590

RIDING THE STORM

An agreed communiqué announcing the visit is being issued
this afternoon in London and Moscow.¹

The supplementaries were short. Although something had leaked
out, the House seemed rather astonished.

Gaitskell and his party were rather put out, I thought. They
were uncertain whether to praise or damn our initiative.²

The final question was from Mrs. Jean Mann, the Labour Member
for Coatbridge and Airdrie. She said:

> May I, as a back bencher, thank the Prime Minister, wish him
god-speed, and ask him the date of the General Election?

> The Prime Minister: The first two the hon. Lady may certainly
do, but not the third.¹

That evening I had a call from Jean Chauvel, the French
Ambassador.

He brought a friendly message from French Prime Minister.
It looks as if I had better go to Paris on 10 March. This would
give an opportunity to see President de Gaulle as well and it
seems that de Gaulle would welcome this.²

The next day, 6 February:

> The Press is good about my visit to Russia. The Left-Wing
Press tries to conceal its chagrin—and does not find the exercise
too easy. The Press has followed very well the lead I gave in
Parliament and in the Lobby: 'A reconnaissance not a negotiation'.
This avoids the danger of rousing hopes which will afterwards be
disappointed.³

Unfortunately I heard later that my word 'reconnaissance' when
translated into Russian had some sinister connotations suggesting
espionage. Patrick Reilly, however, had quickly used in his own
statement 'a voyage of discovery'. This was calculated not to shock
any susceptibilities. Although the next few days were almost entirely
taken up with the concluding stages of the Cyprus negotiation,
there was much to be done and many papers to be prepared and a
vast dossier about individuals to be got ready and digested. One of

¹ Hansard, 5 February 1959.

² 5 February 1959.

³ 6 February 1959.

A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

591

the troublesome points was that of security. So highly developed
at this time were the methods of 'intelligence' that even in our own
Embassy the greatest precautions were necessary. When I got to
Moscow I was to suffer the full implications of life under these
strange conditions.

During the few days before our journey began the Press, both in
Britain and America, and indeed throughout the world, showed an
extraordinary interest in our enterprise. No Prime Minister in
office or Head of Government of any of the Western countries had
visited Russia since the end of the war. In spite of some doubts,
there was general approval, although there was clearly, especially
among our allies, some nervousness lest I should attempt to achieve
more than I had undertaken to do. Nevertheless the intensity of the
cold war and the shadow of the nuclear bomb oppressed the whole
world, and any attempt to break through the clouds of suspicion was
generally welcomed.

Much interest was taken by the gossip writers in the clothes with
which our party were to be provided. Fortunately I was still able to
obtain my father-in-law's fur coat which I had used in the winter war
in Finland in 1940. I also sported a white hat which I had purchased
at that time.¹ I had not realised that this was a form of headdress
peculiar to Finland, and to bring it out now was perhaps not the
most tactful action. However, when I was told this later I com-
forted myself that the Russians had doubtless a good dossier of my
life which included this episode.

My party consisted of my two private secretaries, Freddie Bishop
and Philip de Zulueta, as well as my Parliamentary Private Secre-
tary Tony Barber. Norman Brook, the Secretary of the Cabinet,
came with me, as well as Harold Evans, our incomparable public
relations officer. Selwyn Lloyd, as Foreign Secretary, had a similar
staff; besides two private secretaries, there were Sir Patrick Dean,
F. R. H. Murray, who was a good Russian scholar, Con O'Neill, Sir
Anthony Rumbold and representatives of other departments in-
cluding the Board of Trade. We set off from London Airport on 21
February and arrived home on the evening of 3 March.

Before leaving, my wife and I received a vast correspondence

¹ See *The Blast of War*, p. 29.

592

RIDING THE STORM

and messages sending good wishes, including many from unknown friends. In looking through her papers I recently found one which was amusing and rather touching.

Please, don't allow our Prime Minister to go out shooting bears in Russia, it may be *very* dangerous—and what would we in Britain and America do if he had [an] accident.

I took this lady's advice, and when at one moment Mr. Khrushchev suggested a party to hunt the bear or the elk, I excused myself, chiefly because I thought such an expedition might be regarded at home as a somewhat frivolous way of spending my time. This, however, did not prevent Khrushchev sending me some weeks later a large stuffed head of an elk with magnificent horns, which somewhat overpowers the gun-room at home.

