kept pressing Roosevelt and Churchill to recognize the
enlarged boundaries of the USSR as of 1941 including Western Ukraine,
Baltic States and parts of Finland and Romania -- Roosevelt refused,
but Churchill was willing.
- Roosevelt mollified Stalin with SLEDGEHAMMER proposal to open second
front in fall of 1942 and by 15Apr1942 the British had agreed to
cross-channel invasion.
- From January to April 1942 German submarines sank 1.2 million tons of
shipping destined for the Soviet army. From April through June 84 ships
left for Murmansk of which 44 got through, 17 were forced to unload
cargo in Scotland and 23 were destroyed.
- 29May1942 Molotov arrived at the White House to discuss SLEDGEHAMMER;
left 06Jun1942.
- 06Jun1942 Battle of Midway in which U.S. dive bombers sank four of
Japan’s six fleet-class carriers and sent three hundred Japanese planes
down in flames. (First Japanese naval defeat in 350 years.)
- "On June 10, 1942 the Germans announced that they had leveled the
village of Lidice in Czechoslovakia, killed all its inhabitants and
extinguished its name, in return for the killing in Prague of Reinhard
Heydrich, deputy chief of the Gestapo. The German Army continued its
policy of killing and committing atrocities as it marched across
Russia."
- 17Jun1942 - 02Aug1942: Discussions of transferring U.S. airplanes
from Nome, Alaska to Lake Baikal (Krasnoyarsk) in Siberia. (Stalin
pointed out that U.S. gasoline-fueled tanks were very susceptable to
fire in contrast to diesel-fueled tanks.)
- 05Jul1942 FDR to Stalin: Field Marshal Erwin Rommel captured Tobruk,
Libya and 33,000 British troops on 21Jun1942, then proceeded to advance
on Egypt. FDR requested that 40 A-20 bombers destined for Russia be
transferred from Iraq to the battle in Egypt. Stalin concurred.
- 05Aug1942: Because of British opposition and the situation in North
Africa, Roosevelt abandoned project SLEDGEHAMMER and replaced it with
project TORCH in North Africa.
- 08Aug1942 Roosevelt wants to send Wendell Willkie, leader of
Republican Party, to the Near East, Middle East and to the Soviet Union
to deflate "isolationists".
- 12Aug1942 Churchill arrives in Moscow with Harriman to inform Stalin
of abandonment of SLEDGEHAMMER in favour of TORCH in Noth Africa. "When
Churchill told Stalin about the U.S. bombing campaign against Germany
which was just starting, Stalin said that homes as well as factories
should be targeted."
-18Aug1942 FDR to Stalin: Apologies for not attending Moscow
Conference. "In the meantime, over 1,000 tanks will leave the United
States in August 1942 for Russia, and other critical supplies,
including airplanes, are going forward."
- [W.Z. Curiously, there is no mention of the Dieppe Raid on the
northern coast of France on 19Aug1942 during which a large number of
Canadians died.]
- 23Aug1942, Germans attacked Stalingrad with incendiary bombs. By
13Sep1942 German tanks were in the center of the city, before 10,000
Russian reinforcements arrived. Stalemate.
- 07Oct1942 Stalin to FDR: Every month Stalin wants 500 fighter planes,
8 to 10 thousand trucks, 5,000 tons of aluminum, 4 to 5 thousand tons
of explosives. Also, two million tons of wheat, fats, food concentrates
and canned meat. German air supremacy: "The practice of the war has
shown that the most gallant troops become powerless if they are not
shielded from the air."
- 11Oct1942 and 14Oct1942 FDR to Stalin: Will try to increase
production of Airocobra fighter planes. "Our heavy bombardment group
has been ordered mobilized immediately for the purpose of operating on
your southern
flank." Will supply trucks (8 to 10 thousand per month), explosives
(4000 in November + 5000 per month), wheat (2 million tons), canned
meats (10,000 tons per month), meat (15,000 tons per month), lard
(12,000 tons per month), vegetable oil (10,000 tons per month), soap
stock (5,000 tons per month).
- 14Oct1942 -- General Chuikov in Stalingrad stated that it was “the
bloodiest and most ferocious day in the whole battle.”
- 19Oct1942 Stalin to FDR: "The whole business now entirely a matter of
your cargoes reaching the Soviet Union within the time stated."
