FDR & Stalin: A Not So Grand Alliance, 1943–1945

347 Pages·1993·5.8 MB·English

by  Amos Perlmutter

FDR & Stalin
Amos Perlmutter
University of Missouri Press
Columbia and London
FDR
& Stalin
A Not So
Grand
Alliance,
1943-1945
Copyright © 1993 by
The Curators of the University of Missouri
University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri 65201
Printed and bound in the United States of America
All rights reserved
5 4 3 2 97 96 95 94 93
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Perlmutter, Amos.
FDR & Stalin : a not so grand alliance, 1943-1945 / Amos
Perlmutter
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8262-0910-6
1. World War, 1939-1945—Diplomatic history. 2. Roosevelt, Franklin D.
(Franklin Delano), 1882-1945. 3. Stalin, Joseph, 1879-1953.
4. United States—Foreign relations—Soviet Union. 5. Soviet Union-
Foreign relations—United States. I. Title. II. Title: FDR and Stalin.
D749.P47 1993
940.53'2—dc20 93-4866
CIP
©™This paper meets the requirements of the
American National Standard for Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, Z39.48, 1984.
Designer: Kristie Lee
Typesetter: Connell-Zeko Type & Graphics
Printer and binder: Thomson-Shore, Inc.
Typefaces: Trade, Trade Extra Condensed, Helios Condensed
The material translated in Appendixes 1-4 is used with the per­
mission of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as are the photo­
graphs identified as courtesy the Soviet Archives.
To my beloved mother, Berta,
and my friend for life, Rosanne.
For all we share.
Other Books by Amos Perlmutter
The Life and Times of Menachem Begin
Israel: The Partitioned State
Modern Authoritarianism
Political Roles and Military Rulers
Politics and the Military in Israel: 1967-77
The Military and Politics in Modern Times
Egypt, The Praetorian State
Anatomy of Political Institutionalization:
The Case of Israel and Some Comparative Analysis
Military and Politics in Israel:
Nation Building and Role Expansion
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Prologue xiii
Chapter 1. Why Another Book on FDR? 1
Part I. Roosevelt’s Style and Strategy
Chapter 2. The President’s Style and World View 25
Chapter 3. Roosevelt and His War Strategy 37
Part II. Roosevelt and Stalin, 1941-1943
Chapter 4. Surrogate Diplomacy: Roosevelt’s Informal
Government 59
Chapter 5. The Second Front 95
Chapter 6. Stalin 126
Part III. Roosevelt and Stalin, 1943-1945
Chapter 7. Teheran: The Road to Yalta 149
Chapter 8. Yalta: The Epitome of a Rooseveltian Utopia 167
vii
Contents
Chapter 9. Roosevelt and the Balance of Power in
Europe 193
Chapter 10. President Roosevelt as a Diplomatic Failure 211
Appendix 1. Characteristics of Wendell Willkie 219
Appendix 2. U.S. Policies 230
Appendix 3. USSR Foreign Affairs 247
Appendix 4. Soviet-American Relations 259
Notes 279
Bibliography 297
Chronology 315
Index 319
Acknowledgments
A book is not written by a single person. Such a monumental task
always leaves an author indebted. There are many institutions and
persons, in the U.S. and the USSR, to which I am most grateful and
without whose support this work would not have been realized. My
acknowledgments must begin with two foundations that supported
me generously for three years—the Bradley and the Earhart founda­
tions. To the unfailing support of Hillel Fradkin, Dianne Monroe, and
Dan Schmidt of Bradley, and to David B. Kennedy and Tony Sullivan
of Earhart, I am forever in debt. Dianne, Dan, and Tony extended
special understanding, patience, and generosity, for which I repeat
my thanks.
In Russia, I was the first foreigner (in July, 1989) permitted access
to the Soviet Foreign Ministry’s archives. A variety of Americans and
Russians aided me in pursuit of these previously classified materials.
In the U.S. James Billington, Librarian of Congress, and Ambassador
Max Kempleman were crucial in the opening of the archives to me.
Vladimir Vasilevich Sokolov, Deputy Head of the USSR Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Historical-Diplomatic Department, was most helpful
in releasing (by 1990) many key documents for the period 1942 to
1945 on Soviet-American relations. This access would not have been
expedited without the support of former U.S. Ambassador to the
USSR Jack Matlock. Andrey Shoumikhin, head of the Department of
U.S. Foreign Policy of the USA-Canada Institute in Moscow, and his
IX
Acknowledgments
team of reliable, dedicated researchers and translators have done a
splendid job.
Colonel General Dimitry Volkogonov, then head of military history,
Soviet defense ministry, provided help, as did Rodamir Bogdanov,
then Deputy Director of the USA-Canada Institute. Sergo Mikoyan,
Evgeny Primakov, and Tatyana Tarasova of the Near East Institute
also provided assistance. I am grateful to Adam Ulam for helping me
locate a research assistant. Richard Pipes of the Harvard Department
of History rendered outstanding advice on how to “get along" in the
Soviet archives. His counsel was critical to my successful pursuit of
the medieval Soviet archival system. From Professor Pipes I have
learned more than from all Soviet historians and political scientists
combined; his analyses were and continue to be most prescient.
Librarians and archivists at the Library of Congress, the National
Archives in Washington, D.C., and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library
in Hyde Park were efficient, prompt, helpful, and most supportive. I
offer special thanks to Suzan Elter, of the Roosevelt Library, and to
Marc Renovitch, also of the Roosevelt Library, who was instrumental
in helping me select the illustrations included in the book.
The sagacious advice of Robert Tucker, the Dean of American
foreign policy scholarship, and Aaron Wildavsky, the leading scholar
of American presidential politics, was critical. Both read different
versions of the manuscript and rendered valuable help.
My coeditor of the Journal of Strategic Studies, John Gooch, now at
the University of Leeds, read the manuscript in an earlier version and
saved me from small but critical errors. I am grateful to Alex Holtz-
man of Cambridge University Press and my coeditor Benjamin
Frankel and Gary Tischler for editing different versions of the manu­
script. Also I offer very special thanks to Michael Archer of the
American University Department of Government, our computer whiz.
He typed, retyped, and typed again the several versions of the manu­
script. David Wagner of the American University research office also
merits my thanks.
Yet without the affection and dedication of Beverly Jarrett, Director
and Editor-in-Chief of the University of Missouri Press, this work
would not have been the same. As my editor and a wonderful friend