Before leaving I sent a message to President Eisenhower expressing the hope that the conference in Geneva on nuclear tests might still end in agreement. The main question in dispute was that of inspection and control.

Perfect control is in any case almost impossible in theory and quite impossible in practice. It seems to me that if we can create a control system which involves a sufficient degree of risk to a potential violator that he cannot get away undetected with a violation of the agreement, then we shall have done enough to justify our accepting the disadvantages and risks involved.

I already had the impression, which I hoped to confirm in Moscow, that the Russians still wanted an agreement, chiefly because they were concerned about the spread of nuclear weapons to other countries as well as worried about the mounting cost of the nuclear programme. Of course their demand for a veto over the crucial operations of the control system must be resisted, particularly in regard to despatch of any inspection team. Yet I hoped that wherever possible we might make concessions. At any rate I promised to press Khrushchev hard about the veto.

We arrived at Moscow at 3 p.m. (local time) and were greeted by Khrushchev, Mikoyan and other members of the Soviet Government. There was the usual guard of honour and speeches. Khrushchev certainly struck a friendly note, including such encouraging sentiments as

A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

593

The Soviet Union is a peaceable country. The Soviet people, engaged as they are in carrying out a great programme for building a new life—Communism—are vitally concerned that never again should war interrupt their peaceful creative labour. The foreign policy of our state is based on the principle of the peaceful co-existence of states with different social systems, on the striving to safeguard and consolidate peace and international security. We shall follow this line without fail.

We are happy to meet the guests from abroad who have arrived in our country. We are prepared for useful talks with them for the benefit of our two countries and the cause of world peace.

Both the Government of the Soviet Union and the Soviet people will receive them with hospitality and friendliness. Welcome, gentlemen!

In my reply, after remarking that this was the first time that a British Prime Minister had visited the Soviet Union in time of peace, I continued:

> My visit has three purposes. In the first place, the Foreign Secretary and I wished to repay the courtesy which you, Mr. Prime Minister, paid to our country by your visit in 1956. We regret that the course of events has prevented an earlier return call; we are glad that a moment has now come when we can accept your hospitality.

> Secondly, we hope to see something of the people, industry and agriculture of the Soviet Union. This is not my first visit; I was last here, as an ordinary tourist, some thirty years ago. I fully expect to find that conditions in the Soviet Union today are almost as different from what they were then as England today is from the picture painted by Dickens. We in Britain are glad that such great developments in your production and standard of life have taken place; and I am anxious to see them for myself. For this reason, we particularly appreciate the care which has been shown in the preparation of the programme for our visit and I am happy that we shall see the heroic city of Leningrad and the great work which has been done in reconstructing Kiev.

Thirdly, we should like our visit to contribute to a wider realisation in the Soviet Union of conditions of life in Britain today and of where our country stands in the major world problems. In

594

RIDING THE STORM

pursuit of this last aim we hope to have some serious discussion with you, Mr. Prime Minister, and with members of the Soviet Government. I do not come to negotiate on particular subjects. I do hope, however, that in our talks together we shall at least reach a better understanding of our points of view. Perhaps in this way our visit may help to alleviate some of the cares that at present bring anxiety to the world. That at least is my objective. Let us see if we can achieve it, together.

After a formal call on Khrushchev and his colleagues in the afternoon of our arrival-my first visit to the Kremlin, with all its historic memories and mysterious and sombre recollections-we attended a large dinner in the magnificent hall of that unique palace. After the usual Russian dinner, of which to our British tastes the most attractive parts were the preparatory dishes with the accompanying glasses of vodka, Khrushchev rose and delivered a speech apparently without preparation, certainly without notes. After referring to the thirty years which had passed since my last visit to Russia and the terrible events of the Second World War when we were allies against the common enemy, he continued:

> Unfortunately, relations between our two countries were strained after the war ended. Now is not the time to argue about how and why this happened. It is best for us to put our heads together and decide what should be done to melt the resulting 'cold war' ice.

> If we succeed, many obstacles to the improvement of the whole of the international climate, to the settlement of important international problems, will disappear-obstacles giving rise to disputes between States, including our two countries.

> The peoples expect the Governments to exert fresh efforts and overcome the obstacles preventing men and women from devoting all their energies to peaceful labour without fear of war.

> In our view there is every prerequisite for achieving this end. Needless to say, mankind has now approached a stage in its history when it is able to avert war. The solution of this problem is a vitally important matter for all countries and nations without exception.