- 14Nov1942 Stalin to FDR: (Roosevelt sent Major General Patick Hurley,
ambassador to New Zealand, to visit Stalin to convince New Zealand and
Australia that Hitler should be defeated first before concentrating on
the Japanese.) Stalin acknowledges receiving Hurley and is preparing a
winter campaign against the Germans.
- 19Nov1942 Stalin launches a one million man counter attack against
the Germans in Stalingrad, encircling the Germans within five days.
German reinforcements were unable to break through to rescue the
encircled Germans. "The United Press correspondent Henry Shapiro,
allowed in for a few days after the ring was closed, noted that “a
fairly high proportion of the food was American -- especially lard,
sugar and spam,” but that he saw only an occasional American jeep or
tank."
- 02Dec1942 FDR to Stalin: proposes a meeting in Iceland or Alaska in
January 1943, but 06Dec1942 Stalin declines and on 08Dec1942 Roosevelt
counters with a 01Mar1943 date but on 14Dec1942 Stalin again declines.
-16Dec1942 FDR to Stalin: offers to send units of American planes with
pilots and crews to the Stalingrad area, but on 18Dec1942 Stalin
replies that this is no longer necessary and for the Americans to just
send fighter planes to Russia and send the pilots and crews to fight
the Germans in North Africa.
- 30Dec1942 FDR to Stalin: proposes to supply Red Army with 100
four-engine bombardment planes in case of Japanese attack, but on
05Jan1943 Stalin states that he needs these planes on the Western
front. On 08Jan1943 Roosevelt persists. On 09Jan1943, Roosevelt states
"I have arranged that two hundred C-47 transport planes be assigned to
you in January."
- 25Jan1943 FDR/Churchill to Stalin: Roosevelt and Churchill met in
Casablanca on 14Jan1943 at which they planned their war strategy for
1943. ("More pleasing to Stalin was Roosevelt’s surprise announcement
that the United States was calling for unconditional surrender of
Germany, Japan, and Italy.")
- 31Jan1943: Because Hitler refused to give order to retreat, Field
Marshal Paulus was forced to surrender with 92,000 soldiers to the
Russians. "Altogether, 500,000 Russians and 200,000 Germans had died at
Stalingrad." On 04Feb1943 Roosevelt sent congratulations, which Stalin
acknowledged on 05Feb1943.
- 09Feb1943 Churchill to Stalin: Plans as to the invasion of
Sicily-Italy for 1943 (as amended by Roosevelt).
- 16Feb1943 Stalin to FDR: Disappointed in the Anglo-American setback
in Tunisia (after which Lloyd Fredenall was replaced by George Patton),
which allowed Hitler to transfer forces to the Soviet-German front.
Urges a European invasion as early as possible to reduce the German
resistance to the Soviet army. On 22Feb1943 Roosevelt acknowledges
Stalin's letter and congratulates Red Army on its 25th anniversary.
- 16Mar1943 Stalin to FDR: Chastises Anglo-American efforts in North
Africa, which allowed Germans to transfer 36 divisions (including 6
armoured) to the Soviet-German front. Despite Anglo-American promises
to open a second front in Europe in 1942 or the latest in the spring of
1943, the Sicily invasion has been postponed until June 1943. Stalin
still wants an invasion of France.
KATYN FOREST MASSACRE --
Page 122 (143 of 382)
"In late September 1939, the Red Army took some fifteen thousand Polish
soldiers from prisoner-of-war camps and later killed [in April 1940]
many of the officers. They buried forty-five hundred of the officers in
the Katyn Forest near Smolensk." [...] "As the Germans retreated in
April 1943, they announced that they had found the bodies of the
thousands of Polish officers, all of whom had been shot in the back of
the head, and charged that the Russians had killed them in 1940". [...]
"Faced with a demand for an investigation by the International Red
Cross, an investigation that the Soviets could not control and which
would certainly have led to the truth, Stalin severed relations with
the Polish government-in-exile."
[W.Z. In Septermber 1939, the Red Army interned several
hundred thousand Polish soldiers in prisoner of war camps -- the
officers were separated for later execution; the ordinary soldiers were
eventually sent to Siberia. (One of these soldiers was Galyna's father,
Anton Shevchuk from Kostopol (Rivno oblast) Ukraine, who ended up in
Omsk.) After Hitler attacked the Soviet Union on 22Jun1941 and the
Soviet Union became one of the "Allies", Stalin allowed many of these
men to be transfered via Iran/Palestine to join Anders Army (creation
of the Polish government-in-exile in London) under British command. The
Roosevelt-Stalin letters on this issue reveal the hypocrisy of Stalin,
Roosevelt, Churchill and the Western news media.]
