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From Socialist Appeal, Vol. 5 No. 1, 4 January 1941, p. 3.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.
Stalin’s general staff appears now to be convinced that Germany cannot successfully invade Britain. This is the conclusion to be drawn from the latest article estimating the military developments signed – like most of the previous ones – by “Colonel Vasilyev,” published in Trud, and cabled from Moscow to the Stalinist press here.
Had Germany launched an invasion last Summer, immediately after the French defeat, says the article (Daily Worker, Dec. 29):
“There is hardly any doubt that they (the Germans) would rout England’s armed forces in comparatively short time. However, Germany at that time evidently considered herself unprepared for the operations against English territory with the aid of land forces ...”
As for the present situation, the article, says:
“Lately the question of invasion of England has again been the subject of lively discussions. Estimating the situation in the Anglo-German theater of military operations, one draws the conclusion that irrespective of the methods of conduct of the war by Germany, the struggle will retain a protracted character.”
Which is a cautious and diplomatic way of saying that Germany cannot succeed, in the estimation of Soviet military experts.
German aerial warfare, says the article, “did not achieve decisive results.”
Neither is Germany succeeding in her attack on British communications lines: “In spite of the fact that the losses, of the British merchant fleet are ‘severe,’ the total tonnage of British merchant vessels nevertheless exceeds the required minimum.”
“But British successes,” the article concludes, “cannot yet be called the turning point in the course of the war.” It is clear, however, that this Soviet article considers that that turning point is likely.
In this estimate of the war by Soviet military authorities we have the clue to the suddenly launched campaign of the Communist Party and its front-men for American “friendship with the Soviet Union.” A letter by Corliss Lamont to the New York Times, urging a Soviet-U.S. rapprochement, speeches by Browder and Foster cautiously launching the same line – this is preparation for a new turn by Stalin back toward the “democracies.” But as long as Hitler has his teeth, Stalin will remain respectfully ready for new deals like the partition of Poland.
Stalinist preparations for a possible new turn in the United States are already evident in the slogans raised here on military questions. In Britain and its colonies the Stalinists are ultraradical. For example, in Canada the Young Communist League recently issued a manifesto which says to drafted men:
“Trainees, form camp committees, to protect your daily interests ... Fight against the fascist officers’ clique in the army ...” (Daily Worker, Dec. 15)
In the United States, however, no slogans remotely resembling this are raised. Here there is not a whisper of soldiers’ committees from the Stalinists. After all, the United States is the unquestioned dominant figure among the “democracies,” and the one which Stalin will have to court, if Germany loses the initiative in the war.
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Last updated on 16 November 2020