In 1933, the United States unexpectedly established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. These were turbulent years in a socialist paradise, and the newly appointed American ambassadors witnessed the purges and Stalinist terror. But instead of informing President Roosevelt about the criminal face of the system, they sent Washington ... cards in honor of Stalin.
Especially the second representative of the USSR in Moscow, Joseph Edward Davies, did everything so that the president - busy with important economic matters - could live in complete ignorance. Davies wasn't lying or making things up. It's just that the Soviet diplomatic service immediately wrapped this cultured lawyer around their finger.
Davies had been fascinated by Russian culture before, and considered Moscow to be the most dynamic place in Europe. In addition, he had no preparation for such a difficult and responsible job. In 1936, became an ambassador practically only because during Roosevelt's second presidential campaign he supported his committee with a gigantic donation . Up to a hundred thousand dollars, according to some newspapers! In short, he bought himself a position and saw it as a good opportunity to visit Russia and lead an interesting social life. Nothing else.
Together with his wife on the cover of the well-known magazine "Time".
He was having a great time, and this was confirmed in every letter to Roosevelt. Europe trembled in its foundations, Germany armed itself to power, and Stalin murdered millions of Soviet citizens, while Davies smiled at factories and galleries and bought antiques for private collections.
When in 1937 a series of bogus trials were launched with which Stalin wanted to get rid of his enemies in the party and military, Davies did not even think that the accused might be innocent. He personally watched the court over Radek, Sokolników and Piatków. When they all pleaded guilty as one man and offered self-criticism, he saw no effect of torture and blackmail. Instead, he praised the talents of prosecutor Wyszyński. He considered his speech to be academic and done with talent. He also said that during the trial Wyszynski earned his respect and admiration as a lawyer.
Bogdan Grzeloński, author of the book “Bad allies. Roosevelt's Ambassadors to the USSR "is fully convinced that: Davies, based on the facts presented, did not doubt that there was a political conspiracy to overthrow the government.
Davies Ambassador. Cheerful as a lark, surrounded by family.
He had his own, subtle explanation of the situation in the USSR. He compared the Bolshevik Revolution to the French Revolution, perceived very positively in America. Now it was just in its natural phase. The new, better system was cleaning itself of people who were harming it.
Davies saw the Stalinist purges in the army in a similar way. All Western diplomats knew that the plot was sewn with thick threads. Only one Davies blithely explained: it would be most reasonable to believe that it was certainly a military conspiracy aimed at a coup d'etat, not necessarily anti-Stalinist, but against party policy (...) and that Stalin struck with his characteristic speed, hardness and force.
The ambassador approached the negotiations with the Soviets with a similar ease and - bluntly speaking - naivety. Soviet dignitaries did not have to wiretap his office, because he himself revealed all the information to them and even persuaded them (not intentionally, but still) to give up paying their debts to the USA. Also, the real wiretaps discovered by embassy employees did not make him reconsider his sympathy for the country's councils and its leaders. Professor Grzeloński quotes the ambassador's diary: if the Soviets installed wiretapping, the better - they will find out sooner that we are friends, not enemies . Likewise, Davies approached the constant surveillance by the GPU. The author of "Bad Allies" explains: Davies treated Secret Police personnel like someone who helps him at work, like personal security . He kept telling his diplomats that, in a sense, he had developed a kind of friendship with his followers from the GPU.
But to the Soviets, Davies was not a colleague at all. He was a passive puppet. And it is difficult to say a single good word about his ambassador. It was through such useful idiots in high positions that the United States entered World War II with the conviction that Stalin can and should be trusted. And, in a way, it was because of them that they gave him all of Central Europe, including Poland, without hesitation.
Source:
- Bogdan Grzeloński, Bad allies. Roosevelt Ambassadors to the USSR , Polish Scientific Publishers PWN, 2013.