- 21Apr1943 Stalin to FDR:
After protesting "the campaign of calumny
against the Soviet Union" by the Polish diaspora and Western press and
claiming that the Katyn Forest massacres were perpetrated by the
Germans themselves, Stalin announces that he is severing relations with
the Polish Government-in-exile.
- Cordell Hull wrote a memo for Roosevelt on the issue, which prompted
a 26Apr1943 message from Roosevelt urging Stalin "to label your action
as a suspension of conversation with the Polish Government in exile
rather than a complete severance of diplomatic relations." He further
states "Also I am inclined to think that Churchill will find ways and
means of getting the Polish Government in London to act with more
common sense in the future."
- 29Apr1943 Stalin to FDR: It is too late, since "the Soviet Government
was obliged to take a decision for the severance of relations with the
Polish Government on April 25. 1943." Stalin concurs that Churchill
will talk sense into the Poles and then adds the following hypocritical
paragraph:
"As regards Polish subjects in the Soviet Union and their further
destinies, I can assure you that the Soviet authorities have always
treated them as friends and comrades, and will continue to do so in the
future. It is, therefore, clear that there is not, nor can be, any
question of their being deported from the Soviet Union. Should they
themselves wish to leave the USSR, the Soviet authorities which have
never put obstacles in the way of this, do not intend to do so in
future, and will render them all possible assistance."
- 05May1943 FDR to Stalin: transmitted by Joseph E. Davies on
20May1943, proposing a private meeting between them without Churchill
(but with Harry Hopkins [Soviet agent]!) somewhere near the Bering
Straits. "Mr. Litvinov is the only other person with whom I have talked
about it." [The naivety and hypocrisy of Roosevelt is unbelievable! He
even later denied to Churchill that he had sent this message.]
- 18May1943 FDR to Stalin: reporting Axis losses in North Africa from
08Dec1940 to 12May1943 as 625,000 personnel, 2,100 tanks, 7,596 planes
(plus 1,748 probable and 4,499 damaged), 625 ships (2,200,000 tons
sunk), 371 ships damaged (1,600,000 tons) and 150,000 Italian
personnel. [W.Z. Why would Roosevelt report to Stalin? Why glorify
death and destruction?]
- 24May1943 Davies to FDR: transmitting Stalin's demands for four oil
refinery plants, 25,000 tons of components for aviation fuel, airplanes.
- 26May1943 Stalin to FDR: "a new large-scale offensive of Hitlerites
is to be expected on the Soviet-German front." "but we experience a
shortage of airplanes and aircraft fuel." "Therefore I would suggest
that our meeting should be arranged in July or in August." at a
location to be communicated by Mr. Davies.
- After sixty B-24 Liberator planes were transferred from the Pacific
to the North Atlantic, 43 German submarines were sunk in May 1943, such
that Admiral Donitz suspended U-boat operations on 22May1943 and "In
the next four months 3,546 cargo ships crossed the Atlantic with not
one casualty."
- 02Jun1943 FDR to Stalin: outlining Anglo-American war plans;
eliminating the German U-boat menace; increase the civilian bombing of
Germany. ("the growth of the United States heavy bomber force in
England from some 350 planes in March to approximately 700 today with a
schedule calling for 900 June 30, 1,150 September 30 and 2,500 April 1.
The British bomber force will be constantly increasing.");
percipitating the collapse of Italy.
- 11June1943 Stalin to FDR: Complaining bitterly "That is the opening
of the second front in Western Europe which was postponed already from
1942 to 1943, is being postponed again, this time until spring 1944."
- 16Jun1943 FDR to Stalin: deliver from U.S. and Canada an extra 5,000
tons primary aluminum monthly and 1,000 tons secondary aluminum monthly.
- 16Jun1943 FDR to Stalin: additional 600 advanced P-40N fighter planes
to be delivered in 1943 + additional 78 B-25 bombers.
- 24Jun1943 Stalin to Roosevelt/Churchill: in reply to Churchill's
earlier justification of Anglo-American war plans. Once again Stalin
complains about Anglo-American decision to postpone European invasion
until 1944. Stalin points out "the tremendous sacrifices of the Soviet
armies in comparison with the [minimal] sacrifices of the
Anglo-American forces."
- On 05Jul1943 the German offensive at Kursk began -- involving two
million men and six thousand tanks, which the Red Army repulsed.
