BR TO THE NEW STATESMAN, 28 SEPT. 1945
BRACERS 60418. TL(CAR,X). Warwick U. Library. SLBR 2: #470
Edited by N. Griffin. Proofread by K. Blackwell

Cambridge.
September 28, 1945.

To the Editor of the New Statesman1

Sir,

The time has come when it is urgently necessary for British Socialists to make up their minds on the subject of the Soviet Government. Germany is flooded with destitute refugees, mostly old men, women and children, expelled without notice from their homes by the Czechs, or by the puppet government of Poland,2 which, like the governments of Bulgaria and Rumania, is a terroristic minority dictatorship impudently sponsored by Russia as “democratic”. Europe and Asia are menaced by a revivified Russian imperialism far more dangerous than the Tsarist imperialism which alarmed our grandfathers—dangerous not only from the standpoint of power politics, but in relation to human values, such as liberty, mercy, and equality. Within the borders of the U.S.S.R., a small official aristocracy is using its absolute power to exterminate opponents and establish a greater degree of economic inequality than is to be found in Britain. We are asked to admire this system because it is “Socialism”. But Socialism, in any desirable form, must include democracy; if not, the union of political and economic power merely increases the opportunities for exploitation on the part of the governing class.

We blame the Right because, in the pre-war years, it pursued a policy of appeasement although the horrors of Hitler’s regime were known. We of the Left will be equally to blame if we pursue a policy of appeasement towards Russia, in spite of the massive abominations of which the Soviet Government is guilty. And appeasement will not preserve peace, any more than Munich did. Firmness now may produce a tolerable situation; appeasement now must lead ultimately to a situation which will be felt to be intolerable, and which will involve war in very unfortunate circumstances. Apart from the plain duty of protesting against cruelty and injustice, whether practised by ourselves, our allies, or our enemies, there is every argument of expediency for speaking out now while the situation is still fluid.

Yours,

• 1

  Editor of the New Statesman Not published; see record 56320; 62 in Collected Papers 24.

• 2

  Germany is flooded … puppet government of Poland In November 1945 the Allied Control Commission approved the transfer of 6.5 million Germans from Eastern Europe to Germany.