Evening star., 1945-01-14

IN november 1882 until today there
has not been a single year in which
there was not crisis of one kind or
another ..
But never in his unprecedented oc-
cupancy Of the White House has Mr..
Roosevelt been confronted with q
graver problem than he will be next
month when his two principal partners
in this war, Prime Minister Churchill
and Premier Stain, meet with him at
an undisclosed spot far from WASH
ington
Compared with the next conference
the Teheran meeting in 1943 was a
picnic. The whole question, as it ap-
peared to President Roosevelt then, was
to obtain the unequivocal collaboration
of Russia in the war.
Political problems appeared to our
Chief Executive to be picayunish COM
pared with the military problems which
he was determined to solve The
Russian dictator demanded certain
zones of influence in Eastern Europe
and the Balkans. He insisted that
unless these minimum requirements,
without which he felt Russia could not
exist safely in Europe, were granted
he could not pledge himself to sacrifice
more Russian lives
German Offer Rumored.
Prior to the meeting there had been
sufficiently well founded to
worry the White House and the State
Department-that Germany had made
such substantial and tempting peace
offers to the Kremlin that Great Brit
ain and the United States must meet
at least some of the German proposals
to persuade the Soviet leader to stick
by his agreements.
And Stain insisted the entire eastern,
central and southeastern areas of
Europe should came under Russias i'm
mediate influence. Mr.. Roosevelt felt
compelled to agree. There were no
direct threats from Stain. He just
remained noncommittal concerning the
military problems which demanded the
fullest collaboration among the Allies
in the east and west and obviously en-
joyed the mental wranglings of his two
associates who were thinking in terms
of the German peace proposals.
All Russia's demands were granted.
But Mr.. Roosevelt and Mr.. Churchill
were under the impression that Russia
would not press for a solution of the
political questions until after the enemy
"a AAf %Al
in western terms felt that Stain would
be satisfied with this solution. WASH
inston and London were surprised when
they discovered later that the Russian
Premier, probably conversant with
promises made to the previous Russian
government during the World War,
decided to press his claims publicly
before the hostilities had ended.
Tito Turns From British.
Deprived of the moral. support of
the United States, to which the Finnish
people were looking in the hope of
obtaining an Atlantic Charter" peace.
the Helsinki government accepted a
most onerous dictated peace after the
United States had broken off diplo-
matte relations with Finland.
Despite the existing agreements that
there should be no unilateral action
among members of the United Nations,
the Soviet government recognized the
Polish government of Lublin, a creation
of the Moscow Politbureau. Marshal
Tito had been loaned" by Stain to
Great Britain when he accepted Mr..
Churchil's thesis that the Adriatic
Sea was an integral part of the Med
iterranean. Britain needed to control
that area because of her lines of COM
munications. But on the eve of the
British offensive from Italy into Albania
and Yugoslavia Tito was ordered to
report to the Red Army headquarters
in Bucharest. He abandoned Mr.,
Churchill, who had provided him with
all kinds of comforts and arms for
the Partisans. From Bucharest Tito
announced he had permitted" the
Russian Armies to liberate Yugoslavia
and the British were not allowed to
make the planned landings.
Instead they had to go to Greece
where they were met with a revolution
which many observers say is being sup
ported by Tito from the north. But
whether this is true or not is without
much significance. The truth is that
Tito has taken the initiative in or
ganizing Balkan federation extending
from the Black Sea to the Adriatic
and this federation will look to Stain
as its patron saint.
Problems Already Settled.
Thus, long before the Germans have
been compelled to put down their arms
and accept defeat, political problems
which President Roosevelt and Prime
Minister Churchill hoped would be dis
cussed openly at general peace con-
terence have already been settled by
Premier Stain and his millions of
soldiers.
But what possibly is of even more
immediate Importance is the fact that
the .synchronization OF an offensive
from the east. and the west has not
taken place. ThANwas supposed to have
been worth al, the political sacrifices
made at Teheran.
President Roosevelt is faced with
problem at the forthcoming meeting of
the big three which exceeds in i'm
portance anything he has yet encoun-
tered and he will have to play his cards
closer to the chest than ever before.
Had the meeting Of the big three
taken place before the German counter
offensive he would have had an i'm
portant card in the hole. As 1t is he
has only what he hopes to draw from
what is dealt him.