- On 10Jul1943 offensive in Sicily began; Patton entered Palermo 12
days later; 25Jul1943 Italian government fell; Mussolini arrested;
surrender negotiations began.
- 08Aug1943 Stalin to FDR: "Soviet Armies repelled the July offensive,
recaptured Orel and Belgorod." Stalin says that he cannot attend a
meeting with Roosevelt as he promised Davies, suggests a later meeting
in Astrakhan or Archangel and would not object if Churchill were
present. Stalin congratulates Roosevelt on the successful attack on
Sicily and the collapse of the Mussolini regime.
- 17Aug1943: Quebec Conference with Roosevelt, Churchill and Mackenzie
King attending.
- 18Aug1943 Churchill/Roosevelt to Stalin: reporting from Quebec
Conference; do not like Astrakhan or Archangel and suggest Fairbanks as
location of meeting; Sicily invasion successful with 18,000
Anglo-Americans killed or wounded, 23,000 German and 1,000 Italian dead
and wounded, 130,000 prisoners.
- 19Aug1943 Roosevelt/Churchill to Stalin: Report on Italian
negotiations; negotiations with Portuguese to obtain naval and air
facilities in Azores.
- 22Aug1943 Stalin to Roosevelt/Churchill: complaining about being left
out of Italian negotiations and not receiving information.
- On 23Aug1943 Kharkiv was captured by the Red Army.
- 24Aug1943 Stalin to Churchill/Roosevelt: declining the Fairbanks
location for a tri-partite meeting; acknowledging receipt of
information on Italian negotiations.
- 25Aug1943 Roosevelt/Churchill to Stalin: Decisions of Quebec
Conference include increasing bomber offensive against Germany; buildup
of American forces in United Kingdom; eliminate Italy from Axis
alliance; supply Balkan guerrillas [Tito's communists rather than
Serbian Chetniks] by air and sea transport; accelerate operations
against Japan.
- Stalin recalled ambassadors Ivan Maisky (London) and Maxim Litvinov
(Washington) and appointed 34-year-old Andrei Gromyko as
ambassador to Washington.
- 02Sep1943 Roosevelt/Churchill to Stalin: Report on Italian
negotiations. "We are of course anxious that the Italian unconditional
surrender be to the Soviet Union as well as to Britain and the United
States."
- ["At Quebec, Roosevelt had finally compelled Churchill to agree that
Britain would support a firm date of May 1, 1944, for the opening of
the second front -- the cross-Channel invasion; Churchill, in favor of
invading Europe through the Balkans, “the soft underbelly of Europe,”
had long been sidestepping the issue." "On September 4, 1943, Stalin
officially rescinded his antireligion policy."]
- 04Sep1943 FDR to Stalin: Continuing attempts to arrange tri-partite
meeting; send Soviet officer to join British and Americans in Italian
negotiations.
- 08Sep1943 Stalin to FDR: Wants full Soviet participation in Italian
negotiations; suggests October 1943 meeting of three representatives in
Moscow; suggests tri-partite meeting in Iran at later date.
- [On 08Sep1943 Badoglio government signed armistice; German army
occupied Rome; General Mark Clark landed in Naples.]
- 09Sep1943 FDR to Stalin: Agrees to setting up of Military-Political
Commission to meet in Algiers on Tuesday, 21Sep1943; agrees to three
representative meeting in Moscow on Monday, 04Oct1943; agrees to
tri-partite meeting at end of November 1943, but prefers Egypt to
Teheran.
- 12Sep1943 Stalin to Roosevelt/Churchill: Mr. A.Y. Vishinsky appointed
as Plenipotentiary and Mr. A.E. Bogamolov as Vice-Plenipotentiary to
Military-Political Commission set for 25/30Sep1943 in Algiers; agrees
to three representative meeting in Moscow on 04Oct1943; prefers to have
tri-partite meeting in Teheran rather than Egypt.
- [Cordell Hull insisted that Sumner Welles be replaced as
Undersecretary of State and, when Welles started to bad-mouth him in
the press, Hull insisted that he personally attend the three
representative meeting in Moscow with Molotov and Eden. Roosevelt tried
to get the venue changed, but Stalin balked and Hull eventually reached
Moscow on 18Oct1943, where he spent 16 days meeting with Molotov and
Eden.]
- [There are several letters referring to the armistice agreement with
Italy (not listed here). There are many more letters as to the location
of the tri-partite conference between Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill.