He went on to recall with pleasure his visit to Britain three years before.

A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

595

> It cannot be said that they have been years of unmarred relations between our countries, and there have been some clouds, even storm clouds. There have been some frosty spells in our relations, if I may say so. The general cold climate in international relations accounted for this to a great extent. Now there is much talk of a 'thaw', indicated by livelier contacts and a desire for negotiations. We regard your visit as a result of this 'thaw', and today-on the day of your arrival-there has been a real thaw in nature.

He added that the Soviet Government had always been in favour of meetings and contacts between statesmen: such was their position now. For this reason he welcomed our visit.

> We also welcome your intention to tour our country. To put it mildly, many people write about the Soviet Union in the West in a way that is not objective. We are glad to give you and your colleagues an extensive opportunity to see our country and meet our people. As the old saying goes: 'Better to see once than hear a hundred times.'

> This was my first experience of Khrushchev's love for proverbs, some of which, as I got to know him better, I felt he must have invented off the cuff. In my reply, after thanking him for his hospitality and making a reference to the great changes in Russia and the vast progress made in the last generation, I ventured to try to dispel another Russian illusion. I had mentioned Dickens at the airport, hoping to challenge the illusion popular in Russia that the conditions which were represented in books like *Oliver Twist* still continued unchanged in our country. I now tried to deal frankly with the misuse of the word 'imperialism'.

> In the international field too we have seen great changes. Imperialism is an episode in history. It is no longer a present reality. We inherited an empire which our fathers had built up, but because of the way they had worked we have been able to transform Empire in Commonwealth. Of course, there are still some people in Britain who think that what is red on a map is beautiful [which is a sort of pun in Russian: red and beautiful are basically the same words], but from the very beginning of the British Empire the prevailing concept was of trusteeship. Quite

596

RIDING THE STORM

early in the nineteenth century the great British reformer and historian, Macaulay, was laying the foundations of that system of education in India which produced men to whom we were in time able to hand over power. This concept of trusteeship is now reaching its full development. I believe that the Commonwealth idea is of general interest. Indeed, I see that in the Declaration of the Communist Parties assembled in Moscow in October 1957, you yourselves have used the Russian word which translates our word 'Commonwealth'. So I hope you will forgive me if I say something about this idea tonight.

The constitutional ties which bind the Commonwealth countries together may seem tenuous to an outsider. Certainly the formal bonds are very slender. But Mr. Prime Minister, we in Britain are practical people. We believe that an association of friends will stick together if they wish to without formal agreements and that no amount of treaties will bind an alliance which is not founded in the hearts of the allies. The fragile formal ties of the Commonwealth do symbolise a real sense of community. The nations of the Commonwealth stick together and work together because they have a common belief in the rights of the individual; a common belief in the rule of law. This finds its expression in a belief in freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom to differ within the framework of the law. The member States of the Commonwealth are very different; different in their colour, in their religion, in their histories, and in their geographical positions. Nevertheless, they maintain their association because they know that in the Commonwealth each country believes basically in the same ideals and that there is no domination of one country by another. This Commonwealth association has developed relatively quickly, but it is growing fast. Already since the war India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Malaya and Ghana have voluntarily joined this international family of nations. The door remains open. We hope in the coming years to welcome new members. The first of these may well be Nigeria which is due to reach independence in 1961. The Federation of the West Indies and other territories will not be long behind.

I added:

just as you regard the methods by which the Czarist Government extended the principality of Moscow into the Russian Empire as

A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

597

fortunate in their results, so we do not feel that our dependent territories need regret the British connection. These are territories which cannot yet stand on their own reet in the modern world: our policy is to help them to do so. That is the essential fact: we are determined to fulfil the responsibility towards the peoples of these territories which we acquired together with our sovereignty over them. We shall continue to grant independence as soon as the inhabitants of these territories are ready to exercise it; to grant independence earlier only promotes anarchy.

I ended with a reference to disarmament:

In the state of tension in the so-called cold war which has existed now for over ten years with only intermittent and short thaws, the two blocs have been confronting each other with ever more terrible weapons of destruction. I wish with all my heart that this competition could cease. It is not that we fear acts of calculated aggression—and I hope that you do not. In modern conditions such aggression between the Great Powers at least would be suicidal folly. At the same time it is impossible to hide from ourselves the dangers of a war by miscalculation or by muddle. That indeed would be a calamity for us all. In such circumstances it is the duty of statesmen to see if it is possible to establish some basis of confidence or treaty or in some other way to reduce this danger.

