Moment In History

FOREIGN RELATIONS Moment In History At 4:30 in the afternoon of Lincoln's Birthday, 1945, those U.S. citizens who were listening to their radios" heard the first word of what might turn out to be the most important conference of the century.

With breathless enthusiasm, the newscasters announced that the eight-day meeting of the Big Three in the 100-room Crimean castle of Livadia had ended. (They had a clean beat, for many an afternoon newspaper had suspended publication because of the holiday.)

By any standards, the Crimean Conference was a great achievement (see INTERNATIONAL). All doubts about the Big Three's ability to cooperate, in peace as well as war, seemed now to have been swept away. On the basis of the Big Three's communique, no citizen of the U.S., the U.S.S.R., or Great Britain could complain that his country had been sold down the river.

For Americans, there was a special recognition of certain precepts which Americans have always held dear, and which would reassure many a citizen that World War II was not being fought in vain.

For one, the principle of "free and unfettered elections'" by universal suffrage and secret ballot was unequivocally stated. This was imbedded in the Crimean Charter specifically as to Poland, and generally as to all the liberated countries.

For another, the principle of Dumbarton Oaks, i.e., collective security, was roundly reaffirmed, with the additional disclosure that the chief stumbling block (the voting powers of big members) has been ironed out.

Malta to Yalta. For his second conference of the Big Three and his ninth with Winston Churchill, the President departed from Washington shortly after his Jan. 20 inauguration. He appeared at Malta on Feb. 2 on a bright and spotless U.S. battleship. He was wearing an old-fashioned tweed cap.

There he was met by Winston Churchill; the two men went into conference which lasted through dinner. At this meeting, new phases of the Pacific War were discussed. The President and Prime Minister then boarded planes for a night flight to a secret Crimean airport.

For the conferences, the President was flanked by the most impressive group of high-ranking military and Government officials he has yet taken to an international conference. For the military sessions there were Generals Marshall and Somervell, Admirals King and Leahy, Vice Admiral Land of the Maritime Commission, and Major General Laurence S. Kuter, assistant chief of the Air Staff, pinch-hitting for General Arnold, who is abed in Washington with virus pneumonia. For the diplomatic conferences, U.S. representatives included Secretary of State Stettinius, Harry Hopkins, OWMR Boss Jimmy Byrnes, Ambassador Harriman, and a host of State Department experts.

The President's personal entourage included his physician and aides, Press Secretary Steve Early, Daughter Anna Roosevelt Boettiger, and Bronx Democratic Boss Ed Flynn who, the White House was quick to announce, "went along as an old friend and took no part in the conferences."

Cheers. In Congress, the first reaction to the Crimean Charter was overwhelming approval. Said Majority Leader Alben Barkley: "A source of great gratification. . . ." Added Minority Leader Wallace H. White: "This speaks in forthright terms."

After the Senate session, Michigan's Arthur H. Vandenberg, chief Republican spokesman on foreign affairs, issued a statement: "It reaffirms basic principles of justice to which we are deeply attached, and it undertakes for the first time to implement these principles by direct action."

-Andrei Vyshinski, Russian Vice Commissar of Foreign Affairs; Russian Foreign Minister Viacheslav MIolotov; Marshal Stalin; Ivan Maisky, Vice Commissar of Foreign Affairs; Andrei Gromyko, Russian Ambassador to the U.S.; Admiral William D. Leahy; Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius Jr.; President Roosevelt; Charles E. Bohlen, Chief of State Department Division of Eastern European Affairs; James F. Byrnes, OWMR Chief; unidentified; Anthony Eden, British Foreign Minister; Prime Minister Churchill; two unidentified; Sir Archibald Clark Kerr, British Ambassador to Russia.

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