Roosevelt kept proposing several alternate locations, but Stalin kept
insisting on Teheran. Eventually Roosevelt relented, such that the
Teheran Conference took place on 28Nov1943 to 01Dec1943 at the Soviet
Embassy. Stalin balked at sending Molotov to Cairo on 22Nov 1943 to
meet with Chaing Kai-shek, presumably fearing that the Japanese would
have an excuse to blockade ship traffic to Vladivostok.]
- [In Teheran, Roosevelt refused to meet with Churchill to discuss
military matters and belittled Churchill during the whole conference.
But Roosevelt met with Stalin personally at 3:00 PM, 28Nov1943 for 45
minutes during which he discussed "actions that would remove thirty to
forty German divisions from the eastern front and offered Russia
surplus merchant ships after the war was over."; French resistance
leader Charles de Gaulle versus collaborator Petian. Harriman, Hopkins
[Soviet agent] and interpreter Bohlen all reported that Stalin
"respected" Roosevelt [W.Z. The useful idiot!].
- 29Nov1943 FDR to Stalin: 3 messages to discuss at the Conference --
(1) Airbases on USSR territory from which to better bomb Germany; (2)
Airbases for bombing Japan from USSR territory; (3) "Advance Planning
for Naval Operations in Northwestern Pacific" against Japan.
[W.Z. Although Roosevelt was pleased with the results, historians now
agree that Stalin completely outmanouvered Roosevelt and Churchill in
Teheran. Ironically, all three leaders became sick after they returned
home. Stalin's advantage carried over into the Yalta Conference.]
- 23Jan1944 Roosevelt/Churchill to Stalin: Delay transfer of 2 Italian
merchant ships, 8 destroyers and 4 submarines to Soviet Union as agreed
in Teheran, because of possible mutiny in Italian navy. After much back
and forth communication on this issue, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed
to substitute American and British vessels.
- 07Feb1944 FDR to Stalin: re refusal of Polish government in London to
accept the Curzon line as the Polish-Soviet border, "instead insisting
on the frontier established by the Riga Treaty of 1921, which gave
Poland the western Ukraine and western Byelorussia".
- 14Feb1944 Stalin to FDR: Bluntly refuses to give back Western Ukraine
to Poland or recognize Polish government-in-exile. [There were further
separate letters on 04Mar1944 to Roosevelt and Churchill on the Polish
claim to Lviv, Ukraine and Vilno, Belarus.]
- [On 08Feb1944 Stalin agreed to set up 3 airbases in Ukraine at
Poltava, Mirgorod and Pyryatin for American bombing raids against
Germany.]
- 23Feb1944 FDR to Stalin: re establishment of the United Nations
Relief and Rehabilitation Administration [W.Z. Romerstein reveals that
UNRRA was infiltrated with Soviet agents.], and other international
organizations to promote international collaboration. [Stalin responds
on 10Mar1944.]
POLAND-GERMAN-SOVIET
BORDERS -- page 214 (235 of 382)
["Oskar Lange, a professor of economics at Chicago University who had
left Poland in 1937 and become an American citizen, thought that if
Poland were given parts of eastern Prussia in place of eastern Poland,
which Russia claimed, the Polish nation would have a more homogeneous
population. He favored the establishment of a more democratic Polish
government than the Polish government-in-exile.
Father Stanislaus Orlemanski, born in America of Polish parents, pastor
of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Springfield,
Massachusetts, also considered the Polish government-in-exile
insufficiently democratic. He had written to Stalin asking to meet with
him to discuss the future of Poland. Stalin extended him an invitation
to come to Moscow."]
- 08Mar1944 FDR to Stalin:
"In accordance with your suggestion Dr.
Lange and Father Orlemanski will be given passports in order to accept
your invitation to proceed to the Soviet Union." [Stalin replies on
28Mar1944.]
- 23Mar1944 Stalin to Roosevelt/Churchill: sends blistering reply to
Churchill's proposal that Polish-Soviet border question be delayed
until after armistice.
- 06May1944 Stalin to Roosevelt: "I am extremely grateful for your
assistance in permitting Reverend Stanislaus Orlemanski to come to
Moscow."
- 08Mar1944 Churchill/Roosevelt to Stalin: re Italian merchant ships,
destroyers, submarines. [Stalin responds on 17Mar1944.]
