Winston's War_ Churchill, 1940-1945 - Max Hastings [306]
Here Churchill raised his voice, saying “We are full of grievances.” I asked him what he had in mind. Irritably and in heightened tones, he began to catalogue the issues: 1) Trieste. Tito has “sneaked up to Trieste and wants to seize it.” Churchill laid his hands on the table and showed how Tito was sneaking up to Trieste. “We will not allow”—Churchill roared—“the resolution of territorial disputes by seizure … We and the Americans are united in our resolution that all territorial issues should be resolved through a peace conference.” I remarked that as far as I knew Tito did not intend to resolve any territorial issues. Churchill ignored me and continued: “Armies are confronting each other. Grave trouble can break out at any time unless goodwill is displayed.” 2) Prague. Churchill declared that we did not allow British representatives into Prague. “Our accredited ambassador has been prevented from entering Czechoslovakia,” he said. I remarked that only the previous day Czech government representatives had travelled from London to Prague on a British aircraft. Churchill continued: “You wish to claim exclusive rights for yourselves in every capital occupied by your troops. The British government cannot understand such a Soviet attitude and cannot justify it to the British people, mindful that we are under mutual obligations to display friendship and cooperation … We, the British, are a proud nation and cannot allow anyone to treat us in this way.”
Churchill would not listen to my comment on this and continued: 3) Vienna. “You do not allow us to enter Vienna. The war is over, but our representatives cannot inspect quarters for our soldiers.” [Gusev launched into an exposition of the Soviet position which the prime minister cut short:] “Why will you not allow our representatives to enter Vienna? Now the war is over, what possible consideration can justify the refusal of the Soviet government to admit our representatives to Vienna?” There were more brusque exchanges about the Soviet establishment of a puppet regime in Austria, then Churchill turned to the German capital: “You do not allow us into Berlin. You want to make Berlin your exclusive zone.”
I declared that Churchill’s statement was groundless as we have an agreement on occupation zones and control of greater Berlin. Churchill again repeated that he is willing to allow any number of Soviet representatives to go anywhere. Churchill moved on to Poland and spoke with even greater anger. Things were going from bad to worse where the Polish issue was concerned, he said. He saw no hope for a satisfactory resolution of it: “We have endorsed Polish delegates, and you have imprisoned them. Parliament and the public are deeply concerned” … Churchill thinks that forthcoming debates in Parliament will demonstrate the great indignation of the British nation, and he will find himself at a loss about how to satisfy public opinion. Churchill then vaguely hinted that a satisfactory outcome of the Polish issue might lead to a resolution of the issue of the Baltic States.
Churchill did not want to hear my comments and moved on to characterize the gravity of the general situation. “Your front stretches from Lubeck to Trieste. You allow no one to enter the capitals which you control. The situation in Trieste is alarming. Polish affairs have reached a dead end. The general climate is at boiling point.” I told Churchill that he was familiar with the Soviet government’s position—that it makes no claims on territory or on the European capitals. Our front does not stretch as far as Trieste. Marshal Tito’s troops may be there, but we are not responsible for Marshal Tito. He and the Yugoslav people have won themselves a place of honour among the United Nations by their struggle.
Churchill said: “I know that you are a great nation. By your struggle you have won an equal status among the great powers. But we, the British, are also a proud nation