Threat of the North Atlantic Pact

USSR, Statement on North Atlantic Pact. February 11, 1949

 

… While last year ruling circles of the five aforementioned West European Powers had on the pretext of collective defense, under the patronage of the United States, created a military political alliance, this year a far-reaching Anglo-American plan for establishing a “North Atlantic Alliance” is being carried out with the participation of the same European countries and Canada, directly headed by the United States of America.

I. Western Alliance – Weapon of the Aggressive Anglo-American Bloc In Europe

In March 1948, a Treaty of Mutual Assistance and Collective Defense was concluded in Brussels between Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg, which laid the foundation of the separate group of certain West European States, known as tile “Western Union.”

It was envisaged that certain other European countries, willing to adjust their policy to the aims of the above group headed by Great Britain, would be included in the Western Union. It is likewise known that the founders of the Western Union had from the very outset precluded the possibility of the participation in that alliance of all the countries of people’s democracy and of the Soviet Union and have thus disclosed that the Western Union has not been formed with a view to uniting the peace-loving European countries nor in the interests of assuring a durable peace in Europe generally, but with other ends in view which have nothing in common with concern for strengthening peace and international security …

The establishment of the Western Union signifies, in the first place, a complete change in the policy of Great Britain and France in regard to the German problem and demonstrates a renunciation by the Governments of those countries of the democratic and anti-aggressive policy in regard to Germany which was adopted by the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences of the anti-Hitler coalition powers.

During the Second World War, the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition were united not only by the will to win victory in the war of liberation against Hitler Germany and fascism. They were also united by the will to prevent, in future as well, the German aggression that has unleashed two world wars within the past decades. These noble aspirations found their expression in the decisions of the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences …

The Soviet Union, now as before, strictly abides by this policy, a policy in full conformity with the decisions of the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences of the heads of the Governments of the USSR, the United States and Great Britain and of France which endorsed these decisions, a policy directed towards ensuring a durable peace in Europe and preventing fresh aggression on the part of the state which had been the chief culprit in unleashing two world wars.

The formation of the Western Union means that Great Britain and France have renounced the above anti-aggressive policy adopted at the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences, and that these Powers have embarked upon a new Policy, highly dangerous for the peace-loving nations, with the purpose of establishing their domination over other nations in Europe, not stopping at employing for these ends yesterday’s aggressor, which has since the termination of the war become dependent on them. Nothing else could explain why, though the Brussels Pact mentions in passing a desire to prevent a resurgence of an aggressive policy on Germany’s part, the Governments of Great Britain and France at the present time, together with the Government of the United States, strive to enlist and utilize for their ends Western Germany, where old pro-Nazi and militaristic elements of German reaction are more and more deeply entrenching themselves in all sections of the administrative machinery-with the help of the Anglo-American occupation authorities in the first place. The fact that this turn in policy of the West European States has met with support and encouragement from the ruling circles of the United States considerably aggravates the danger of the political developments that have taken place in the aforementioned European countries which have abandoned the policy of peace and taken the path of preparing fresh aggression in Europe.

As distinct from all treaties of mutual assistance concluded by the Soviet Union with other European States, including Britain and France-treaties which are aimed at preventing the possibility of fresh aggression on Germany’s part and thereby promoting peace in Europe-the military alliance of the five Western States has been set up having in mind not so much Germany as with a view to employing the group of Western Powers they have formed against states which were their allies in the Second World War. Aggressive statements are frankly made by a number of statesmen of the Western countries, as well as in the Anglo-American and French press to the effect that the Western Union has been established against the USSR and the states of people’s democracy, notwithstanding the fact that the peaceful policies of these countries are an indisputable and universally known fact. It is indisputable then, that no matter how hard they may try to conceal the true aims of the Brussels Treaty, the establishment of the Western Union has nothing in common with concern for the defense of these States.

Furthermore, it has by now been made sufficiently clear that on the pretext of preventing a situation that would endanger the so-called “economic stability” of the signatories of that Pact, they are preparing to employ military measures and every kind of repression against the working class and the growing democratic forces within those states, as well as against the mounting liberation movement of the peoples in the colonies, and dependent countries.

It is Fiat accidental that the Brussels Pact represents an alliance of colonial Powers which, for the sake of preserving their age-long privileges in the colonies, want to employ the newly initiated military-political grouping in order to suppress the national liberation movement in these colonies. All this lays particular emphasis an the anti-democratic and reactionary aggressive nature of the Western Union.