- ["The Joint Chiefs of Staff had requested and Roosevelt had
authorized Brig. Gen. William J. Donovan, director of the Office of
Strategic Services, to set up an OSS intelligence liaison mission with
the NKVD and to offer to exchange information with them." Donovan went
to Moscow to set it up, but Edgar Hoover and Admiral Leahy had it
cancelled. (Romerstein demonstrates that the OSS was heavily infested
with Soviet agents.)]
- 15Mar1944 FDR to Harriman: that Donovan's liaison with NKVD is
"impracticable at this time".
- 20Mar1944, 25Mar1944, 31Mar1944, 06Apr1944: Exchange of letters re
USSR participation in International Labor Organization conference.
- 18Apr1944 Churchill/Roosevelt to Stalin: informing that they will
attack Italy in mid-May 1944. [Stalin acknowledges on 22Apr1944.]
- 12May1944 Roosevelt/Churchill to Stalin: re attack on Italy and
planned attack on France. [Stalin responds on 15May1944.]
- 23May1944 Roosevelt to Stalin: sending a proposed draft statement to
encourage German people to surrender, which Britain rejected and Stalin
rejected on 26May1944 and Roosevelt conceded on 27May1944 and 30May1944.
- ["The Normandy invasion, Operation overlord, involving more than
5,000 ships and more than 600,000 American, British and Canadian
soldiers, began at dawn on June 6, 1944."]
- 07Jun1944 Stalin to FDR: informing that Soviet summer offensive will
commence in mid-June 1944. [Roosevelt replies on 07Jun1944; Stalin
further informs on developments on 21Jun1944, which Roosevelt
acknowledges on 22Jun1944.]
POLAND-SOVIET BORDER --
Page 236 (257 of 382)
- ["Premier Sikorski had died in a plane accident at Gibraltar in 1943
and been replaced by Stanislaw Mikolajczyk, head of the Polish Peasant
Party, who did not share the prevailing antagonism of the Polish
government-in-exile toward the Soviet Union. Mikolajczyk had written
the president a long letter in early April emphasizing how much he
desired to meet with him. Roosevelt, concerned that Stalin might
misinterpret such a meeting and needing the marshal’s
undivided attention to be fixed on positioning the Russian Army to draw
off German forces during and after the Normandy invasion, put off
meeting with Mikolajczyk until the day after the invasion took place.
The president gave a dinner in honor of the Polish premier and met with
him four times. He told him that he favored the return of Lwow to
Poland and urged Mikolajczyk to replace some of the people in his
cabinet. As a result on June 20 it was announced that the reputedly
anti-Soviet Gen. Kazimierz Sosnkovsky, whom Stalin had objected to in
his message of February 16 to Roosevelt, was to be removed as successor
designate to the Polish presidency, although he continued to serve as
commander in chief of the Polish forces. After this message and another
from Churchill, Stalin agreed to meet with Mikolajczyk."]
- 17Jun1944 Roosevelt via
Gromyko to Stalin: reporting on his talks
with Stanislaw Mikolajczyk.
- 24Jun1944 Stalin to Roosevelt: regarding Mikolajczyk and
Soviet-Polish relations with some reservations re borders.
- 23Jul1944 Stalin to Churchill/Roosevelt: re the Polish question and
meeting with Mikolajczyk. [Roosevelt acknowledges on 27Jul1944.]
- 09Aug1944 Stalin to Roosevelt/Churchill: reporting on meeting with
Mikolajczyk on 03Aug1944 to form provisional government with "Lublin
Poles". Suggests Oscar Lange could also join. [Harriman reports views
of Molotov and Stettinius on 11Aug1944 comments on Professor Lange.]
- 12Aug1944 FDR to Stalin: commenting on Mikolajczyk and Lange.
- 20Aug1944 FDR to Stalin: urging him to drop supplies to the
Warsaw-uprising fighters or allow the Americans to do so. [On 22Aug1944
Stalin demonizes the Warsaw guerrillas and refuses help.]
- [On 24Nov1944 Mikolajczyk resigned as prime minister of the Polish
government-in-exile, because of "the opposition of other cabinet
ministers in his government to the ceding of any territory to Russia,
and the insistence of the Soviet Union that the Soviet-backed Lublin
faction have majority representation in the new government." Despite
public pressure by Churchill and Roosevelt, Polish hardliners refused
to yield.]
- 16Dec1944 FDR to Stalin: asking him to refrain from recognizing the
Lublin Committee as a government of Poland.
- 18Dec1944 U.S State Department press release: re Poland supports
Polish independence; boundaries left in abeyance until hostilities
cease; refers to transfer of national groups.
