Winston S. Churchill by Martin Gilbert Volume VIII Never Despair 1945-1965 (1988)
Part Two: In Opposition 1945-1951
10. The Fulton Speech
...No one should underrate, he said, ‘the abiding power of the British Empire and Commonwealth’, nor of Britain. ‘Because you see the 46 millions in our island harassed about their food supply, of which they only grow one half, even in war-time, or because we have difficulty in restarting our industries and export trade after six years of passionate war effort, do not suppose that we shall not come through these dark years of privation as we have come through the glorious years of agony, or that half a century from now, you will not see 70 or 80 millions of Britons spread about the world and united in defence of our traditions, our way of life, and of the world causes which you and we espouse.’
...In London on March 6 The Times was critical of Churchill’s theme, describing him as ‘perhaps less happy’ in those passages in his speech in which ‘he appeared to contrast “western democracy” and “Communism”.’ While western democracy and Communism ‘are in many respects opposed’, The Times asserted, ‘they have much to learn from each other, Communism in the working of political institutions and in the establishment of individual rights, western democracy in the development of economic and social planning’.
...Churchill’s object, the newspaper declared, ‘is world domination, through arms, by the United States and the British Empire’. ‘To be sure,’ the Chicago Sun added, ‘he speaks again of his regard for Russia, and Stalin. But such words are hollow in an address of threat and menace, which would pose the British and American peoples against Russia to win “peace” for a “century” through an alliance of the fortunate of the earth.’ These were ‘poisonous doctrines’.
...Also on March 7, Churchill sent Attlee and Bevin, in the same letter in which he described the journey to Fulton, an account of White House opinion:
Having spent nearly three days in the most intimate, friendly contact with the President and his immediate circle, and also having had a long talk with Mr Byrnes, I have no doubt that the Executive forces here are deeply distressed at the way they are being treated by Russia and that they do not intend to put up with treaty breaches in Persia or encroachments in Manchuria and Korea, or pressure for the Russian expansion at the expense of Turkey or in the Mediterranean. I am convinced that some show of strength and resisting power is necessary to a good settlement with Russia. I predict that this will be the prevailing opinion in the United States in the near future.
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11
Virginia, Washington, New York
...In London, on March 11, two Labour MPs, Tom Driberg and William Warbey, asked Attlee to ‘repudiate’ the tone and temper of Churchill’s Fulton speech. Attlee declined to do so, telling Driberg and Warbey that Churchill had spoken ‘in an individual capacity’ in a foreign country, and that neither he, Attlee, nor the British Ambassador to Washington, ‘were under any obligation to approve or disapprove’ what Churchill had said. Ninety-three Labour MPs thereupon tabled a motion of censure against Churchill. The motion read:
That this House considers that proposals for a military alliance between the British Commonwealth and the USA for the purpose of combating the spread of Communism, such as were put forward in a speech at Fulton, Missouri, USA by the right honourable gentleman the Member for Woodford, are calculated to do injury to good relations between Great Britain, the USA and the USSR, and are inimical to the cause of world peace; and affirms its view that world peace and security can be maintained, not by sectional alliances, but by progressively strengthening the power and authority of UNO to the point where it becomes capable of exercising, in respect of world law order and justice, the functions of a world government.
...In the hope of obtaining the most favourable terms possible for Britain, Churchill held a number of further talks with Bernard Baruch. As a result of their discussions, Churchill telegraphed to Attlee on March 19: ‘I do not think he will take any action against the Loan.’ This did not mean, Churchill explained, that Baruch’s opposition to it had changed, ‘but he considers that the Russian situation makes it essential that our countries should stand together. He is of course in full agreement with me on that.’ Indeed, Churchill added, ‘he spoke last night to me in the sense that he might urge that the Loan should be interest-free as a gesture of unity.’
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On March 14 it was Stalin’s turn to comment on the Fulton speech. He did so by the device of an interview published that morning in Pravda. The interview, set out as a series of questions and answers, began:
Q: How do you evaluate Mr Churchill’s latest speech in the United States?
A: I consider it to be a dangerous act, calculated to sow the seeds of discord between the allied governments and make collaboration difficult.
Q: Can it be said that Mr Churchill’s speech will do harm to the cause of peace and security?
A: Undoubtedly, yes. In fact Mr Churchill is now in the position of a warmonger. But in this Mr Churchill is not alone-he has friends not only in England but also in the USA.
Stalin went on to tell his interviewer:
It must be noted that in this respect Mr Churchill and his friends are strikingly reminiscent of Hitler and his friends. Hitler began the process of unleashing war by pronouncing his racial theories, declaring that only those people whose mother tongue was German could be considered a full-blooded nation.
Now Mr Churchill is starting his process of unleashing war also with a racial theory, declaring that only those people who speak English are full-blooded nations, whose vocation it is to control the fate of the whole world. The German racial theories brought Hitler and his friends to the conclusion that the Germans, as the only full-blooded nation, were destined to rule over other nations. The English racial theories have brought Mr Churchill and his friends to the conclusion that those nations who speak English, as the only full-blooded ones, must rule over the other nations of the world.
In point of fact Mr Churchill and his friends in England and in America are presenting those nations who do not speak English with a kind of ultimatum: recognize our supremacy over you, voluntarily, and all will be well-otherwise war is inevitable.