Potsdam Postscript

From a credible (but not necessarily unbiased) source came a belated report on personal relations among the top men at Potsdam.

Harry Truman and Joseph Stalin got along strikingly well. Stalin's dislike of Winston Churchill and his long-winded speeches was never more apparent. Once, when Churchill voiced a detailed bill of complaint against Russian plundering in southeastern Europe, Stalin merely grunted; his interpreter said that he had no comment. Truman sprang up, said that he had investigated the British charges and was prepared to substantiate them. Stalin twinkled, pointedly replied: "I will believe the Americans."

The Russians have always known that Churchill feared and opposed the growth of Soviet power in eastern and central Europe. Nevertheless, it was clear at Potsdam that the Russians had more respect for Tory Churchill than for Socialist Premier Clement Attlee and his Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin. Russian Communists have been in power long enough to recognize the authoritative accents of a ruling class when they hear them; besides, there is the old Communist contempt for the "soft" socialist mentality.

Personally, Attlee gave Stalin the willies. When Stalin fell ill for two days after the British elections, some gibed that he was suffering from "Attlee-itis."

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