Evening star., 1947-03-12

RAEDER J,
DR.. Deutsch, University OF Mime
sofa history professor, IN this story OF
events tchich led to signing OF the
RuSso-Gern,an nor-aggression pact
of 1894, giDeS an account OF the
first signs of a break in the Berlin
Mosco1o romance" DR.. Deutsch dug
out the story of the Hitler-Stnlin
1oooing and estrangement as chief OF
research and analysis II, the OSS
mission to Germany after We day.
The months which followed the sign
ing OF the Russo-G German defensive
alliance august "a, 1882 were devoted
to working out the details of the eco
nomic and boundary questions
With respect to the deal on the Baltic
states, the Russians rushed to collect
their first installments. On the morning
following the conclusion of the treaty,
Ribbentrop climbed the steps of the
Kremlin, he was embarrassed to meet
the Estonian Foreign Minister, Karl
Setter, stumbling down like broken
man.
Notices already were being served on
the victims, and, with the exception Of
Finland, they bowed to the inevitable
and accepted the proposed mutual
assistance pacts.
Between Russia and Germany, the
most troublesome problems concerned
the far-reaching Russian demands for
special types of war materials. Karl
Ritter, the chief trade specialist of the
German foreign Office, conducted the
negotiations in Moscow.
When Stain asked for heavy machine
tools, airplanes. antiaircraft guns, the
warships Lutzow, Seydlitz and Prince
Eugen, the plans for the battleships
Bismarck and Tirpitz, and the heavy
turrets Of still larger battleships then
under construction, Ritter felt it neces-
sary to return to Berlin to consult with
Goering. Grand Admiral Erich Raeder
and the army chiefs. On the whole he
was amazed at the readiness of military
quarters to concede some of the most
priced weapons.
Ritter returned to Moscow He was
summoned to the Kremlin at 1880 am.
and talked to Stain from / to 5 am.
The Soviet chief appeared delighted
with the Germans businesslike rendi-
tion of his governments reply.
Stain climaxed his remarks signi-
ficantly: "If we can continue to work
together like this for four or five years,
we will be able to produce enough raw
materials to supply two Germanys"
The Germans also made requests that
were not always modest.
They were anxious to obtain both Arc
tic and Far Eastern bases for the OUT
fitting OF their auxiliary cruisers. In
October, 1889, the Russians offered Base
North near Murmansk but later made
reservations on its use With respect to
q Far Eastern base, they kept putting
OF decision but their attitude of
refusal" discouraged the Germans.
"A Heavy Moral Burden"
The outbreak OF the Russo Finnish
War CNovember 80, 1880 imposed, to
use Admiral Raeder's words "a heavy
moral burden" on Russo German CO.
operation. Hitler even went out Of his
way to soft-pedal overly enthusiastic
expressions of sympathy for the Firms.
Over Col. Gen. Alfred Jodls (con-
victed at the Nuremberg trials and ex-
ecuted October l6, 1946) signature he
inserted an article in the Voelkischer
Beobachter which insisted on realistic
rather than a sentimental attitude.
The spring of 1910 passed without any
noticeable change of relations. Russian
complacency, however, was quickly wiped
out by the staggering German successes
in the west. Stain was suddenly forced
to appreciate his mistake in anticipate
ing drawn-out, exhausting struggle.
On June TO- the German military
attache in Moscow reported notice
able cooling off and technical difficulties
on the part Of the Russians"
Russian annexation Of the Baltic
states and the seizure Of Bessarabia "a
province in Romania between Poland
t and the Black Sea- were something OF
q shock to Berlin even though they
came within the scope of the pact. The
move into Northern Bukovina (prov-
ince in Northern Romania) had not been
authorized and the Cer-2,cns later set
this up as a major grievance against
the Soviets.
All in all, TIC Soviet surge westward
produced both uneasiness and disap-
pointment in Berlin.
Apparently it had been hoped that the
Russians would hesitate to exploit to
the limit the deal of August September,
1939
Hitler henceforth made great show
Of anxiety to his entourage about the
closer approach of Russian troops to the
German borders. Goering and others
have insisted that at this time there
were only eight German divisions in
the East. for one brief period only five.
Against this, Jodl told me that the
Russians had 30 divisions on the Ger
man border by the autumn of 1910 and
that the German intelligence had
spotted them so exactly that he could
still October, 1945) indicate the