The alliance of the five West European States represents a military-political supplement to the economic association of European countries that has been set up to carry through the “Marshall plan” in Europe. Both these groupings of European countries are steered by the ruling circles of the Anglo-American bloc, which is anything but concerned with the attainment of the genuine national state or, at least, economic goals of any of the countries participating in the above groupings-a bloc whose purpose is to bolster up and further expand its own strategic military and economic positions …

Hardly had the Western Union come into being last March, when the ruling circles of the United States promptly declared that this Union would be given every support.

Such a statement was perfectly natural, for those circles have every reason to believe that the new grouping will be entirely dependent on Anglo-American plans of every sort. But to meet all contingencies, special American observers, whose role is quite understandable, were introduced into the Western Union.

It is now clear to all that the faster and farther the countries of the Western Union move along the path of opposing the countries of people’s democracy and the Soviet Union-a path to which they are being persistently pushed by the policy of the Anglo-American bloc-the more the West European Powers will become politically and economically dependent on the ruling circles of the United States, who are not in the least bit concerned about the political and economic rebirth of the European states

Apart from setting up this new group in Europe, the ruling circles of the United States and Great Britain have in the past two months been engaged in setting up a North Atlantic Alliance comprising the same five West European States, Canada, and the USA. The aims of the North Atlantic Alliance are much more far-reaching than those of the West European grouping, and it is quite easy to see that these aims are very closely interwoven with plans for the violent establishment of Anglo-American World supremacy under the aegis of the United States of America.

II. The North Atlantic Pact and Anglo-American Plans for World Domination

If the institution of the Western Union conforms to the aims of the Anglo-American bloc in Europe, it is now already evident that the West-European grouping is but one, and not the main link in the system of measures contained in the plans for establishing Anglo-American world domination. While giving Great Britain the chief place in the Western Union, leading circles of the United States have every opportunity of influencing in the way they want the policy of the entire West European grouping …

In its document entitled “Collective Security in the North Atlantic Area,” the State Department of the United States attempts to present the North Atlantic Pact, which it had prepared, as a regional agreement on matters of security among the countries of the North Atlantic Pact, thereby casting a veil over the true nature and real significance of that Pact, Everybody knows that the countries of the North Atlantic are not threatened by any aggression and this alone shows the inconsistency of the above-cited explanation of the need for such a Pact.

In an endeavor to disguise still more deeply the true nature and purpose of the North Atlantic Pact, the State Department was obliged to resort to ridiculous inventions about the Soviet Union’s .4 obstruction” in the United Nations and to deliberately nebulous statements about the need “to meet a potential aggressor with overwhelming force,” this allegedly being the duty of the special grouping of countries, with the United States at its head, which cannot wait until the United Nations’ organization will have become sufficiently strengthened.

The State Department was unable to conceal the hostile nature of the North Atlantic Pact in regard to the Soviet Union and the countries of people’s democracy, and it resorted to all sorts of murky hints about a “potential aggressor.” On the other hand, the State Department did not venture to proclaim openly the anti-Soviet aims of the new treaty which it had prepared, because the dissemination of slander about aggressiveness of the Soviet Union’s policy ever more frequently, in the eyes of world public opinion, recoils against these who resort to such mean methods of political struggle.

The draft of the North Atlantic Part and the circumstances which attended its preparation clearly revealed the drive for world domination of the Anglo-American bloc.

Although the North Atlantic Pact envisages the participation in it of the five European countries, Canada and the United States, as its nucleus, it is, however, clear to all that the leadership in this affair belongs to the ruling circles of the United States of America, who are now in a bloc with the ruling circles of Great Britain, as the strongest capitalist Power in Europe. This being So, the North Atlantic Pact actually becomes the chief instrument of the aggressive policy of the ruling circles of the United States and Great Britain “on both sides of the Atlantic.”

… In one respect, however, the situation should be considered as perfectly clear. just as they had done when setting up the Western Union, the inspirers of the North Atlantic Pact have from the very outset precluded the possibility of the participation in that Pact of all the countries of people’s democracy and of the Soviet Union, having given it to be understood that these States cannot become a party to the Treaty, and, moreover, that the North Atlantic Pact is leveled precisely against the USSR and the countries of new democracy.