- 27Dec1944 Stalin to FDR: accuses Polish emigres of terrorist acts
against soldiers and officers of the Red Army -- "underground agents of
the Polish émigré government"have been arrested. Arciszewski is even
worse than Mikolajczyk.
- 17Jul1944 FDR to Stalin: proposes a meeting in Scotland between 10
and 15Sep1944, but on 22Jul1944 Stalin considers this absolutely
impossible and on 27Jul1944 Roosevelt acknowledges Stalin's decision.
[Stalin responded on 02Aug1944 to Roosevelt's 28Jul1944 message re
proposed meeting and Polish question.]
- 19Aug1944 FDR to Stalin: planning for future joint cooperation in the
Pacific Theatre (Japan). [Stalin acknowledges on 22Aug1944.]
DUMBARTON OAKS CONFERENCE
-- UNITED NATIONS
- [The Dumbarton Oaks Conference to establish the United Nations was
held in Washington, D.C. from 21Aug1944 to 07Oct1944.]
- 31Aug1944 FDR to Stalin: re Soviet proposal that all 16 constituent
republics of the Soviet Union be members of United Nations (not just
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus). [Stalin responds on 07Sep1944 supporting
the concept.]
- 08Sep1944 FDR to Stalin: reports on discussion with Gromyko and
reiterates opposition to 16 votes for the USSR.
- 05Dec1944 FDR to Stalin: outlines a very detailed voting procedure in
the United Nations Security Council.
- 26Dec1944 Stalin to FDR: rejecting Roosevelt's voting procedure which
calls for an "affected party" to abstain from voting. Insists on
unanimity.
- 29Dec1944 FDR to Stalin: Disappointed in Stalin's reply and does not
want Moscow to recognize the Lublin Committee; whereas the rest of the
world recognizes the government-in-exile in London.
- 01Jan1945 Stalin to FDR: Regrets Roosevelt's position. "The fact is
that on December 27 the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to
an appropriate request of the Poles has already informed them that it
intends to recognize the Provisional Government of Poland as soon as it
is formed."
- 18Sep1944 U.S. and Britain to Stalin: Summary of war plans arrived at
the just-concluded Quebec Conference -- North West Europe; Italy;
Balkans; Japan.
[Stalin responds on 29Sep1944 outlining plans for the Baltics and
Hungary.]
YALTA CONFERENCE
04/11Feb1945
- 04Oct1944 Roosevelt to Stalin: re forthcoming meeting between
Churchill and Stalin in Moscow, where he asked that Ambassador Harriman
be an observer. [Separately, he instructed Harriman to report
everything to him and Hull.]
- 08Oct1944 Stalin to Roosevelt: Expressing surprise that Churchill had
not coordinated plans with Roosevelt.
- [At the meeting Churchill baldly proposed dividing up the Balkans --
90% Soviet dominance in Romania and 70% in Bulgaria, 50%-50% in
Yugoslavia and Hungary; and 90% British dominance in Greece.
Stalin simply took out his blue pencil and made a check mark on it.]
- 10Oct1944 Stalin/Churchill to Roosevelt: reporting on their
discussions. "We have invited Messrs. Mikolajczyk, Romer and Grabski to
come at once for further conversations with the Polish National
Committee."
- 19Oct1944 Stalin to Roosevelt: Reporting on conversations with
Churchill and proposing a tri-partite meeting on the Soviet Black Sea
coast at the end of November 1944. [On 23Oct1944 Roosevelt responds and
suggests Malta, Athens or Cyprus on a ship for the tri-partite meeting;
Stalin responds positively on 29Oct1944.]
- 18Nov1944 FDR to Stalin: proposes tri-partite meeting 28/30Jan1945 at
a plethora of possible locations. [On 23Nov1944 Stalin suggests one of
the Soviet port cities.]
- 22Jan1945 FDR to Stalin: heading for Yalta; no press representatives
to be allowed. [Acknowledged by Stalin on 23Jan1945.]
- ["On the afternoon of February 4, 1945 Stalin and Molotov called on
Roosevelt." -- They were all happy to see each other again.]
- [Roosevelt "said that there were six or seven million Poles in the
United States who wanted Lwow and the oilfields there to be part of
Poland, although they accepted the Curzon Line as the eastern
frontier."]
- 06Feb1945 FDR to Stalin: making another effort to create an Polish
provisional government acceptable to all. Invite Bierut and
Osobk-Morawski of Lublin government, as well as 2 or 3 of Bishop
Sapieha, Vincente Witos, Zurlowski, Buyak, Kutzeba to Yalta.
