Evening star., 1948-01-25

held 1Or any Quiet PcopAe 4A SA'
rope"
On the former battlefelds. thert
were banquets where Russian ant
American generals exchanged toast'
to the President and the generals.
simo, 10 their armies, to each other
American GIs walked the banks
of the Elbe, arm in arm with Rus
sian infantrymen.
Future Was Bright Then
The future was brilliant and ur1'
clouded, and the heads Of three ma
tions were preparing to meet II
Potsdam to fashion it.
This was the golden summer
Very little is left of it now. The
"high regard for the Soviet people
has been supplanted by suspicion
hostility, fear and bewilderment
for the Soviet government.
How did this come about? Al
what point? Over what issues?
Plotted on a graph, the course ol
relations between the United States
and Russia would show mainly al
q descending line.
Begin it at Yalta, in the wintel
Of 1944-5.
After that conference, Winston
Churchill said, II know of no othel
government which stands on it:
obligations more solidly than ths
Russian government"
Barely a month later, Russia sud-
denly renounced a 2o-year-ole
treaty with Turkey.
Roosevelt Had Misgivings
Against the high excitement o'
impending victory in Europe, tha'
attracted little attention. There
was no hint then that the actor
would be a prelude to Russian pres
sure on Turkey, demands for join
control Of the Dardanelles and ter
ritorial claims along the Black
Sea-which were to to be answered
later by the Truman doctrine" o1
aid to Turkey.
1t is now known that within the
next few months, both Mr.. Churchill
and President Roosevelt entertained
some anxiety about Russia.
Former Secretary of States James
r. Byrnes now reports "the Presi-
dent told me he had grave misgiv-
'ings about the future" The dying
President cabled Mr.. Churchill, who
was requesting advice, I'VE must be
firm with the Russians"
But the descending curve was
not apparent to the American peo-
pie. A few realistic observers, to be
sure, said that adjustments in policy
between Russia and the west woule
be necessary after the war, but
Potsdam would show as the higf
point on the graph.
The Big Three found themselves
In apparent agreement on eight
fundamental sections of the plar
for postwar Europe. This was to b'
the foundation for the new world
The framework of it was to b.
erected by the Foreign Minister
Council, created at Potsdam as
permanent machine to settle thu
problems left by the war and ere
ated in the peace.
From the moment when the com
munique was issued, on to thi
present moment, there has been
steady deterioration, interrupted
only by occasional agreement on {
minor point.
Line Dropped Swiftly
The line dropped swiftly afte
that, in 1945.
August 17-Russia refused to dis
cuss with other nations the fate o
German war prisoners.
August 18-Russia refused to 81
on the Council of Provisional Civi
Aviation.
September 3-Russia announced
her intention to fortify the Kuril'
Islands in the Pacific.
September 19-Russia asked to b.
named the sole trustee for Tripoli'
tania, and was refused.
September 25-Molotov attacked
American policy on Japan and asket
for allied control of that country.
None of these events seemed pro-
foundly significant. But a patterr
began to emerge.
1t entailed the consistent refusa
to negotiate on common problems
the immediate beginning of for
tification plan and a drive toware
the Mediterranean.
There were other minor flurrie
before the end of 1945.
On October 8, the London Con
ference of Foreign Ministers brok
up without agreement. Ten day
later, the United States and Britain
jointly protested a five-year trad
treaty between Russia and Hungary
Shortly afterward. Secretary Byrne
quietly warned against "exclusiv
spheres" but recognized Rusia's spe
cial security interests in Contra
and Eastern Europe.
The line moved upward slightl
October "A when Russia ratified tn
United Nations Charter, and whel
Molotov, after roundly criticizin,
American policy on atomic energy
nevertheless expressed conf1denc
that the Big Three could work ou
the peace.
But in November there was al
unopposed election In Yugoslavis
and Marshal Tito came into power
A Year of Alarms
= In Poland and Romania. Com
munist pressure was beginning t.
be applied to opposition politica
parties. Foreign observers began Il
have nisgivings about the "fre
elections" guaranteed by Yalta ant