South Yorkshire Times, November 6th 1943
Common Cause
News from Moscow was scanty for the duration of the conference between Britain, the United States and Russia. Within the Soviet Union, of course, there is an absence of those unofficial channels through which the secrets of such sessions are apt to be probed in other countries. All that was evident to the waiting world was that the statesmen concerned were attending to the business which had called them together with extreme diligence and, so far as could be ascertained, a good deal of cordiality.
The Nazis did their best to fill the expectant void with the brand of news in which they specialise. They derided the conference, and groped avidly for the slightest sign of discord. Finding none they contented themselves with sneering references to the “bolshevisation” of Britain and America which, they claimed, was palpably in progress.
But neither within nor without the Nazi camp was ever more than half an ear lent to this specious propaganda. Then, cleaving a pregnant silence, came President Roosevelt’s announcement of the “tremendous success” of the Conference. The clamour of the German prophets of woe became more strident, as if to conceal the apprehension plainly discernible in the mood in which they awaited amplification of this disconcerting remark. In the event the ultimate announcement left them, anxious and subdued, to face the unquestionable fact that the Conference had succeeded beyond the best expectations of their enemies.
The decisions of the Conference which were made public constitute a great step forward in the mutual relationship of the three major powers on the Allied side. The establishment of a European advisory commission makes for further and most important unification not only of their war effort, but their peace aims. This strengthened by the declaration, in which China joined, on general security and post-war co-operation. A united and uncompromising front is offered to fascism and all its works in the undertaking to purge Italy of the stain of Mussolini’s regime, and to seek out and inexorably punish those responsible for the atrocities which have everywhere been committed in the name of totalitarian rule. The promise to restore Austrian independence comes as a nasty jolt to the Greater Reich. It is but a foretaste of bigger shocks to come. As for the decision on the closest military collaboration between the three countries, this merely underlines an understanding which already existed. At the same time there is implicit in the declaration the determination to strike Germany down with the minimum delay, and also a confident understanding of how this will be done.
If there remain many problems affecting the three powers, their allies, and the rest of Europe which receive no overt mention in the communique, it can be regarded as certain that most of them were explored, and a good deal of ground cleared towards their ultimate settlement. What is important is that the Moscow Conference has generated an atmosphere of unity which is so far the most hopeful portent of a successful peace.