Document: Speech of Soviet Foreign Secretary V. Molotov in Paris May, 1946
Source [link within this page]:
Speech
Available online at
Documents of the Cold War (Mount Holyoke College)
Comments:
Like Stalin just a few months before, the Soviet Foreign Secretary also took Churchill to task for his increasingly anti-Russian stance. Again he depicted the British position as derived from imperialistic interests while downplaying the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe. The speech does reveal how a nation’s interpretation of its actions, compared to its rivals, is largely in the eye of the beholder
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Nineteenth century imperialism may be dead in England, but there are new twentieth century tendencies. When Mr. Churchill calls for a new war and makes brilliant speeches on two continents, he represents the worst of twentieth century imperialism…. Britain has troops in Greece, Palestine, Iraq, Indo-China and elsewhere. Russia has no troops outside of the security zones and their lines of communication. There is a difference. We have troops only where provided by treaties. Thus, we are in Poland, for example, as our Allies are in Belgium, France and Holland. I also recall that Egypt is a member of UNO. She demands that British troops be withdrawn, Britain declines…What shall we say of UNO when one member imposes its authority upon another? How long can such things go on?