Winston S. Churchill by Martin Gilbert Volume VIII Never Despair 1945-1965 (1988)
Part Two: In Opposition 1945-1951
10
The Fulton Speech
...On February 1 Churchill and his wife, joined by their daughter Sarah flew from Florida to Cuba. Asked at a press conference that day for his criticisms of the Attlee Government he declared: ‘I do not discuss the government of my country when I am away from there.’ As to the General Election results, ‘in my country’, he said, ‘the people can do as they like, although it often happens later that they don’t like what they have done’.
Asked to comment on the current war crimes trials at Nuremberg, Churchill told his questioner: ‘Terrible evidence has been presented against the accused, and there is no doubt that the trials are just. The guilty have been allowed defence. But I would never have believed in the atrocities committed by them, if I had not seen the evidence which revealed their terrible crimes.’
...On March 3 Churchill left Miami for Washington, where he stayed overnight at the British Embassy. There, he continued to work on his speech for Fulton. His arrival in Washington came only nine days after the State Department had received a telegram from George Kennan, United States Chargé d’Affaires in Moscow, which opened up a quite new perspective on Soviet relations with the West.
Kennan had been asked to comment on a speech made by Stalin on February 9, in which he said that no peaceful international order was possible, that production of iron and steel, ‘the basic materials of national defence’, must be trebled, and that consumer goods ‘must wait on rearmament’. ‘Wherever it is considered timely and promising,’ Kennan wrote, ‘efforts will be made to advance official limits of Soviet power,’ and he added: ‘For the moment, these efforts are restricted to certain neighboring points conceived of here as being of immediate strategic necessity, such as Northern Iran, Turkey, possibly Bornholm. However, other points may at any time come into question, if and as concealed Soviet political power is extended to new areas. Thus a “friendly” Persian Government might be asked to grant Russia a port on Persian Gulf. Should Spain fall under Communist control, question of Soviet base at Gibraltar Strait might be activated. But such claims will appear on official level only when unofficial preparation is complete.’
Soviet power, Kennan wrote, ‘unlike that of Hitlerite Germany, is neither schematic nor adventuristic. It does not work by fixed plans. It does not take unnecessary risks. Impervious to logic of reason, and it is highly sensitive to logic of force. For this reason it can easily withdraw-and usually does-when strong resistance is encountered at any point. Thus, if the adversary has sufficient force and makes clear his readiness to use it, he rarely has to do so. If situations are properly handled there need be no prestige-engaging showdowns.’ Gauged against the Western world as a whole, Kennan believed that the Soviet Union was ‘still by far the weaker force. Thus, their success will really depend on degree of cohesion, firmness and vigor which Western World can muster. And this is factor which it is within our power to influence.’
...The President told me, as we started on our journey from Washington to Fulton, Missouri, that the United States is sending the body of the Turkish Ambassador, who died here some days ago, back to Turkey in the American battleship Missouri, which is the vessel on which the Japanese surrender was signed and is probably the strongest battleship afloat. He added that the Missouri would be accompanied by a strong task force which would remain in the Marmara for an unspecified period. Admiral Leahy told me that the task force would consist of another battleship of the greatest power, two of the latest and strongest aircraft carriers, several cruisers and about a dozen destroyers, with the necessary ancillary ships. Both mentioned the fact that the Missouri class carry over 140 anti-aircraft guns.
I asked about the secrecy of this movement and was told that it was known that the body of the late Ambassador was being returned in a warship but that the details of the task force would not become known before March 15. I feel it my duty to report these facts to you, though it is quite possible you may have already been informed through other channels. At any rate, please on no account make use of the information until you have received it from channels, other than my personal contact with the President.