The United Nations

The time had come for the first discussion of President Roosevelt's postwar dream, a world organization to maintain peace and security. What voice should be allowed the small nations of the world? Prime Minister Churchill genially paraphrased Shakespeare: "The eagle should permit the small birds to sing and care not whereof they sing."

Marshal Stalin was not interested in proverbs, or in the twitter of small birds. "Marshal Stalin," goes the record, "made it quite plain on a number of occasions that he felt that the three great powers, which had borne the brunt of the war and had liberated the small powers, should have the unanimous right to preserve the peace of the world."

Put that way, all three powers were agreed. But the argument arose over whether any of the Big Three should be able to stop U.N. discussion that it did not like, or just to block action. Churchill thought the small powers should have some rights, however limited.

"In the last resort," says the report, paraphrasing Churchill, "world peace depended on the friendship and cooperation of the three governments, but . . . they were committing an injustice if reservation were not made for free statement . . . by small countries." Of course, if China should demand the return of Hong Kong, there could be a full discussion.

". . . Marshal Stalin then said, 'Suppose Egypt raised the question of the return of the Suez Canal? . . .'

"The Prime Minister replied that he hoped that Marshal Stalin would let him finish his illustration in regard to Hong Kong . . . Under paragraph 3 [of the veto formula] Great Britain in fact would have the right of their veto to stop all action . . . Great Britain would not be required to return Hong Kong unless they felt this should be done."

Thus the Big Three machine-tooled the veto formula that was to make possible the creation of the U.N., while making it impossible to put any real restraints on the only countries capable of world war.

With a clumsiness to bring guffaws from a third-rate union negotiator, the usually adroit Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov pared down his old Dumbarton Oaks request for U.N. membership for all 16 Soviet republics. "[Russia] would be satisfied," said he, "with the admission of three, or at least two." Good-naturedly, the Westerners agreed to help add two Red birds, Byelorussia and the Ukraine, to the nest. On the very evening that the eagles had their frank talk about the small birds, even before the blueprint for the U.N. had been agreed upon, disillusion began to set in.

"Eden, Harriman, Bohlen and I remained to discuss the . . . conversation," recorded Secretary of State Edward Stettinius. "We were in agreement that the trend at the moment seemed to be more toward a three-power alliance than anything else. No progress . . . had yet been made . . . toward building a world organization based on recognition of the sovereign rights of all nations."

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