It is seen from all the above that the aims of the North Atlantic Pact consist in the ruling circles of the United States and Great Britain holding the reins in regard to the greatest possible number of States, depriving them of the possibility of pursuing an independent, national foreign and internal policy, and employing these states as auxiliary weapons for the implementation of their aggressive plans directed toward establishing Anglo-American world domination. This being the case, the participation of the USSR and of the countries of new democracy in the North Atlantic Pact or in other similar alliances of states, is out of the question.

There may have been a time when certain men thought that in the post-war period they would succeed, by means of pressure and threats of every sort, in pushing the Soviet Union off the socialist road which it has chosen, since certain “wise men” calculated that-as a result of the grave military and economic trials of the Second World War-the Soviet Union would become so weakened as to be unable to cope independently with its domestic difficulties and would be bound to abandon its socialist position for the sake of obtaining economic support from the strong capitalist Powers. The absurdity of such calculations is evident to all of us; this, however, does not preclude the existence of short-sighted calculations of every kind and of plans hostile to our Soviet Motherland …

One cannot help realizing, however, that it is one thing to be constructing all sorts of groupings and to be collecting signatures to more and more pacts, cooked up in the chancelleries of the American State Department and British Foreign Office, and an entirely different thing, of course, really to achieve the ends pursued by the inspirers of such groupings and pacts.

But the setting up of such groupings and the signing of pacts cannot, Of Course, eliminate the numerous contradictions and the friction actually existing among the countries participating in these pacts. The appearance of these pacts does not weaken the contradictions even among the chief partners within the Anglo-American bloc, because the aggressive aspirations of the two Powers clash

with each other at every turn. It is even less possible then to reconcile, by signing various pacts. the conflicting interests of the big and small countries participating in these groups, under conditions when one of the partners or one group of states is eager to miss no opportunity of profiting at the expense of the other partner or at the expense of the other group of states, and is employing all means of pressure and economic influence toward this end.

Nor should one forget that not all countries will agree to join these groups, and not all of the states which have already joined them will unconditionally and in all cases submit to Anglo-American dictates.

Furthermore, can one ignore such an important fact as the tremendous upsurge of the national liberation movement which has started of late in the countries of the Orient among peoples which have only now obtained the opportunity of straightening their backs and standing erect?

Lastly, we must speak of the Soviet Union and the countries of people’s democracy, which are carrying into life the true will of their peoples and the great principles of friendship and equality with regard to other nations.

The very fact of the existence of the Soviet State, with its growing might and international prestige, as well as the powerful support rendered it by the democratic forces in other countries, is an insuperable obstacle to all and every plan for establishing the world domination of any Powers; this has found its historical confirmation in the liquidation of the fascist states, which endeavored to carry through their fantastic plans of world domination, plans from which the present plans for establishing Anglo-American domination differ very little.

In view of all this, it is easy to understand the universally-known fact that of late the countries of the Anglo-American bloc, especially the United States of America, are so apt to be carried away by dreams of the unprecedented expansion of their armies, of the tremendous increase of their military budgets, of the further building of their network of air and naval bases in all parts of the globe, and by dreams of all sorts of other military plans, including monstrous plans for employing atom bombs for the same purposes …

All these facts relating to the post-war foreign policy of the United States and Great Britain are evidence that at the present time the ruling circles of these Powers, far from pursuing a policy of establishing a lasting and universal peace, have, on the contrary, embarked on a policy which cannot be described otherwise than as a policy of aggression, a policy of unleashing another war.

The North Atlantic Pact, which conforms to the plans for the establishment by violence of Anglo-American world domination, and thereby to the aims of the policy of unleashing another war, is designed precisely as a means of achieving these objectives.

It is not only the ruling aggressive circles of the United States, and not only such British inspirers of the Pact as Churchill and Bevin, but a good many other warmongers of lesser caliber that stand in the background of this Pact. One should bear irk mind, however, that the signing of these or any similar pacts do” not serve as a guarantee and does not yet provide an opportunity for the realization of the aggressive aims set by the inspirers of such pacts.

One should recall in this connection the unanimous support given in democratic circles of all countries to the well-known statement of the head of the Soviet Government, I. V. Stalin, that “the horrors of the recent war are too fresh in the memory of the peoples and the public forces in favor of peace are too strong for Churchill’s pupils in aggression to be able to overpower them and turn them towards a new war.”

