Anti-Hitler Front

The delegates to the Three-Power Conference in Moscow did not behave as if Russia were already beaten. True, they hurried as if Russia might be beaten--unless. . . . But throughout their undeliberate deliberations they were conscious of a great, though tardy, triumph: now at last the enemies of Adolf Hitler were uniting.

Speed was the keynote. The delegates gathered at a luncheon. They churned into six kinds of meat, slushed through bowls of caviar, demolished huge mounds of cheese and butter, knocked down vodka, port and Madeira, wolfed dessert. Then, just in case they might feel sluggish, they drank Russian cocktails.

At the first plenary session each national chairman made a speech. Russia's Viacheslav M. Molotov said: ". . . Let us get to work." Britain's Lord Beaverbrook said: ". . . Time is precious." The U.S.'s W. Averell Harriman was comparatively garrulous; he said: ". . . Now let us get to work."

They did. The work of the first session was done in exactly 30 minutes. Six committees were appointed--to discuss problems of army, navy, aviation, transportation, raw materials, medical supplies. The committees were instructed to go without sleep until they finished their jobs.

While the committees went into their marathon, Beaverbrook and Harriman wasted no time contemplating their gavels. They talked figures at each other, rushed out to see a few sights, did a little shopping (Lord Beaverbrook bought some caviar and strawberry jam), met some real generals, called on Premier Joseph Stalin and roared mutual urgencies, and generally thrashed about at what the Russians delightedly called "Americanski temp."

The committees finished their work two days ahead of schedule. The Russians were in an excellent position to bargain. They would say: "We need umpteen light bombers before the first of Umptember." The givers would say: "Impossible." The askers would say: "Otherwise Moscow might fall." The givers would have to say: "We will do our best."

When the last check and double check had been marked, the chairmen hastily took up their pens and signed. A statement was issued by the U.S.-British delegations: "It now has been decided to place at the disposal of the Soviet Government practically every requirement for which the Soviet military and civil authorities have asked."

As the delegates looked back over the conference, they must have felt twinges of uneasiness. Were these fellows to be trusted, after all? Would the weapons arrive in time? Would Hitler's new drive intercept the supply lines? Was all this speedy wordage just a waste of good intentions?

Two statements and a decision dispelled these qualms.

> The decision was Britain's, and it was exceedingly generous. The British decided that it would be strategically wise to waive Lend-Lease rights for the time being and stand by while the U.S. sent goods tagged for Britain to Russia instead. Some of these goods would go to Russia across the Pacific to Vladivostok, and thence along the Trans-Siberian Railway. But for the time being most would go across the Atlantic and in by way of Archangel (see map). The Russians gave assurances that their efficient ice-breaking service would keep this life line open.

> Practical Lord Beaverbrook, a man to inspire confidence, seemed to think the wordage was nothing less than a business contract. "The speed of the conference," he said to reporters, "indicates the speed of deliveries, and materials are already arriving. . . . We weren't dealing in the future but in the everpresent. I can't say enough about the fine attitude of the Russians. . . . They gave us all the necessary information. You'll find them very happy. You'll find them delighted with what we have done."

> The other statement may some day find its way into history books as the perfect expression of the turning point in World War II, when the foes of Hitler, doomed perhaps to lose many more battles, began nevertheless to realize that they could win the war. Said Viacheslav Molotov:

"Hitler has never been confronted with such a mighty combination of states; he has not yet had time to feel the power of this rebuff. We do not doubt that our great anti-Hitler front will rapidly gain strength, that there exists no force which could break this anti-Hitler front. A combination of states has at last been formed against Hitlerism which will find ways and means to erase from the face of the earth the Nazi blot on Europe and the threat it carries to all peoples who love their independence and freedom."

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