Evening star., 1945-06-10
Soviet Suspicious Hamper
Understanding With Allies
Reciprocal Attitude on Part of Great Britain and
y. S. Is Making Arrival at Complete
Cooperation Difficult.
By Constantine Brown

bbvc III OUH
lowed to hear or see nothing about the
Russians military plans and oper-
ations. They might just as well have
remained in Washington. While open
criticism of the United States was per-
mitted in the Russian press and on the
radio, both of which are completely
controlled by the government, any crit
cism of our ally voiced in the United
States was frowned on lest it jeopardize
the chances of victory.
Friendship Established.
In order 10 prevent break with Rus
sia over political matters, President
Roosevelt decided to make a personal
contact with the Russian leader on the
very sound assumption that since Pre-
nier Stain was actually the dictator Of
Russia, all the future moves of that
country depended on his good will The
Teheran and Yalta Conferences took
place in 1943 and in 1945 and there Is
no question that a spontaneous friend
ship between the two leaders was estab-
| lished But outside of the military
agreements-that is to say, the de-
cision of the Russians to continue the
war to the bitter end-there was no
| give and take at these meetings.
| The American people have received
only sketchy information about what
actually was decided politically at the
conferences. The sessions were sur
| rounded by the utmost secrecy and some
| of their phases are still secret. Even
President Truman, it is believed, does
not know about all that went on.
We all know, however that new
map of the world was carved at Yalta;
| that zones of influence were established
and that the fate of many nations in
the Old World was decided with fnality.
But the American Government has not
felt it wise to take the American people
| into its confidence and tell them exact
| ly what and why certain things were
| done. So long as the war continued in
Europe, there was some excuse for the
| strict secrecy.
Secrecy Not Needed Now.
But there is no longer any reason for
| the secrecy and it is harmful. The
American people who had been urged to
honor and trust our great Russian ally
discovered almost overnight that now,
at the end of the war in Europe, there
are such major differences between
ourselves and the Russians that a crisis
might develop almost any day. Our
leaders in the past refused to accept
the wholesome truth that the main
difficulties between allies generally occur
after the smoke of the battle is over
and that it is much more difficult to
win peace than the bloodiest of battles.
This is particularly true today when the
Allies who have crushed Germany have
two distinct political PHILOSOPHERS. We
believe in democracy and liberalism in
the old sense of the word. The Rus
SLAMS called themselves neodomocracy,
but in fact are a politically and eco
nomically totaitarian state in the
truest sense of the word.
The American public is astounded
when it hears about the defiance of
Marshal Tito in Southern Europe, the
Russians claims in Eastern Europe and
their expedition into Denmark's Island
of Bornholm, where they are reported
intending to stay. The people are
surprised to learn that portions of the
Italian and German fleets are ear
marked to 60 to the U. S. S. r. They
are surprised to hear severe criticism
in regard to our soft" attitude toward
the Germans while reports from Berlin
and the Province of Brandenburg say
| tho PnSSiorc La
with kid gloves.
They wonder why the Russians will
not permit us to 90 to Vienna and still
wonder why the American troops did
not go to Berlin when we could have
entered Hitler's capital long before the
| Russians.
| People Should Know.
There would be much less criticism Of
the Russians and their obscure actions
If the Government told the people Of
this country what, for instance, had
been agreed on at Yalta.
Last Tuesday the State Department
announced what had been known for
months, that Germany would be di-
vided into four zones OF occupation,
| indicating generally what particular
| area each army would occupy But the
American public was not told the exact
| limitations of those zones. We were not
| told how far the Russian zone extended
| and how far the British zone would
go. Yet there are rumors that the
American forces had entered areas
which were decided on at Yalta and are
| to be under Russian jurisdiction.
There are whispers about possible
frictions between the British and the
Russians in regard to the northern
areas. These were all determined in
the most minute detail on the map
at Yalta. The people in this country
would be astounded if, by some unfor-
tunate chance, an incident were to
occur between the British and the
Russians. There can be no reason why
the governments should keep these de-
limitations secret
About three weeks ago we were con-
fronted with an unexpected crisis in the
area known as Venezia Giulia and
Trieste. Marshal Tito, q puppet of
Moscow, entered these territories and
the Province of Klagenfurt in Austria.
We almost came to blows with him
when we sent several divisions ordering
him out. Tito says that at Teheran,
| Yugoslavia had been vaguely promised
| Trieste. This may or may not be 50.
| There Is no reason, however, why the
terms Of the armistice with Italy, which
is sajd tn. contain noanv cacrnf cloucas