Document: THE NOVIKOV TELEGRAM, 1946
The Soviet ambassador in
Washington, Nikolai Novikov, drafted this telegram in September 1946 stressing
the dangers of possible U.S.
economic and military domination worldwide.
In his telegram, Novikov attempted to interpret U.S. foreign policy for his superiors, much the
same way America’s George F.
Kennan had done in his "Long Telegram" to the U.S. State
Department earlier that year.
The
foreign policy of the United
States, which reflects the imperialist
tendencies of American monopolistic capital, is characterized in the postwar
period by a striving for world supremacy. This is the real meaning of the many
statements by President Truman and other representatives of American ruling
circles; that the United
States has the right to lead the world. All
the forces of American diplomacy -- the army, the air force, the navy,
industry, and science -- are enlisted in the service of this foreign policy.
For this purpose broad plans for expansion have been developed and are being
implemented through diplomacy and the establishment of a system of naval and
air bases stretching far beyond the boundaries of the United States,
through the arms race, and through the creation of ever newer types of weapons.
1a)
The foreign policy of the United States is conducted now in a
situation that differs greatly from the one that existed in the prewar period.
…
Europe
has come out of the war with a completely dislocated economy, and the economic
devastation that occurred in the course of the war cannot be overcome in a
short time. All of the countries of Europe and Asia
are experiencing a colossal need for consumer goods, industrial and
transportation equipment, etc. Such a situation provides American monopolistic
capital with prospects for enormous shipments of goods and the importation of
capital into these countries -- a circumstance that would permit it to
infiltrate their national economies.
Such
a development would mean a serious strengthening of the economic position of
the United States in the
whole world and would be a stage on the road to world domination by the United States.
c)
On the other hand, we have seen a failure of calculations on the part of U.S. circles which assumed that the Soviet Union
would be destroyed in the war or would come out of it so weakened that it would
be forced to go begging to the United
States for economic assistance. Had that
happened, they would have been able to dictate conditions permitting the United States to carry out its expansion in
Europe and Asia without hindrance from the USSR.
In
actuality, despite all of the economic difficulties of the postwar period
connected with the enormous losses inflicted by the war and the German fascist
occupation, the Soviet Union continues to
remain economically independent of the outside world and is rebuilding its
national economy with its own forces.
At
the same time the USSR's
international position is currently stronger than it was in the prewar period.
… In formerly hostile countries, such as Bulgaria,
Finland, Hungary, and Romania,
democratic reconstruction has established regimes that have undertaken to
strengthen and maintain friendly relations with the Soviet
Union. ….
The
enormous relative weight of the USSR in international affairs in general and in
the European countries in particular, the independence of its foreign policy,
and the economic and political assistance that it provides to neighboring
countries, both allies and former enemies, has led to the growth of the
political influence of the Soviet Union in these countries and to the further
strengthening of democratic tendencies in them.
Such
a situation in Eastern and Southeastern Europe cannot help but be regarded by
the American imperialists as an obstacle in the path of the expansionist policy
of the United States.
2a)
The foreign policy of the United States is not determined at
present by the circles that strive to strengthen cooperation. The ascendance to
power of President Truman, a politically unstable person but with certain
conservative tendencies, and the subsequent appointment of (James) Byrnes as
Secretary of State meant a strengthening of the influence of U.S. foreign
policy of the most reactionary circles of the Democratic party. …
3.
Obvious indications of the U.S. effort to establish world dominance are also to
be found in the increase in military potential in peacetime and in the
establishment of a large number of naval and air bases both in the United
States and beyond its borders.
In
the summer of 1946, for the first time in the history of the country, Congress
passed a law on the establishment of a peacetime army, not on a volunteer basis
but on the basis of universal military service. The size of the army, which is
supposed to amount to about one million persons as of July 1, 1947, was also
increased significantly. The size of the navy at the conclusion of the war
decreased quite insignificantly in comparison with wartime. At the present
time, the American navy occupies first place in the world, leaving England's navy
far behind, to say nothing of those of other countries.
Expenditures
on the army and navy have risen colossally, amounting to $13 billion according
to the budget for 1946-47 (about 40 percent of the total budget of $36
billion). This is more than 10 times greater than corresponding expenditures in
the budget for 1938, which did not amount to even $1 billion.
Along
with maintaining a large army, navy, and air force, the budget provides that
these enormous amounts also will be spent on establishing a very extensive
system of naval and air bases in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. According to
existing official plans, in the course of the next few years 228 bases, points
of support, and radio stations are to be constructed
in the Atlantic Ocean and 258 in the Pacific.
A large number of these bases and points of support are located outside the
boundaries of the United
States. In the Atlantic Ocean bases exist or
are under construction in the following foreign island territories:
Newfoundland, Iceland, Cuba, Trinidad, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Azores, and
many others; in the Pacific Ocean: former Japanese mandated territories -- the
Marianas, Caroline and Marshall Islands, Bonin, Ryukyu, Philippines, and the
Galapagos Islands (they belong to Ecuador).
The
establishment of American bases on islands that are often 10,000 to 12,000
kilometers from the territory of the United States and are on the other side of
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans clearly indicates the offensive nature of the
strategic concepts of the commands of the U.S. army and navy. This
interpretation is also confirmed by the fact that the American navy is
intensively studying the naval approaches to the boundaries of Europe. For this purpose American naval vessels in the
course of 1946 visited the ports of Norway,
Denmark, Sweden, Turkey,
and Greece.
In addition, the American navy is constantly operating in the Mediterranean
Sea.
All
of these facts show clearly that a decisive role in the realization of plans
for world dominance by the United
States is played by its armed forces.
…
7a)
The "hard-line" policy with regard to the USSR … is at
present the main obstacle on the road to cooperation of the Great Powers. ...
The objective has been to impose the will of other countries on the Soviet Union. …
b)
The present policy of the American government with regard to the USSR is also directed at limiting or dislodging
the influence of the Soviet Union from
neighboring countries. In implementing this policy in former
enemy or Allied countries adjacent to the USSR,
the United States
attempts, at various international conferences or directly in these countries
themselves, to support reactionary forces with the purpose of creating
obstacles to the process of democratization of these countries. In so
doing, it also attempts to secure positions for the penetration of American
capital into their economies.