Memorandum from Acting Secretary of State Dean Acheson to President Harry S. Truman, with Attachment
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DECLASSIFIED
E.O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and 5(D) or (5)
Dept. of State letter, Aug. 10, 1972
SECRET
Ey NLITW NARS Date 5-21-75
COPY
ETHRIDGE MISSION
SUMMARY REPORT ON SOVIET POLICY IN
RUMANIA AND BULGARIA
The contradictions between the public commitments
of the Soviet Government with regard to Rumania and
Bulgaria since August 1944 and the policy which it has
actually followed have resulted in serious differences
of opinion between it and the United States. Whereas
the Soviet Government is publicly committed by the
statements issued by Mr. Molotov on April 3 and August 25,
1944 to non-interference in Rumania's internal affairs,
by the Yalta Declaration to the establishment of a
government broadly representative of all democratic
elements, and by the Potsdam Agreement to broader con-
sultation of the American and British delegations on the
Allied Control Commissions in these two countries, it has
in fact pursued a policy of prolonging military occupation,
indirect political domination of Rumania and Bulgaria
through the Communist Party and extensive economic penetra-
tion, both direct and indirect. The objections of the
United States Government to this trend of affairs have
been expressed in its notes of August 18 and November 16,
1944 to the Bulgarian Government with regard to electoral
procedure and in its notes of March 14 and August 23
regarding the formation of the Groza Government and the
development of the constitutional crisis in Rumania.
The Soviet interpretation of the democratic
to
governments called for in the Yalta Declaration
*NATIONAL
ARCHIVES AND
may be judged by the regimes which it now supports
RECORDS
in Rumania and Bulgaria. In both countries it has
. SERVICE"
the
fostered the establishment of "front" governments
which on the surface appear to represent all democratic
groups in the two countries with the exception of
those "bourgeois" parties which, while they have in
general favored Western constitutional procedures,
have in the past been identified ith anti-Soviet
policies. Upon closer examination, however,
the Fatherland Front in Bulgaria and the National
Democratic Front in Rumania are revealed not as
coalition governments in the true sense of the term
but as regimes dominated to a very large extent
by the Communist Party despite the fact that it is in
a minority in both countries. The Peasant and Socialist
Parties, which in free elections would together undoubtedly
win a majority in both countries and gi ve very appearance
of
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"ocrText": "DECLASSIFIED\nE.O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and 5(D) or (5)\nDept. of State letter, Aug. 10, 1972\nSECRET\nEy NLITW NARS Date 5-21-75\nCOPY\nETHRIDGE MISSION\nSUMMARY REPORT ON SOVIET POLICY IN\nRUMANIA AND BULGARIA\nThe contradictions between the public commitments\nof the Soviet Government with regard to Rumania and\nBulgaria since August 1944 and the policy which it has\nactually followed have resulted in serious differences\nof opinion between it and the United States. Whereas\nthe Soviet Government is publicly committed by the\nstatements issued by Mr. Molotov on April 3 and August 25,\n1944 to non-interference in Rumania's internal affairs,\nby the Yalta Declaration to the establishment of a\ngovernment broadly representative of all democratic\nelements, and by the Potsdam Agreement to broader con-\nsultation of the American and British delegations on the\nAllied Control Commissions in these two countries, it has\nin fact pursued a policy of prolonging military occupation,\nindirect political domination of Rumania and Bulgaria\nthrough the Communist Party and extensive economic penetra-\ntion, both direct and indirect. The objections of the\nUnited States Government to this trend of affairs have\nbeen expressed in its notes of August 18 and November 16,\n1944 to the Bulgarian Government with regard to electoral\nprocedure and in its notes of March 14 and August 23\nregarding the formation of the Groza Government and the\ndevelopment of the constitutional crisis in Rumania.\nThe Soviet interpretation of the democratic\nto\ngovernments called for in the Yalta Declaration\n*NATIONAL\nARCHIVES AND\nmay be judged by the regimes which it now supports\nRECORDS\nin Rumania and Bulgaria. In both countries it has\n. SERVICE\"\nthe\nfostered the establishment of \"front\" governments\nwhich on the surface appear to represent all democratic\ngroups in the two countries with the exception of\nthose \"bourgeois\" parties which, while they have in\ngeneral favored Western constitutional procedures,\nhave in the past been identified ith anti-Soviet\npolicies. Upon closer examination, however,\nthe Fatherland Front in Bulgaria and the National\nDemocratic Front in Rumania are revealed not as\ncoalition governments in the true sense of the term\nbut as regimes dominated to a very large extent\nby the Communist Party despite the fact that it is in\na minority in both countries. The Peasant and Socialist\nParties, which in free elections would together undoubtedly\nwin a majority in both countries and gi ve very appearance\nof"
}