- 07Feb1945 FDR to Stalin: American bombing raids on Germany require
airbases in the Budapest area; require survey of targets bombed by U.S.
aircraft to determine effectiveness.
- 10Feb1945 Roosevelt to Stalin: re number of votes in U.N. Security
Council. [On 11Feb1945 Stalin replies that he would support 3 votes for
the U.S.]
- 10Feb1945 Roosevelt to Stalin: re dismembering Japan. Sakhalin and
Kurile Islands; Port Arthur, Darien a free port; lease of Manchurian
railroads, autonomy of Outer Mongolia; USSR will join China in war
against Japan.
- 12Feb1945 FDR to Stalin: thanking him for hospitality at Yalta
Conference.
Charles de Gaulle
- 20Oct1944 Roosevelt to
Stalin: "By this action Gen. Charles de Gaulle
was recognized as the leader of the provisional government of France."
[Stalin responds positively on 22Oct1944.]
- 09Nov1944 Stalin to FDR: congratulating him on winning his 4th term
in Presidential election. [Roosevelt thanks him on 10Nov1944.]
- 02Dec1944 Stalin to FDR: re Charles de Gaulle pending visit to
Moscow; the Franco-Soviet pact and possible change in eastern frontier
of France. Asks Roosevelt's advice.
- 03Dec1944 Stalin to FDR: reporting on de Gaulle visit as forecast
above. [Roosevelt acknowledges on 06Dec1944.]
- 10Dec1944 Stalin to Roosevelt: "Today the Franco-Soviet Pact was
signed."
[page 298 (319 of 382)]
- 03Mar1945 FDR to Stalin: re American POWs; requests permission for 10
American aircraft in Poltava to evacuate stranded Americans from Poland
- 05Mar1945 Stalin to FDR: denies permission saying all 1200 American
POWs in Poland have been sent to Odesa.
- 17Mar1945 FDR to Stalin: insists that there are many Americans still
in Poland requiring evacuation; General Deane was denied permission to
survey the situation.
- 22Mar1945 Stalin to FDR: insists all American former POWs have been
evacuated to Odesa.
- [On 12Mar1945 Harriman informed Molotov of pending surrender
discussions between General Karl Wolff and Allen Dulles OSS chief in
Switzerland. Molotov wanted Soviet officers to participate in these
discussions. The Americans refused and Molotov withdrew his
participation in the San Francisco Conference.]
- 24Mar1945 FDR to Stalin: regrets lack of Molotov participation at the
San Francisco Conference.
- 24Mar1945 FDR to Stalin: Once informed of the surrender negotiations
and Molotov's anger, Roosevelt tries to mollify the situation.
- 27Mar1945 Stalin to FDR: says that Molotov really can't attend and
that Gromyko is capable of representing Soviet interests.
- 29Mar1945 Stalin to FDR: repeats that he wants Russians involved in
any surrender negotiations.
- 31Mar1945 FDR to Stalin: rejects his argumentation.
-31Mar1945 FDR to Stalin: long letter re the Polish question.
- 03Apr1945 Stalin to FDR: claims that he has information that
surrender negotiations with the Germans have indeed taken place.
Marshal Kesselring has agreed to open the front and allow
Anglo-American troops to advance to the East. Stalin does not
understand British silence in this matter. "As a result of this at the
present moment the Germans on the Western front in fact have ceased the
war against England and the United States."
- 04Apr1945 FDR to Stalin: Contradicts Stalin and "Frankly I cannot
avoid a feeling of bitter resentment toward your informers, whoever
they are, for such vile misrepresentations of my actions or those of my
trusted subordinates."
- 07Apr1945 Stalin to FDR: Further discussions on the surrender
questions.
- 07Apr1945 Stalin to FDR: long letter on the Polish question.
- 11Apr1945 FDR to Stalin: thanking him for Bern explanation.
- 11Apr1945 13:15 hrs
Roosevelt said "I have a terrific pain in the
back of my head", lost conciousness and died at 15:30 hrs 11Apr1945.
[The first meeting between Molotov and President Harry Truman was
disatrous:
“That will be all, Mr.
Molotov. I would appreciate it if you
would transmit my views to Mr. Stalin.”
“I have never been talked to like that in my life,” Molotov replied.
“Carry out your agreements, and you won’t get talked to like that,”
shot back Truman.]
THE COLD WAR HAD STARTED.