One Field-Marshal
The visit of the Chief of the Imperial General Staff to Moscow has let loose such a flood of speculation about the motives of the British and Soviet Governments that it has become doubly necessary to point out that, in international relations, to ask what is invariably more practical and fruitful than to ask why. It is indeed a waste of time to ask whether the British decision reflects some change of heart on the part of the Government or a sop thrown to the participants in the recent mutiny within the Labour Party. It is also pointless to ask whether the Soviet Government, for good or bad reasons of its own, has decided to enter upon a campaign of friendship with Britain. Quite apart from the fact that no useful answers could be found, these are probably the wrong questions anyway. All that is known is that Lord Montgomery has gone to Moscow to make contact with the Soviet Army and to discuss military affairs. He has said it and repeated it. To suggest that there are other and more important questions on or under the table may not exactly be to call the Field- Marshal a liar, but it is at least to accuse him of concealing the truth. In any case the visit of one' man for a few days can have little more than token value. There is so much to discuss before Anglo-Russian co-operation could be a reality, that vast numbers of new contacts would have to be established at all points, military and civil. Even an explanation of the military understandings between Britain and the United States would require more ambitious arrangements. It is true that the C.I.G.S. has invited his Russian opposite number, Marshal Vassilevsky to visit this country and that the Marshal has accepted. But staff visits are not necessarily more than common courtesy. There is no avoiding the truth. One swallow does not make a summer. Neither do two Marshals.
Previous page