III

The North Atlantic Alliance A Factor Undermining the United Nations Organization

The State Department’s official statement attempts to establish that the grounds for the formation of the North Atlantic Alliance, as also the other groupings mentioned above, are striving to -strengthen the United Nations organization.” Such a statement would be convincing only if it were possible to agree that the formation of the North Atlantic Alliance and other groupings and blocs in circumvention of, and behind the back of, the United Nations organization could serve to strengthen this organization. Such an assumption, however, it stands to reason, is utterly absurd.

In actual fact, the knocking together of the North Atlantic Alliance, heading a whole series of specific groupings of states in various parts of the globe, represents the final breaking away of the present policy of the United States and Great Britain from the policy unanimously conducted by the Governments of the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union, together with many other nations, when the United Nations organization was being created and its charter drawn up and endorsed …

Inasmuch as the Soviet Union and a number of other states do not agree to revision of the United Nations Charter, the ruling circles of the United States and Great Britain have apparently come to the conclusion that they will not succeed in fully adjusting the United Nations organization to their aggressive policy, although they are striving to achieve this. The United Nations Charter proved to be inconvenient for them and they failed to achieve results from their attacks on the USSR for its defense of the very principles on which the United Nations organization was established since they could in no way shake the position of the Soviet Government which is defending the sacred cause of the consolidation of universal lasting peace and is consistently exposing each and every aggressor and warmonger.

Having become convinced of this, the ruling circles of the United States and. Great Britain have apparently arrived at the conclusion that they must circumvent the United Nations organization. It was this policy that resulted in the establishment of the North Atlantic Alliance as well as the other groupings of Powers which have been and are being set up secretly behind the back of the United Nations organization. Thus we have every ground for asserting that the North Atlantic Alliance is a factor undermining the United Nations organization. One cannot ignore the fact that this reflects the persistent endeavor of the ruling circles of the United States and Great Britain to bring about the utter disintegration and collapse of the United Nations organization, which somewhat curbs them and prevents other states being involved in their aggressive policy, and which cannot become a dumb tool in the hands of the Anglo-American bloc in the implementation of their policy which is aimed at forcibly establishing Anglo-American world domination.

After this it is clear why the ruling circles of the United States, Great Britain and France, pursuing a policy of aggression and preparing a new war, are now striving everywhere to pursue a policy of isolating the USSR, although this policy constitutes a flagrant violation of the obligations assumed by them.

Consequently, the so-called “new departure” in the foreign policy of the ruling circles of these states consists in that they revert to the old anti-Soviet course of foreign policy based on the isolation of the USSR, which they followed in the years preceding the Second World War and which almost led to the complete destruction of European civilization.

Carried away by their aggressive planet for world domination, the ruling circles of the United States and Great Britain failed to understand that the so-called “new departure” of their policy, running counter to their recent obligations towards the USSR and other members of the United Nations, far from being able to increase the consolidation of their political and economic positions, will be condemned by all peace-loving nations. will he condemned by all the champions of the consolidation of universal peace, who constitute the overwhelming majority in all countries.

Main conclusions. First conclusion. The Soviet Union is compelled to reckon with the fact that the ruling circles of the United States and Great Britain have adopted an openly aggressive political course. the final aim of which is to establish by force Anglo-American domination over the world, a course which is fully in accord with the policy of aggression, the policy of unleashing a new war pursued by them.

In view of this situation the Soviet Union has to wage an even more vigorous and more Consistent struggle against each and every warmonger, against the policy of aggression and unleashing of a new war, for a world-wide, lasting, democratic peace.

In this struggle for the consolidation of universal peace and international security the Soviet Union regards as its allies all other peace-loving States and all those numberless supporters of universal democratic peace who voice the genuine sentiments and aspirations of the peoples who bore on their shoulders the unbelievable burden of the last World War and who with every justification reject each and every aggressor and instigator of a new war.

Second conclusion. Everyone sees that the United Nations organization is now being undermined, since this organization, at least to a certain extent, hampers and curbs the aggressive circles in their policy of aggression and unleashing of a new war.

In view of this situation the Soviet Union has to struggle, with even more firmness and persistence, against the undermining and destruction of the United Nations organization by aggressive elements and their accomplices, and must see to it that the United Nations organization does not connive with such elements as is often the case now, that it values its authority more highly when the matter consists in giving a rebuff to those pursuing a policy of aggression and unleashing a new war.

Source: U.S.S.R. Information Bulletin, (February 11, 1949).

 

 

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