Evening star., 1946-07-14
Our Former Ambassador to Soviet Russia
Writes Preface to Word Affairs
THE GREAT GLOBE ITSELF
BIZ William c. Bullitt. (Scrib

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One of the noticeable postwar lit
erary phenomena is that books
about Russia are now being written
realistically. The outpouring dur
ing the combat period Of volumes
which assured the American public
that Russia is land Of democratic
processes governed by a group of
men who want only to lead the coun-
try further along the democratic
path has pretty well come to an
end. The authors are facing it now
that the U. S. S. r. Is what Presi-
dent Roosevelt called it in his
speech to the American Youth Con-
gress in 1910, "a dictatorship as ab-
solute as any other dictatorship in
the world" Nor is there the pleas
ant pretense any longer that this
dictatorship is a benevolent one,
aimed at peace and committed to
nonaggression. A number of books
by serious men have come out re-
Gently in which the communist state
is characterized, on the basis of its
conduct, as the sole menace to peace
now existent and as launching on
course of aggression more grandiose
than any other imperialist power
has ever undertaken.
That is the theme which William
C. Bullitt. former Ambassador to
Russia, elaborates in the present
book. His text is, Look at the rec
ord" His sermon develops and
comments on the record and then,
for specific reference, he publishes
the record itself in three appendices
"a comparison in parallel columns
of the violations of international
pledges by Germany and Russia; a
group Of excerpts from the Daily
Worker showing how the American
Communist Party altered its policy
in accordance with alterations in
Moscow during the years l939-1945;
and a selection of Stalin's writings
which reassert the Leninistic doc
trine of the rightness of the con-
quest of the world by Russia.
The Plain Truth.
Since all of this material has been
public knowledge for long time,
and freely available to the Ameri-
can people, there can hardly be any
thing surprising about it.
Mr.. Bullitt goes into history OF the
recent course of appeaSement. He
says that it had its impetus from
President Roosevelt, who knew per-
fectly the imperialist aims Of the
Communists but believed-or hoped
that, by democratic friendship
shown in an hour of dreadful need,
the Communists could be led to
change. His appeasement was the
appeasement of genuine good will;
the United States would save Russia
by an act of international charity
unprecedented in world history-and
Russia could not doubt after that
that the United States was her
friend. But it was appeasement just
the same. And any power which
has to be appeased is not appease-
able. The President. says Mr.. Bull
lit, made the most tremendous
gamble ever made in the history Of
statesman anship and was mercifully
saved by death from knowing that
his stake had been thrown away.
Territorial Ambitions.
He traces then the course Of the
aggressions which have taken place
since Stain declared-in terms
singularly reminiscent Of Hitler
that his country had no territorial
ambitions. They are. of course, uni
versal knowledge, but the method
used by the Communists in admin
istering the lands and people which
they have seized is perhaps not so
widely known and Mr.. Bullitt goes
into that Deportations, imprison-
ments, mass executions continue in
these liberated" districts though
the Germans have been expelled.
Hitler" observes Mr.. Bullitt,
Slaughtered Jews for no other
reason than that they were Jews;
whereas Stain killed only those
gentiles and Jews who displeased
him"
Similar he examines the alleged
revival Of religion in Russia which
has so often been urged on the
American people as evidence Of q
kindred culture. The indecent haste
with which that revival took place
when Russia needed American
friendship should have been adver-
tisement enough Of its real nature,
but 1t was not. Mr.. Bullitt brings
out that Mr.. Roosevelt suggested 1t
and that Stain, acting on the sug-
eestion, merely added one more
Czarist instrument OF power to his
arsenal-the state church. There is
no religious freedom In Russia, he
SAYS. There is just new bureau of
the government.
Damage to Be Undone.
Our task now, in Mr.. Bullitt's
view, is to undo the damage wrought
by Mr.. Roosevelt's too great opti-
misn. We cannot rely on the
CIilOCu NdIlOLlS VI IBdIllld tlOi1, 1Ol
Russia, by insisting on the veto, has
made that hope of security futile.
But we can-and Mr.. Bullitt urges
that we do-take advantage Of the
provision in the Charter to form
regional national groups which shall
take stand against further musco-
vite aggression, either in Asia or
Europe.
An interesting feature in the book
is Mr.. Bulhtt's comparison OF the
origins of democracy and COM
munism. The former is the devel-
oped product of all the forces of
enlightenment which Europe has
enjoyed from its ancient days to the
present. The latter is the direct
descendant of the Tartar Khans.
1t Is resurgent Tartar autocracy
which now threatens civilization.
There is other quarter today, says
Mr.. Bullitt, from which war could
conceivably come. His work is ex-
tremely reasonable in tone. It has
the qualitNs more of a thoughtful
essay than an urgent warning.