All these speeches were reported in the world Press as well as in Russia in some detail. The general view was that there had been already a distinct thaw in the cold war. There had arrived in Moscow a host of foreign correspondents, and the Russian Press had clearly been given directions to encourage the view that the visit was proving a success. It was now being freely said that differences in social systems should not be an obstacle to the establishment of friendly relations. Even my decision not to go on an elk hunt was taken to indicate the need to concentrate on serious discussions.

It was not until the next day, Sunday 22 February, that the real business began. After the Kremlin dinner we drove down to the Soviet Government dacha at Semenovskoye, where we spent the night. Part of Sunday morning was spent in a variety of diversions,

598

RIDING THE STORM

such as driving in a troika, shooting at clay pigeons, and coasting down an ice mound in wicker baskets. I was informed that the sight of Khrushchev and me huddled together in a round basket and sliding down the hill, the basket rotating all the time, was regarded by some with amusement and others with astonishment. It marked in the opinion of experts a high degree of intimacy. After a luncheon at which Mrs. Khrushchev and Mrs. Gromyko as well as Lady Reilly were present, there followed a concert.

Both in the morning and after dinner there was an opportunity for real discussions. Almost the whole of this time was taken up by a discourse by Khrushchev on the subject of East Germany and Berlin. He repeated all the arguments with great earnestness, and I did not feel that we were making much progress. Nevertheless it was no doubt an advantage to have him speak so frankly. It was clear, however, that the Russian Government were determined to proceed with their scheme and he argued that he stood by the plan of setting up West Berlin as a free city. I replied that there seemed to me to be three possibilities. First Germany could be reunited with Berlin as its capital. Secondly if the division of Germany was to include Berlin, should not East Berlin go to East Germany and West Berlin to West Germany? Thirdly, as a temporary expedient the establishment of a free city for the whole of Berlin might be considered. What logic was there in proposing a free city for West Berlin alone? All these three solutions must be provisional pending Germany's reunification, but all of them seemed to me at least as reasonable as that put forward by the Russian Government. In a reply to an argument that our rights in West Berlin flowed from the German surrender, Khrushchev maintained that a peace treaty with East Germany would extinguish these rights. Why did the Western powers, he asked, insist on prolonging the state of war? This discussion was at least helpful in that it was quiet and without emotion, and in the full record we were able to bring back a much more complete picture of what was in Khrushchev's mind.

All this took place at the first meeting in the morning. In the evening the talk was entirely devoted to disarmament, and really was extremely detailed and long. It seemed to me quite hopeful. It ended with the following exchanges, of which I preserved a note.

A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

599

The Foreign Secretary said disarmament must be a gradual process.

Mr. Khrushchev said yes, and we must try to reach agreement.

The Foreign Secretary suggested the programme should be first an end of tests; then control over the use of fissile material for weapons purposes; then confidence would begin to grow.

Mr. Khrushchev said he liked that approach.

The Foreign Secretary said there was another idea. There might be certain areas in which one could have a controlled limitation of armaments of all kinds.

Mr. Khrushchev said the Soviet Union would be prepared to go quite a long way on that. He thought that was the main point. We should try to disengage our forces. The further apart we went, the greater the area we disengaged from, and the more thorough the inspection of that area, the better it would be.

The Prime Minister said he thought the technique, or art, of inspection needed study. If we started in a small way we would begin to learn how to do it. Then we could apply it in a wider field.

Mr. Khrushchev said that he thought that if the Prime Minister and he could lock themselves up in a room and seek agreement, they would achieve a result.

Then followed some talk about a possible Summit meeting.

After this strange but agreeable Sunday with its wide diversity of occupations ranging from serious although informal discussions to the various amusements prepared for our benefit, the first formal meeting took place in the Kremlin on Monday 23 February. We met in a long and narrow room, apparently at the very centre of the Kremlin complex. Khrushchev took the head of the table, which, like the rest of the furniture, was of simple polished wood; I sat upon his right with my colleagues next to me. Gromyko, Mikoyan and the others were upon his left. The talks covered much the same ground but in a rather less relaxed mood. Since the German question had been discussed on the previous day in some detail, Khrushchev began by saying that he had only one point to add. The draft peace treaty which the Soviet Government had circulated to the United Kingdom Government and other Governments proceeded from the basis of the Potsdam Agreement. But perhaps some