Ext 6116/46(S) 'Secret Weekly Political Intelligence Summaries, nos 356-416, August 1946-November 1947' [‎268v] (546/978)

“ on the whole ” because it is reported that
the Socialist paper, Robotnik, refrained
from commenting on the Foreign Secre
tary’s Parliamentary statements on the
subject. This is a reminder that there is
not complete unanimity of view with the
Communists on all points of foreign policy,
and of the difficulties existing between the
two leading parties of the Government.
The difference is largely one of emphasis,
however; the Socialists tend to speak
encouragingly of signs of British interest
in the Slav countries, such as the visit of
Mr. Noel Baker to Belgrade and Prague,
and the willingness of Great Britain to
buy goods outside the dollar bloc. They
see “ American imperialism ” as attempt
ing to drive a wedge between Great Britain
and the U.S.S.R. The Communists react
more violently, and profess to regard
Britain as the willing servant of American
reactionary policy. Tygodnik Polski, the
official London Polish Weekly, regretted
that no comparable organisation under
Lmited Nations control had been set up to
replace UNRRA, and criticised American
policy, as exemplified by the Truman doc
trine, for attempting to attach unwelcome
political conditions to loans for devastated
countries.
Influenced by the deeply-rooted fear of
Germany, suspicious and uncertain of the
intentions and possible effects of the Mar
shall plan, and conscious always of the
.Russian attachment, the Polish Govern
ment are bound to be cautious, to say the
least. On the other hand, there is no down
right condemnation, and the reasons for
this are perhaps mainly economic. Before
the war Polish foreign trade was an im
portant factor in the European situation;
Polish food imports were a considerable
item in the feeding of Britain, while its
coal became a competitor from the time of
the General Strike, particularly in the
Scandinavian market. Polish foreign
trade was mainly with the West and North
of Europe, and with America; Danubia
apart from industrialised Austria and
Czechoslovakia, was too similar in
character to play a big role. The complex
problems arising out of the war combined
to change temporarily the character and
orientation of Polish trade. The 1946
figure showed that Polish trade had
declined—a Polish expert calculated by
50 per cent., excluding UNRRA—and was
mainly with Russia, which had regained
the position lost by the political hostilities
of the 1914-1939 period.
The economic reconstruction planned by
the Government calls, however, for a large
increase in foreign trade, and in particular
with Britain, as the great market for its
normal agricultural surplus. Coal is now
urgently required by Western Europe,
while Poland needs the machinery, raw
materials and consumer goods produced by
the West. Further, Poland and Czecho
slovakia are aiming conjointly at filling the
vacuum left in the Danube Lands by (*x-
many’s downfall; Poland, now in full
possession of Silesia, is in a more favour
able position to fulfil this task.
Polish trade is in fact already showing
signs of re-entering the Western sphere, as
physical conditions improve. Towards the
end of 1946, the amount taken by the Soviet
Union declined. By agreement the Soviet
quota of Polish coal was reduced, allowing
more to enter the channels of Central and
Western Europe. On the 9th June, letters
were exchanged between the President of
the Board of Trade and the Polish Am
bassador in London accepting the trade
proposals worked out for the next three
years. By this Agreement, the excess in
British exports to the value of about £12
million will be made up by a contribution
from Poland to the value of £4-2 million,
and one from the United Kingdom of
£7-5 million; Poland will draw on Polish
credits in the United Kingdom and upon
the Polish gold deposited in London, and
will deliver £800,000 worth of coal to
Britain in 1947-48; Great Britain will
provide credits through the Export
Guarantee Department. The Polish gold
mentioned above becomes available to the
Polish Government under the Anglo-Polish
Financial Agreement, which was ratified
in London on 19th June—under this Agree
ment the Polish Government are entitled
to choose surplus stores in the United King
dom up to a value of £6,000,000. The Poles
are taking over £1,000,000 worth of raw
wood under this heading.
It is significant that the President of the
Board of Trade should refer in his letter
to the proposals as being designed “ in
particular to restore the traditional pattern
of trade between the two countries.”
Robotnik, on the 10th June, described
the Agreement as “not only an economic
but also a political achievement.” The
whole complex of problems involved will be
very profoundly affected by the outcome of
the meeting of the British, French and
Soviet Foreign Ministers in Paris on the
27th June.
As a background to these events Warsaw
has seen the latest meeting of the All-Slav
Committee. M. Barcikowski, Deputy-
Speaker of the Sejm, described the meeting
as a protest against “ German barbarism,
and the resurrection of Germanism by its