A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details THE RUSSIA COMMITTEE OF THE BRITISH FOREIGN OFFICE ITS INFLUENCE ON FOREIGN POLICY FORMATION IN THE EARLY COLD WAR TERESA ANNE STIRLING DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY CONTEMPORARY HISTORY UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX SEPTEMBER 2018 I hereby declare that this thesis has not been, and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Teresa Anne Stirling I should particularly wish to record my thanks to my supervisors, Ian Gazeley and Hester Barron, for their generous support and encouragement during the process of researching for, and writing, this thesis. The Russia Committee of the British Foreign Office: Its Influence on Foreign Policy Formation in the Early Cold War UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX TERESA ANNE STIRLING DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY CONTEMPORARY HISTORY THE RUSSIA COMMITTEE OF THE BRITISH FOREIGN OFFICE ITS INFLUENCE ON FOREIGN POLICY FORMATION IN THE EARLY COLD WAR SUMMARY This thesis adds to the historiography on British foreign policy towards the Soviet Union in the early Cold War by closely examining the work of the Russia Committee, a secret organisation within the Foreign Office, in order to assess its influence on the formation of foreign policy in the early Cold War. The research undertaken was based on the scrutiny of the official Foreign Office Archives, of the meetings and papers of the Russia Committee from its inception in March 1946 to the early 1950s, as well as Cabinet papers, private papers of key individuals, diaries and memoirs and relevant secondary historical sources. It concludes that the Russia Committee was a vital piece in the jigsaw of intelligence provision to the British government on Soviet Communist expansionism, and for a time was the only body collecting and analysing all aspects of Soviet activities. It helped to determine how to deal with the emerging circumstances and tensions. It recognises that policy formation was a joint enterprise on the part of the Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin for most of the years covered, and his Foreign Office advisers and helped Ministers to determine how to deal with the emerging threats. It concludes that the Russia Committee inevitably influenced the decisions taken by Ministers. The inability to prove the extent of that influence does not, it concludes, negate the case for such influence to have occurred. It further concludes that the strong relationship of trust and respect between Bevin and his official advisers aided his strong leadership both as Foreign Secretary and a towering figure of the two Attlee administrations from 1945 onwards. i Table of Contents LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................... IV CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 Cold War Origins .............................................................................................................................. 7 Three different governments in eight years ....................................................................................11 Contrasting stability in the Foreign Office .......................................................................................23 CHAPTER 2 COLD WAR ORIGINS – EMERGING CONCERNS ...................................... 30 Yalta ...............................................................................................................................................30 Emerging concerns of US about Soviet policy – enter George Kennan ............................................32 Three Weeks in Summer 1945 – ‘Stock Taking after VE Day’ – enter Sir Orme Garton Sargent .......32 Bevin as Foreign Secretary and Return to Potsdam ........................................................................48 Potsdam – the turning point ...........................................................................................................50 First Foreign Secretaries Conference – Bevin’s tussles with Molotov ..............................................53 Continuity of foreign policy and personnel .....................................................................................56 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................58 CHAPTER 3 1946 A PIVOTAL YEAR .......................................................................... 62 Stalin’s Election Speech ..................................................................................................................63 George Kennan’s Long Telegram .....................................................................................................65 Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech .......................................................................................................70 Frank Roberts’ Long Telegram ........................................................................................................74 Paris Council of Foreign Ministers and Peace Conference ...............................................................79 ii Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................81 CHAPTER 4 SETTING UP THE RUSSIA COMMITTEE .................................................. 84 Why it was set up ...........................................................................................................................84 Who set up the Russia Committee ..................................................................................................86 CHAPTER 5 PHASE I OF RUSSIA COMMITTEE WORK 1946 TO 1948 .................... 97 1946 A Strong Beginning ................................................................................................................97 1947 The Russia Committee Getting into its Stride ...................................................................... 121 1948 Highlights ............................................................................................................................. 130 CHAPTER 6 PHASE II OF RUSSIA COMMITTEE WORK 1949 TO 1952 ..................... 142 Changes to the Russia Committee ................................................................................................ 143 The Russia Committee ‘Crystal Gazers’ ......................................................................................... 147 Further Engagement of Ministers with the Russia Committee ...................................................... 149 CHAPTER 7 FOREIGN POLICY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE ATTLEE ADMINISTRATIONS .... 156 Atomic Race .................................................................................................................................. 157 Titoism.......................................................................................................................................... 161 China ............................................................................................................................................ 167 CHAPTER 8 THE END OF THE RUSSIA COMMITTEE AND THE GROWTH OF PARALLEL FOREIGN AFFAIRS ADVISORY BODIES WITHIN GOVERNMENT ................................ 176 CHAPTER 9 CONCLUSION - THE RUSSIA COMMITTEE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 185 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................... 200 APPENDIX 1 RUSSIA COMMITTEE MINUTES AND KEY PAPERS ............................... 229 iii APPENDIX 2 RUSSIA COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND OTHER KEY OFFICIALS ............... 314 APPENDIX 3 COLD WAR CHRONOLOGY ................................................................ 340 iv List of Abbreviations AC(O) - Official Committee on Communism Overseas AC(H) - Official Committee on Communism Home BBC - British Broadcasting Corporation CIA - Central Intelligence Agency CID - Committee of Imperial Defence CO - Colonial Office CPG - Chinese People’s Government CRO - Commonwealth Relations Office DIS - Defence Intelligence Service ECITO - European Central Inland Transport Organisation ERP - Economic Recovery Plan (ie the Marshall Plan) FOI(A) - Freedom of Information Act FORD - Foreign Office Research Department GCHQ - Government Communications Head Quarters ID - Information Department IRD - Information Research Department IDC - International Danube Commission JIC - Joint Intelligence Committee LON - League of Nations NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NHS - National Health Service OEEC - Organisation for European Economic Cooperation OPC - Overseas Planning Committee PID - Political Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office PS - Private Secretary PPS - Principal Private Secretary PRAs - Public Records Acts PUS - Permanent Under Secretary PUSC - Permanent Under Secretary’s Committee PUSD - Permanent Under Secretary’s Department PWE - Political Warfare